
Gods Will for Your Life (Romans 12:1-8)
- even though I attended church since I was a child,
it wasnt until about nine years ago that I discovered the principle
which has brought the greatest amount of freedom and release in my ministry
- as I entered pastoral ministry, I found that the work
was immense, and many of my pastor friends were discouraged and somewhat
ineffective
- I knew that God had given me certain spiritual gifts,
because after all, I was training to be a pastor
- but I never honestly expected anyone else to do ministry
in the church
- sure, we needed people to collect the offering and
change diapers in the nursery, but beyond that, what could members of
the congregation do?
- they hadnt taken Hebrew and Greek
- they had never been to seminary
- I picked up from other pastors that all they were good
for was the things that I didnt want to do, getting back once
again to changing diapers in the nursery
- I was pretty sure you didnt need to know Hebrew
and Greek to do that
-
- but as I said, the work was immense
- I would open the mail, type the bulletin, answer the
phone, preach the sermons, visit the sick, call those who were absent,
advertise the church, participate in every program
- when something was wrong with the building, people
came to me
-
- but then I discovered, and more importantly, began
to practice a principle which has literally made ministry more fulfilling,
rewarding, and less tiring for me
- whats more, my ministry became exponentially
more effective
- I began to discover that I couldnt do the job
alone
- I began to put into practice what I already knew about
spiritual gifts
- slowly, I helped those around me discover their spiritual
gifts and began to release ministry to them
- to my astonishment, ministry began to take place without
me
- people who had never taken Hebrew or Greek began to
discover that God had created them uniquely to fulfill a certain role
in the church that I couldnt hope to fill
- more ministry was taking place, morale in the church
increased, my satisfaction in ministry became fuller, and our goals
in the church were being realized
- all because I began equipping people to do the work
of the ministry rather than doing the work of the ministry by myself
-
- Napoleon once pointed to a giant map of China and said,
"There lies a sleeping giant. If it ever wakes up, it will be unstoppable"
- as I stand before you this morning, I say to you that
the church is a sleeping giant
- each Sunday, its pews are filled with members who are
doing little besides attending regularly and financially supporting
the church
- to be fair, thats all theyve ever been
asked to do
- but God has far greater expectations for every Christian
- God expects every Christian to use his or her gifts
and talents in ministry
- Rick Warren writes and I concur, "If we can ever
awaken and unleash the massive talent, resources, creativity, and energy
lying dormant in the typical local church, Christianity will explode
with growth at an unprecedented rate"
- the greatest need in evangelical churches is the release
of members for ministry
-
- a Gallup survey found that only 10% of church members
are active in any kind of ministry
- 50% of church members have no interest in serving in
any ministry
- and 40% of church members have expressed an interest
in ministry, but they have never been asked or dont know how
-
- to the 10% who are actively involved in ministry at
Richview, I say two things: thank you, and help is on the way
- you have already discovered the joy that comes from
serving God
- thank you for investing your life in service
- hang in there reinforcements are coming
- we plan to lighten your load as more and more members
share the ministry here at Richview Baptist Church
-
- to the 40 % of you who have an interest in ministry
but have never been asked or dont know how, I say hang
on, because we have a plan
- in the coming months we will be giving you the tools
necessary to discover your spiritual giftedness and to begin finding
the joy that comes from knowing and using your spiritual gifts
- beginning in January, we will be teaching a course
called Network that will clearly guide you to discover your personal
style, gifts and passion
- it will end with a consultation that will help match
your gifts to ministry opportunities within the church
- we have a plan to provide ongoing on-the-job support
and training
- let me promise you that if you desire to serve God
in this church if you are one of this 40% who want to serve but
have never been asked or dont know how we will give you
the tools and the training to get you active in ministry
- and you will soon discover the joy that comes from
serving God
-
- let me pause and dream with you
- if we can get the 10% who are already serving teamed
up with the 40% who would like to serve, we will have at least 50% of
people serving God using their God-given spiritual gifts within the
coming year
- stop and think what could happen if that took place
- at least one-half of this congregation active in ministry
- most pastors would think they had died and gone to
heaven if this happened
- the sleeping giant called the church will begin to
show unprecedented power and effectiveness in ministry
- imagine what could happen if within the next six months
to a year, we become a church that is crying out to God for blessing
and revival, while scores of us become active in lay ministry
- I believe that as this happens God will bring more
blessing to this church than weve ever experienced before
- and whats more, its doable
- lets boldly go forward, and commit to prayer
and to begin using our spiritual gifts, shall we?
-
- but this morning I want to speak primarily to the 50%
of people who are here this morning and have no interest in serving
in any ministry
- and from Romans 12, I would like to share three principles
that should help get you off the bench and into ministry
- if these three principles dont do it for you,
I dont know what will
- these are three principles that should make every believer
just scream to begin using their God-given spiritual gifts in ministry
- PRINCIPLE NUMBER ONE: SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE INDISPENSABLE
TO KNOWING GODS WILL FOR YOUR LIFE
- as youre aware, Romans is one of the richest
books in the Bible for doctrine
- in the first 11 chapters, Paul provides wonderful doctrinal
underpinnings for our justification in Christ and the sanctification
through the Holy Spirit, and our glorification
- in chapters 9 through 11, Paul tackles the mystery
of Israels rejection of Christ and the sovereignty of God
- and chapter 12 begins with the application
- in light of this great salvation that God has provided,
this is how you should live
- and Paul says two things in verses 1 and 2:
- (Romans 12:1) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view
of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
- (Romans 12:2) Do not conform any longer to the pattern
of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing
and perfect will.
-
- Paul says, in light of Gods great salvation,
there are two things that only make sense, that are only logical as
a result of what God has done
- first, present your bodies as a living sacrifice
- second, yield your minds to progressive transformation
and renewal
- and the result, according to verse 2, is that we will
be able to prove by testing how good, pleasing, and perfect Gods
will is for our lives
- in other words, we will discover how good and delightful
it is to live according to Gods will as we experience purity of
action and purity of thought
-
- most people stop at verse 2
- the only problem is that verse 3 begins with a "For,"
which ties the next thought to verses 1 and 2
- and Paul begins to write in verses 3 to 8 of spiritual
gifts
- and the point is this: in light of Gods salvation,
its only logical that we practice purity of action, purity of
mind, and also that we discover and use our spiritual gifts
- whats more, discovering and using our spiritual
gifts is inextricably connected with Gods will, which verse 2
tells us is good, pleasing, and perfect
-
- let me simplify it for you
- if you arent using your spiritual gifts, youre
not in the will of God
- you havent yet discovered how good, pleasing,
and perfect Gods will is for your life
- you dont know the joy, the peace, the pleasure
that comes from serving God the way that he designed you to
- its not even enough to be pure in mind and pure
in your actions if youre not serving God using your spiritual
gifts, which is a reasonable consequence of all that God has done for
you youre just not cutting it
- spiritual gifts are indispensable to knowing and fulfilling
Gods will for your life
-
- and I dont need to tell you that the more were
in Gods will, the more we experience joy in the Christian life
- the closer we are to what God designed for us, the
more we experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from God
- if youre not yet using your spiritual gift, youre
missing out
- you actually gain by using your spiritual gift
you gain a knowledge of Gods good, pleasing, and perfect will
in your life
- Im telling you, its Gods will for
your life
- if youre one of the 50% who dont want to
minister within the church, youre missing out
- the church misses out, but so do you
- youll never discover all that God has planned
for your life until you begin to serve the way God designed
- thats the first principle in the passage that
should make us want to begin using our spiritual gifts in ministry
-
- PRINCIPLE NUMBER TWO: SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE INDISPENSABLE
TO VALUING OURSELVES PROPERLY
- read with me Romans 12:3
- (Romans 12:3) For by the grace given me I say to every
one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but
rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the
measure of faith God has given you.
- (Romans 12:4) Just as each of us has one body with
many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
- (Romans 12:5) so in Christ we who are many form one
body, and each member belongs to all the others.
- (Romans 12:6) We have different gifts, according to
the grace given us.
-
- every believer must know what his spiritual gifts are
and what his ministry is to be
- listen to me: it is not wrong for a Christian to recognize
his or her gifts and the gifts of others
- but it is wrong to have a false evaluation of ourselves
-
- Paul says in verse 3, "Dont think of yourself
more highly than you ought"
- dont go around overrating yourself and performing
a ministry you cant do
- there are people who couldnt preach their way
out of a paper bag; they shouldnt be preachers
- there are believers who dont have any interest
or ability with children; they shouldnt be Sunday school teachers
- there are some in the church who dont like people;
they shouldnt be greeters
- one of the saddest things in the church to see is a
believer trying to exercise a gift they dont have
-
- Chuck Swindoll tells the story of animals who organized
a curriculum of running, climbing, swimming, and flying
- to make it easier, all animals took all the subjects
- the duck was excellent at swimming, but slow in running,
so he had to drop swimming to work extra hard at running
- the rabbit started at the top of his class in running,
but developed a nervous twitch in his leg muscles because of so much
make-up work in swimming
- the squirrel was excellent at climbing, but failed
flying class because his teacher made him start from the ground up rather
than from the treetop down
- the eagle was disciplined for being a non-conformist
- Swindoll concludes:
- "The
moral of the story is a simple one
each creature has its own set of capabilities in which it will naturally
excel unless it is expected or forced to fill a mold that doesnt
fit
."
- God has not made us all the same he never intended
to!
- God planned and designed the differences, unique capabilities,
and variations in the Body
- God has placed you in his family and given you a set
of gifts that makes you unique
- your gift mix pleases God completely nobody
else is like you
- and when you operate in your giftedness, you will excel,
the whole church will benefit, and you will experience incredible satisfaction
-
- so dont overrate yourself, and dont undervalue
yourself
- verses 3 to 6 tell us that all of us are different
within the body
- we all have gifts, and each one of us is necessary
to the proper functioning of the body called the church
- so relax
- enjoy who you are, and let others who are different
from you continue to be themselves as well
-
- some of you this morning need to heed Pauls command
in verse 3 to think of yourself with sober judgment
- stop trying to be someone else
- stop trying to exercise gifts you dont have
- but some of you have been selling yourself short
- youve depreciated yourself
- you argue that you dont have something to offer
- understanding and using your spiritual gifts is essential
to valuing yourself properly within the body called the church
-
- PRINCIPLE THREE: SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE INDISPENSABLE
TO UNDERSTANDING OUR UNIQUE ROLE WITHIN THE CHURCH
- (Romans 12:6) We have different gifts, according to
the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in
proportion to his faith.
- (Romans 12:7) If it is serving, let him serve; if it
is teaching, let him teach;
- (Romans 12:8) if it is encouraging, let him encourage;
if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously;
if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy,
let him do it cheerfully.
- in coming weeks, were going to look at the list
of the gifts more carefully
- but as we read verses 6 to 8, its refreshing
to read the diversity of gifts that God has given the church
- just as there are diverse needs within the church body,
so God has given a diverse abundance of gifts to meet these needs
- and every believer has a share in the ministry
-
- let me tell you that there are gifts I have that you
might not have
- and I guarantee that you have gifts that I dont
have
- there are things that you can do so much better than
I can
- I am gifted in preaching/teaching and leadership
- some of you are much more gifted in the areas of serving,
encouraging, showing mercy, and so on
- am I threatened by this?
- not at all, because I realize that I have a unique
role, and you have a unique role
-
- but wait a minute
- Im the pastor here
- Im supposed to have all the gifts
- not a chance!
- just one more reason why the pastor shouldnt
do all the ministry, because there is no way that one person could meet
even a fraction of the needs in the church as well as a congregation
who know and are using their gifts
- C. Peter Wagner writes, "Just as important as
knowing what gift God has given you is knowing which gifts he hasnt
given you. Many Christians try for years to function with gifts they
never had in the first place, and this doesnt do the Lords
work much good. Its like trying to hear something with your knee
or throw a ball with your nose. Knees and noses are better off doing
other things"
-
- Paul says, if God has given you the gift of serving,
then serve
- if God has given you the gift of teaching, then teach
- if God has given you the gift of encouraging, then
encourage
- if God has made you a leader, then lead
- imagine a church in which leaders led, teachers taught,
merciful people showed mercy
- watch out for a church like that!
-
- but central to this is understanding that God has given
you a unique role within the church
- its Gods will for your life that you serve
him using your gifts
- you need to use your spiritual gifts in order to properly
value yourself properly
- you need to discover your spiritual gifts to understand
your unique role within Richview Baptist Church
-
- if youre one of the 10% who are already using
your spiritual gifts, thank you
- help is on the way
- we will soon have an army of gifted people to come
alongside you and lift some of the weight youre carrying
- if youre one of the 40% who would like to find
and begin using your spiritual gifts, I promise you: we have a plan
that will allow you to enter fruitful and fulfilling ministry very soon
- we will equip you, and you will be used of God in this
place
- but if youre one of the 50% who have no interest
in serving God using your gifts, let me tell you: we need you
- there is something you can offer to Richview that no-one
else can
- there is a unique contribution that is necessary to
this church that no-one else can make
- and if you step off the sidelines, and enter ministry,
you will be used of God in ways you havent imagined
- and Richview will become one of those churches that
maybe once was a sleeping giant, but now has woken up and become unstoppable
- lets pray