You Have A Part To Play Series

Sermon Title: You have a Part to Play

Place: Oakdale Wesleyan Church

Date: April 20, 2008

Subject: Missions – Call

Introduction

I brought to church with me this morning some everyday objects that would be around any of our homes. These are very useful and sometimes needed objects. What I would like to do is invite a few folks up here to simply do a demonstration for us this morning as to how these objects are used and I would even like them to use the objects before our very eyes. So if I could get one or two adult volunteers to help me out.

Flash Light with no bulb

Flash light with a missing battery

Lamp – with no plug in

Drill with no chuck

Screw driver handle

A remote control with no TV

Razor with no blade

So would my participants say that there is something wrong with each of these items? Are these items of much value without their missing piece? NO. So would you say that every part, even if it is a small part, is probably needed in order to make your object work like it should? YES

Thank you, you may be seated.

Every part is necessary. You know, you can build the coolest hot rod but if you forget to put the tiny oil plug in on the bottom of the oil pan the engine is going to blow and the whole car, regardless of how much money and time you spent making it, is going to be worthless. Shucks, the most expensive car on the market today is worthless without the key – or the code on some fancy cars, to get into them.

On Thursday night my sister-in-law from Huntington Indiana called needed to know my brother’s phone number. My brother Mark used to live one block over form my sister-in-laws home but last year my brother and his wife moved to Maine. They were finally able to sell their house. Well my sister-in-law was out walking in the neighborhood and happen to run into the man who bought my brother’s nice house. Now their homes are fairly new (built within the last 8 years) and they are in a pretty fancy addition. My brother’s home was really cool with a nice two-car garage with one of those fancy numeric pads on the outside so you can open the garage door from the outside with out the remote. Well the man who bought my brother’s house never received the code form the realtor for the number pad on the garage door and therefore has not been able to use this fancy feature that would make lawn work and outdoor work much easier. So here you have this fancy gizmo but it was basically worthless without that simply four digit code which he wanted to contact my brother to obtain.

There are many things in life that don’t function the way they should when they are missing a part. Now the item may still be able to have some functionality, but when they miss even the littlest part they do not function the way they should. Right now at this point in the sermon can anyone draw any conclusions about how this might also apply to the church?

Over the past 3 weeks we have been talking about the significance and importance of global missions. Dr. Piper last week talked about how our purpose and understanding of God refines or defines our mission, two weeks ago I talked about the fact that even though we may be small or an individual we can have an impact on the world, we can make a difference, and the first week in this series I talked about how we are not alone in the world, God is now with us, we have been privileged to hear about God’s love and we now have a responsibility to others locally and globally to share with them what we have learned about God and his son Jesus Christ.

This morning I want to look at one more side of missions. This study comes out of I Corinthians 12:27-31 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophet, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.”

In order for the Kingdom of God to come we must all be about the work that God has given us to do because without every part doing what it should do the body of Christ can not function as it should. Now before you go and take this way off in the spiritual let me define the “what each part should do.” We are not talking about soul winning, witnessing, ministry to the children or others in the community, I am not talking about serving on the local church board. What I am talking about this morning is doing exactly what you are doing but doing it now for Christ. Let’s look at this from a different angle, what would happen if everyone of us became pastors in the church. I’m talking full time career type pastors? What would happen? Talk back