Given our current series here’s few thoughts on the potential for ministry in our congregation and gospel groups. If we all took on board, it would be hard to even measure the gospel benefit to us all.If we think that ministry is just the public preaching and teaching of the Bible, or the ‘pastoral counselling’ that the professional pastor types do, we are in strife as a church and so are our gospel groups. The public preaching and teaching of the Scriptures is vital, it sets the agenda, it should be powerfully making a difference. The pastors meeting up with and encouraging people to gospel living and trust in the midst of sin and difficulty is likewise is important, but we underestimate greatly what real ministry can be done outside of this. I believe it’s incalculable.
Let’s think about the ministry of encouragement. That’s not the patting on the back and telling someone their ok and the world is ok and everything will work out fine. No it’s the sharing, the speaking the truth, the urging, the speaking of biblical truths for the benefit of another. It sounds so unexciting, so….normal.
But it makes a gospel world of difference….
I believe the passages we’ve been looking at in church recently (Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:19-25) and we could add Colossians 3:12-17 all urge us in this direction. That thoughtful, deliberate, considered gospel speech to one another will make a world of difference. Where the truth is spoken in love and where the glory of God and the honouring of Jesus are the goal and passion of our lives…what amazing ‘ministry’ would be done amongst us.
In fact imagine we had even 30% of people on Sunday night or at our Gospel groups during the week turning up having considered how God can use them to spur another on in the truth. Such that they sit beside someone deliberately, they think during the sermon who they can share God’s truth with and how they’ll do it. Where they will ask even just one person how they can pray for another. Where they call up that person during the week to see how there doing and tell them they’ve been praying. Where they even simply express quite genuinely how they appreciate having a conversation with another about the things of the Lord. What this person has done is to trust God and put his Word into practice and gracefully, lovingly, faithfully encourage and help others in the same.
Can you imagine how awesome your gospel group will be if half the group are switched on like that?
Can you imagine how awesome church would be Sunday night with that kind of humble, Christ-centred love and trust?
That’s powerful ministry going on and it leads exponentially to more gospel ministry and love and trust happening all over the place.
This is not meant as a criticism really, but often people say to me how they want to get involved at church and don’t know what to do. My response in always, ‘Look around’. Ministry fundamentally is not task or project or event management. Those things are important because they are meant to promote relationship and people and talking and sharing and obedience…the real stuff of ministry.
So the personal ministry of encouragement, revolutionises churches. And we all know the opposite kills churches. Gossip, jealousy, boasting, factionalism, vulgar speech, anger, disengagement….that ruins lives.Gospel love and encouragement saves and transforms them.
So let’s be a congregation excited to be involved in the incalculable potential of real ministry amongst us. Let’s come ready next time we meet and see how God will use us for his glorious purposes as we build each other up in love.
If you want to consider this whole area more download The Ministry of the Pew by Col Marshall here. Make sure you download the article marked 4.05
