Episodes
Sunday Oct 07, 2012
Becoming Tight by Being Loose
Sunday Oct 07, 2012
Sunday Oct 07, 2012
Rev. Dean Snyder Ephesians 4:4-7; 11-16
Everyone is called to ministry. Everyone has spiritual gifts. Everyone has things they are particularly passionate about because of our unique life experience.
You are called to ministry, not just ordained clergy, not just church staff, not just board members. You have a ministry. There is someone who needs your ministry.
If you will take the initiative to live out your ministry it will propel your life to new levels, it will propel the lives of those you minister to. It will propel the church.
This is the theme of our propel series of sermons, small groups and classes.
To get at this theme we are studying the Book of Ephesians.
There are many kinds of gifts for ministry. You can find dozens of gifts listed in the New Testament alone.
The Book of Ephesians says that every congregation needs to have at least five gifts present within it.
Ephesians 4: 11 says: ‘The gifts God gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
Every congregation –if it is going to be effective at equipping and empowering its people ande serving the world needs people who have the gift to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
So we made up this flyer this week with short definitions of what apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are.
Take a look at it with me.
Apostles are people who can cast a vision and lead others toward it. Often apostles are the people who initiate new ministries and missions and organize people to do the work. Sometimes they step in and revitalize existing ministries. They are leaders who know how to inspire and organize people.
Prophets are people who foresee and work for the just and inclusive world God wills. Prophets foresee God’s future for the world and communicate it. They have a strong drive toward social justice.
Evangelists are people who can invite and encourage others on their faith journey. Evangelists are not evangelists necessarily like Billy Graham. Evangelism is often a one-to-one mentoring of someone else in their faith and life path.
Pastors in this sense are not people who stand up front and preach. That actually might more often be apostles. Pastors in this sense are those who support others in their times of need. They provide pastoral care.
Teachers are people who teach. They can help other learn ideas and practice skills.
So these are the five basic and essential gifts which need to be present in every congregation for it to thrive.
Then we added another gift that was not explicitly named in Ephesians but which is especially important here at Foundry –music and the arts.
So we want to try an experiment here at Foundry today … something we’ve never done before.
We’d like you to pick what you think your number one spiritual gift is out of this list. Take a minute to think about it. It is a forced choice. If you just have these to choose from, which one of these comes the closest? It is just an experiment, not a permanent life decision.
Pick one.
Now, we’ve got some folk who are going to hold signs at various places in the sanctuary. When I tell you, I want to invite you to gather around your sign and talk to 2 or three other people in the group for three or four minutes about this topic: How did you first begin to realize that you had the gift to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher or artist.
This is going to be a little noisy but we are going to celebrate Holy Communion in a few minutes which will be very holy.
So please go to the sign that best fits you and share with two or three other people and I’ll call you back to attention in a few minutes. Go.
…
OK. That was energizing. (Get people’s attention) If you met somebody you’d like to talk to more, please share your contact information. Give your sheet to the person with the sign and you can return to your pew/seat.
We need at least these particular spiritual gifts to thrive as a congregation. Apostles need to lead groups and ministries. Prophets need to work for social justice. Evangelists need to invite and nurture others into our congregation. Pastors need to care for those going through difficult times. Teachers need to teach. And singers need to sing.
Without you exercising your ministry, our body will not be complete.
You cannot wait for someone to come and ask you to do something here at the church. You need to step out and exercise your gift for ministry. Propel yourself into ministry.
It used to be that we waited to do our ministry until somebody elected us to a church office. But God has already elected you to your calling.
So we are trying to loosen up and allow more freedom for everyone to exercise their ministry.
There is only one proviso. Your ministry has to build up the body of Christ. It has to build up the body in love. We will talk more about that next week.
But for today, we want you to think and pray about your gifts for ministry and how God might be calling you to step out in new ways. Think about this as we celebrate communion together.
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