A Life of Ministry
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
A Life of Ministry affects us Emotionally (v. 2:17-20)
A Life of Ministry brings Challenges (v. 3:1-5)
A Life of Ministry brings Joy to our Life (v. 3:6-10)
A Life of Ministry Relies on the Lord (v. 3:11-13)
Introduction
Slide
I want to ask a question that I want you to think about it.
Who here has been called to minister?
Pastors?
For some of you, the first thing that popped into your heard was me or Andy. As the paid “pastors” at Hickory Creek, it is believed that we are the ones called by God to be ministers.
Elders?
Others of you may have expanded your thoughts to Jim and Tom as well as the other elders at Hickory Creek, recognizing a calling in their life to minister to others.
Deacons & Ministry Leaders?
Some of you may have thought about our Deacons and ministry leaders as others who have been called to minister.
All Christians!
The truth of the matter is that if you are a Christian, you have been called to minister to other people.
Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that God gifted some people to serve in different capacities and that He has called “some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service”
That word translated service can also be translated ministry.
So it is the pastors and teachers who are to do the work of preparing God’s people, those who are Christians, to do ministry.
1 Peter 2:9 tells us that believers in Christ are “a royal priesthood.”
We are all “priests” in that we are all called to minister to others and to do ministry.
Maybe you are sitting here this morning feeling ill equipped to do ministry.
I don’t have training to minister to others.
I don’t know enough of the Bible to minister to others.
Ministry is too hard of a life for me.
What does a life of ministry even look like?
Well this morning, we are going to be continuing on in our series in 1 Thessalonians, Living with a View to the Future.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:17 – 3:13
Slide
Paul shares his heart for the Thessalonians that he has ministered to and we get to see a glimpse of what a life of ministry looks like.
Read along with me in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 through 3:13
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
17 But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you-certainly I, Paul, did, again and again-but Satan stopped us. 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
3:1 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Pray
Now the first thing we see as Paul shares his heart with the Thessalonians that he has ministered to is that living
A Life of Ministry affects us Emotionally
Slide
17 But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you-certainly I, Paul, did, again and again-but Satan stopped us.
When Paul says that they were “torn away” from them, that word translated as “torn away” means bereaved or made an orphan.
He feels like he has been torn away from his children.
When I hear this word, I get a certain picture in my head.
Baby Richard – 1995 (picture of torn away)
Slide
For those of you old enough to remember the Baby Richard case from 1995, you remember that a child had been given up for adoption by his mother, when the birth father was gone. He was told the baby died at birth. When He found out the baby was alive, he pursued getting the child back. It took 4 years to work through the court system when he was granted custody.
This was such a sad case on all sides.
Imagine though the feelings of the adoptive parents and the 4 year old boy being torn away from the only parents he had ever known.
Imagine the feelings of the mother having this child she loved and had raised for 4 years being torn away from her arms.
This is the feeling being described by Paul’s use of the term ‘torn away’ from the Thessalonians, a sense of being orphaned.
He had strong feelings of love for these people whom he had ministered to and wanted to continue to help them, but he was forced away.
But even though he was not with them, they were on his mind continually (He says, ‘torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought)’).
And as he continued to think about them, those emotions continued as well.
Ministry is about relationships
Living a life of ministry is going to affect you emotionally because a life of ministry is about relationships.
Not just for Sunday
Ministry doesn’t just happen on Sunday morning in the confines of a church building.
At work
Ministry happens when you are at your workplace and you take your friend who is going through marriage problems out to lunch.
At School
Ministry happens when you are at school and instead of sitting with your friends, you sit with the kid no one else sits with.
In Your Neighborhood
Ministry happens when you are in your neighborhood and you fix a meal or bake some cookies for the family whose dad just lost their job and things seem to be crashing down around them, knowing that there is someone who cares about them.
Ministry is about Relationships
Ministry is about relationships and when you are in relationship, you open your heart to people and
you feel pain when they are in pain, but
you also feel joy when they experience joy.
You want to help them meet their needs, both physical and spiritual.
And when you can’t be there to help them or you are hindered from doing that, you feel frustrated because you are in relationship with them.
Paul was frustrated that he was hindered by Satan. He was frustrated because even in the midst of all the trials he was facing and the emotional pain he was experiencing, he was living with a view to the Future and the joy that he knew he would experience when Christ returned was even bringing him joy now.
Look at verse 2:19-20 – For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
There is emotional pain when there is separation, but there is also the joy that will come in eternity because the relationships that have been established in Christ will last not for this life only, but eternally. Paul kept his focus on that. Even though there was emotional pain being experienced because he cared for people, he knew that eternities were changed and when Jesus returned, there would be great joy.
So a life of ministry will affect your emotions. It will bring emotional pain but it also brought the hope of knowing Joy in eternity.
Not only does living a life of ministry affect your emotions, but living
A Life of Ministry brings Challenges
Slide
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5
1 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
Paul and Silas and Timothy faced a lot of challenges as they lived a life of ministry.
Paul and Silas couldn’t go back to Thessalonica for fear of causing even more hardship for those who had been arrested when they were there last, so they sent Timothy.
They faced continual persecution, most recently from the Thessalonian Jews who not only forced them to flee Thessalonica, but were pursuing them to Berea to cause more problems for them.
Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they were destined for them and he did not want them to be unsettled by these difficult trials they were facing.
The reason they were destined for them was that they were pursuing living a godly life a life of ministering to others in the name of Jesus.
If we are going to persevere in the Christian life and in living a life of ministry, it is imperative that we know we are going to face some serious challenges, trials and persecution.
Satan does not want us ministering to other people, he wants to ruin relationships, so he will seek to hinder us from ministering to others and that will cause emotional pain and suffering in our life.
We may ask, “God why do You allow this?”
We need to understand that Satan may hinder us, but he does not hinder God.
God takes the hindrances that Satan is causing in our lives, and uses them for good.
Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
The challenges and trials that we face helps us to learn perseverance which helps us mature in our faith.
James 1:2-4 –“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
God is Sovereign and powerful. We are going to experience pain in this life, no matter what because we live in a sin stained world. This is why it is imperative that we are living with a view to the future.
Remember what Paul just said. “We are going to glory in the presence of the Lord when He comes because of you.” (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
Paul knew that, ultimately, the things they suffered in life now, while ministering to others, were “not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) as he tells us in Romans 8:18.
Now even though pursuing a life of ministry affects us emotionally and brings many challenging times into our life, it does not just bring a joy and glory into our lives when Jesus comes.
No, Living
A Life of ministry brings Joy to Life now as well as eternally
Slide
1 Thessalonians 3:6-10 - But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Paul and Silas and Timothy, because of the life of ministry they live, are experiencing joy in this life. Paul says “now we really live” since the Thessalonians are still standing strong in the faith that Paul introduced them to.
They are overflowing in joy that the Thessalonians have persevered.
Yes, a life of ministry is going to be affecting your emotions. There are going to be times that you hurt and ache and are in emotional pain.
And yes a life of ministry will bring times when you are facing very challenging circumstances and persecution simply because you are seeking to minster to others in the name of Christ,
But you are also going to experience great joy
in the future when Christ returns and
now as God works through you into the lives of those you have ministered to.
You may be here thinking, “well I can’t minister to people. I have a job. I have school. I don’t have time to minister to people all the time.”
Ministering to People along the way
Listen, Living a life of ministry is not about quitting your job and working in a church. Living a life of ministry is about ministering to people along the way of living your life.
Looking for opportunities, keeping your eyes open for whom the Lord places in your life, and then seizing the moment to meet a need in the name of Jesus,
to establish a relationship that you did not have before,
to share with someone else what God has done in your life,
how He has changed you,
transformed you,
loved you and
filled you with peace and joy.
That is what living a life of ministry is all about.
Everyone of us can do it.
Everyone of us needs to do that.
It is scary sometimes.
It hurts sometimes.
But this is the life that brings fulfillment and joy to life both eternally and in this life.
Here is the thing though.
You can’t just go out from here and try hard to minister to people.
We need to be guided and empowered by the Lord.
That is why to live a life of ministry requires us to rely on the Lord
A Life of Ministry relies on the Lord
Slide
Look what Paul does at the end of this chapter.
He prays.
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Paul is praying for he and his companions to be able to minster to the Thessalonians more and that God would continue to be working in the Thessalonians lives by increasing their love and strengthening their hearts to live for Him.
Paul recognizes that the
only way he is going to get back to the Thessalonians is for God to pave the way.
only way the Thessalonians are going to continue growing in love and strength is for God to continue to work in their life.
And even though God does that work, he does that through people.
He used Paul and Silas and Timothy in the lives of the Thessalonians.
He wants to use you in the lives of others.
But that means you have got to rely upon the Lord in your life and be praying and submitting yourself to Him day by day and moment by moment.
Conclusion
Are you ready to live a life of ministry?
To live that life and experience the joy that comes with that life, even amid the emotional pain and challenges that you will face, requires that you be in relationship with the Lord by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior.
If you haven’t done that, I want to encourage you to do that this morning.
While you may think you have all the time in the world to make that decision, the fact of the matter is that the time to do that is limited.
It is limited because none of us know what tomorrow brings. We have only this moment that the Lord has given us.
And it is limited because at some point, Christ is going to return to receive all those who have received Him, who have believed in Him for salvation, He is going to return to take them to be with Him forever.
And while none of us knows the day or the hour, He said we could recognize the season.
As I look out at the world and the things going on, the season seems to be approaching.
Do not put off thinking through and making this decision to receive Christ. You do not have forever.
If you are ready to do that this morning, then we ask you to do just what God’s word tells us in Romans 10:9 – “confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
I will lead in a prayer doing that in a moment.
If you are already a Christian, but have not been living a life of ministry, don’t let another day go by without making the choice to live that life. People need to hear about Jesus because the time is short.
Glorify Him in your life by living a life of ministry at work, at home, at School, in your neighborhood, wherever you find yourself. Submit your self to Him completely. He sacrificed it all for you and He wants you to share what He has done in your life with others so they can experience the joy of living in relationship with Christ.
Will you take a stand for him and live that life this morning and forever?
I am going to pray and then the worship team will close in a song, called “The Stand.”
I want to read some of the lyrics to you and I ask you to worship Him and make this your prayer this morning.
Listen to these lyrics.
So I’ll walk upon salvation
Your Spirit alive in me
This life to declare Your promise
My soul now to stand
So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
So I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours
Let’s pray and worship Him not only through this song, but each day as we surrender to Him and live a life of ministry.
Pray
