Thank God For Brothers & Sisters

Thank God For Brothers & Sisters

GNLCC 10/29/06 2 Samuel 23:8-23 Romans 16:1-16

Today we have set aside a Sunday to remember the work of our Lay Pastors. The Bible says give honor to whom honor is due. They are certainly worthy of our honor. They have been true team players.

One of the joys of being on any kind of a team is that you win together and your lose together. Every smart player knows you cannot win without the help of others. Sometimes for the good of the team, you might have to stand in the shadows, sit on the bench or even allow others to get the credit that should have gone to you. This isn’t always easy but it may be what’s necessary to win the game.

When I played high school football, I was a safety. If you look at the defensive team on the football field, the guy that is the farthest back away from the ball is going to be the safety. He is usually the last person to save your team from being scored upon. I didn’t score any touchdowns in high school. I didn’t get my name mentioned that often in the paper. But I never forgot one of the compliments the coach gave me during one of our film watching sections of the previous games. He said, “Rick makes up for a lot of the mistakes we make during the game.” You see when others made mistakes and missed a tackle, I was there to make the tackle. My job was not to take over the team, it was to help others and in so doing I was helping myself because we won or loss as a team.

God has given us lay pastors to first build up the leadership team here at the church and second to help make up for the mistakes that we all make, especially we as pastors. Some of you are in the place you are in, because God wants you to demonstrate your faith in God, by building up those who may be over you. Did you know it’s your job to make your boss look as good as he or she can, because of your efforts? Did you know it’s your Christian responsibility to make your teacher look as good as he or she can? Did you know it’s your job to make your husband, your wife, your children or your parents look as good as they can by your efforts. Did you know it’s your job to make your church look as good as it can. That’s just one of the reasons we thank God for brothers and sisters in Christ.

The flip side of this is that it is the job of your brothers and sisters in Christ to make you look as good as you possibly can look. This means we come to the aid of each other when we’ve got a need. Why because we are all on the same team and a part of the same family. Our goal is to win the game of life for the cause of Jesus Christ. Our motivation is to build and encourage one another in order to get the job done. To make it happen, we have to keep in mind our work is for the cause of Christ. When you do something and don’t get the credit you deserve, remember you did it for the cause of Christ. Christ always sees what you do and always puts the credit where it really counts.

We live in a world, where being number 1 is what it is all about. Who is the best running back? Who is the best player? Who is the best director? Who is the best pastor? Who is the best whatever? Chances are none of these things really matter and it’s hard to say which answer is true. The best running back is never heard of if he has a lousy line blocking. The best player may never be talked about if his team consistently loses. The best director never gets a chance if is choir has lousy voices. The best pastor is only as good as the staff and the congregation he or she serves. We have a system where we like to make superstars, but all of us cannot be that kind of a superstar. But all of us can be super in what we have to offer.

We look at the Apostle Paul in the bible and we see this superstar of a Christian. He had great faith. He started a number of churches. God used him to write books of the bible. He challenged kings. He was a bold, tough believer. If he were alive today, we would want to put him on tv and take him around on the mega conference circuits. But that was not who Paul was. Paul never forgot, he was on a team that was doing a work for Jesus Christ.