Ministry – Through Us, By God, For His people
 
A Roman proverb says, “When the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind.”

If you have been around Christian churches in America for some time, you would have heard many methods by these so-called how-to-build-a-successful-church gurus. But most of the time, they leave God out of their formula. That is like the pilot who doesn’t know what port he is heading for. That ministry starts to go in one direction; soon it changes its course, then again and again.

To go the direction God leads us, we have to depend on the principles God has for us instead of the methods we can learn from each other. You might have heard this couplet:
Methods are many, principles are few;
Methods always change, principles never do.

Here is the bottom line of the ministry:
Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.

We are the ones who are privileged to be that channel to distribute God’s resources to His people.

A. MINISTRY EQUALS SACRIFICE
2 Samuel 24:24-25 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.
King David’s head got a little too big. He commanded general Joab to number the population of Israel. He wanted to know how many soldiers he had which meant his national military power against other nations. By now, there was no nation which could come against Israel. In spite of that fact, he did this foolish thing. It was nothing more than fanning his own ego.

When Prophet Gad came to David, the king quickly repented and wanted to make it right with the Lord because God sent a plague to the people of Israel and seventy thousand people were already dead.

When he came to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, according to the prophet Gad’s instruction, Araunah offered him the land and his oxen for free to the king. But the king David would not accept his land and oxen. I really can see the heart of the man after God’s own heart here.
“nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.”

David understood that sacrifice requires something of our own, not someone else’s. That would be someone else’s sacrifice.

The majority of Christians in America want to be served rather than serve others. That is why only 10% of the church congregation gets involved with ministries physically and financially.

As you all know they have many excuses, but here are two famous ones:
1) “I don’t think I am qualified to be in the ministry.”
The same people who claim that they are not qualified for the ministry would get mad at me if I told them they are not qualified. In other words, it is nothing more than an excuse. To be honest with you, none of us are qualified to do any of God’s work. In His grace, He allows us to be in. It is a matter of our willingness and the grace of God.

2) “I don’t have time for ministries.”
If I am a betting person – I am not – I can safely say that they have plenty of time for the things that they would like to do. Just another excuse.

Getting involved in the ministry requires time and sacrifice on our parts. We all know that. But none of us have sacrificed ourselves to the point of death.

If I can follow them around throughout a week, I am sure I can find enough time for them to get involved with any part of the ministries the church has.

For Jesus’ ministry, it cost Him everything. He who knew no sin became a sinner for us. The righteous God who laid aside His glory took a form of man to be the perfect sacrifice for the ones who hated Him and would crucify Him.

B. MINISTRY DEMANDS THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
I know that many of you are already involved in the ministry. I thank God for you all. But it is a good thing that we need to examine our hearts to see if we are in ministries with the right motives and right attitudes. Of course, we would say, “To glorify God and to serve His people,” without skipping a beat.

Let’s ask ourselves. Do we get involved in ministries because it is something we do in the church? Or is it because you’ve done this before in a different church, so you automatically signed up for it? Do we really mean to serve God and His people? Then why do we get upset with the very people we serve because they don’t acknowledge us or don’t agree with us?

We must never be thankful for a reason or an excuse to escape responsibility, and we must guard against the kind of an automatic mode that leads to a hard heart. In Christian service, a sensitive spirit and a tender heart are absolutely essential. Otherwise we can easily become calloused.

C. MINISTRY EXPECTS CHANGES
Changes are evident in the ministry. People move in and out of the area, so the faces of the congregation change. It means that we have to change something whenever a new situation occurs within the guidelines that God gives to us through His Word, the Bible.

If you are a ministry leader, don’t think that your way is the only way. Tune your heart to the drumbeat of God, not men. If God is leading you to change a few things including your favorite style, do what He says instead of being stubborn about your old ways. As I have said before, guess who wins whenever we argue with God?

If you are involved in a certain ministry and your leader is changing direction of the ministry, then you work with the leader instead of arguing with that person that it is not the way you did before. Guess who is in charge and guess how the chain of command works in that particular ministry? God puts that person in the position of authority and your job is to be submissive, not argumentative. That is a part of the servanthood lesson.

When the people we serve irritate us or disappoint us, the first thing we usually do is pray for them and tell the Lord to change them. What we ought to do first is pray for ourselves and ask Him to increase our love to them. Otherwise, we may give the devil a foothold in our own hearts, which will create problems the next time we try to minister to those people.

If all God wanted to do was get the work done, He could send His angels. They would do it better and faster than us. But He not only wants to do something through us, He also wants to do something in us.

D. MINISTRY SHOWS US WHOM WE ARE SERVING
Some of you have been the Calvary Chapel Pastors and Leaders Conference I put together in Calvary Tucson in March for the last seven years. I get to have the privilege of working with the 120 most dedicated servants of God from our church and Calvary Tucson for four days. They work their tails off for four days from 7 in the morning until 10:30 at night.

Every year, the attendees of the conference could not believe the caliber of these servants. They ask me where I find these hard working, dedicated servants. Actually, half of them come to the volunteer orientation meeting with no expectations or thinking that it would be easy work for three days.

The first question I ask them is this: “What would you do if your Savior and Lord Jesus Christ walked into the conference site? Is there anything you would not do?” They would say, “There is nothing we wouldn’t do for Him.” Then I say, “As of now, you consider everyone who walks through that door is Jesus and treat them as if you are treating Jesus Himself.” Then they have the same puzzled look like you have now. You are wondering, “How did you manage to get a connection between serving people and serving Jesus as the same?” I am so glad that you thought about that. That means you are still awake.
Acts 9:1-6a Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Did you notice when Saul was persecuting the church, Jesus took it personally? So at the same time, when we are serving the body of Christ, we are serving Jesus.

God literally transformed many mediocre volunteers to dedicated servants of God in a matter of an hour by opening their spiritual eyes and ears. Now they understand whom they are serving.

E. MINISTRY REQUIRES YOUR OWNERSHIP
When I visited Bulgaria for the first time two and a half years ago, that country was in economic chaos since the main communist Russia pulled all her financial support and factory machineries out of the country. More than anything else, for the first time in over a half century, Bulgarian people realized that they have to work hard to make money. In light of newly arrived capitalism from the western world, they were having a hard time understanding the concept “No work, no income”. In other words, they had to take ownership of their jobs.

Like these Bulgarians during the communist regime, many Christian volunteers do not take ownership of their ministries – attending church and doing their volunteer work and going home. There is no passion and excitement for the idea that I am a part of changing lives through the work of God.

F. MINISTRY SHAPES US TO BE LEADERS AND EXAMPLES
John 13:3-5 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Jesus didn’t make a big scene out of what he was about to do. He simply got up and laid aside His garments, took a towel and prepared Himself to wash the stinky feet of His disciples. No neon sign, no parade, no nothing. He started it quietly. The argument of the disciples came to a screeching halt. They knew exactly what Jesus was doing – taking the role of the lowest slave that one of them should have taken, but they forgot because they were busy arguing who is the best. I am sure that they were so embarrassed by now.

I heard a story from Calvary Chapel Senior Pastors Conference in Murrieta, CA some time ago. After a dinner, some of the pastors were sitting at the table and chatting or some were starting to play ping pong. Ever so quietly, Pastor Chuck Smith started to gather up dishes and silverware that the other pastors left on the table. This was a live display of a teaching moment in the dining hall. For a moment, there were gulfs and silence among the pastors. Soon they started to follow the example of their old pastor Chuck Smith. I heard that the pastors were coming out of the woodwork to pick up dishes and silverware.
1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (NIV)
G. MINISTRY HELPS US ENCOURAGE OTHERS
Encouraging others may sound like an old fashioned thing, but it is vital in our lives.

An underdog football team coach encourages his players not be scared about the other team’s strength, size, speed and accomplishments, rather just play hard as if this is the last game on the earth. Some call it a pep-talk.

Encouragement through ministry is more than a pep-talk. While we serve the Lord, He is using us to encourage, to strengthen other people’s hearts and faith through us. What a privilege, what an honor! If you are not involved in serving the Lord through ministries, you are cheating yourself from God’s blessings.

H. MINISTRY GLORIFIES GOD, NO ONE ELSE
How do we know what we’re doing is really glorifying God? If we can explain what’s going on, God didn’t do it. The working of God isn’t always predictable, because the wind of the Spirit blows where He wishes.

We live in a world filled with people who have incredible needs of all kinds, and we can relate to these needs in one of several ways. We can be blind to them and live our own lives. But that wouldn’t be living as Christians are supposed to live.
Philippians 2:3-4 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
1) God is glorified when people see the Lord and not the servant.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We have to decide whether we will be servants of the Most High or celebrities; whether we will magnify Christ or promote ourselves.

2) God is glorified when our service to the Lord in the ministry produces fruit.
We may not see the fruit of our service in our time, but God knows.

If our motives for serving is anything other than the glory of God, what we do will be only religious activity and not true Christian ministry.

I. MINISTRY IS FOR EVERYONE TO BE INVOLVED
Many people have tendencies to come up with the reasons or excuses why they cannot be a part of the ministries more than the reason why they should be in. Stop making excuses why you cannot serve God and His people, and start to obey God by serving Him. You will be blessed beyond your wildest imagination.

Our God expects all of us to be involved with one ministry or another. Yes, all of us. If you are a born-again Christian, consider it as a privilege and honor to serve one another as we serve the Lord.

Don’t think that this church has someone else to do your part. You are that part. Get involved and serve. You have no idea how much you will be blessed while you serve. We don’t need to have that typical percentage that the majority of the churches have – only 10% is serving, but let it be 100% in our congregation.

If you have not served before in this church and you’ve been coming to this church for a while, your service to the Lord starts at helping the Movers and Shakers crew to tear down the equipment and load them back into the trailer instead of walking out the door.

The best question we can ask the Lord is what Saul of Tarsus asked on the road to Damascus: “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

J. APPLICATIONS
1) We must know the divine resources personally.

2) We must see the human needs compassionately.

3) We must become channels of God’s mighty resources so that He alone is glorified.
 
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