Equipped to Serve. Why should church members be thoroughly equipped to serve?

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1 Equipped to Serve Equipping Church Members to Serve So, Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:11-16) What is a Christian servant? The word servant occurs fifty-seven times in the New Testament. Sometimes it refers to a person who has that official role in a household. But many times, it refers to the role we are to assume as Christians. Also, serve occurs fifty-eight times in the New Testament. (I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference Thom S. Rainer) Why should church members be thoroughly equipped to serve? Equipping magnifies Jesus love for the church. After His ascension (Eph 4:8), He gave the gift of ministers to the church (Eph 4:11) to equip the church to grow in Him (Eph 4:15). Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, said Jesus. Seven Responsibilities of Equipped Church Members 1. Attend Church Regularly As a Christian and member of a church, you are responsible to attend church regularly. Scripture could not be clearer about this fundamental responsibility so that you can give yourself to love and good works and encouragement. And let us be concerned about one another to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near (Heb 10:24-25). The author threatens final judgment if you do not attend (vv ). The stakes are high indeed. 1

2 After all, if you do not attend, you cannot fulfill the next six responsibilities. Church attendance makes everything else possible. 2. Help Preserve the Gospel What this means, is that you are responsible for studying the gospel and knowing it. Can you summarize the gospel in 60 seconds or less? Can you explain the relationship between faith and works? Can a Christian live in unrepentant sin? Why or why not? Why is it important for a Christian to affirm the doctrine of the Trinity? What role do good deeds, fellowship, and hospitality play in promoting a church s gospel ministry? It is vital for church members to know and understand the gospel they wish to share with others. These are the kinds of questions you are responsible to answer to help preserve the gospel. Biblical knowledge is gained through regular attendance to worship services, Bible studies, and Sunday school teachings. Church members can also gain biblical knowledge through personal devotional time (daily reading and meditation of Scripture). Know the gospel, and what the gospel requires in the life of the Christian and church. 3. Help Affirm others through Christian service As a church member, you cannot help make disciples of others or truly serve others if you have not spent valuable time with others, or if you have not spiritually accessed where others are in their faith journey. This does not mean you re personally responsible to know every member of your church. We do this work collectively. But search for ways to start including more of your fellow church members into the regular pattern of your life. The apostle Paul offers a useful checklist for doing this: Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality (Rom 12:10-13). How are you doing with this list? 4. Help make disciples of others You, as a baptized Christian and member of a church, are responsible for protecting the gospel and the gospel s ministry in your church by working to make disciples of other church members. Remember, Ephesians 4:15-16 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 1. The church builds itself up in love as each part does its work. 2. You have work to do to build up the church. 3. And part of that includes the ministry of words. 2

3 A few verses later, Paul says, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another (v. 25). Speak truth to them, and help them to grow. Our words should be good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear (Eph 4:29). Also, make yourself available to be spoken to. Are you willing to listen? Basic Christianity involves building up other believers. It is a part of fulfilling the Great Commission and making disciples. 5. Share the Gospel with Non-believers If through union with the second Adam God has reinstated you as a priest-king, your whole life should reflect the gospel in word and deed. You are an ambassador. Paul s charge and example is worth repeating here: God has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ s behalf, Be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:19b-20). Every Christian has been reconciled, and thus every Christian has received this message of reconciliation. Therefore, we plead and we pray for sinners to be reconciled to God. The command to Go and make disciples belongs to you (Matt 28:19). 6. Follow Your Leaders It s the job of the pastors or elders to equip the saints for the work of ministry: for these previous five responsibilities (Eph 4:12). Pastors and church leadership have a responsibility to teach and preach sound doctrine that cannot be denied. When church leaders fail to teach, and preach sound doctrine they are ill-equipping the church. As a church member, this means you are responsible to avail yourselves to the instructions and counsel of those God has appointed as the watchmen of your soul. Christian, this means that you re responsible to avail yourself of the elders instruction and counsel. Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have learned from your spiritual leaders (2 Tim 1:13). Follow their teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, love, and endurance, along with their persecutions and sufferings (2 Tim 3:10-11). Be the wise son or daughter in Proverbs who takes the path of wisdom, prosperity, and life by fearing the Lord and heeding instruction. It is better than jewels and gold. 7. Strive to acquire the Heart and Character of an Equipped Servant Serving.A Matter of the Heart In our quest to become spiritually mature Christians with God given leadership ability, we must remain mindful of the quality that completely characterizes the life of Jesus, the quality of unselfish servanthood. Jesus said, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). 3

4 The apostle Paul wrote Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but the interests of others as well (Phil 1:4). Placing the needs of others before that of your own is a matter of the heart. Serving the much-needed Characteristic of Humility (Jesus is our Example) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:3-8) Know who you are truly serving Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:23-24). Who Equips Us and What are We Equipped to Do? The Holy Spirit equips each believer to serve. READY Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:19-20). SET As a young boy, Alexander, always knew there was something special about him. As he pursued a personal relationship with Christ. He came to understand just how special God had made him. To do what God has called you to do is to be a servant, Alexander explains. Sometimes that is simply pulling out a chair for someone. Sometimes it is opening your arms to someone. Sometimes it is opening your heart. It all comes out differently, but at the end of the day, its about giving your life. That s what a servant does. Once Alexander understood the purpose behind serving, he also came to another realization: God s master plan is for everybody to have a chance to get to know Him, he says. That is our purpose. He cites a favorite Bible passage as further reinforcement of this master plan: Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body (1 Cor 6:19-20). 4

5 These words written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth may not seem like they are intended to address the issue of serving, but Alexander sees that last line therefore glorify God in your body as evidence that we have been created, not for our own pleasure, but to do the work of the Lord. Your body is for the Lord by honoring Him, praising Him, worshiping Him, leading others to Him, glorifying Him and teaching others about Him, he says. So then how is the Lord for your body? Well, the Lord died for your sinful body. That s amazing. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of serving is that service done with complete humility reaps the reward described by Jesus in Matt 20:16: So the last will be first, and the first last. On the other hand, those who serve with selfish motivations or with a spirit of pride will face the brutal reality noted in Matt 7:21-23: On the Day of Judgment, many who seemingly served God on Earth will be exposed as frauds. To those people, Jesus will say, I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers. As Christian servants it is imperative for all believers to understand that pride prevents us from serving in a spirit of humility and in the love of Christ. If you have any pride in you, you re in trouble, he says. Every time you find yourself serving, you have to humble yourself. You must humble yourself of the thought of who you are, the thought of, Wow, I shouldn t have to do this. Don t ever think like that. And when you stay in that humble mode, then often you get to walk right into an empowered moment by God to serve. GO 1. Can you think of a time when you realized that God had a special plan for your life? How did that experience empower you and give you the confidence to move forward? 2. Read Matthew 29: Why did Jesus choose these as His last words to the disciples? How empowering is it to know that, as you step out to do God s will, Jesus is with you always, to the end of the age? Our obedience to the call of God to serve others can only be answered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that resides in every believer. Now that you have been thoroughly Equipped and Empowered to Serve Ready, Set, Go and do the will of our God!!! Clinging to the Past and Sabotaging the Future According to, Edward H. Hamlett and James R. Pierce, the authors of Reaching People under 40 While Keeping People over 60: Being Church for All Generations, churches have far too 5

6 much entrenched traditionalism. These are mostly people who want to be comfortable, come to a social club, pay their dues, and expect pastoral visitation all the time. Oh, and sing music they ve known for years and that is within their acceptable boundaries. The goal to meet the spiritual needs of the congregation while casting a wide enough net on the other side (a very uncomfortable thing for some) if catching fish by the way we are currently fishing. Offer/Provide a myriad of ministries for laypersons to participate and serve in and commit to. Maximize the Energy of Everyone People stick with churches when they have healthy interpersonal relationships, and those relationships often form in the context of small ministerial groups. Early church exemplifies for the church of the twenty-first Century that the congregation must bond in TRUE Christian fellowship. Avoid Complexity Simple Church strategy is effective People need a church whose process for disciple making is clear and expected If church is not already doing so, work to implement and strengthen ministries that maximize the use of technology and that increases the participation of church members in accomplishing the ministries. Drive-Thru Prayer Goal 1: Seek Volunteers (Dedicated Prayer Partners) Goal 2: Determine Location and Frequency for Drive-Thru Prayer Line Goal 3: Determine Necessary Items (ie. Tents, Signage, Volunteer t-shirts, Materials to hand-out, etc.) Goal 4: Prepare Prayer Partners by conducting a (Pre-Drive-Thru Prayer Day training session) Senior Citizen s Assistance The senior members of your community may require food and assistance with being escorted to doctor s appointments and coming to church. Many of our senior members are interested in learning how to use computers, send s, and text messages. This is an optimal opportunity to partner our youth members with the seasoned members of our communities. Assistance with Expunging Prior Criminal Records Pastors and church leaders should be aware of local programs that are available to assist those with prior criminal records with expunging their records. There is a viable need for such programs in many of the communities our churches reside in. This is an ideal time for laypersons to give of their time and make use of their spiritual gifts. Laypersons should actively lend their voices in making recommendations on how best to maximize ministries within their current church programs as well as make recommendations for new innovative ministries. 6