Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
Sore Joints in the Body
Ephesians 4:11-13, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"
Ephesians 4:15-16, "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
Ephesians 4:27, "Neither give place to the devil."
Ephesians 4:31-32, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."
Here we have a picture of the perfect church, like the one that we are all striving to build and be a part of in ministry.
The church is founded under the Lordship and Head of Jesus Christ and can only exist in the fashion that God has intended for it to exist if those who are members will allow the Lord to establish, direct and protect them from any influence of those who would sow discord whether purposefully or unwittingly.
It was Jesus Christ himself who established the church by going to the Cross-and giving His life’s blood for the salvation of man. While Jesus was in the time of his 3-½ years of earthly ministry in the body of flesh, He personally set in motion the mechanism that would be used to build His church.
While man has failed so many times in following the direction of the Holy Spirit in the operation and fulfillment of the duties of the church, the true church has continued to exist and, in these last days, it is stronger than ever.
Jesus said that upon Himself this church would be established with Him as the Head and then all else to fall into its proper place under His direction and guidance.
Matthew 16:18, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
From the very beginning of the church Satan has used every trick in the book to destroy the unity, fellowship and effectiveness of the church, BUT HE HAS FAILED TO STOP IT!
Jesus is not respecter of persons and therefore we do not believe that there is one calling that is any more or less important than another in the Body of Christ. Whether we are Apostles, Pastors, Prophets, Teachers or Evangelists is not the most important point. What is important is our faithfulness to the calling of God and truthfulness in our ministry within His church.
Jesus sent His disciples out as the first Apostles.
An Apostle is chosen to preach the gospel as a pioneer. He goes out into foreign, uncharted, and remote areas where the message has never been heard. Apostles are much the same as Missionaries who preach the gospel in foreign lands and people. They are the front line force that God uses in the introduction of the gospel to every tribe and nation. These men and women of God have to exert great faith in God, belief in their cause and must be passionate about their calling. They face greater hardship than most Christians but they also have the satisfaction of seeing salvation come to those who have never heard.
God then places Prophets in the church.
The Prophet is a person who speaks by divine inspiration or as the interpreter through whom the will of a god is expressed. They are gifted with a moral insight and with exceptional power to speak. They become the one who teaches the cause and, in some cases, preaches and predicts coming events as a method of warning and edifying the church.
God chooses those who will also fill the calling of an Evangelist.
Evangelists may fill in part of the time as a missionary, to carry the gospel to those who are not saved. Evangelists are sent forth by God to prepare the way for a church to be built and for the Pastor to step in and care for the flock. Evangelists don’t usually have the authority of an Apostle, or the gift of Prophecy, nor do they make great Pastors. Their special calling is to travel from place to place preaching the gospel to the lost.
After the Apostle establishes the message, the prophet promotes and speaks God’s present and future will for the people, and the Evangelist’s invitations result in a revival where souls are saved, that’s when the Pastors and teachers take over.
Notice that the Pastors and Teachers seem to be included as one and yet there is a distinction between the two. That’s because the Pastor is always a teacher for the flock to lead them into the paths of righteousness and the teacher is doing the same thing but does not feel the calling to Pastor over the entire flock, only to a smaller group of the flock.
God has placed all of these callings and ministries within the church so that the church may receive a strong foundation upon which to grow and then be fed so that it will become strong spiritually.
"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"
All of these ministries are there to help the people of God to become perfect in the eyes of God. Perfection comes only through the shed Blood of Christ. We are sanctified when the Blood of the Lamb of God washes our sin away. We will never be more saved than right at that moment.
The Apostles and Evangelists must preach the word because it is the foolishness of preaching that brings people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The continued maturing and lifelong sanctification of the body, the life and the attitude is the job of the Prophets, Pastors and Teachers.
Every member of the church can be called at any time to fill a place in the Body of Christ as Jesus directs under the heading of any of these callings. God is looking for a willing and faithful vessel to use.
Some people may not work well as an Evangelist but may be very much at home with the calling of a Pastor. It is Jesus, and He alone, who knows the heart of a man and that’s why we must rely on His leading to place those in ministry who He wants.
As your Pastor, it is my duty, calling and commitment to lead you, as the flock of God’s pasture, into a life that is blameless before God, to build this church into a viable and unified body of believers who are carrying out the Great Commission, to teach and preach the Word of God so that all of us can become more like Jesus, and to make you ready for the Coming of the Lord where you will finally experience the Fullness of Christ.
There are many times when I am called upon and inspired to preach, teach or minister to the church things are not pleasant, and yet, if I do not obey God this church would soon cease to exist. It is my job, my duty, my calling to present the pure Word of God to you so that there can be no question of God’s will and intent for your life.
The hard part of this calling, as Pastor-Teacher, is that I am called upon to confront issues that can and do bring harm to the body of Christ. I am called to be the “Watchman on the Wall” to spot the enemy in time to give a warning so that we can all stand and defeat the attacks of Satan upon our congregation.
If there is a warning to be made, I must be the one to sound it. If there is a correction to be done, I must be the one to follow God’s direction to the best of my ability and protect the unity of the church.
I am ever conscious of the flock, desiring only to help you to grow, and doing my best to watch over your souls in love. It’s a painful thing to preach a hard sermon, knowing that there are one or more, sometimes many, who will feel uncomfortable and whose feelings I can injure so easily.
Each of us, you and I, both have a place in this church and in the Body of Christ.
Sometimes it may take us a while to find where our niche is, but rest assured one is there, and since God knows your heart and abilities, and that niche is designed, by the Holy Spirit, just for you to fill.
God has place within our church, those people who He wants here.
There will be many more to come should Jesus tarry. Each of those who come will have their place in this ministry also. As the crowd grows, the needs of more ministry and more helps will be necessary to make the church function and grow.
I am looking forward to the day when we shall see our church filled to capacity. When the Youth Ministry will be exploding with a revival that touches the lives of our school age kids who need Jesus so desperately.
I am looking forward to a Young Adult Ministry that will be bursting at the seams as it touches the lives of college age kids and young married couples who need the wisdom and guidance of someone who has walked where they are going and has made it through by the Word and power of God.
I am looking forward to a Children’s Ministry that is filled with excitement. There is no more ripened field of harvest than the children. They are open to the gospel and easily trained. Kids are great and they need Jesus. Our Children’s Ministry will, one day soon, be filled with kids and workers who love them and desire to see kids saved.
I am looking forward to the day when we will not only have a great worship team but we will have a choir and a full music department that will lead our church into the depths of worship in Spirit and in Truth.
Our Ladies’ Ministry, Men’s Ministry, Ushers, Greeters, Custodial staff and a myriad of other ministries and jobs will need to be filled and God will supply the need when the time comes.
Yes, church, should Jesus tarry, there are great days ahead for us. I am convinced that there is a revival coming to this world and I want our church to be on the front lines of that revival as we see many come to Christ.
Along with these great events I must also bring a warning!
Ephesians 4:27, "Neither give place to the devil."
Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his first inaugural address said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”.
We need not fear the Devil but we must have respect and be watchful for his tactics. None of us would want to be used as a tool to destroy unity in the church. I believe I speak for everyone here that we do not want anything to hinder the growth of our church.
The problem is that we often do just that without knowing it until the damage is done.
Let me remind you of the class that we held at the retreat last fall concerning the personalities of people. The personality traits of each of us must be taken into consideration as we are watching for Satan’s attacks upon the church.
In that class we divided the personalities of people into 4 basic categories. The Popular Sanguine, the Perfect Melancholy, the Powerful Choleric and the Peaceful Phlegmatic are so noted in the book, “Personality Plus” by Florence Littauer.
As people interact in positions of ministry there are always problems that arise when the personalities come into play. These same problems arise in any relationship, such as a marriage, on the job, in the family, or whatever.
If we are not very careful, we will be giving place to the devil to come in and sow discord among the people of God.
One of the greatest keys to maintaining a proper working relationship and a strong and effective ministry as a church is to have open lines of communication and to use communication correctly.
Sometime ago I remember a sermon where I tried to make it a point to give instruction concerning proper communication channels and procedures that would help us to avoid conflicts. I know that there will always be conflicts because none of us are perfect but we must strive to maintain unity through using communication wisely.
It is so easy for a Choleric personality to overstep their bounds by doing what they just know is best for everyone involved and in the process hurt those who are Melancholy or Phlegmatic.
It is so easy for a Melancholy to try to get everything so perfect that no one can enjoy their work for fear of making a mistake and being corrected in a wrong manner.
It is so easy for a Sanguine to aggravate and hurt people’s feelings and not even know that has happened because they were just joking and having fun and didn’t think that anyone would take them seriously.
It is so easy for a Phlegmatic to sit back and let everyone else do it and then get upset because they are included or make everyone else upset because they don’t seem to want to take part.
All of these types of problems can and do happen all the time but a majority of them can be avoided by simply learning to communicate openly.
How can you, as the flock of God under my care, understand or know my heart if there is no communication? How can you know what the Pastor’s wife feels or what her thoughts are, if there is no communication? How can we, as your Pastors, know what your needs are, what your thoughts are and what you feel if we never spend time together?
Open lines of communication are absolutely necessary if we are to become the church that God intends for us to be!
Just in case you were thinking to yourself that these things could never exist in our church, I want you to know that we are no exception. In fact, there are communication problems in this church right now that must be addressed. I have heard from several of our members that they were not informed of this or that and that misunderstandings have resulted.
I thank God that we have people that love one another and love God enough to forgive, forget, work out these things and then move on. May we never allow the devil to bring a wedge between us.
It would please Satan so much to see our church destroyed and the unity dissolved and the people scattered, beaten and bruised. I am determined, as I know that each of you are, that these things will not be allowed to happen because there is no situation that we cannot solve by using the Word of God and following the Holy Spirit.
We will not give place to the devil but will make it our business to do just what the last verses of this sermon tell us to do.
Ephesians 4:31-32, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."
If we anything against another, lets go to one another and get it solved that there be no division in the church.
Let’s not allow a root of bitterness to come up in our ranks. Don’t allow anger and frustration to destroy the unity of the body.
Anger, wrath, bitterness will only result in clamor, or more and more trouble will arise. The longer that these things are allowed to remain within the body the more damage will be done until there is nothing but gossip and the type of spirit that causes churches to split. None of us wants that to ever happen.
If you have been hurt, or if you are ever hurt by something that I say or anyone else from this church, please tell me so that we can get it solved.
The last verse says that if we will only be kind to one another, love one another and forgive one another while we do our best to overlook the faults in other people then God would bless the church.
That’s the kind of church we all want!
We want a church that is unified in purpose, a church where brotherly love rules, a church where everyone is kind and generous, a church where forgiveness reigns and a church that is pleasing to Christ.
Let’s keep those lines of communication open and busy. If you are in charge of a ministry, make sure that everyone in the church knows about your plans as much as possible. There is no excuse for not communicating when we have all the modern things like telephones, email, voice mail, cell phones, etc. etc.
We are going to establish some basic communication policies in the procedural manual for the church but that won’t make us better communicators. It takes hard work, practice and perseverance to make communication work.
One last point on Communication in the Church!
As your Pastor, it is my job to try to know your heart and to lead you to the best of my ability. It is the duty of the Pastor’s wife to do the same. We cannot know your heart or lead you unless we are allowed to do so without interference from those outside of our church.
A Pastor only pastors and a leader only leads by the permission of the people. My sincerest desire is for God to give me the wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit in leading those that will allow me to do so.
Conclusion:
Communication and trust are so vital to a healthy church. Trust is earned through time and testing. Communication improves as trust improves.
One of the greatest dangers to trust and to communication, and therefore to the unity of the church, is what is known as “Cross Church Talking”.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with talking to people, especially to friends about God and the Bible and even the church as long as the conversation is positive. But don’t ever listen to the voice of someone from another church try to give you doubts about your own church, your own Pastors or any leader in your church. Satan loves to use that tool because people will listen to a friend.
Never assume that anything you hear is the truth. Prove it by witnesses, by communicating with your Pastor or church leaders. By no means should we ever air our differences in the presence of those who don’t stand to lose by giving you bad advise.
God has established this church just as he established the worldwide true church that loves and trusts in Jesus and His provision for salvation.
God doesn’t establish anything with the thought of allowing it to be destroyed. He has great plans for us.
Lets all do our part to do the right thing and keep the church strong and unity great among our people.
