The work of the Gospel

[OneAccord]

Notice how quickly this thread died out???

I would think that our work as servants for the Lord would be a topic that excites us!!! That we would be brimming over with news about our ministries!!!! It seems folks prefer debating doctrinal differences and such more than reporting the acts of walking it out in our lives.....

We had a very exciting morning serving the Lord, right in our own living room, He was very present and sent folks our way who really needing the ministering of the word. Nothing else satisfies, the rest is vanity or basic survival......

[nebula]

That's great, One Accord!

I'll admit my problem:

* The house I live in is owned and run by my father - and it is no shape whatsoever for inviting people over (don't ask - just trust me!)

* I'm a grad student, starting to student teach this semester, and have two jobs. Time??? Money???

I know being a teacher can be considered a ministry, but I sure am restricted from preaching the Gospel. Flop!

[other one]

I know being a teacher can be considered a ministry, but I sure am restricted from preaching the Gospel. Flop!

My wife is a kindergarten teacher and I can realate to the restricted part. However you would be surprised at the things the Spirit can accomplish in your classroom if you let it happen. It depends on where you are located and your local administration. Know the law and push it to the very edge.

[Bill]

Ya know...

The more I watch people here debate doctrine, I get curious...are they defending Churchianity or Christianity?

This is why I adjusted my forum topics on my board...

But as to the topic at hand? Neb, ministry to others does not take tons of time and tons of cash...trust me.

NoTurningBack.net was founded at a "free web host" and then was (and I'm extremely grateful for this) picked up on its own server as a gift from George. NTB has grown from 3-5 hits a day to over 30 and is still growing. My wife is getting involved with it now. We are reaching out to folks through bi-weekly mailings, our own forums, and archived materials. I spend maybe 2-4 hours a week at it presently, and that's not a significant investment of time. And I've paid $0 for it to this point!

Point being, God's got a work for YOU to do...just like I believe NTB is His work for me at the moment. And He will never give you something that He doesn't supply the resources to handle it. My personal opinion on what you've posted is simply this: The Holy Spirit is prompting you about a work God has for you to do. Seek His face and find what it is He has for you...and based on my own experiences, I know He will have the way for you to get it done too.

Just my $0.02...well, actually more like $0.05. Hopefully it's not too far off of what you were looking for.

[nebula]

Hey Bill!

Long time, no hear!

I do appreciate your input. And that's sounds like a great ministry you got going.

But it does still bother me how many verses there are about ministry to those who are in need, and yet it is so hard to find churches are the Church as a whole who live out this part of ministry. Why is that? How can we change?

[Bill]

Hey Neb:

Yeah, it's been a while. Much to do...imagine that LOL! Between my own site, my wife's surgery, our own life issues to work out, and work it's been pretty crazy.

Consider this:

In Ephesians 4:11, Paul is writing to them about the 5-fold ministry gifts (pastor, teacher, apostle, prophet, and evangelist). These gifts were given for some...so not all would have them. But, read on in chapter 4, and what it says is this:

"for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry...

I think there's an issue with people that think the work of the ministry is left to the pastor/pastoral staff of a church, rather than looking at the work of the ministry as our own. We don't take possession of the concept of being a minister. We think that to be a minister you have to have a degree from a seminary and stand in front of the church and preach and go to hospitals and do all these other things. Don't get me wrong: you need a pastor in a church! Without one, there's no vision, no focus, everyone does their own thing. But the pastor does not do the work of the ministry alone. He equips you and I to be co-laborers in the work of the ministry.

How's this fit, you ask?

In Acts 6, there were seven chosen to be servants so that the daily distributions to the widows would not be neglected. People who were full of faith, full of the Spirit and wisdom. Now, in today's day who are those people? That's us! These seven were appointed over the business of distribution to the widows, but today each one of us is appointed by God to something or to someone. I think the problem is, we see that person "full of faith, the Holy Spirit and wisdom" as our pastor, and we don't look in the mirror.

Not all are called to be the next great evangelist. Not all are called to pastor a church. Not all are gifted in prophetic. Not all can teach. Not all are able to be administrators and church planters. But we all can love, care, and share our own life experiences and how God has touched us and changed us into the people we are today. I think taking hold of the concept of being a co-laborer, one equipped to do the work of the ministry, helps. Because if you can't understand the idea of being a co-laborer and wait for the pastor to take care of the needy, the sick, the orphans, the widows, and so forth and so on, well...you'll wait a while.

Now, I'm up to $0.10. At this rate, it'll be a dollar's worth of opinions soon LOL!

[OneAccord]

Great posts,Bill. How true about the work of the church equipping the saints, rather than the saints expecting it of the church!!

Nebula, I think you could pray to the Lord to turn your daily life into a ministry. How can you use your day to day routine to minister to others?

Ministry does not necessarily mean preaching the word!!! Ministry is serving and there are a million ways to live this out. Living at home with your father is a ministry!!!! All the ways that you serve him in your home by housework, food prep, making things more comfortable is ministry!!!

You can minister to your students at work and also your co-workers by being a light, by practicing encouragement, learning how to encourage, strengthen, and just love others around you.

We are called to be the light of the world, and to so shine before men........We can share the gospel without ever opening our mouths by just shining His light.

Ministry doesn't have to be glamorous or right down in the nittygritty on the streets and in the gutters, ministry is a way of life and learning to recognize every situation, no matter how small it may seem, where you can give something or comfort or encourage or just shine Jesus.