Sunday Service: 07/08/2022
Supporting Scripture: Matt 20:26-28
Title of Message: The Purpose of The Church
Delivered by: Pastor Mercy Richardson
Last week at house group we discussed a subject we titled, “Why should we go to church? This discussion went very well. Today, the question is, “What is the purpose of the Church? Personally, I believe that there are four key areas that define the purpose of the church and I would like to share these with you in the upcoming weeks. These are, worship, fellowship, discipleship and service. Today, I want us to look at – SERVICE.
The church is called to serve or minister to people. When we neglect this purpose, we end up just sitting and warming the pews. When we forget, we are called to service, we change our focus from “What does God want me to do in order to carry out His mission”, to “I am here to get what I want.”
This is an area that many times people excuse themselves because they think that someone else will do it. I want us to look at what we are to do to fulfil this purpose.
I. Every Christian is a Servant (Minister) – Matt. 20:26-28
“It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Who is a “minister”? A minister is a servant. The word that is translated “minister” is also the same word that is translated “deacon”. Jesus came to serve. And as children of God, we are called to serve God in some capacity to help build the Kingdom of God. (Eph. 4:11-13)
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
The church leaderships, ministers, and teachers are the ones who help prepare people for ministry. This work of service can be translated as work of ministry. And Ministry is using whatever gift God has given you to serve Him and the needs of others. We will all give an account at the judgement seat one day. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
II. Every Ministry is Important
Paul uses the human body as an example to describes the church and that God places the members as He wants. Whatever God placed you as in the body, whether hand, leg or eye, you are important. All parts of the body are important. The size of the ministry is not important. What is important is that all the members work in harmony to build the ministry.
III. Every Ministry is dependent on the Others – (Romans 12:4-5)
“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so, we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
We need each other to function well in the body. For example, if those who are gifted in evangelism bring in a lot of people, but we do not have people who are gifted in teaching or hospitality? After a while, we will either lose the new people or they will not grow in Christ. (1Peter 4:10-11)
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.”
This passage shows us that it is important for each of us to use our spiritual gifts in service to Jesus.
You see, God did not create us with the same abilities. (Psalm 139:13-16). Everyone is unique and there are many different jobs that need to be done for the work of the kingdom to grow. When you look around, you will notice that each of us has a different shape.
We are all different because God made us that way. Your personality will affect how you use your spiritual gifts; your passion will affect what you place as important. Too many times we go about things backwards. We feel that since we do not know what we are gifted in, we do nothing. But the best way to find out where your gifts, talents and heart is, is to serve in many different areas and from that you will settle into what you are good at.
If the church does not focus on serving others, what will happen is that we will become friendly to ourselves, we will take care of ourselves, and we will focus our resources on ourselves. And when that happens, the whole body will hurt.
For our church to grow, we need each and every part of it to function. God did not call us to sit on the bench, but He called us to find a position on the field and play the game.
It is my prayer that every one of you becomes an active part of the church body, called to serve and to help build the body of Christ.