Devoted to Ministry

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick

There is noted in the Bible a very well known church which because of Paul's letters, has been a model for all subsequent generations of churches. But please note, this church is not a model because it was a particularly good church, or because it did everything in an exemplary way. In fact, it was a church that was beset with a great many problems. There was conflict between different factions in this church; There was immorality which was not adequately confronted; Lawsuits were being filed by members against other members; There were problems within the marriages of this church, and divorces were all too common; There were controversies concerning legalistic food laws; There were problems with people who wouldn't share food during "Love Feasts"; Spiritual Gifts were not being exercised in a balanced manner; There was an obvious lack of love among members; and, There was a great misunderstanding about the resurrection of Christ. In short, this was a troubled church - far from being the perfect church. And yet, say the name of the "Corinthian Church" to anyone who is even minimally schooled in the Bible, and they will know of this church, and believe that it has made a great contribution to the history of the Christian church. Why is that? Well, of course Corinth was a prominent Greek city, situated at one of the most important crossroads of the Roman empire. Anyone who traveled or conducted business probably passed through Corinth. However, more than that, this church became prominent simply because Paul planted it, and helped it deal with its many problems through the letters which have been handed down to us in the New Testament. But we have more than Paul to thank. When Paul first came into town, he was taken into the home of Acquila and Priscilla - we have this Jewish couple to thank not only for their hospitality, but also for allowing Paul to support himself by working with them in their leather-working craft. But there's someone even less well known who was very responsible for the existence and growth of this church. Hardly anyone today would recognize this name, the name of Paul's first Christian convert. His name was Stephanas, and is only mentioned briefly. I happen to think that if the only distinction was that Stephanas was the first to be baptized in Greece, or only that he was one of the three men who carried a letter to Paul from the church, his name would be even less worthy of mention. In fact, I think, the continuation of the Corinthian church, its existence as one of the best known churches of all time, is to the credit of Stephanas. This man, along with the other members of his household was not satisfied to merely accept the gift of salvation, they were willing to involve themselves in the ministry. And also note that Stephanas was willing to be involved in ministry within a notably imperfect church! Listen to what Paul had to say about him: "You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it. (I Corinthians 16:15,16) The existence of the Corinthian church, and the continuation and rise to prominence of any church today is dependent on people who are just like this man, Stephanas. The word which describes Stephanas as being "devoted" is from the word "tasso" which means "appointed, determined, or ordained" - I especially like the King James rendering, "addicted". It simply means that "they gave themselves wholly to the ministry". And notice, Stephanas and the others in his household didn't wait around to be asked, or delegated - they "appointed themselves". Let me read a couple of quotes from the commentaries on this verse: One says, "There is no better evidence of our interest in Christ than an entire affection and operative compassion towards all our fellow-members in Christ." And another writes, "Personal work for Christ is still the only way to win the world for Christ, voluntary personal work." Let me ask you this question, where in today's church are the people called Stephanas? Oh, they're here, all right. Some of them you've seen this morning, playing the instruments, singing with the worship team or greeting you at the door, and managing the sound system. Some of them are ministering right now, out of our sight, by taking care of the needs of our children. Two of them prepared the Communion service for us, one of them drove the van, others will take attendance, contact absentees or get in touch with visitors, some will count the offerings, take care of all of the financial records, and participate in making important decisions about the ministry of our church at home and throughout the world. Many others will be here Wednesday night to teach children, youth and adults, and others will come and go during the week, cleaning, fixing and helping in innumerable ways. Churches which thrive will always have a growing number of people who are like Stephanas and the members of his household, "addicting" themselves to the ministry of the saints. At the threshold of a new year, it's important to take inventory of our ministry resources. Do we have what is needed to do what we feel is important as we seek to obey Christ's mandate for this church? There are three words which we want to use to evaluate and guide our work together for the Lord this year. They are: Priority, Purpose and Prayer. By "Priority" I mean to refer to those people who have made church the priority. These are the people who are like Stephanas, and who make a vow to serve the Lord within their local church. "Purpose" refers to the process that we have started - to clearly identify what we believe the Lord wants us, at this time, to be doing. Already our leaders have said that the first item on our purpose statement is to be "Worship". Here it is: The Clare Assembly of God church is a congregation devoted to these five main areas of collective activity: Worship, Evangelism, Education, Fellowship and Caring. Always seeking to keep Worship at the center of the ministry and activity of the church, the development of four main elements will be encouraged: Music, Prayer, Teaching/Preaching, and Giving. Again the three words to guide our church this year are Priority, Purpose and Prayer. The particular way that "Prayer" enters into this mix is that we intend to develop a stronger insistence on people gathering for prayer prior to the beginning of our services. If some get offended by this, then please forgive, but any person who plans to participate in any up-front position of leadership during the worship service will need to be present for the prayer time prior to that service. This is not to limit anyone's participation in this pre-service prayer time - everyone is welcome. But if worship is to be our first purpose for gathering, then we must make sure we are spiritually together, and prepared for what the Lord wants to do among us. Priority, Purpose, Prayer. So where are the people who, like Stephanas, are prepared to addict themselves to ministry? If worship is our first purpose, where are the people who will be willing to care for the needs of the children, so that their parents and others may concentrate on that worship? Where are the musicians, the greeters, ushers and all the other personnel? Do we have them? A significant change is called for here. No longer are we content with people merely taking a turn because the Pastor has asked for help, or if it isn't too inconvenient. We want people to step forward who are "addicted" to their ministry. Of course there needs to be a contingency plan for times of sickness or vacation, but we're looking for people who will take full responsibility for a particular ministry. Let me tell you how I got to this point. For the past year or so we have been producing a master plan for involvement, carefully scheduling various ministry involvements so that people can take turns. For most of the time it has worked reasonably well. The biggest problem however is that the various ministries had no leadership, no one to make sure there was coverage. At the same time it was becoming known that some people no longer wanted to serve their turn, and we wanted to make sure people were doing their ministry out of a "love" motivation rather than one of "duty". A couple weeks ago we posted the ministries and included a request for people to consider taking leadership. No volunteers have stepped up to do this. Many are willing to help, but few want to take responsibility. So we're going to break it down another way. We will ask members to take responsibility for one ministry function for one service, and ask them to be faithful to that ministry. They can get others to help when needed, but it will be their responsibility to see to it that that ministry is taken care of for that service. Actually, in some ways this has already started. Sharon has been very faithful in the Nursery each Wednesday night so that others can be involved in ministry. Bill is always ready to receive the offering each Wednesday evening. Mary and Leona faithfully prepare for Communion each month. Mona and Darla faithfully lead the children's worship service each Sunday. We have instrumentalists who play every Sunday; we have teachers who teach every week; we have worship leaders who lead songs regularly. But now I am proposing to expand this to cover other ministries, especially related to our worship services - Nursery, Ushering, Greeting. We will look for one member of Stephanas' household to usher, one to greet, one to be in the baby nursery. Each of these will be encouraged to find an assistant to fill in for them when needed, but they will understand that theirs is the responsibility; and we all will be much better served. Someone might ask, what will happen if no one is willing to "addict" themselves to these ministries? Well, I guess no one will be at the door to provide a warm greeting. A sign will be posted on the Nursery door inviting parents to use the facility as needed. And we can call people out of the audience when it comes time to receive the offering. But I don't think that will happen. I believe that within the Body of Christ gathered here there are ample resources to take care of these ministries. And more. It will become contagious. As others see the faithful service of Stephanas, they in turn will want to also be involved. The Psalmist said, "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." (Psalms 84:10) Let's make it our decision to agree, and follow the example of Stephanas to addict ourselves to the ministry. - - Return to Top of this Page - Email a Link to this Page - Go To Next Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick - Back To Sermons Page or to the Sermons Alphabetical List - - Download This Sermon This Page's Title Is: Your Name Is: Your Email Address Is: Your State and Country: Please identify your vocation: Senior Pastor. Associate Pastor. Youth Pastor. Lay Minister. Church Member. Which section of this site would you most likely return to? Sermons Articles Stories Poems Hymns Articles for Leaders Marriage Articles A Bit of Humor Would you like to receive the free weekly E-mail Circular? YES If you have a web page, would you like to establish a reciprocal link? YES Feel free to add a comment or prayer request: