Calling For Works of Service

Calling

For Works of Service

It is so important you and I serve.

God gave us 5 gifts to help guide us.

Their direction helps show us where to serve.

Five gifts from God to you and I.

Some say that there are no more apostles and prophets;

that they are a part of a past dispensation.

I would disagree and find we have

 just given them different names.

But in doing so, we have limited

the effects of their ministry to us.

My point is not to find disagreement, but to point

 out that these gifts from God to us have a purpose.

The first thing we see is

they are to prepare us for work.

They are equipping ministries.

You and I are to learn how to serve from their ministry.

It is not their job to do the work, but

to equip us to do the works of service.

These 5 gifts help us see what we need to be doing.

They work with us on personal

levels and bring us together so we

can accomplish greater things.

The church leadership is to mobilize the people

to accomplish great things for God.

If you are not serving,

you are not listening or your leadership

is missing the point of their responsibility.

This was one of the hardest

responsibilities for me as a pastor.

Why? Because I saw how busy 

the people of the church were.

But the church could not grow,

unless we worked together.

What I come to realize is

we all have more discretionary

time than we want to admit.

We call it “me time”.

It might be to watch a favorite TV show,

 play a video game, sports, etc.

We see the “me time” as our right.

Between our work and the “me time” God gets the leftovers.

Don’t you think God should get our best?

So next time, one of the 5 gifts God has given us asks us to serve,

put a smile on your face and say here I am - use me!

If we are to walk worthy of our calling

which is to be like Jesus, we should remember..

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,

Philippians 2:5-7 NIV

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 4:7-12 NIV

7 But to each one of us

grace has been given

as Christ apportioned it.

8 This is why it says:

"When he ascended on high,

he led captives in his train

and gave gifts to men."  

9 (What does "he ascended" mean

except that he also descended

to the lower, earthly regions?

10 He who descended is the very one

who ascended higher than all the heavens,

in order to fill the whole universe.)

11 It was he who gave

some to be apostles,

some to be prophets,

some to be evangelists,

and some to be pastors

and teachers,

12 to prepare God's people for works of service.

Isaiah 6:8 NIV

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

"Whom shall I send?

And who will go for us?"

And I said,

"Here am I.

Send me!"

Calling Gifts to Us

 

Calling Gifts to Us

God has made provision for you…

Five Gifts to equip you

So you can be productive and successful!

My wife, Sandy,
looks like her mother more every day.

(Thank God I love her mother.)

We discovered it was God’s purpose

from the beginning

for us to look and act like Christ.

In a good family,

parents are making provisions

for their children every day.

Those provisions come with great sacrifice.

Although the child growing up

will face challenges and battles;

because of the parents’ sacrifices,

they are sheltered from

much of the world’s harsh realities.

The child may take for granted

the home, bed and food they have every day,

but it was all a part of the parents’ work

and loving effort.

Many parents worked long hours or two jobs

to see that their children get the best education. 

These parents want to see their children

be successful in reaching their full potential.

All these things a parent does

is a gift to the child;

many times the child never realizes it,

but that makes no difference to the parent.

The parent’s joy is seeing

their child become all they can be.

Our relationship with God is the same.

Jesus conquered our enemies,

making provisions

that we take for granted every day.

Yes, we have some problems in life,

but nothing like what it would be like without Him.

The battle God fought for you and I

not only brought our enemies into captivity,

but He took what the enemy had

and gave gifts to us. 

 

There are 5 very special gifts God has given to us: 

                     He said He…

·       Gave some to be Apostles (sent ones)

·       Gave some to be Prophets (seers)

·       Gave some to be Evangelist (bearers of good news)

·       Gave some to be Pastors (care takers)

·       Gave some to be Teachers (educators)

These gifts were given to help make us

productive, mature and to bring us

into the greater unity of being one.

To walk worthy of our calling,

we must become productive and mature.

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 4:7-13 NIV

7 But to each one of us

grace has been given

as Christ apportioned it.

8 This is why it says:

"When he ascended on high,

he led captives in his train

and gave gifts to men."  

9 (What does "he ascended" mean

except that he also descended

to the lower, earthly regions?

10 He who descended

is the very one who ascended higher

than all the heavens,

in order to fill the whole universe.)

11 It was he who gave

some to be apostles,

some to be prophets,

some to be evangelists,

and some to be pastors

and teachers,

12 to prepare God's people for works of service,

so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith

and in the knowledge of the Son of God

and become mature,

attaining to the whole measure

of the fullness of Christ.

Calling #1

Calling #1

 When you are the only one,

you are alone.

When you are in the one and only God,

you are never alone!

 

In the late 60’s to mid 70’s,

 there was a singing group

that got its name from indigenous Australians,

who on a cold night,

would sleep in a hole with a dingo.

A dingo is a native species of a wild Australian dog.

On a colder night they would sleep with two dogs,

and when the night was especially cold,

it was called a “Three Dog Night.”

Thus, was the name of the singing group

that came out with a song called:

“One“

In the song, “ONE” is called the loneliest number.

I am not sure what the song is all about

but their message is one is the loneliest number.

With God, “ONE” is not a lonely number at all.

One is a number of unity and harmony.

It is a number not to be divided.

It is a number not to be compromised.

God says,

There is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord,

one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all.  Ephesians 4:3-6 NIV

God is #1!

He makes it clear,

 it is not multiple choice,

but only one way.

 “I am the way” said Jesus.

Being #1 did not come without a battle.

Ephesians 4:8 quotes Psalm 68:18:

God has led us out of captive and set us free.

Jesus Christ conquered all enemies

including our greatest enemy - death.

Jesus conquered all things for you

so you will never be alone

as long as you are in Christ. 

 

So come out of the cold;

you don’t have to sleep with wild dingoes.   

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 4:1-10 NIV
4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then,

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope

when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

8 This is why it says:

"When he ascended on high,

he led captives in his train

and gave gifts to men."  

9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower,

earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one

who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

Psalm 68:1-35 NIV

May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.

2 As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away;

as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds

— his name is the LORD — and rejoice before him.

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing;

but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

7 When you went out before your people,

O God, when you marched through the wasteland, Selah 

8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God,

the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

9 You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.

10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty,

O God, you provided for the poor.

11 The Lord announced the word,

and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:

12 "Kings and armies flee in haste; in the camps men divide the plunder.

13 Even while you sleep among the campfires,

the wings of [my] dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold."

14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,

it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.

15 The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains;

rugged are the mountains of Bashan.

16 Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign,

where the LORD himself will dwell forever?

17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands;

the Lord [has come] from Sinai into his sanctuary.

18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train;

you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious

— that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.

19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,

who daily bears our burdens. Selah 

20 Our God is a God who saves;

from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

22 The Lord says, "I will bring them from Bashan;

I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

23 that you may plunge your feet in the blood of your foes,

while the tongues of your dogs have their share."

24 Your procession has come into view,

O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians;

with them are the maidens playing tambourines.

26 Praise God in the great congregation;

praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.

27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,

there the great throng of Judah's princes,

and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

28 Summon your power, O God; show us your strength,

O God, as you have done before.

29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.

30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds,

the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.

Humbled, may it bring bars of silver.

Scatter the nations who delight in war.

31 Envoys will come from Egypt;

Cush will submit herself to God.

32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,

sing praise to the Lord, Selah 

33 to him who rides the ancient skies above,

who thunders with mighty voice.

34 Proclaim the power of God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

whose power is in the skies.

35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;

the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God!