Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Guest Speaker: This week's messages is from Dave Hubert, ACC's Minister of Involvement.

“You are the body of Christ and each (and everyone) of you is a part of it.” “To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.” (1 Corinthians 12:18, 7, 26) “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”Ephesians 4:16

These Scriptures tell us that God has an arrangement, a blueprint, in heaven for the organizational, functional ministry of the people at ACC. Each and every member of ACC is on that blueprint.

You hold a vital piece to the puzzle. Without you, the picture is incomplete.

Every one of you holds at least one piece to the ACC puzzle. God designed what the ACC puzzle looks like when finished but it is up to us to put it together.

I like to do puzzles. Titanic murder mystery puzzle, lost a piece of it. It’s annoying when one piece is missing. The complete ACC picture fully and accurately shows Christ to the world. When some of the pieces are missing or are on the window sill instead of in the puzzle, the picture of Christ that we are called to give to the world is incomplete.

Romans 12:6-8 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

This is simple and clear. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. Just Do It.

Prophets prophesy. Servants serve. Teachers teach. Encouragers encourage. Givers give. Leaders lead. Merciful show mercy.

Illustration: Sea of Galilee is alive and vibrant. Dead Sea = dead. The difference - No outlet in Dead Sea. Gifts are given to be used in service to others within the body. If you do not use them, you become stagnant and the whole body suffers.

Church surveys found that there are 2 core factors that most often determine whether a person continues to be a part of a church or chooses to leave.

1.    Do I have friends or not? (5-7 friends is best). Small Groups will help to address this.

2.    Am I involved in service or not? If you have friends and you are invested in helping the church, you much more likely to stay there, although this is not an absolute. If you have no friends and aren’t doing anything, it’s easy to leave, although there are exceptions.

I.    Exposition of text’s key points

A. It is vital to understand context of this admonition to use our gifts in service. It isn’t to be done because the church needs help or out of duty or to fulfill yourself, etc.

Ro. 11:30-31 tells us God’s mercy is poured out on all people. (Israelites and Gentiles).

Ro. 11:33-36 We owe ourselves to God twice: by creation and by undeserved

forgiveness of sin.

Ro 12:1- In view of God’s abundant mercy, offer yourself in service to Him.

Ro. 12:3-5 NEVER view yourself in an isolated way as an individual separate,

independent of the body of Christ. Your very identity is within the Body of Christ. Jesus died for this corporate, living body we call the church. Brian once mentioned in a message the sign that says “The church for people who don’t like church.” If you don’t like the church, you don’t like Jesus. It’s His wife and He loves her. He also likes her with all of her imperfections. We belong to each other and we owe it to each other to function within the Body of Christ. God gave us gifts to be used in service to the body of Christ and we can’t do that if we are not actively a part of it.

Many Christians mistakenly think they don’t have to be connected to the body to be alive in Christ.

B. Application: vs. 6-8. In view of the fact that you owe your life to God twice, once by creation and secondly thru mercy and forgiveness of your sin, offer yourself in service to the body of Christ according to the gifts/talents/passion he has gifted you with.

Discover your part within the body and fulfill it.

God gave each and every one a special and unique giftedness. His purpose/design for doing this was so that each and every Christian could/would fulfill a role/part so the body of Christ would be healthy and function effectively. By discovering our gifts and

offering ourselves in service to the body, we become transformed into what God wants us to be = a living sacrifice and pleasing to God. Our motivation for doing this is His great love to first of all, give us life and gifts, coupled with our gratitude for His great mercy and grace to forgive us of our sin.

To refuse to offer our gifts in service to the body is to sin against the body of Christ and against God Himself, thus displeasing Him. It demonstrates a disdain for God’s mercy.

II. A few observations about the gifts. (vs. 6-8)

A. No one has every gift. Includes leaders, preacher.

1. Illustration: Each one here holding one piece of puzzle. Can’t put it all together unless all put their piece of the puzzle in place.

B. This also helps us to understand our differences: different gifts/passions = different perspective and functions. All are needed to make complete. This causes conflict when we do not recognize and value differences. Puzzle pieces have different shapes but they fit together to complete the picture.

C. 7 gifts of the body each meet a different vital need. (just a sampling. There are more)

1. Prophesying, Perceiver = eye. Sees and proclaims God’s will/truth.

2. Server = arms, hands. Someone who would rather do good than look good.

3. Teacher = mind. Reason and analyze truth and apply it.

4. Encourager, Exhorter = mouth. Speaker, life-giving rebuke.

5. Giver = legs. Can’t move forward without legs. Same for church and giving.   Preacher heard church was becoming liberal. “Hope it hits the offering plate soon.”

6. Leadership, Administration = Shoulders/backbone. Organize the work, vision,

policies, planning.

7. Showing mercy, Compassion = heart.

D.    I took on the Ministry of Involvement with the intention and hope to help you to find your gifts and passion and to sacrificially offer them in service to Christ and His church at ACC. I am here to help you to get connected in service. Perhaps you mistakenly feel you have nothing to offer. Illustration: lady with the line dancing.

III.    How the Ministry of involvement can help you and ACC.

A.    Fill out Personal Ministry Inventory forms: foyer desk or online. No guarantee for

success but I will guarantee I will try my best. Ill. I was doing the secretarial work (bulletin, newsletter, prayer list). Jackie Jump (Jackie Jumped right in) - secretary. I was so glad I that could help her out. If you’re not interested in serving, don’t fill it out. Don’t need to know your gifts and passion until you are ready to use them.

B.    Service Connection Class (mid-January). Help you to discover your gifts and passion with the intention that you will serve in your ministry intersection where you gifts and passion intersect.

C.    Ministry needs list with a contact person so you can get plugged in to service.

Current known Needs (in the process of gathering info): Mowing leader, mowers,

Communion prep (Jan., Nancy Kelsey), nursery, children’s program, sign update, bldg & Grounds-all areas, media and audio techs.

But don’t limit your ministry to our perceived/announced needs.

Illustration: Ladies Night Out became a great ministry and outreach that we were unaware of.

Find what God has gifted and called you to do. Illustration: Waldo Butzow - cleaning windows and toilets voluntarily.

D. Ministry System Chart I am in the process of developing it for 2 reasons:

(1)    The process is the problem and the Ministry System Chart helps to address it. (2) Structure precedes ministry. (Let me illustrate what I mean by this.)

Ask any business management what is the problem, why things don’t go right. - Response: The workers are inept, lazy, don’t care, keep messing up, etc. The workers are the main problem. Ask church leaders why the people don’t get involved in service - unspiritual, busy, uncommitted, apathetic. The people are the problem.

Illustration: 2 men talking about the problems in the church. “What is the worst problem, ignorance or apathy?” Other man replied, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician, went to Japan and succeeded and then was asked to come back here and help us. Most quality problems are in the process, not the person. 85/15 rule. 85% built into the way the work was done. 15% fault of individual employees. He later revised his stats as wrong. 96% process, 4% people. Management always looking to blame employees, thus no solution.

Example: Bank One: “wholesale Lockbox” (payment processed from business to business in 4 hours or less.) Not meeting deadline. Lean 6 Sigma study - They discovered that the payment traveled one and 1/2 miles in the building. After study, 386 steps. 80% reduction and 100% improvement.

At times, the church process operates like a closed corporation that inhibits or prohibits involvement in service. People want to get involved in service but they don’t know how to do so or they are not allowed to do so. Clergy/laity distinction that took ministry away from people. The choir originally replaced congregational singing because the people weren’t good enough and it was best left to those who were.

Sometimes, there is limited freedom to minister according to gifts and passion.

Illustration: TLC - I was allowed to preach but not to sing.

Recently, I read about a church that was bragging that they had over 40% of members involved in service at their church.

I did a comprehensive demographical study in one church in which I served.

Survey Question: Do you hold one or more jobs at church (Yes-57%) A third of those who took the survey were mot a member of the church. Adjusted total percentage of members involved in service. (76%). That church flew straight past the 200 barrier because we set up the process to support, to enable, and to encourage the continued growth. We allowed people to serve according to their gifts and passion and we structured for it and we created ways to become involved in service.

Sometimes the organizational structure or disorganization prohibits people getting involved in ministry. Structure precedes ministry. (Acts 6 - selection of 7 to minister to the widows) first speed bump for early church. Lack of structure was hindering the continued health and growth of the early church. Had they not addressed it, growth would have been stymied. Usually, it is the process and structure, not the people, that hinders the growth.

It is my desire, goal, ministry, and intention to create a process that facilitates people discovering, developing, and utilizing their gifts in ministry for God’s glory at ACC. I pray that you are onboard or will get onboard with me.

Invitation:

When we did puzzles as a family when our kids were growing up, I would sometimes hide a piece of the puzzle near the end so I could be the one to put in the last piece and complete the puzzle. I was a “great” example as they joined me in a competition to be the one to put in the last piece. It was just for fun with our family but withholding your piece of the puzzle at ACC so it won’t be complete is no joking matter.

I would like everyone here to make a decision for Christ today.

If you are not a Christian, you have something that God wants that is of tremendous value and use to Him - You and your unique gifts. You can make your life count for all eternity. Army—”Be all that you can be.” Don’t waste any more time wasting it on temporary purposes that will pass away. Be all that you can be with God’s help by serving in His army.

If you are a Christian, (Ro. 12:1) “In view of God’s mercy, offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” There is no way you can possibly do this without using your gifts according to your passion in service to Him and the church that He loves at ACC.

Dave Hubert

Tags: spiritual_gifts, Ministry Intersection, serving