WHO'S THE MINISTER

03 0 05 Who s the Minister

Who's the Minister? (Jan 5, '03)

Take out your bulletin, and look there where it says my name and says I am the minister. Do you realize that's partially--perhaps substantially--incorrect? Who's name should be on that?
Everybody's. As a congregation, you have called me here and have asked me to do a specific ministry here in Lawton and I am very thankful for that. But if anyone has the idea that I am the only minister at Carriage Hills Christian Church, we have a problem.
Remember the movie "Cool Hand Luke" with Paul Newman? There was a catch phrase from the warden that sticks in the minds of anyone who has seen that movie. "What we have here is a failure to communicate."
I think that describes one of the modern church's problems very well: a failure to communicate. To remind all Christians that they are ministers just as much as the people who stand up front on Sunday morning.
In the bulletin this morning I want you to pull out the sheet that has the scripture verses for today's sermon. Now, take the golf pencil from the pew in front of you. Let's fill in the blanks as we go along.

I Am Created for ministry
Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
God has not only prepared us to do something(s), he has prepared those something(s) for us! Paul wasn't just writing this to one person, but to all the Christians in Ephesus. It holds true for all the Christians in Lawton, OK, as well.
You and I were each created by God, through Christ, to do good works that he has planned for us.

I Am Saved for ministry
2 Tim 1:8-9 "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace."
God saved you for a purpose. We are told elsewhere in the Bible that God has plans for us. Specific plans. When he saved us, he also called us. To be saved but not be called would only be half the picture.

I Am Called into ministry
1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Everyone here is called into the priesthood. It's not some holy bunch of guys in cloaks that most of us can't help to join. It's all of us.
Why? So we can declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Back to that last point, we weren't just saved, we were saved and called to minister, to proclaim.
A church with only one minister is like a person who has paralysis all over except for one finger.

I Am Gifted for ministry
1 Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."
Do we all have the same gift for ministry? No way!
That's a good thing. You may not have a gift for standing up here, but you have gifts I don't. That's because you have friends I don't have. If everyone in this room were identical, we would probably only be able to witness to other identical people.
Now, the gift God has given you, he expects you to use. Sugar Ray Leonard said, "Everyone has certain God-given abilities. Mine just happens to be beating people up."
There are lists throughout the New Testament of spiritual gifts, but I don't think those lists are supposed to be conclusive. There are as many gifts as there are people. Whatever your gift is, use it to serve others. Mechanic? Seamstress? Ditch digger? Physician? Good listener? Use it.

I Am Authorized for ministry
Matthew 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"
In the computer biz (as in others) occasionally someone would come up with an idea for an enhancement to our software. If it were something that would take a lot of time (and thus, money) to complete, or would heavily impact other bits of the software, the programmer wasn't allowed to just take off on this. They had to present their project to the leadership, who would then decide whether the project were worth proceeding on. If so, they would commission the programmer to go ahead.
If any of us are waiting for a sign to go ahead and minister, we've already got it. Jesus has already commissioned us, saying, "Go for it!" We have the authorization we need.