Found Faithful #4 - "Found Faithful with Our Church" (1 Peter 4:10-11)

1st Peter chapter 4, 1st Peter and chapter number 4 We are closing out the sermon series that we began a few weeks ago that we have called found faithful, found faithful biblical stewardship for modern disciples

You have a Bible and I hope you do. Take it in turn with me to just two verses. 1st Peter chapter 4 I hope you're there by now.

1st Peter chapter 4 and verses 10 and 11. 1st

Peter chapter 4 verses 10 and 11 If you're able to do so, can

I invite you to stand with me as we read these verses from God's Word? They're going to form the basis for our message this morning

Stand for this reading out of respect for the Word of God 1st Peter chapter 4 and verses 10 and 11

Brothers and sisters, these are God's words to us Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others.

As good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks

God's words. If anyone serves, let it be from the strength that God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything.

To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen Pray that God will bless that reading of His Word and give us understanding of it as we come to study it.

Let me pray, ask for the Lord's help, and we will get to work in God's Word this morning. Let's pray together. Lord, we would simply ask that as we open up your

Word and we think about this area of stewardship that we may be tempted to forget Father, open our eyes that we would see wonderful things out of your

Word. May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened so that we would know the hope to which you've called us in in Christ.

May your Word do a work in the hearts of those who hear, and those who know you, in strengthening them and encouraging them in the gospel.

And for those who don't know you, we would be pleased to do a work of drawing them to yourself so that they may find eternal life in you.

I pray these things in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. Please be seated. Oh, one more announcement real quickly.

I will be around for the Wednesday midweek group this week. I won't be there the following weeks. But this week, so if you have questions about this message or any other messages in the series, this

Wednesday is an opportunity to ask those. Again, details are in the worship guide. Alright, let's get to the ministry of God's Word.

This might seem like a weird way to end a series on stewardship, talking about your church, the local church.

Does the local church come under the category of stewardship? I imagine at least one person in the room, a statistics holder, is probably going to ask,

Preacher Man, isn't that your stewardship? Isn't that your problem to think about? If you are the one person in the room, you don't need to show your hands.

If you are the one person in the room who thinks that, I can forgive you thinking that, because to be honest, you're not alone in thinking that.

Most American evangelicals, when we are apart, unfortunately tend to think that way.

One of my brother pastors, I will not mention his name to protect the innocent, One of my brother pastors has said that a lot of Christians view their local church no differently than their doctor, their mechanic, or their grocery store of choice.

I pick a local church based on how it will meet my needs. I keep coming as long as it does what

I think it should do, and should that church have the unmitigated goal to not do what I think it should,

I will go and find somewhere that does. Now please hear me, there are 100 % biblical reasons for leaving a church.

I'm not talking about those. Sometimes you should leave a church, because that church has forgotten what it is to be a church.

There are times and places for that, so please don't hear me as condemning that. But we have to be honest with ourselves as American evangelicals and say, that there is at times, not all of us as individuals, but just in the air that we breathe, there is a kind of self -centered, consumer -driven

Christianity that, quite frankly, we should fear as God's people.

Now how do I know that there is a self -centered, consumer -driven approach to church that we should fear? Because that's how our culture operates.

Our culture is self -centered and consumer -driven, and sometimes the culture out there puts on church clothes and turns up on Sunday morning.

If you've been at Redeemer for any length of time, you know how I feel about the so -called seeker -sensitive movement. I have many problems with the seeker -sensitive movement.

One of the biggest I have is that it essentially created this sort of consumer mindset. Or at the very least, even if you're not

Wednesday created it, it definitely found a way to manipulate and exploit that.

So the language crept into church life of, churches exist to meet, how many of you have heard this in churches?

Our church exists to meet people's felt needs. This is not the time for a history lesson, we're here to study

God's word. But if you know your history, that language of felt needs doesn't come from the Bible, it comes from the business world.

It came from a man called Peter Drucker. Peter Drucker was not a Christian, he was a business mind. But he had a kind of interest in sociology and especially the idea of community and people.

And so he said, well, the modern church, if it wants to be the last bastion of community in the world, by the way, that's why the word community crept into church life, it wasn't the

Bible, it was Peter Drucker. He brings this word in and says, well, the way the church creates community is by meeting people's felt needs.

And who determines the felt needs? Well, the audience determines the felt needs. There's many things

I could say about that. Like I said, this is not a history lesson this morning, we're here to study the Bible. But there are many things I could say.

But let me just ask one question. I think it's the most important question. Is that approach, the approach of the church existing to meet felt needs and essentially a small group of people, basically putting on a product for a bigger group?

Is that the approach this Bible, that this New Testament calls us to? Does the

New Testament teach that the church exists for a small group of people to meet the needs of the many?

I hope it's no surprise to you. Maybe if you're visiting, you don't know much about me. Let me tell you up front, I don't believe that.

I don't believe that the church exists to meet your needs through the work of a qualified few. There's a few reasons

I don't believe this. For one reason, no human being can fully meet your needs. I hate to break that to you.

When I was single, people used to talk about, oh, you can't get married. You need to get married because if you don't get married, you're just going to be alone and unhappy and no one will be able to meet your needs.

So my wife would say the same thing. I love my wife, but can my wife meet all of the needs I have? Absolutely not. I'm not going to put that pressure on my wife anyway.

I'm going to put it to you, no human relationship can meet all your needs. That's why you need Jesus. He can meet all your needs.

So no human being can fully meet your needs. But more than that, the church is not a place where a few people serve the needs of many.

The verses that we just read and the verses we're going to study this morning, 1 Peter 4, 10 and 11, remind us that the church doesn't exist for service for a few, but it's mutual service of all for one another.

Let me get specific. If you're visiting us, I'm glad you're here. But really this morning, I'm talking to the folks who call this church their church home.

You're eavesdropping in on a conversation. This time you're allowed, though. Let me get specific.

Redeemer Bible Fellowship, this church, if you call this your church home, exists for you to serve your brother and your sister in particular areas of Christian service.

If I'm going to borrow the language of this sermon series, your local church is a gift that God calls you to steward well through serving.

That might sound like a bit of a stretch, but I think these two verses, 1 Peter 4, 10 and 11, are going to help us see that.

And along the way, as they help us to see that, we're going to learn how to be better managers of the gift that God has given us called the local church.

This morning, for the rest of our time, I want to consider three realities. Three realities that will help you be a faithful steward of your local church if you call this church your home.

If you're visiting with us again, glad to have you here. Maybe another place is your local church. Wherever you call your church home, maybe you're listening to this online, wherever you call your church home,

I want you to think about your local church in light of these three realities. So three realities that will help you to be a better steward of your local church.

If you're going to be a faithful steward of your local church, it starts with point number one. You need to acknowledge you have a ministry to your local church.

You need to acknowledge you have a ministry to your local church. So look at 1 Peter 4 .10

again. First section of that verse, 1 Peter 4 .10. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others.

Each one has received a gift, use it to serve others. Not a whole lot of words, but before we can unpack their full meaning, we need to do a bit of a deep dive for a moment.

If you've been at Redeemer for a length of time, you kind of know that's what we do around here. I take deep sea diving expeditions in God's word at will, and this is going to be one of those times.

It won't take long, but I want you to focus in, if you're the Bible marking type, which I think every Christian should be, if you're the

Bible marking type, mark those words, a gift, a gift. I want to camp there for a moment.

I think there can be some confusion about what the word gift in the Bible is, specifically spiritual gifts, which is what

Peter is talking about here, what that means. Now, I've alluded to this already in this series.

If you're visiting, there's a teaching I did about two years ago called Gifted. If you go to our YouTube channel, just search for Redeemer Rogue Valley, you should find our

YouTube channel. About two years ago, I did a teaching called Gifted. You can also find it on our church website.

You can also find it in our church app. If you need access to that, see any one of us around here, we can hook you up with that.

I can't go through that whole teaching. It was about an hour and some change in length. So I'm not going to give you all of that. Let me just give you the thumbnail sketch.

When most of us hear the language of a spiritual gift, what's the thing that generally comes to mind? It's generally something along the lines of an ability.

That there is this special ability that you have and only you have. And basically, the only way you can serve is if you know what that ability is, and then you can use it.

How many of you have heard teaching along that sort of line before, when it comes to the issue of spiritual gifts? It's an ability.

It's a supernatural ability. Everyone acknowledges that. It's a spiritual gift. But it's an ability that you get, and it kind of creates, the language

I heard growing up was, it creates a sweet spot for ministry. And so you need to find your gift so that you can serve in the sweet spot.

And for years, I taught it. I held that view. I no longer do. Actually, I think that understanding is quite flawed in a number of areas.

I take the view, and in fact, in this week's study guide, on the last page, it normally says digging deeper.

There's a reference that, there's some material, excuse me, that I reference. One of which is called, Spiritual Gifts, Rethinking the

Conventional View. I read that about three, four years ago, and it changed my view of this subject. See, I'm going to argue from the

Bible that spiritual gifts are not supernatural abilities, according to the

Bible. That spiritual gifts are actually assignments. That spiritual gifts are not abilities that God gives.

They are ministries that God gives to every believer for the purpose of building up the body of Christ.

In fact, this makes sense of a number of the places in the Bible where the Bible talks about spiritual gifts. Let's look at a couple of them real quick.

Romans, chapter 12. Romans, chapter 12. This one I'd like you to see. Romans, chapter 12.

Paul has just begun the practical section, or the application section of this letter. Romans, chapter 12.

Pick it up with me in verse 3. Romans, chapter 12, and verse 3. Paul says,

Romans, chapter 3. For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think.

Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now, as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Note the language Paul uses in verse 6. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts.

Okay, so Paul's going to talk to us about spiritual gifts. But notice how he describes these gifts. If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one's faith.

If service, use it in service. If teaching, in teaching. If exhorting, in exhortation. Giving with generosity.

Leading with diligence. Showing mercy with cheerfulness. Paul describes these gifts, and he focuses not on this ability, but on activity.

There are assignments that are given, and Paul says, every one of you has an assignment. So according to the grace of God given to you, use that assignment.

Paul speaks of himself in this way. You don't need to turn to this one, but 1 Corinthians 3 .10 if you're taking notes. Paul says, according to God's grace that was given to me.

Well, what was the grace? The grace was to, he says, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it.

But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. There are lots of other passages we collect, but for time,

I want to cut that short. When the Bible talks about gifts, my argument is that it's not talking to you about some supernatural ability that you have.

As much as a ministry that's been committed to your hands. Again, I encourage you to go back, listen to that teaching

I did a couple of years ago called Gifted sometime this week. It will go into much more detail about why I think the view that spiritual gifts are abilities and not assignments,

I think is quite damaging. I labor that point, deep dive is over, let's get back to our text.

I labor that point, because notice what Peter says. Again, look up 1 Peter 4 .10. As just as each one has received a gift.

Simple observation question for a moment. According to Peter, who has received a gift? Who has received a ministry assignment?

Well, louder than that, come on. Each one, every individual believer. Every believer has been given a ministry, a ministry assignment.

And what are you meant to do with that ministry assignment? Look at the text, 1

Peter 4 .10. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others.

Peter says, essentially, you've been given a ministry, so put it to use. More about that in just a moment. Now, I just want to camp on the fact that every

Christian has a ministry assignment that is given to them by God. This is a reality.

It's an indicative statement in the original language. All that means is, it's a statement of reality. This is not, he's commanding you to find a ministry.

The command is for you to use it. No, you have a ministry. You don't go looking for it.

You already have it. This is a reality. It's an indicative. It's not grounded in your activity.

It's not grounded in your feelings about it. This is how it is. This is how God has designed the church to work.

And yet, think about this with me for a moment. How many churches function as though the vast majority of the people who sit in, whether it's pews or chairs, the people who sit out there don't have a ministry?

How many churches function as though most of the people who sit in the chairs or pews don't have a ministry? I think part of this flows from just the language we use.

I don't believe that you can speak things into existence, but I do think that the words you use can, unfortunately, create a reality around you.

Think about how we talk about ministry in most cases. We talk about people who are in ministry versus people who aren't.

In fact, in our theological tradition, often the primary preaching pastor is called the minister.

Please don't call me the minister. I just about handle being called pastor, if I'm really honest.

I say don't call me the minister, you know why? I am not the minister. I am a minister, just like every one of you in this room, as a believer, is a minister.

Let me not pass words too harshly.

I know what people mean when they say that. What they mean is, this is somebody who is set apart for vocational, full -time

Christian service. The Bible does have a category for that. There are those, 1 Timothy 5, who are worthy of double honor because they work hard at preaching and teaching.

But the problem is, if your definition of ministry is just those people, maybe at most, some of the people who do some of the more support things to help that happen.

If that's your only category for ministry and you keep using that language, it kind of becomes a self -fulfilling prophecy.

You know what I mean when I say that? That you keep saying it so often, that it starts to become true.

That ministry is only for a few people. Typically, it's the really committed people. Super Christians.

Super saints. Yes, they're the ones who do ministry. Me, Joe, what's the phrase?

Joe Schmoe, Christian. Me, regular Christian, I'm not in ministry. That's the special people.

But can I present maybe a different line of logic for a moment? All through this series, we've been talking about how all of life is a stewardship.

Everyone agree with me on that point? By now, you should all be nodding because that's what we've kind of laid out in this series.

That all of life is a stewardship. Remember we've said, think back to week one, those of you who were here, that stewardship is divided into roles and resources.

Roles that God has given you and resources that God has given you. You would all agree, the local church,

I hope you view this this way, is a resource that God has given. We can say that. We shouldn't have to argue that. That's a gift

God has given you. No one would argue that, I hope. But here's the thing.

A relationship to a local church is not just a resource. It comes with a role that you're called to play in that local church.

If we have ministry assignments, then it's part of our role to serve our local church, right?

That might be a new thought for you. I don't know. I'm not going to presume for anybody in the room. It may be a new thought. It may not be.

But if that is a new thought for you this morning, can I encourage you to kind of think about that for a moment? If I take some time this week and just sit with that reality, that I have a ministry to my local church, just sit with that for a few moments.

I would say this is the first step. It's the most foundational step in stewardship of your local church. You have to acknowledge that you have a ministry to your local church.

Not only do you have a ministry to your local church, there's a second reality you need to grapple with. Yes, you have a ministry to your local church.

But there's also the need for you to point number two. Remember why you have a ministry to your local church.

Remember why you have a ministry to your local church. So if the gift that we have received is not an ability, but it's a ministry, it's an assignment,

And we're supposed to put that assignment to work for our brothers and sisters Well again, those is what

Peter says just as each one has received a gift use it to serve others

Let's pause there for a moment God gives us the ministry assignments that we have for the purpose of seeing our brothers and sisters built up This is a principle that's taught to us all through the

New Testament So 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7, Paul says a manifestation of the

Spirit is given to each person for the common good For the good of all Paul rebukes the

Corinthians for their abuse of spiritual gifts and in 1st Corinthians 14 verse 12 He says that we are to seek to excel in building up the church

Verse 26 of the same chapter 1st Corinthians 14, Paul says everything is to be done for building up In Ephesians 4 12 through 16

Paul says that God gives ministry gifts to the church and interestingly there Paul says the gifts are people

Not abilities because again ministries are assignments He says verse 12 that God gives these gifts to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ God graciously gives

Ministry gifts to his children the gifts of people with assignments. He gives those gifts to His children for the benefit of others, but here's the question.

I want to answer under this point. Why should you Accept this ministry that you have in your local church

What should motivate us in serving the Lord in the context of our local church? And look at 1st

Peter 4 10, how does Peter put it? Just as each one has received a gift use it to serve others as good stewards of the varied grace of God It's understanding the grace of God that ought to motivate us in our service to one another

It's understanding what God has done for us ultimately in the gospel It's understanding that that puts wind behind the sails fuel in the vehicle as it were for us to be able to serve

One another in one sense is really shouldn't surprise us because think about the gospel for a moment

In the gospel God gave us his greatest gift his own son

He gave us his son and the Bible describes the son as the perfect servant

So I'm a mark chapter 10 verse 45 But even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve

And to give his life a ransom for many Part of the impulse that should fuel us in Serving one another is the reality that we have all received of the grace of God in our lives that in the goodness and the mercy of God Jesus lowered himself and became a servant

But Paul can say in Romans chapter 15 verses 8 to 9 Paul can say but I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God's truth to confirm the promises to the

Fathers and so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy It's using the word that's used for serving this where we got a word deacon from Christ became he translates it literally as Christ became a deacon

He became a servant both of the circumcised and the uncircumcised the

Jew and the Gentile The motivation for service in a local church should not be the urging or begging of the pastors

It shouldn't be whether it's convenient for us or our lives It shouldn't be whether we like the praise that comes from people watching us serve no, the motivation of motivations the motivation that should form the foundation for everything else is the multifaceted the multicolored grace of God that we have received in the

Lord Jesus Of late some of you may have notices.

I use a phrase a lot of late gospel culture Talk a lot about gospel culture in the life of a church gospel culture is not just the preaching of the gospel

But it's a culture where the gospel fuels and shapes all that happens There are lots of ways you can tell if a church has a gospel culture around it

You know one of the ways in which you can tell if a gospel culture is forming in a church

Think about it. A culture is the sum total of the individuals who are part of it If that is true

What should you see in a church where the gospel is shaping and giving life to everything that happens you see people who serve?

You see people who reflect the greatest servant of all the Lord Jesus in giving Everything that they have for their brother and their sister

And if that is true pause for a moment to make a point of application here If that is true

Here's a question. I want you to think on Has the work of grace that you've experienced in your life has that work so Impacted you that you desire to utilize the gifts and the resources and the talents that God has given you

Has have you come to an awareness of just how much grace has been given to you?

Which in turn turns you around and says I want to minister that grace to my brother and to my sister

I often wonder if the struggles that often we find in church life of service come from the fact that we forget how much we have been given and so it feels like an imposition when someone asks for something that is

Inconvenient that asked somebody asked for something that messes with my life as I know it Again, we should obviously be wise with our stewardship.

We should be wise with our use of time, obviously But our primary motivation the first question we ask is not how does this make me feel?

Is this convenient for me? Does this disrupt my life? The first question we should ask is how is this going to demonstrate the grace of God that I have experienced in my own life?

If you're going to be a faithful student of your local church

It starts with you acknowledging that you sitting in that chair right now that you have a ministry to your local church

You also have to remember why you have a ministry to your local church because of the grace of God that is revealed to us in the gospel message

But that's all well and good. It's all well and good to acknowledge that you have a ministry It's all well and good to remember why you have it

But at some point you can't just sit there and store up information about this You need to actually do something no point number three acknowledge

Your ministry to you have a ministry to local church number two. Remember why you have a ministry to your local church and point number three

Identify your ministry in the local church Identify your ministry in the local church

Now we get to the part where this starts to land a little bit more practically If by the grace of God you have received a ministry

Well, I imagine the question that you should be asking by now is well, how do I know what it is?

How do I know what that ministry looks like? Actually Peter gives us a bit of an inspired summary in verse 11.

So look at verse 11 Peter says in verse 11 If anyone speaks let it be as one who speaks

God's words if anyone serves Let it be from the strength of God's supply provides

So that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything to him be the glory and the power forever and ever.

Amen For a moment. I was walk through this verse I'm gonna break it apart a little bit and just I wanted to make some observations from this passage

I put them in the form of questions This first observation which probably ask is well, how many kinds of ministries are there?

How many kinds of ministries are there? Well for Peter there are two broad categories of ministries two broad categories of assignments

Again, look at the verse. How does he describe it? he says if anyone speaks and Then he says if anyone serves

I would argue from scripture Those are the two big categories of ministries that believers have some may have speaking ministries

Some may have serving ministries I'm gonna come back to the list of spiritual gifts that we see in the

New Testament This kind of merges with that reality that when you look at the gifts in the New Testament the different assignments that are

Manifested among God's people they broadly map into two categories some involve speaking and some involve serving

Speaking gifts would involve ministries where the word is spoken stuff like teaching and preaching counseling more informal encouragement and exhortation

Ministries of that kind where the word is being brought to bear Serving gifts often involve ministries of more practical nature

So stuff like giving helping administrating more manual labor those sorts of structural and support ministries in a church

Whether you have a speaking gift or you have a serving gift both are necessary in the life of a church

It's not we prioritize one over the other So how many kinds of ministries are there according to Peter?

There are two kinds. There are speaking and serving ministries

Finally so a second observation we need to ask well, what does ministry look like individually? Okay, so these are these broad categories

What about me as an individual? Is there some kind of list I can look at that will tell me what the gifts are?

I would say no, maybe think wait a minute

Kofi. Wait a minute. Wait a minute You just said that there are lists in the New Testament there are

Taking notes the two big ones Romans chapter 12 verses 6 through 8 and the first Corinthians 12 7 to 10 and first Corinthians 12 28

Those are the two big lists of three really I guess That you find in the

New Testament are those meant to be an exhaustive list of a list of all the gifts that are out

There I would say no for a few reasons. I Almost put it in the study guide and I couldn't get it to work

But if you look at those lists if you own an ESV study Bible It's a great resource. You have it in your Bible study library

If you look in the ESV study Bible when it gets to Romans 12 There's a little chart where they have all the lists of the gifts

The interesting thing is when you look at that list none of the lists in the Bible agree None of them there are some categories that okay are shared but by and large the lists every single one are different I noticed that a few years ago and I began to kind of go on a hunt to figure out why that is

And I'm a simple conclusion I came to was God in his infinite wisdom has not pigeonholed us into a specific set of gifts that are available.

I Wasn't like I said, I was the only one who noticed this one commentator put it like this He said quote because they resist over because they may excuse me resist over classification

There is not much value in taking tests in formal or formal to determine what spiritual gifts we have

So somebody mentioned spiritual gift inventories anyone had to take one of those in church life at some point Remember being in my youth group.

I was I was even a Christian 1213 My youth pastor even

I'll say to see was a guardian guy like myself Good man in lots of ways. I thank God for him

Well, I remember he preached a message one day about finding your spiritual gift and had us like filling this multi -page questionnaire

You know at the time I was like, okay Sunday school youth group teacher said we should do it.

So I'm gonna do it but You know if you're in this situation

Do you find yourself doing this this or this if you're in this situation to count them all up?

Oh, okay, if I count them all up, okay, this is oh I seem to trend in this direction Here's the problem with that one thing they're mostly more personality says they're not actually driven by the

Bible Their personality tests. They just slapped a Bible on top of it there actually isn't much value in that for the simple fact that this commentator goes on a

Believers gifts can be an overlapping Combination taken in different proportions from the various categories of spiritual giftedness

One person may be obviously strong in a single gift such as teaching Another may not be strong in any one gift, but have some measure of three or four categories

It is best to see each person's gift as a unique blend of the categories of giftedness

Granted to that individual in connection with his or her traits and experiences and needs of the church each believer

I love this each believer becomes as unique spiritually as his fingerprints are physically

Your assignment might not be very neatly packaged where you can say it has this label

Can I say that's a good thing? That's a good thing because if that is true that frees you up ministry wise

One of the problems I have with the abilities view of spiritual gifts is this people I've had people tell me this and honestly

I think it's an excuse. I might be wrong about that. I'm wrong about lots of things I might be wrong about that, but it comes off just as a bit of an excuse

Sometimes we have this need in the church. That's not my gift No, I'm not gifted in that area

I'm gonna have a little more to say about that in a moment But one of the things that I would simply want to point out is you don't have a single gift or giftedness

I should say let's distinguish between giftedness and Spiritual gifts gifts are ministries within that ministry.

You may have certain giftedness and skills You need to do that ministry, but the

New Testament emphasis is interesting You know, there's nowhere in the New Testament that tells you how to discover your gift If I should at least my third point, how do we discover what our area of service is?

The New Testament gives you almost no guidance whatsoever on how to find your gift What it does give is principles that you should have as you serve

In fact, there are four of them. I didn't put them on screens. You need to follow along with me How do we discover what our area of service is?

I think there are four principles you need to bear in mind Number one, there's the principle of heart obedience the principle of heart obedience

Discovering your gift doesn't begin with doing stuff. It begins with a heart that actually wants to serve

I think this is one of the great principles in the Christian life that often gets lost that God first and foremost gives you information based on your willingness to serve not your willingness to ask that God in his goodness

Psalm 25 verse 14 if you're taking notes actually makes this point real clear Psalm 25 14 the secret counsel of the

Lord is for those who fear him and he reveals his covenant to them If you want information about something

God has not clearly said it generally starts with having a heart that wants to obey him God gives his information

I think it was joe beakey excellent preacher if you haven't listened to his material It was joe beakey years ago who said God gives his secrets to his friends

It begins with the principle of heart obedience a heart that says I want to serve you lord I may not have all the answers. But here is my heart as it were

I'm laying it on the altar before you do with it as you will Starts with the principle of heart obedience.

Secondly, there's the principle of patience The principle of patience part of discovering where God would have you to serve.

Honestly, it's just a little bit of trial and error Part of the problem

I have the abilities view is it doesn't really give you a room It doesn't really give you room for the way. I think God deals with us

Which is that often God allows us to go into circumstances and sometimes fail in those circumstances and that's how we learn

I would say that under this principle If you want to know what the ministry God has called you to do is

Find a need start serving in that area More than likely one or two things will happen.

You'll discover very quickly This this is in my area great

Find the next need start there I get asked semi -regularly kofi.

How did you know you wanted to be a preacher? Actually, I didn't want to be a preacher My dad's a preacher.

I saw how church people treated my dad. I told myself quite frankly that is never going to be me Like you're not going to yell at me and call me all manner of names and try to get me fired.

Nah, not me I I like people I like you that much I've in fact

When I began to feel the call to ministry I fought God on it every way I could One day if you want to hear my testimony come over for dinner.

I'll share it with you For a year and a half God made my life miserable Because I knew he wanted me to speak his word.

He kept providing opportunities like i'm like 1819 I'm getting this opportunity.

Hey, can you come teach a bible study? Can you come lead our small group? Can you come? I don't want to do I mean, I like teaching but I don't want to go into ministry

But the more I did it the more hey i'm not half bad at this i'm not great but i'm not half bad at this

And actually for a while once I said lord, okay, I'll serve you but I don't want to serve that way So i'm going to find other ways If you can name it in church life,

I have done it at some point I've been a slides guy. I've been a soundboard guy.

I've been a sunday school teacher for kids. I actually really enjoyed that Um, if I wasn't a pastor, I'd probably do that. Um I've been and i've served on offering count team

Um, what else have I done i've done church cleaning wasn't much good at that. Um If you name it

I can probably i've either done it or been around people who have And sometimes you realize okay.

I've got some technical ability in this. Okay But more often than not what

I found with just with patients was this is the area god wanted me to serve And the more

I did it the more I did it. Yeah, there was some trial and error involved Thankfully, you cannot hear some of my sermons from when

I was 18 1920. They were not good They were if I can use a very technical term, they were

I Like they weren't great. They weren't her they weren't heretical I guess

They were just I they were they were okay But it took patience

And finally when I stopped fighting with god and said, okay lord if this is what you want me to do with my life I'll do it The lord began to give more grace and fast forward.

Here I am today doing what I do now That's the principle of patience. You just have to try some things Thirdly, there's a principle of wisdom

Principle of wisdom. So there's a principle of heart obedience principle of patience principle of wisdom Principle of wisdom says where there is no explicit command god gives you wisdom to choose

Part of this is just knowing yourself I've told you i've done lots of church life. There are some things.

I know I had no business doing I've never actually tried out for singing.

I know me I can I can hold a tune. That's about it I don't have the technical ability to be able to sing.

Well In a pinch I can maybe lead a song in the service. That's about it

But Wisdom probably suggests I should not be your worship guy There are some people

And I like I told you I served in kids sunday school. I really enjoyed that. I love being around kids But there were some people

I served within sunday school ministry and I honestly sit there and think to myself Why are you here? You don't like kids Like kid everything about kids annoys you

Like you probably There are i'm sure there are lots of places you because you really shouldn't serve here I can say the same about music ministry growing up.

There are people on the choir or worship team at church i'm like Cackling strangle sounds better than you.

Please stop Wisdom probably suggests if you can't if you actually aren't gifted in that area

If you don't have the technical ability that probably shouldn't that's a good way to think about this Finally, I think above all there's the principle of humble trust the principle of humble trust ultimately trust the sovereignty of god

Told you I bought god for a year and a half of my life not wanting to serve But finally

I had to sit and say okay if this is what god wants me to do god will keep me even in the face of people's difficulties Have there been difficulties in ministry lots of them, unfortunately

But at the end of the day God doesn't call us to trust him because we think everything will be okay

God calls us to trust him because he is good So even if we trust him and things don't work out

There's a reason why god has allowed that he may tell us in this life and like job. He may never tell us in this life

But we can trust in his goodness The four principles that can help us to answer this question.

How do we discover our area of service? principle of heart obedience the principle of patience under which would be

Finding an area and trying to serve the principle of wisdom and the principle of humble trust I think too often we think about ministry in terms of what makes me happiest

Really the focus shouldn't be What satisfies us or makes us happy again notice in our passage?

The pizza doesn't really talk about whether it makes you happy or not He just says you have a ministry use it to serve others

Observation number four. Uh, how are we supposed to serve? So again, look at verse 11 If anyone speaks let it be as one who speaks god's words

If anyone serves let it be from the strength god provides so that god may be glorified it through jesus christ in everything

Two principles about how we're supposed to serve really you can sum up on the one word The person who speaks is to speak like he's speaking god's words the person who

Serves is to serve from the strength that god provides. You know what one word summarizes both summarizes both of those realities excellence you should serve with excellence

The person who speaks should speak as though they are speaking the very words of god that they should speak in a way that is

Fitting a way that is appropriate for the very word of god

The person who serves ought to serve with the strength that god supplies literally with the diligence that god supplies christian service should be done with the spirit and a commitment to excellence

Excellence is a funny thing though Isn't it funny that we will often expect excellence from others and are usually quick less quick to demand it of ourselves

We expect as human beings we generally expect everyone to be excellent at this and we're willing to give ourselves a pass when we're not my wife will tell you um

There are certain places we don't eat how often but when we do there are certain places that I refuse to go to She asked me that inevitable question.

What do you want to eat? I don't know. Um, oh that Yeah, I don't want to go there And usually the reason

I don't want to go there is every time I go they mess up my water I thought I was a really patient man until that kept happening to me

And then I discovered I really ain't that patient that really annoys me So it's like yeah, i'm not going there anymore Why I expect excellence from them when they prepare my food

And yet am I as equally exacting on myself when it comes to the things that I do? I mean the reality is we can all get real selective when it comes to excellence, can't we?

So honestly I really don't care about home decor before I got married

I lived in a room. It was very sparsely decorated You know what my decoration was?

My books This is a great decoration, but my books

Didn't have any posters. I'm very spartan that way. I don't need a whole lot At least somewhere to sleep

Somewhere to clean myself up and somewhere to study. That's about it So I don't really care about home decor

I like cooking though My wife will tell you i'm not neurotic about lots of things including things.

I probably should be But when I start cooking I follow recipes to a

T Why? Because I want to eat the best when

I cook paint job Yeah, don't care

Pasta bake. Yeah, I've got to nail that first time. And the other thing the reality is you can't be excellent at everything.

Can you? Like there are some things you're gonna have to just kind of compromise and do what you can and learn to live with it

But might I suggest that when it comes to christian service, that's one area you cannot afford to cut corners and compromise

If we are going to serve god and we're going to serve one another serve with excellence

I love what david said. There's a story where David has some mighty men.

These were some of his elite guys as it was David just is talking out loud and he says man.

I wish I had some water from the well in my father's village And the guy said bet we got you don't worry

The place is actually surrounded by enemy soldiers. They find a way in get this water and bring it back to david

What do you think david should have done in that moment? Promotion all your But what does he do?

He doesn't do that It says that david takes this thing and he pours it out And he says far be it for me to give to the lord anything that cost me nothing

He says these men gave their lives for this I can't drink this That's somebody who understood that I can't give to god what doesn't cost me and I'll pause for a moment

In any christian ministry in which you serve Do it well Don't just do it to get by Our god who has given us everything deserves the best.

Amen And i'm going to be honest. There are so many churches the temptation for us is a smaller church This can creep in for us

Does this work? Yeah, we can get by with that. Let's not get by with things Let's give god our 100 best

And if we can give him some more on top of that Just like your money she talked about last week.

We should give god our best not the rest of what's left We should give god what is sacrificial and costly not what is convenient and easy

We should serve the lord in ways that catch this stretch us Not just in ways that are in your comfort zone remember years ago

I got to sit in a room with a wise godly man Those of you who are in our men's training.

I mentioned him yesterday my friend steward olio Stewart is not an impressive looking man by physical standards

He's kind of short super skinny He wears these rather funny looking oversized sweaters because he's a small man and yet If he's really old and doesn't travel much nowadays

There's a secret wish in the back of my heart that one day I can get my friend to come preach for me Stewart is an amazing preacher and so one day we

Confess I go to I think I went to this banner of truth youth conference in Leicester in the west midlands in england And so go to this conference and it's dinner time and i'm trying to find somewhere to sit

And he'd see me around again. The christian circle the uk is not that big So you go to enough events you see people and so he sees me and he kind of motions me over to come sit with him

No need to tell me twice. So I go sit with him and we're just talking And I asked him that question that you know young guys always ask guys.

They look up to like what's the secret? How is it you can preach the way you do and it's so powerful.

It's so simple It was sunday of the conference.

So we're eating the typical sunday lunch in the uk roast beef and potatoes

Cutting his roast doesn't even look up he says Brother the secret is I pray and I work hard No, no, you gotta be is that it?

He goes. That's it. I said brother. I pray I pray when I start I pray when I study I pray when i'm done And I work hard And he said brother.

I don't cut corners when I work He says I don't try and find the easiest way to do this

He said brother. You said that I say profound things in my preaching. You know how I see those things I pray and that simple conversation over dinner never left me 23 24

That if we're going to serve the lord Serving the lord requires our best pray and work hard kofi is not convenient.

I have things i'm doing Kofi is not convenient. I have a way that things are structured.

This will mess that up Kofi it's not convenient It's I have needs that need to be met if I do this the way you're saying then it's going to cost me

Yeah, it will i'm a big football fan

The real round thing that you actually kick with your feet I like the nfl too, but i'm a football fan.

Oh, that's my sport of choice In my opinion the greatest football player of my generation

Was a frenchman called thierry henry My football club arsenal

He was our top scorer Has a statue in front of the stadium that we built You don't be giving statues to everyone like that He's got one

He comes back to that club and he's practically the messiah for some people not for me. Jesus is the messiah, but for some he is

I watched an interview with thierry henry a few years ago He's long been retired he's now uh, he's been a coach.

In fact, he just coached the men's team in the olympics and won a silver He's been a coach he's a pundit for cbs for their football coverage

And so now that he's retired he's doing a lot more interviews and talking a little bit more about he's always been a very private man

This kind of has this statesman feel to it He's being a bit more open these days. He said something in an interview one time

People talk about how great I was and how he had a trademark goal that he could score You just type in thierry henry goal.

You just see all of the particular kind of goal. He could score with just his eyes closed And he said, you know people talk about how um, uh, it's amazing with this very thick french accent of his

He's french. Um people also how is it I can score this goal with such ease he goes Because I did it a thousand times and I missed

He said but on the thousand and one time I scored and then I scored again and I scored again

And so by the time I hit the pitch, I know where the ball is I can be anywhere on the pitch and I know exactly how my foot needs to angle to kick it that way and get it in The reality is if you're going to serve the law, we should serve with excellence and excellence will cost us

But one last observation is the most important one actually what is the goal of our service Why should we serve well peter tells us look at that text again

If anyone speaks let's let him be let it be as one who speaks god's words If anyone says let it be from the strength god supplies so that god may be glorified in everything

Through jesus christ to him be the glory and the power forever and ever.

Amen Ministry in the local churches ultimately as with all of life. It's ultimately about glorifying god

God is glorified as we as his grace is displayed in those who serve his people god is glorified

That even when we fail and things are difficult that his strength is made perfect in weakness

Can I pause that's why sometimes the best ministry is often the hardest ministry Think about it.

If it was easy, you wouldn't need god's strength to do it God is glorified as we serve him with the best of what we have with the best of our skills the best of our abilities the best of our time

God is glorified as we lay aside ease and comfort and convenience and the love of self for laboring for the good of others

And ultimately god is glorified as the body that he sent his son To shed his blood and give his life for as that body is built up in him

Ultimately, we do everything we do in ministry for the glory of god I think that's an appropriate place to end this series actually

Remember where we started in this series the definition of stewardship that I gave you Stewardship is the god -given responsibility to use god's gift of roles and resources in a way that serves his purposes not our own

Can I put it to you that when it comes to the local church and serving in the local church? This is one area where that resolve

The resolve to use god's gift of roles and resources in a way that serves his purpose not ours

Serving in your local church is one of the toughest places for that resolve to be tested Because let's be honest.

It's easy to work when it benefits you It's easy to give your best when you get something out of it

It's so easy when it benefits someone else and not you first, isn't it? Now that of course there are people who are naturally very altruistic and they can do things for people and not think twice about it

Love those people Honestly pray I can become that Well, like i'm there in lots of ways in lots of ways i'm still working on it

Because let's be honest it's it takes a little more motivation Think about it those of you who

I don't work a secular job anymore But those of you who do how much motivation does it take for you to go to work?

Okay, so yeah, it's honest depends on the day I'll be honest when I when I worked I worked in marketing for years was a couple of clients worked in an agency at one point

There were days where Going to work was easy And there were days where honestly the only thing that motivated me was the thought of a paycheck

It's easy to work when it benefits you Is it easy to work when it doesn't benefit you, but it benefits somebody else?

It's not always But here's the thing this is the way that god has designed the church to grow

The church can't be the church The church can't be what god has called it to be if every member doesn't do what he needs to do

One last passage and i'm done Ephesians 4 Ephesians chapter 4

Can I draw your attention to verses 15 and 16? One last verse and a couple of verses and i'll be done

Ephesians 4 15 and 16 But speaking the truth in love Let us grow in every way into him who is the head christ from him christ the whole body

Fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament promotes the growth of the body.

Let me pause for a moment according to this passage What promotes the growth of the body?

Look at the passage again verse 16 From him the whole body fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament promotes the growth of the body

Who is it that promotes the growth of the body? Can I just point out to you that it's the body that promotes the growth of the body?

It says from him Some of you have heard me teach this passage before so you probably know what i'm going to say next If you were to put everything in the csb

It says fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament if you were to put just a pair of brackets around that sentence that clause

It could read like this From him the whole body promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part

The body grows as the body ministers to itself. It's just how your body works Everything your body needs to grow if it's healthy is contained within your body

And the same way it is with christ's body That god has designed christ's body to be built up not by somebody from the outside doing something

It's by the people who are part of this body serving Notice what he says the proper working of each individual part

That's how the body builds itself up up in love Ultimately the question we have to ask is this

Will you accept your assignment? What was the old tv show that says your mission?

Should you choose to accept it? Was mission impossible? Used to watch those reruns on channel four back home as a kid.

Um And then this tape was self -destructing three two one There it goes

The reality is you actually don't get an option like In mission impossible your mission should you choose to accept it?

No, there's no should you choose to accept it if you're a christian Paul says in line with what peter says

That the body makes the body to grow And so really the question that I leave you with as we conclude this sermon series in this particular sermon

Will we serve? That's really the question. It's not a question of should you serve you should the question is will you sir?

Will we serve? Will we serve sacrificially? Will we serve excellently will we serve as stewards of what god has given us in the gospel?

That's really the motivation that we have to think about Actually that applies not just to the subjects of local church.

It just applies to everything You know whether it's your home whether it's your Money, whether it's your time.

There are so many topics we're going to cover Who knows I might do a volume two someday and hit more of these But everything we have the question ultimately becomes will we use it in ways that glorify god or will we not

I pray that god would help us in this regard as individuals and as a church if you call this your church home That you would pray and ask the lord to help you identify your ministry and you would serve in it to the glory of god

Let me pray Our father we thank you because you are good to us

You give us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of your son including how it is that we can serve your people

Father help us that we would be the kind of people who serve with excellence Who serve with an understanding of the grace of god?

Who ultimately serve to glorify you as we see our brother and our sister built up Father give us the strength that only you can supply as we seek to serve you

Father we thank you for the lord jesus who became the servant of all so that all who place their faith in him

Could receive eternal life And father we thank you for this table that we're going to come to just now that reminds us of that blessed reality