Getting
Involved in
Ministry
Keytext:
• “For even the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give
His life a ransom for
many” (Mark 10:45)
If Christ has
saved you
from your
sins, then out
of love you
should be
As Jesus said, “For even the
Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to
give His life a ransom for
many” (Mark 10:45). If we are
growing to be like Jesus, our
focus in life should be to serve
God wants all whom He has
saved to serve Him in
whatever situations He puts
them. We must be motivated
to serve God through
MINISTRY:
In 2 Corinthians 5:11-19 Paul writes to
us about his motivation for ministry.
Here in this passage Paul gives us
four things that motivated him to the
ministry God had given Him
Four things that should motivate every
Christian in their service to God.
I. Motivated by the fear of the Lord
[Link] by the love of Christ
[Link] by the call of Christ
[Link] by stewardship of the Gospel
. Motivated by the fear of the Lord
I do what I do because of WHO I serve.
Therefore takes us back to verses 9 and 10. In verse 9
Paul notes that he wants to be pleasing to the Lord, and
why? Because in verse 10 he says we must all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. This is the place where
Christians will stand. It will be a place of:
A. Reward and recognition
1 Corinthians 3:14 tells us we will we will receive the rewards of our
service here on earth – depending upon what it was built of, things
eternal or things perishable (gold and silver or wood, hay and
stubble.)
B. A place of revelation
First Corinthians 3:13 tells us that all of our works will become
evident on that day, the truth of our lives, our motives our ministry
will be revealed.
Rejoicing – As we give glory to God for all He did for us and for the
joys that await us.
C. A place of reckoning
as we give account for our ministries. Romans 14:12 says, "so then
each one of us shall give account of himself to God." It will be a
place of Reckoning, where we have to tell our Lord, how we lived
II. Motivated by the love of Christ
I do what I do because of What He has Done for me.
Galatians 2:19-20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and I no
longer live but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved men and gave Himself for me."
This is a great motivating factor in Paul's life and ministry, which
were inseparable. Jesus died for me, and in Him I have died to
myself and my life is now His life, therefore what He did, I do, but
even more, it is not me that does it, but Jesus does it by living in
me and through me.
As Ray Palmer wrote in his great Hymn, "My Faith
looks up to Thee."
"May thy rich grace impart, strength to my fainting
heart, my zeal inspire,
As thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee,
pure warm and changeless be, a living fire."
Paul was motivated by the Love of God that was so
powerfully demonstrated on Calvary's cross.
But not only was he motivated by the fear of the
Lord and by the Love of the Lord, it goes even
deeper than that
III. Motivated by the call of Christ
I do what I do because of what He has Called me to
be.
We have been called to carry on the ministry of Jesus
Christ. Instead of pursing our own goals, we now pursue
His goals. Instead of living our lives, He now lives His life
through us. And the ministry we have been called to is the
ministry of reconciliation.
Reconciliation literally means – restoration to favor, it is
restoring man to a position of favor with God. It describes
"Not called!" did you say? "Not heard the call."
I think you should say. Put your ear down to
the Bible, and hear Him if you go and pull
sinners out of the fire of sin.
Put your ear down to the
burdened, agonized heart of
humanity, and listen to its pitiful
wail for help.
Matthew 25:45
IV. Motivated by stewardship of the
Gospel
I do what I do because of what He has entrusted to me.
Galatians 2:7 Paul tells us that he has been entrusted
with the gospel –
Ephesians 3:2 Paul calls this the stewardship of
God's grace
Colossians 1:25 He defines his preaching as a
stewardship
I Thessalonians 2:4 Paul says, we have been
entrusted with the gospel
What is it God has entrusted to us?
Is it simply a message on how to be good
and live a nice life?
Is it a message that will simply make people
happy or make them wealthy?
Or is it a message that will save their dying
souls from an eternity in separation from
God?
And to whom has He entrusted it? Is it only the
evangelists? Is it only the preachers? Is it only the
missionaries or only those who've been to seminary?
Are those the only people to whom He has entrusted
the message? Or has He entrusted it to each of us?
The scripture makes it very clear, He has put this
word of reconciliation in each of us, He has made
each of us ambassadors.
He did not choose the angels to preach it, for
they could not experience it. He did not choose
the beast of the field or the fowl of the air to
preach it, for His Spirit does not live within
them.
He has chosen you and me,
fallen men and women, boys
and girls, who have received His
grace, who know His
forgiveness to share with those
who do not
You can do Ministry in so
many ways
God is calling each of us to see the lost around us, to see
where they are headed, to an eternity or in Hell.
He is challenging us to wake up and do what Jesus
created us to do; to become the evangelist He created us
to be. Let Him re-ignite the passion in your soul. Let Him
make His word like a fire within your bones, in Jesus, in
your reverence for Him, in His love for you, in what He
has made you to be, in what He has called you to do and
in what He has entrusted to you.
Lets do the Ministry God
entrusted to us...
