I. God Has a Plan for You to Minister to Other Believers
This means that, if you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you area called to serve other Christians in some way.
Galatians 5: 13, “For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.”
Romans 12: 4-5, “Just as our bodies have many parts, and each part has a special function, 5so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of His one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.”
Jesus went so far as to say in John 13: 35 what this love and service for other believers will do, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
A great New Testament example of this being done is in the early church. As Jews began to put their faith in Christ as the Messiah, they began to feel the effects of hostility toward them. They were ostracized from their families; basically they were considered to be dead.
Illustration—Fiddler on the Roof. The tradition was that a matchmaker paired up men and women for marriage. The oldest daughter fell in love with a different Jewish man who was very Orthodox. The father gave his permission. The second daughter fell in love with a man who was a radical Jew, still Jewish with some modern ideas. Going against tradition they were not seeking the father’s permission; he gave it anyway. The third daughter fell in love with a man who was not a Jew, and the father would not give his permission, and disowned the daughter when she married, and considered her dead.
This is the way it would have been for the early believers who had been Jews. They were kicked out of their families. Since most of them would have been involved in a family business, agricultural or merchant, their livelihood would have been gone, so they needed the basic things of life: food, shelter, clothing. In Acts 4 we see that the believers loved one another so much they wanted to serve one another, and did so by giving financially—even selling their own land to give to those in need.
So, we are a body of believers, and we are to love and serve one another.
Now, HOW we serve is based on the way that God made us individually to serve. So you need to...
II. Discover God’s PLANS for How He Wants You to Minister to Other Believers
There are at least five things about us personally that affect how we will serve in the church. I use each letter of the word "PLANS" to help identify these five things. I’m, also, going to give you five questions that will help you see how God made you, so that you can, then, make the specific ministry God wants for you, a reality.
P-Passion—What do I love to do?
Think about the things you do for fun, or as a hobby, or for recreation; things you do just because you enjoy doing them. Some of you like to sew, or quilt, or garden. I love to play the guitar, sing, and write music. Others like sports, like baseball, basketball, racing, or soccer. You may just be a spectator; that’s OK.
L-Life Experiences—What are some of the MAJOR events that have happened in my life?
You might think of some medical situations you or a loved one has faced (an accident, a disease, surgery). You might think of marriage ( a successful or failing one). Major educational or business experiences are important life experiences. Also, include spiritual experiences in this list. Some of these things may be painful, some are not, but God can use them all to serve other believers.
A-Abilities—What skills, talents, or resources do you have?
Some of your answers to this question may come from the “Passion” that you mentioned earlier. You may be able to sew well enough to make a shirt or dress. Or make a quilt. You may have some sports ability. I play the guitar and sing and write music. But I also make balloon figures, and I can do several computer-related things. Think about other things that you are able to do: cook, bake, clean, write poetry or stories, do math, woodworking, organizing, planning, business skills, mechanic skills, home repair skills, and so on.
N-Nature (Personality)—What is my personality like?
If you’ve had more than one child or grandchild, you know how different their personalities are, don’t you?
There are at least four distinct personality types that most people fall into, and they may be known by different names. And usually, every person will have some mixture of a couple of these.
Dominant (Choleric)—”goal-setter,” achiever (Biblical example: Paul confronted Peter about his shunning the Gentile believers when some Jewish believers came.)
Influencing (Sanguine)—encouraging, verbal, enthusiastic (Biblical example: Barnabas took Saul to the disciples when they were a little uncertain about him.)
Steadiness (Phlegmatic)—supportive, cooperative, deliberate, harmony (Biblical example: Abraham wanted to avoid having a conflict between his servants and Lot’s servants, but continue on with what God wanted, so he arranged a solution.) let’s work through things so we can continue doing what God wants us to do.
Conscientious (Melancholy)-detail-oriented, a little cautious (Biblical example: Moses was very detailed, which was useful for carrying out the details of the Law and writing down all the things God had said.)
Any of these can be carried to an extreme, so it’s best when we can adjust to the situation, so we can be stronger in one aspect when we need to. But thinking about what we’re like in our personality will help us what kind of service we are better suited for.
S-Spiritual Gifts-What spiritual gift(s) has God given me for use in the church?
1 Corinthians 12: 4-7, “4Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. 5There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. 6There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. 7A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.”
There are many spiritual gifts that have been identified in Scripture. Right there in 1 Corinthians 12, several are listed: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, languages, helping, teachers administration, and shepherding. A few others are mentioned in other places in Scripture: evangelism, giving, encouragement, mercy.
Many surveys have been developed through the years to help Christians pinpoint which gifts they may have been given. Usually these surveys will make a statement, like, “I am willing to study and prepare for the task of teaching.” You would respond to these statements with a number from 1-5, where 1 means “This is never true of me.” 2 is “This is occasionally true for me.” 3 is “This is true for me about half the time.” 4 is “This is true for me most of the time.” and 5 is “This is always true for me. Depending on the survey, you would respond this way to about 40-100 statements, and when you’re done, you’re responses are organized to show which spiritual gift(s) you seem to lean toward having.
There are many surveys like this. I have several. There are even some on the internet now that you can take for free, and they will send you a report showing which spiritual gifts you most likely have.
It’s important to remember that these are not the same as talents. You may have a talent for teaching things to people, but the spiritual gift of teaching is a God-give, Spirit-empowered ability to make the truths of God’s Word and how to live them out clear for even the simplest of people.
Jesus is such a great example of this in His use of parables to teach deep spiritual truths about God’s kingdom.
Once you have answered these questions, you will have discovered how God made you, so that you could live out His PLANS for your life. The final step in ministering in the body is to...
III. Make God’s Plans for You a Reality
Most churches will have a list of positions that they believe are important for carrying on t he work of the church. We have one, too, and it includes church officers, committees, directors, teachers, and ministry leaders.
If you’ve gone through those five questions, you will have discovered how God has made you individually equipped to serve in the church. The way God made you will fit some positions better than others.
I think of a Vacation Bible School Director. This position requires a lot of attention to details—there are all kinds of leaders to enlist (teachers, office help, meal preparers, recreation), there are orders to place (curriculum, supplies, decorations), and when it gets here, there are things that have to be done. It’s very DETAIL-ORIENTED. If you know from answering the questions before that you don’t give great attention to details, that position is probably not the way God wants you to jump in and serve; you will probably feel very frustrated. But what if a person answered:
What do I love to do? I love to organize things. At home, they have their mail in a certain spot, their desk at home has a place for pencils, paper clips, notepad, the phone. The drawers are neatly organized. They put things in folders, and label everything.
What are some of the MAJOR events that have happened in my life? Maybe their education included instruction in administrating programs. Maybe the death of a spouse or parent led to a need to organize or administrate something left by the deceased person.
What skills or talents do you have? I can talk to people on the phone easily. Some people don’t like doing that.
What is my personality like? I like to set goals and deadlines, and work toward them.
What spiritual gift(s) has God given me for use in the church? I believe God has gifted me in the areas of administration, with the gift of pulling the people together to accomplish all of the different tasks involved, and the gift of encouragement, to build up those who have accepted responsibilities.
Now, a person who answered these questions this way could be very suited for the position of VBS Director.
The key is to find one or two positions that fit how you are made. Some places where you can serve might not be on the church list, but might be in your Sunday School class, organizing the fellowships once a month or quarter. Being in the choir or in another singing group is a way of serving, providing inspiration and proclaiming God’s truth through music. Our church may not even have the ministry position at this time that best fits how God made you, but God may want you to begin that ministry.
The important things to remember are:
God wants every Christian to love other believers and show that love by serving one another.
God has made us all different, and He did that so that we could be useful and be fulfilled in serving in different ways.
And finally, when we know how God has made us, it’s easier to find the place God wants us to serve other believers.
