Third Sunday of Advent: December 12, 2010
Rejoice in the Lord! Shout for JOY! Finding our place in Ministry! A JOYFUL experience.
The pentagon is a tool for enabling every believer to recognize his or her
worth and how to contribute to the
building up of the body of Christ.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ… Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. –
Ephesians 4:7,
11-13
We must change our thinking as to whom the church really
belongs. Church leadership based on high control is not attractive to this emerging generation. Their journey of faith in community is not about doing church but about
being the church. God does not expect you to be who you are not, but He does want you to be all that He made you to be. Remember that we have nothing to offer except what God Himself gives us. ALL YOU ARE MADE TO BE… “Buckets of Grace”
A Spiritual Gift is Not Your Ministry:
We should not look at
ALL the “gift” passages as the same. Take a look at the three main “gift” passages in this way:
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. –
Romans 12:3-8
Motivational (Personality) Gifts – Think of these
seven gifts as your motivation in life. What are the things that bring you the most joy, things that you seem to do with certain ease and effectiveness (while other things you may do are just the opposite)? The bottom line is, “What motivates you to do the things you do in the kingdom?” The seven listed here are prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership and mercy. These are
foundational. These are our motivational gifts which will be exercised through a ministry. These are “gifts” (or talents) we are born with and would exist even without a relationship with Christ or the Holy Spirit at work. The Holy Spirit
enhances these gifts.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ… Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. –
Ephesians 4:7,
11-13
Ministry (office) Gifts – Each believer is given a gift, not just those with a special calling to vocational ministry. We are to take our
passion, or motivation, and exercise that gift in a
ministry of service. The five ministries are briefly explained in the picture above. So, we take our motivational gift and exercise it through a certain ministry. What about those controversial gifts found elsewhere in the Bible?
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. –
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Manifestation (charismata) Gifts – These gifts are
manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and not just evidence of the Holy Spirit inside of the believer. They are also given at a special time for a special purpose. The Lord desires His
body to experience the fullness of all He offers and desires to show His
power and presence. As I follow God’s leadership in my life, I will take my motivational gift (the way I am wired, my personality talents) and exercise it through a ministry. God fills us with his Holy Spirit to carry out his ministry among HIS people.
The Fivefold Foundation for Ministry:
Here are the five ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4.
Apostle – This is from the Greek word “apostolos,” meaning “
one who is sent out.” Apostles are visionary and pioneering, pushing into new territory, establishing new ministries, being innovative in kingdom work. They enjoy dreaming, doing new and challenging tasks. Paul is a good biblical example of an Apostle. Words that describe someone with this ministry role would include: excites, envisions, challenges, bridges. Apostles make good entrepreneurs and explorers.
Prophet – This describes people who hear and listen to God and the prophet foretells and forth-tells the message of God. They can step back and get a clear picture of what is happening and discover creative solutions to help develop a vision. They understand the time and what people need to do. They enjoy being alone with God, waiting and listening. In the New Testament:
Anna and Simeon are examples. Many creative types-artists, writers, musicians-fit here.
Evangelist – This one brings the good news and shares the message readily. They love spending time with non-Christians. They may not be “Billy Graham” types, but they are able to gather people and make the gospel relevant to lost people. When they enter a room, others are drawn to them and somehow they make each person feel like he, or she, is the only person that matters. Acts 8:
12-13But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God's kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ, they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left! Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip's shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn't leave Philip's side. This shows us an example of
Philip. Evangelists are persuasive and convincing. They make good politicians, salesmen and journalists.
Pastor – These are the shepherds of God’s people, one who cares with a tender heart. They see needs, providing comfort and encouragement. They spend a lot of time with Christians, building them up for their effective service. They can easily empathize with others and exhibit a lot of patience with those in need. They enjoy one-on-one chats and showing hospitality. They feel the burden of others’ problems and have a knack for speaking the truth in love. Someone with this ministry base is a good listener, easy to talk to and share inner feelings with because of their sensitivity.
Barnabas, in his dealings with John Mark, shows a pastor’s heart. Those in the care-giving professions are good secular examples.
Teacher – The teacher holds forth the TRUTH and is excited about it. They love seeing the light-bulb go on for others. They have a knack for explain things in a way that the listener can understand. Teachers look for ways to apply truth, drawing from their own spiritual walk as well as other resources past and present. They enjoy reading and studying the BIBLE and helping others to understand it. A teacher can be just as satisfied mentoring as teaching in front of a group. Teachers make good lecturers and trainers because they enjoy inspiring and equipping others for change.
Apollos is a good biblical example. Acts 18
24-26A man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures. He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.
How to Find Your Base:
The authors challenge us to take an honest look at ourselves. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? These have little to do with being the life of the party or not, but rather with how one functions and processes information.
Extroverts enjoy taking things through with others as they make decisions; they can easily ad-lib. It appears that most apostles, prophets and evangelists are more extroverted.
Introverts process things internally. They are refreshed and recharged by spending time alone. These are your writers, painters and composers. This is not a clear-cut way to determine one’s ministry because most of us fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
Finding Your Phase: Pioneers and Settlers:
Pioneers enjoy the stress of doing something new, reaching beyond themselves to discover new frontiers and challenges, looking for the next opportunity to explore.
Settlers are committed to continuity, stability and conversation. They prefer to grow and develop plans rather than scrap what they have started and begin again. They like to see things through until the end, knowing what to expect, and are comfortable when things move along according to plans.
Both pioneers and settlers are vital; historically to the American west and presently to the church as well. Pioneers are looking beyond what they have accomplished to see what lies ahead. Without settlers, we would never keep the land and program that the pioneers have started. Pioneers move on to new territory; settlers occupy and build with deliberate efforts.
WALK IN MINISTRY:
It is easy for us to think we should be operating in all the gifts yet if we try to do all of these we will not only burn out but fail to allow others to explore and operate in their gifting and base ministry. “God does not expect you to be what you are
NOT.” But he does mean for you to be a servant minister, knowing that you have nothing to offer except what God himself gives you. We are not all called to be
Pastors, but we are all called to care. We are not all called to be
teachers, but we are all called to hold out the TRUTH. We are all responsible for how to listen to God voice, something that comes more naturally to the
prophet. We are all called to share the Good News with others, but this take all those who are not called to be
evangelists out of their comfort zones. We are not all
apostles, but must all learn to walk out into what God calls us to do, however uncomfortable we are.
Are you ready to operate in your gifts and even venture into the unknown? On this third Sunday of Advent the Lord invites us to
Prepare the Royal Highway and walk the journey learning to move in the way he has made us and living joyfully when we are in the “Sweet-spot” of God’s will!
