A little boy wanted $500 very badly. He prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. So, he decided to write a letter to God requesting $500.
When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to… "God, USA", they decided to send it to the President.
The President was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $20 bill. The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
The little boy was delighted with the $20 bill, and sat down to write a thank-you note to God. The postal authorities forwarded this letter on to the President, too.
It read:
"Dear God, Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington, D.C., and those no good crooks deducted $480 in taxes!"
I want to take a moment to thank everyone who gave cards, and gifts for minister appreciation month. We jokingly say that we eat like kings and queens in November and December because of how generous all of you are.
And then in December, you are generous for Christmas as well, so thank you! I know Kendall, Lauren, and Spencer feel that same way.
It is a blessing to serve here at ECCC as staff members of this church. However, I want to share some news with you that you may or may not like.
I’m not sure I even like saying it because it might affect next year’s gifts that we receive. All right… here goes… you ready?
We are not the only ministers here at ECC! All of you are ministers as well. The only difference between all of you and me… and the difference between you and the rest of the staff is that we are paid staff… it’s our profession.
But if we really believe what the Bible is telling us here… then we have to understand that… first of all…
1. Every follower of Jesus has a calling.
Every follower of Jesus is a minister.
In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus in Chapter 4 he says this, beginning in verse 11.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12
That means the role of a pastor isn’t to do all the ministry… it’s to train and equip you to do ministry.
So what this means to you is this…
If you are a follower of Jesus… then you are a minister. God has placed a divine calling on your life.
I love when Jesus called His disciples, and He said this famous line… “Hey guys… Come, watch Me work.”
Obviously… He didn’t say that… He said, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
He wasn’t inviting them to be spectators. He was inviting them to be participants in His mission.
Think about it this way. Let’s think about watching a football game on TV. A lot of you will do that later today. What will you see? You might see anywhere from 50,000-70,000 fans in the stands.
If you’re watching the Bengals, it’s probably about a fourth of that.
There are 22 men on the field, as the game goes on, nearly all of them are in desperate need of rest. Meanwhile, there are thousands of people in the stands… most in desperate need of exercise….
But what happens usually is… the fans eat the hot dogs, and brats, and popcorn, and nachos, and whatever else may be there.
They take in all kinds of beverages and they cheer and holler and complain throughout the game about what their team ought to be doing… or what the officials have called or didn’t call.
I don’t even have time to go into the amount of money that is spent on said food and beverages, or the tickets, the jerseys, the parking, possible hotel depending on how far one might have to drive… that is a whole ‘nother sermon.
The scene at a football game is not unlike a picture of most churches (except for the money spent to participate) People sitting, watching, cheering some… complaining some…
What happens in a lot of churches is that there are too many people on the sidelines and not enough people on the field.
But the New Testament model is a total team effort. Everyone has a role. The church is not built by a few gifted individuals… it is built by the faithful obedience of every believer.
The English Standard Version of the Bible translates this verse like this. The gifts are given to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:12 ESV
If you’re sitting out there and you’re thinking, well, I’d like to get into ministry, but I just haven’t felt the call yet. If that is you, understand this…
The moment you came to Christ, you were called to ministry.
Your salvation came with a service assignment.
Christian author and preacher, John Bevere put is this way… And I love this…
“You’re not just saved from something… you’re saved for something.”
- John Bevere
And that something is to use your gift, that we talked about last week, and a part of the body of Christ to minister to others.
I’ve said this many times before… but you will be able to minister to people that I will never be able to. I do not have the same relationships, or experiences, or opportunities that you have with the people that are in your life.
If you are waiting on Kendall, or Lauren, or Spencer, or me, or one of the elders to come and minister to a person in your life… that you want to know Jesus… there’s a real good chance it’s not going to happen.
Now… I’m willing to go where I can, when I can and aid you as best I can. But you are the one who has the relationship with the person, or with the people, and there’s a better chance of you being way more effective than I would be.
My job, is to equip you to do what you need to do. So… I encourage you to not wait for a special invitation from God… He has already given us our marching orders to minister to those in need.
Every follower of Jesus has a calling. And second…
2. Every follower of Jesus has power to complete their calling.
Now, you might be thinking, “I’m not trained. I’m not talented. I’m not spiritual enough to be a minister.”
If you are thinking something like that today… understand this.
God will never call you to do something that He won’t equip you to do. You will have everything that you need to do what He is asking you to do.
We brought this verse up last week and I want to repeat it again. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
1 Peter 4:10
That means you don’t just have a gift… you’re a steward of it. You are responsible for how you use it. Stewards are expected to use what they’ve been given.
So last week, I told you about how inept I was as a handy-man or a carpenter. I’ve gotten better over the years. I still wouldn’t dive in and attempt to repair or build some major structure of any kind.
But I’m better than I was. And let’s just imagine that for Christmas one year, my wife, Stacey, bought me an incredible new tool set.
And I unwrapped that gift and was very appreciative. And I even thought, “man… I can’t wait to use this on something.”
But I put that tool set out on my work-bench in the garage and never opened it. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year…. It just sits there.
It would be a great gift… but it didn’t really accomplish the purpose for which it was given. Stacey would give me that gift, in hopes that I might be able to do something around the house.
She would give me that gift in hopes that the honey-do list that she has would become a honey-did list.
It would be a gift of great potential… but the purpose was never accomplished if I never even opened it up, took out some tools, and used them.
Many believers are like that tool set: full of potential, but never used for the purpose God designed.
I heard it put this way before. And I can’t remember where I heard it or read it… but it stuck with me.
“The Spirit of God doesn’t live in us for decoration… He lives in us for demonstration.” – Unknown
And a lot of times we get enamored with this Christian celebrity issue and we say things like, “I’ll never be a Craig Groeschel or a Kyle Idleman, or a Billy Graham”
“I’ll never be a Brandon Lake or a Phil Wickham and influence millions”
And you may think your gift is small, but there are no “small” ministries when they are done in the name of Jesus.
A handshake at the door, a kind word to a neighbor, a prayer for a friend… a visit to the hospital or nursing home… an encouraging card during minister appreciation month.
These are all acts of ministry… and they are all important. And if you think you don’t have what it takes or what your need to accomplish God’s call on your life for ministry…
Remember… the same Spirit that empowered Peter to preach at Pentecost lives in you.
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead empowers your life today.
You are not powerless. You are not purposeless.
When God saved you, He filled you, He gifted you, and He sent you. Will you go?
Point #3 in your outline this morning.
3. Every follower of Jesus has a purpose for their calling.
Why does God call every believer to be a minister?
Paul tells us in verse 12—“for building up the body of Christ.”
The purpose of your ministry is not personal recognition, it’s spiritual edification. We serve so that the Church might be strengthened and Christ might be glorified.
Every act of service is like this brick laid in the building of God’s Kingdom. Or as Peter says in his first letter
You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.[a] Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God
1 Peter 2:4-5
Last week we spent the our time in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul uses the same analogy of us being the body of Christ in Romans 12… verses 4-5
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Romans 12:4-5
And as each of us do our part or parts… the body benefits. When every believer begins to minister, the impact multiplies exponentially.
The Gospel spreads faster, the love of Christ reaches farther, and the Kingdom of God expands broader.
And then our final point this morning is this…
4. Every follower of Jesus will be rewarded for answering the call.
I mean… we’re not going to set boxes out with your names on them so that we can give you gift cards and cash and such… your reward for answering the call is much greater.
Serving Jesus isn’t just a responsibility… it’s a privilege and a joy.
The greatest satisfaction in life comes when we’re living out the purpose for which God created us.
Matthew 20:26-28 says…
But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
If anyone ever had the right to be served, it was Jesus… but He chose to serve. And when you serve others, you are never more like Jesus than in that moment
There’s an indesribable joy that comes when you pour yourself out for others. Ask anyone who has taught a children’s class, visited the sick, or prayed with someone in need… they’ll tell you,
“I went to bless someone, but I left more blessed than they were.”
So… God might be calling you to just visit your neighbor and minister to them. Or he might be calling you to something on a bigger scale.
A couple of months ago I stumbled on a story about NBA player Jonathan Isaac, who started his own Christian shoe and clothing company called UNITUS.
The brand was created to inspire people to live with unity, freedom, strength, and purpose, and it features a visible Bible verse on each shoe.
This shoe is called the Judah 1 and it features the Bible verse 2 Corinthians 4:9 which says…
(show picture now)
The idea for the company, which stands for "unite us," was born after Isaac's contract with Nike was not renewed and he was encouraged by his pastor to create his own brand.
The mission of the company is this…
To connect people to Christ and each other through faith-based footwear and apparel.
Instead of trying to get a deal with the very non-christian shoe companies like Adidas, Puma, or Under Armor… he stepped out on faith and started his own apparel company for the sake of connecting people to Jesus.
There is a reward in ministry that is unlike anything else. It’s the joy of being part of God’s work, the peace of knowing you’re in His will, and the promise of hearing one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
I’m going to guess that there were a lot of people who thought that Jonathan Isaac was absolutely crazy for trying to start his own shoe and apparel company…
But he believed this truth…
The world measures greatness by how many people serve you. God measures greatness by how many people you serve.
In this day and age of all of these prima donna over-paid self-serving athletes… it’s so refreshing to see a guy like this doing his thing for the Lord.
Every follower of Jesus is a minister.
• You don’t need a title to be a minister.
• You don’t need a pulpit to preach.
• You don’t need permission to serve.
You are called. You are gifted. You are sent.
Wherever you are… at work, at home, at school, in the grocery store… you are representing Christ. You are the hands and feet of Jesus in a world that desperately needs His touch.
So let me ask you:
Where are you serving?
Where are you using your gift for the glory of God?
Maybe you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, thinking ministry is for “someone else.”
But today, the Lord is saying, “Get in the game.”
There’s a place for you in the body. There’s a purpose for you in the Kingdom.
Step forward. Say, “Here I am, Lord—use me.”
