Requirements For Successful Church Ministry

INTRODUCTION

A. Woman who felt the tug of God on her heart one night at a church service.

1. Responded and accepted Christ as her Savior.

2. Had a past that involved drugs, alcohol, and prostitution.

3. Became a faithful member of the church.

4. Involved in ministry and taught young children.

5. She and the pastor’s son began dating and soon made plans to marry.

6. Problems arose because about half of the church didn’t think a woman with a past like hers was suitable for the pastor’s son.

7. Church began to argue and fight and decided to call a meeting.

8. As the arguments were made the tension increased.

9. Young woman got very upset as things in her past were brought up.

10. As she began to cry, the pastor’s son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain they were causing his wife to be.

11. Said, “My fiancé’s past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?”

12. The entire church began to weep as they realized they were slandering the blood of Christ.

B. Do we believe Christ is the answer to people’s dilemmas?

1. People have many needs: mental, physical, emotional.

2. The greatest need they have is Jesus.

3. If we believe he is the answer to the deepest need people have, then we must do ministry through outreach.

C. We looked at the story last week.

1. Jesus left Judea to return to the region of Galilee.

2. On the way, he had to go through Samaria and there he met the woman at the well.

3. What does the story teach us about elements that are involved if we are to be successful in our outreach and ministry endeavors?

WE MUST BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE NEED JESUS

A. This woman needed Jesus.

1. She was an immoral woman who had been married several times and was now living with a man who was not her husband.

2. Jesus knew this woman needed him; that is why he went through Samaria.

3. She came to the well for water to drink, but Jesus told her about living water that would quench her thirst forever.

4. The water he spoke of was a relationship with him that would meet her deepest needs.

5. Jesus, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

6. Her lifestyle bore out the fact that she needed him also.

7. Jesus told her to go get her husband, and she acknowledged that she didn’t have one.

8. Jesus, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband-for you have had five husbands and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now.”

B. If we are going to help people spiritually, we must first believe they need help.

1. Many people don’t believe this.

2. George Barna does a great deal of research in religious circles.

3. In surveys taken a few years ago (1996 and 1997), he found some amazing facts.

4. Most Americans, including many professing Christians, believe that people are inherently good and that there primary purpose is to enjoy life as much as possible.

5. 38% believed that it doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.

6. 44% believed that all people will experience the same outcome after death, regardless of their religious beliefs.

7. 55% believed that if a person is generally good or does enough good things for others during their life, that they will earn a place in heaven.

C. A great deal of what people believe about themselves or in general does not square with what the Bible teaches.

1. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”

2. Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”

3. John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jesus)

4. Psalm 51:5, “For I was born a sinner-yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.”

5. Romans 5:12, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”

D. The condition of humanity is not pretty.

1. We place too much emphasis on the goodness of humanity.

2. Yes, many people do good things, but in our nature we are sinful and selfish.

3. We are out for number one and rebellious toward God.

4. A child will demonstrate this at a very young age.