Church Needs a TEAM
Boosting Church Corporate Work By Having TEAM
Do you ever wonder why your Church have difficulties in taking another step in the ministry? Hope this sermon will give us some insights of what we need to have to boost the corporate ministerial work of our Church. (Please see note at the bottom of the sermon).
Title: Church Needs a Team
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:4-27
By: Ian Pilongco
Introduction
Have you wondered why a group disintegrated or if not, becomes stagnant? Have you wondered that there are well talented people with the same field of interest but cannot group themselves? These are simple but realistic questions that each one of us needs to ponder. We should be aware on what to consider in order for our church to sustain and grow to its full potential. Here are some points as viewed by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12.
Talents to Nourish (v4-11)
There are different sections, say committees, in church ministry that serves different functions. Each of these sections are composed of individual talents that works together for a common specific function. However, there is a danger that talents become scarce as maybe some of its members moves out whether intentional or not. If this is happening to our church then it is time for us to explore the talent that is lurking within us. This is highly expressed in verses 4-11 that each one of us has our own unique individual talent. This talent could be one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which is in the form of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, speaking or interpreting. Once this talent is discovered, the next thing to do is to nourish it by joining an appropriate section.
Our Perfect God
“As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is tried; He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. . .It is God that girds me with strength and makes my way perfect.”
Psalm 18:30, 32
When we serve a perfect God, it stands to reason that He will make available all of His resources “to all those that trust in Him.”
Complete. Dependable. Trustworthy. Sufficient.
All of those descriptive words come to mind when we read in today’s Manna that “God’s way is perfect.” In reality, these words are part of the psalm of praise David composed that day when the Lord had delivered him “out of the hand of all of his enemies and out of the hand of Saul” (II Sam. 22:1ff). Thus, it’s clear the rejoicing shepherd-king knew “God’s way is perfect (Heb. ‘tamiym’—‘entire, integrity, truth, without blemish, complete, undefiled, etc.’)” because God is perfect.
Likewise, because of that never-changing Truth it follows that “The Word of the Lord is tried (Heb. ‘tsaraph’—‘to fuse metal, refine, purge, melt away, etc.’).” Simply put, there’ll never be a time when His Word will fail us, regardless of what type of “fiery furnace” experience we’re going through. Instead, the Heavenly Father will use those trials as His “Refiner’s fires” to transform our faith into 24-karat status (I Pet. 1:6-7). He will also use them to develop within us “patience, Christ-like character and enduring hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). Hallelujah!!
The Power of the Perfect Heart
“Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you did rely on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand—for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. . .”
II Chronicles 16:8-9a
When He has full reign, He will work in/through us in ways we’ve never seen before.
George Muller was once traveling to Quebec, Canada from England for a speaking engagement. But, one morning, off the coast of Newfoundland, they found themselves in a very thick fog and moving forward was virtually impossible.
Muller went to the captain on that Wednesday morning and said, “Sir, I have a speaking engagement on Saturday morning and must be there. I’ve not missed a single one in 57 years.”
The captain, weary from trying to keep the steam-powered ship from running aground or hitting something in the dense fog, replied with exasperation in his voice, “Sir, I’m helpless in this! Can’t you see how thick the fog is?!?”
Muller replied, “Sir, my eye is not on the thickness of the fog, but upon the One Who can lift it.” He then asked the captain if they could go to his chartroom and pray. The captain, a nominal Christian at best, reluctantly obliged and the two went there and knelt in prayer. Muller prayed, “O Lord, you know I delight to do Your will and believe You’ve led me to speak in Quebec on Saturday. So, thank You that You’ll lift the fog in five minutes.”
Two Hands One Heart by Don Moen With Chords and Lyrics
Two Hands, One Heart The Best Offering We Can Give
This inspiring song of Don Moen have touched the hearts of many people and I personally believe that this is one of the best music that he did.
The Music describes that we have two hands and one heart to offer to the Lord. Not just one hand and a half heart. In our daily living, our life has to be given and lived for the Lord.
May this song bless you.
A Heart Like His
“And give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect heart, to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes. . .”
I Chronicles 29:19a
When we’re born again, we’re given a spiritual heart transplant and should ask the Lord to help us grow into His likeness more each day.
What a beautiful prayer David prayed that day as he “blessed the Lord before all the congregation” (v.10). He knew the time of his death was near-at-hand; he also knew he’d not be able to build the Temple he so longed for, but must leave it in the hands of his dear son, Solomon.
Thankfully, instead of growing bitter over God’s refusal to let him build it, David demonstrated great Grace by wanting Solomon to build it to God’s Glory. So often we allow petty resentments to rob us of our joy, which also prevent us from rejoicing in others’ achievements and success.
But, such was not the case with David.
His fatherly prayer in today’s Manna is one every parent ought to pray for his/her child: “And, Lord, give unto my child a perfect (Heb. ‘shalem’—‘complete, friendly, benevolent, mature, peaceable, whole, etc.’) heart to keep Your commandments, testimonies and statutes.” Wouldn’t our world be a much better place if every parent prayed that way?
Illustrations About Money and The Joy Of Salvation
These Illustrates Relationship of Our Money With The Joy of Our Salvation
The illustrations below are very useful especially if you will be talking about the relationship of money and our joy of salvation in Christ.
It is true that there are times that in a church, if we start talking about supporting God’s work and all other ministries financially, whole bunch of different issues and conflicts starts to rise. And suddenly we find out that we are no longer enjoying the works of service to our Lord.
Again, the book of Luke made such an example that we cannot be Christ’s disciple unless we learn how to love God more than our needs.
I do hope these illustrations will help us realize on how God works and see the relationship of our finances to the ministry of God.
Like Father, Like Son
“Be you, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48
Always remember, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Mt. 19:26).
“There’s no way!”
That’s our usual reaction to Jesus’ words in today’s Manna when He talks about our being “perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect.” And, to that response Jesus would say “That’s right—in your own strength. But, in Me. . .by abiding in Me and walking in My Spirit. . .you can do all things because I’m the One Who enables you to do it” (Jn. 15:1-7; Rom. 8:1; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:13).
Part of our negative reaction to this Manna is our misunderstanding of the word “perfect.” We define it as being “sinless” or making no mistakes and having no faults. So many try to compensate for this by being a perfectionist—i.e., someone who’s striving to do everything right; yet, such is impossible because of our sinful, Adamic nature and the fact that we’re inwardly drawn to sin because of our inherent “lust of the flesh, eyes and pride of life” (I Jn. 2:16).
Thus, the perfectionist is usually legalistic. . .always dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” . . .and criticizing/condemning those who don’t. . .while forgetting that he/she also can’t do it every time. But, don’t expect a perfectionist to admit such—for they operate in self-deceit and delusion, somehow thinking they’ve “arrived” and are superior to others.
The Greek word “teleios” is used here for “perfect” and means “complete, mature, of full age, etc.” Thus, it means “perfection” (maturity) in Christ is our goal and His Grace is the means by which we reach it. Or, another way to put it is, our Heavenly Father wants us to grow to the point where others will look at us and say as Jacob did to Esau, “When I saw your face, it’s as I saw the Face of God” (Ex. 33:10).
Why and Why Not Brother Eddie Villanueva
Brother Eddie Villanueva, a religious leader of one of the most prominent Evangelical group in the Philippines, the Jesus Is Lord Movement (JIL). Have been the best leader of JIL, have been in the ministry for many years, and have been a good model of leadership.
He was a candidate in 2003 Philippine presidential election, but lost having one of the least votes among all the presidential candidates.
Brother Eddie Running President, Again?
In one of the posts that one of my colleague made, he is against Bro. Eddie Villanueva for running. The reasons stated is not new. In fact, I have heard this from other people and pastors that I know. Well, I made this post for us to think and analyze the reasons behind it whether it is valid or have a solid Biblical support.
I quoted his article below:
On Walking With God
“I beseech You, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.”
II Kings 20:3
Never forget the Heavenly Father is not forgetful and always remembers those things done in His Name and for His Glory (I Cor. 15:58; Heb. 6:10).
Hezekiah was a Godly king who initiated many much-needed religious reforms in Judah (II Kings 18:1-7; II Chron. 29:3-36; 31:1). Crowned as the 13th king, his quest for righteousness and God’s Glory are especially noteworthy in light of the fact that his father was Ahab, one of the wickedest kings in the nation’s history (I Kings 16:29-33). This simply attests to God’s Grace, which is able to break cycles of sin and tear down strongholds of sin.
In II Kings 20:1 we find where Hezekiah, whose name means “The Lord is Strength,” became sick and the prophet, Isaiah, told him “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order—for you shall die and not live’.” No doubt the ailing king saw this as a death sentence, especially when it came from such a devout prophet as Isaiah.
However, Hezekiah’s subsequent action are worthy of our careful consideration: “Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord” (v.2). And, the content of that prayer is found in today’s Manna.
In this prayer, was Hezekiah lauding his reforms in the land and asking for special favors because he’d done such things? Was he trying to get God to change His mind based upon his self-righteousness? Or, was he asking the Lord to give him more time so he could continue serving Him?