Core Values: Equipping – Five Hour Heroes – Ephesians 4:11-16
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 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.
14 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 men in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16 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.
We are in our series on Core Values. Core Values are the DNA that define who we are, what we are in infancy and in greatness. What God has called us to be. They are not just creeds on plaque or notes in book somewhere. They are the essence of who we are, if you were to describe our church in 12 words, the core values would be it. The core values we’re going to be speaking of for the next few months are establishing a foundation for New Mercy Community Church – Prayer, Holy Spirit, Evangelism, Equipping, Relationships, Love, Family, Sound Doctrine, Character, Excellence, Worship, and Missions. Today we’re going to talk about the core value of equipping.
According to 1 Peter 2:4,9, if you are a believer, you are a priest. Maybe you see yourself as just a regular, everyday, garden-variety Christian, but God sees you as part of a holy and royal priesthood. The ancient medieval distinction between clergy and laity, between priests and lay people, is completely unbiblical. The Bible calls you a priest! One of the key Protestant doctrines is "the priesthood of the believer".
What it means is that you and I are spiritual equals. I am no better than you are in the eyes of God. The fact that I went to seminary and wear the title of "pastor" is insignificant. God gives you authority to do ministry. You are not a second-class Christian. You are a minister. We have an entire congregation full of ministers. That includes you. So, if God gives you a vision to launch a new ministry that is uniquely your own, my desire is to release you to do it.
So when you’re talking to other people, please don’t call me "your minister," because according to the Bible, all of us are ministers. Please don’t call me "Reverend," because only God is worthy of that title. Don’t call me "clergy", because the Latin "clericus" means "priest", and scripturally, we are all priests before God, and your prayers are just as effective as mine. So, keep it simple; just call me "Bo". If you need to use a title, call me "Pastor". The younger kids can call me "Pastor Bo". But please, no priestly pedestals. Why? Because you are the ministers! Claim that title for yourself. You have a ministry!
In fact, a legitimate question for me to ask you is, "How’s your ministry going?" Do you see it? God’s plan is -- "to prepare God’s people for works of service". The word for "service" or "ministry" in the Greek is diakonias, which is where our word "deacon" comes from.
Think about that. If you had a young daughter, would you teach her to swim by having her take a correspondence course in swimming? Would you teach your son to drive by tossing him a driver’s manual, but never giving him a chance to drive? Of course not. To really learn, she’s got to get down into the water; he’s got to get behind the steering wheel and practice on low-traffic roads. In a similar way, the only way that you and I can ever grow spiritually mature is by putting our biblical knowledge into practice in the daily experiences of our lives, and that takes time. [As Hebrews 5:14 says -- "solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."]
The New Testament model requires us to all serve together, where I focus on the ministry of the Word, and everyone finds their place of service:
Acts 6:1-7 “In those days when the number of the disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’”
1. We are created to work for Christ
a. Ephesians 2:8-10
i. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
ii. Not by works, so that no one can boast.
iii. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
b. When you begin to serve… you bless God.
i. You were called with a purpose in mind… a cause to fulfill.
ii. You weren’t saved for SELF’S sake but for SERVICE sake!
iii. Church becomes one WAY to serve the Lord…
iv. NOW… you can’t come and just sit… just receive
v. If that’s you… then you’re missing out on one of the most joyous, most rewarding, most satisfying places in Jesus.
vi. But not only are you missing out but so are we as a church.
vii. Because you’ve been placed here to fill a specific need…
c. Jesus Christ came to GIVE not TAKE, SERVE not BE SERVED…
i. He’s our model, our Teacher, He’s the Head of this church.
ii. If His goal was to serve… what must ours be?
d. Your purpose is to make an eternal difference with your life
i. Even the most passive of Christians surely cannot deny that the church exists for the Great Commission. But it’s so important that we understand that we have been called to sow our whole lives into this very purpose.
ii. Matthew 9: 36-38 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
2. God has commanded leadership to equip you for your ministry
a. We believe in equipping all Christians for ministry and life by helping them to operate in their spiritual gifts
i. We also have to recognize the New Testament teaching concerning spiritual gifts.
1. In Acts 2, we’re told that when we become Christians, we receive the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
2. One of the reasons that we receive the Holy Spirit is that He equips us with at least one gift for ministry
3. You can find the primary New Testament teachings concerning these gifts here in our passage this morning from Eph. 4 and also in Rom. 12, I Cor. 12, and 1 Pet. 4.
ii. I can’t cover this subject this morning or we’d all be here all day
iii. Suffice it to say that it is biblical and you will hear more about this in the fairly new future.
iv. Know that these gifts are given to do works of ministry.
v. Rick Warren: “God gave me a gift, not for me but for you, and God gave you a gift, not for you but for me. If you don’t use your gift, you’re depriving me; if I don’t use my gift, I’m robbing you.”
b. Discipleship must develop the body, mind, and spirit of believers, and enable them to use their God-given gifts to serve the Kingdom
i. This is why discipleship must take place in small groups – so that you have accountability for doing the Word, not just learning how to regergetate it
c. The church must enable believers to discover their spiritual gifts and must be mentored to develop in their calling
i. In a lot of churches, the preacher and a handful of volunteers usually do most of the work themselves, and they directly oversee the rest of it.
ii. The leaders are often exhausted and near the point of burnout.
iii. That method of operation is based on a wrong vision of the church: The congregation sees the church as a PYRAMID
1. One person at the top, meeting everyone’s needs, and doing all the work.
2. That concept of ministry limits our vision and makes us extremely ineffective.
3. With that particular style of ministry, the pyramid can only grow so large and the ministry from the top doesn’t reach everybody at the bottom.
4. The New Testament shape of ministry is made up of a CIRCLE in which we all minister to each other.
5. Inside the big circle is a series of smaller concentric circles, each one representing a different ministry. The church grows not by adding people to the bottom of the pyramid but by adding more circles of ministry inside the encompassing circle of your church.
6. Christ is glorified with that style of ministry.
7. If I’m the only person ministering to the needs of the congregation and the community, then I can only minister to a maximum of 150-200 people.
8. But if the congregation is involved, we can minister to thousands.
9. If I’m the only minister, your going to hear people say, “Bo was good to us when my wife was sick.”
a. Now I like being good to people.
b. I like being told I was a comfort or help when someone was sick or in trouble.
10. But if the congregation is involved in ministry, you’ll hear the people say, “The church was really good to us when we went through a rough time.”
11. Which statement is better? “Bo was really good to us,” or “The church was really good to us”?
a. Since the church is the Body of Christ, then the head of the Body, Jesus Christ, receives the recognition.
b. When the church becomes a circle instead of a pyramid, Christ gets the glory instead of the guy at the top of the pyramid.
d. All believers must be enabled and accountable to share their faith in personal evangelism
i. When you get to heaven God is going to ask him 2 questions. “Why should you enter here?” And, “Who did you bring with you?” The answer to the first question is because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ who I believe is my Lord and Savior. It ‘s the second question that always gnawed at me over the past several years. “Who did you bring with you?”
e. Discipleship is effective when believers live principles of worship, fellowship, evangelism, prayer, and service
i. So many books and diets out there that claim to tell you exactly how many of each food group you need. Sometimes these experts are at complete odds with one another. Some health gurus say, “Stay away from red meat and eggs,” while others (like the Adkins diet) tell you to eat lots of meat and stay away from the grains. These days, it is hard to know who to believe.
ii. Perhaps, Mark Twain was right when he quipped, “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” Mark Twain once said, “The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like and do what you’d rather not.”
f. No believer should sit idle from ministry
i. The Dead Sea is so salty that it contains no fish or plant life. What accounts for this unusual condition? There are absolutely no outlets! A great volume of water pours into this area, but nothing flows out. Many inlets plus no outlets equal a dead sea.
ii. Few things are more exciting than to see hundreds of people willingly give of their time and energy to see that the church’s ministry continues
iii. Few things are more frustrating than to be burdened with the majority of the work of ministry yourself.
iv. For too long, the church has been like a football game.
1. A small percentage of the people in the stadium are playing their hearts out and 60,000 people are sitting in the stands cheering or booing.
g. Ministry is a team working toward God’s vision for us
i. Paul J. Meyer tells about the time when he learned teamwork in the army. They lined up 20 men, shoulder to shoulder, with their backs on the ground. Then they placed heavy log across the chest of these men. Paul Meyer said that if even one of the men were to shrink back their chest, the other 19 would feel the pain created by the weight not carried by the one man.
ii. Unless we are all doing our parts, others of us will feel the pain created by the weight you are not carrying. But not only will we feel the pain, those who are not doing their part will not mature into the fullness of Christ.
iii. “When we receive without giving, we become fat. When we give without receiving, we become faint. When we receive and give, we become faithful.” Each member is called to be faithful. If each of us does our part, we will receive from others and give to others.
h. You grow spiritually when you work for the Kingdom
i. Evidence of growth: #1, Non-reliance on clergy. I almost didn’t use that word. I didn’t want you to think I’m something I’m not. Non-reliance on clergy.
ii. Do you realize that a parent’s responsibility when a child is born, is to help that child grow up, so that it can cope with life? Finally, the day comes when that child leaves home & the parents, through tear-filled eyes, wave "good-bye." But they realize that this is what God called them to do.
iii. It is the same way in the church. If a church is going to grow, then there must be many ministries taking place, & the Christian leader’s responsibility, according to what Paul said in the words that we read this morning, is to "build one another up, so that each can do his or her part."
iv. To keep believers from serving is to keep believers from maturing.
1. I believe nursery workers can learn to pray without ceasing. When you carry a crying baby for 60 minutes, you are constantly praying, “God, when will the service end?” Kidding aside, nursery workers can shape children with God’s love and learn about God’s unconditional love through the children.
2. When teachers teach, they learn twice as much and remember what they learn twice as long. They learn it once in the preparation and once in the classroom teaching. God’s Spirit also impresses upon them to live what they learn. Teachers mature more quickly because they are regularly immersed in God’s truth.
3. You will only grow into the fullness of Christ when you are a contributor through His church.
4. Let me ask you. How many of would go to a gym, pay someone and watch him exercise, and then expect for yourself to grow muscles and a healthy body? Yet, that’s what some do, when they think that by coming to church, putting money in the offering box and watching others serve, that they would become the person God intended them to become.
3. Christ demands high commitment from His followers
a. Thom Rainer studied hundred of churches and wrote a book called High Expectations.
i. One of the marks of a healthy church was that they successfully assimilated new members.
ii. Meaning that they did a good job of winning and keeping members
iii. The way this effective assimilation occurred was through expected more of its members, not less.
iv. Listen to his finding in his own words: “Repeatedly we heard about effective assimilation methodologies that worked only if the ministries carried with them high expectations of those involved. Such is the primary conclusion and thesis of this study. Effective assimilation churches have one primary characteristic that sets them apart from churches that do not keep their members in active involvement. Effective assimilation churches had high expectations of all their members.
v. Along with congregational growth, being involved in ministry helps us to grow in our individual Christian lives.
vi. Nothing helps you grow as a Christian like service.
vii. If you want to grow, visit a nursing home, teach a class of young children, go on a short-term mission trip, or volunteer to a humbling job like cleaning up after youth group on Wednesday nights.
viii. If our church is not providing opportunities for our members to serve, we are stifling our members’ spiritual growth.
b. Illustration: A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. "Do I like this work?" he said. "No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse...But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to ’Go," and we go. Love constrains us."
c. Luke 14:25-27
i. Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
ii. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
iii. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
d. Luke 14:33
i. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
e. Luke 9:57-62
i. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
ii. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
iii. He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
iv. Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
v. Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family."
vi. Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
f. Luke 18:22-23
i. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
ii. When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
g. Romans 12:1
i. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
4. Committed workers are heroes
a. There are many reasons why God shouldn’t have called you. But don’t worry. You’re in good company.
i. Moses stuttered.
ii. David’s armor didn’t fit.
iii. John Mark was rejected by Paul.
iv. Timothy had ulcers.
v. Hosea’s wife was a prostitute.
vi. Amos’ only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
vii. Jacob was a liar.
viii. David had an affair.
ix. Solomon was too rich.
x. Abraham was too old.
xi. David was too young.
xii. Peter was afraid of death.
xiii. Lazarus was dead.
xiv. John was self-righteous.
xv. Naomi was a widow.
xvi. Paul was a murderer
1. So was Moses.
xvii. Jonah ran from God.
xviii. Miriam was a gossip.
xix. Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
xx. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
xxi. Elijah was burned out.
xxii. John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
xxiii. Martha was a worry-wart.
xxiv. Mary was lazy.
xxv. Samson had long hair.
xxvi. Noah got drunk.
xxvii. Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
1. So did Peter and Paul
2. Well, lots of folks did.
xxviii. But God doesn’t require a job interview.
1. He doesn’t hire and fire like most bosses, because He’s more our Dad than our Boss.
xxix. He doesn’t look at financial gain or loss.
xxx. He’s concern gain or loss of souls and the spiritual maintenance of those souls
xxxi. He’s not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.
b. Make an eternal difference
5. Vision members will commit 5 hours a week to impact eternity
