Mobilization over Collection
4 Priorities for Gospel Saturation

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Good morning church. It is good to see all of you here today. Happy Father’s Day! We welcome our students back from the student life camp this past week. Lift your hand if you were at the student life camp. I think I see the camp t-shirts throughout the room; take note of those who have their camp t-shirt on today.

Adults asked some of the young people out in the lobby after the first service, “What did you learn last week? What was your ‘takeaway?’” I’ve heard a lot of great stories from our young people. We’re thankful to have them back with us in church today, sitting on the front row; I don’t know if that’s something new or it’s just something that happens after camp. We’ll see what happens next week. We’re fired up about having you back. I’m just going to preach the whole sermon to you guys right here. Is that okay, since we have you down here close? That’s awesome ! Those of you in the far, far back, in the “nosebleed section,” we’re happy you’re here too. Also, we are happy for those that are watching online.

Today we’re starting a new series. I’m back from vacation, so get your seatbelts on because I’m pretty excited to be back in the pulpit. I’m thankful to our teaching team for covering for me and for a church that allows their pastor to go on vacation. When I get back, I’m fired up, but sometimes I need to take a little rest. I’m thankful for that. We’re starting a new series today, entitled “Four Priorities For Gospel Saturation.”

What do we mean when we say, “Gospel Saturation?” Here’s a working definition for you; we’ll put it up on the screen. Gospel saturation is “the church owning the lostness of an identified people in a defined place, ensuring that every man, woman and child has repeated opportunities to see, hear and respond to the Good News of Jesus where they live, learn, work and play.” This definition is just another way of saying what Jesus commanded us to do in the book of Mark. In Mark 16:15 (ESV) And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” The Good News about Jesus, King Jesus, has given every believer this command to go out and tell others about Him.

So, how’s the church doing? How’s the American church doing? Let’s just “check the pulse” for a second and answer that question. The largest denomination in the US, the Southern Baptist Convention, reports seven straight years of declining membership. Less than 20% of Americans actually attend church on a regular basis. Census data shows that 21% of the American population considers themselves to have no religion. Whenever they’re surveyed, they check the box, “None.” Some have referred to this sociologists refer to this as “The Rise of the Nones.” It’s the fastest growing segment of the American population. Gallup has been taking this religious survey since 1937. U.S. church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades, before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century. Since 2018, the number fell to below 50% for the first time, with only 49% of respondents saying they were members of a church.

As the American population has increased to over 335 million, the influence of Christianity has decreased. Could it be that we are living in the greatest decline of Christianity in our nation and it’s happening on our watch? It’s happening on our watch? Who do we blame this on? Why is the church losing ground in America? We can blame it on the devil. That would be convenient. We could blame it on the evil in our culture. What if we blamed it on Hollywood, the social media, President Biden or the government? It’s got to be somebody’s fault, right? But, what if we looked in the mirror to ask the question, “Why is the influence of Christ in our culture declining?” Perhaps, we’ve been too focused on our own kingdom.

I wanna pop up this slide. It might be a little hard to read if you’re too far away. Maybe next week, if I use it again, I’ll make it bigger. I can just tell you quickly, this represents what’s called “collecting communities.” This is a way of doing church that’s turned more inward and is more focused on caring for its membership. Then, this is called a “mobilizing community,” which is more concerned about reaching the place that that church is located; to try to reach Wilson for this church, for instance, Wilson County, this type of church is focused on “collecting people.” Getting them to not leave; to stay. It’s focused on building the organization and counting attendance. It tends to be the kind of church that sees itself in competition with other churches, competing for an ever declining number of people. It’s very protective of its assets. It’s always thinking about, ”Do we have enough resources in order to take care of the institution of the church?” That tends to be where many churches in America are today.

That’s not the kind of church that God has called us to be. He’s called us to be a “mobilizing” church. Instead of trying to “collect” people, we work toward how many people we can send. Not what is our collecting power, but what’s our sending power. How many churches have we planted? How many missionaries have we seen on the field? How many pastors and teachers are we training? How many young people are deciding to go into full time Christian ministry? Even more than that, how many of us feel called to tell others about Jesus? Are we mobilizing our people so that they recognize we are sent by Jesus? Instead of focusing just on how many people are sitting in these seats, how many people are experiencing life transformation, becoming more like Jesus and being disciples? We’re focused on that instead of competing with other churches. We are collaborating with other churches in our city that believe as we do and recognizing that we’re not trying to build “this” kingdom, but we’re part of His kingdom. It’s His church that we’re growing. Instead of protecting assets, we are releasing assets so that we become a blessing to the community that we’re in. We’re not inward focused; we’re outward focused. That’s a quick summary of what it means to change from a collecting community to a mobilizing community.

Between our two campuses, we have this campus in Wilson and another campus in Rocky Mount. Let’s say that we averaged ten new people every week; ten first time guests that you invited to church. Let’s say that that happens every week for fifty-two Sundays. If I check my math, I think that’s 521 first timers. So in one year, 521 first timers will hear the Gospel; we make sure we say it every Sunday. So, the last time I recently looked at the world population survey, it said that there are 83,000 people in Wilson County. There are 178,000 and growing in Nash County. We’re reaching 520 people per year. So

We recently did a percent survey. We found out that 42% of people in eastern North Carolina don’t go to church at all. 4 That’s one out of two basically. Sothat lowers it to around 105,000. So now we only have to reach 105,000. How long will it take us at 520 per year to reach 105,000? Well, check my math on this. It will take 202 years. Now, I’m already getting gray. Even the young people I have down front couldn’t pull this off. So, if we only reach 520 people a year, we’ll never reach Wilson in Nash County, plus that assumes nobody gets born. That’s just a static population; nobody moves to this area. In fact, if we tried to reach all 180,000, at that rate, it would take us 350 years. It’s impossible. There must be a better way. Well, there is a better way. It’s called “creating disciples of Jesus Christ who are mobilized to go and tell others about what Christ has done for them.”

What is mobilization? If you look it up in the dictionary, it usually has something to do with the military. It says, “the action of a country or its government preparing and organizing troops for active service,” and it gives an example. The mobilization of the army in 1941 brought 2.5 million men under arms. So, we tend to think of mobilization as having to do with an army. But, the dictionary gives another definition; it says, “mobilization is the action of organizing and encouraging a group of people to take collective action in a pursuit of a particular objective.” That’s what we’re talking about. We’re talking about becoming an army under the commander in chief, Jesus Christ, who has sent us to tell others about Jesus.

Here’s our working definition. We’ll put this up on the screen. “Mobilization occurs when God’s people are being trained and equipped to own the lostness of a defined people in a defined place.” When we say to own the lostness, what we are saying to ourselves is, ‘I am responsible for telling people about Jesus in my family, in my neighborhood, in the cubicle next to me at work, at the desk next to me at school…’

I want you to ask yourself this question: “Am I mobilized for service? Am I willing to be equipped, trained and sent under the authority and command of our Commander in chief King Jesus, Who has sent us to tell others about Jesus?”

In his 50 years of ministry, missiologist and missionary to the Congo, Dr. Jim Slack, observed: “When God’s people own the lostness of their place, God moves.” Will we own the lostness? Will we own our little piece of the pie, Wilson, County and Nash County? That’s where we are. That’s what we own. That’s what God holds us accountable for. Are we willing to make sure every man, woman and child has an opportunity, repeated opportunities to see, hear and respond to the gospel? Are you willing to be mobilized?

Let’s look at the text. That was a long introduction, but it’s the introduction to our whole series. Today, we’re going to be looking at Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Timothy was the pastor that Paul put in charge at the church at Ephesus. He writes this letter to Timothy to instruct him, to mobilize himself and that church for gospel spreading.

I believe today that we can be mobilized for gospel spreading. As we look at the text, we’ll see four imperatives in order to be part of this gospel ministry. Let’s look at it:

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV) 1 “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” This is God’s word.

We’re looking for four imperatives for how to be mobilized for gospel saturation. Here’s the first:

1. Always be watchful.

All four of these imperatives come from verse five. The first one you’ll see is “always be sober minded.” In the New King James version it says “be watchful in all things.” That Greek verb has both of those in view here.

Here’s my short version of that point: “Get serious.” Get serious about God’s command, Christ’s command to tell others the Good News. Be watchful.

This week, I was studying with my son, Jonathan. Jonathan was in the military for ten years. He was a chaplain in the army. He said the way we would say, “be watchful,” in the military is “keep your head on a swivel.” In other words, always be aware of your surroundings; be aware of what’s going on.

If we look at this text and look at this instruction in context, notice how it begins in verse one, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.” Paul is talking to Timothy and he says, “always be sober minded.” Always be watchful. Watchful for what? First of all, be watchful that God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, His Son are watching us. They’re watching how we do with this command, this charge, that’s been given to us. We should be watchful because it’s Christ Jesus Who is to judge the living and the dead. He’s going to judge our works and by His appearing. In other words , He’s already come in His kingdom and He’s coming again. It’s His kingdom, not ours.

Now, if I’m referring to this church, I’ll say “my” church and you understand what I mean and you’ll say this is “my church. That’s not even true. It’s His church. It’s His kingdom and we’re part of it, in view of Who is bearing witness to what’s been given to us. In view of this, be serious; get serious. Be watchful. “Keep your head on a swivel.” The day is coming soon for His return. The time is short.

Notice these instructions that He gives here. I said there are four imperatives; they’re all in verse five, but there’s actually five more that I’m not covering because that would be a nine- point sermon and I know that would scare you. Many of you would just say , ‘I’m out of here,’ if it were nine. So,I’m cheating a little bit, I’m not giving you the first five. But in fact, those first five seemed to be more focused on Timothy and the way he leads the church. Whereas, the final four seem to be more broad.

Let me cover the first five imperatives, (1) preach the word, (2) be ready in season and out of season (in other words, all of the time, whether it’s an opportune time or not), always (3) reprove,(4) rebuke and (5) exhort. Be willing to correct people with preaching, be willing to exhort them, to encourage them, to build them up and do all kinds of preaching.

Here’s what I would say about these five imperatives that we see in verses two and three, primarily in verse two, they seem to be aimed at the church broadly. I would say this, make sure you’re part of a gospel preaching church, where the preaching, the teaching and the small group ministries, don’t “play games,” but actually are willing to correct you, to instruct you and to encourage you, instead of wanting to be part of some place that just agrees with you all of the time. Be part of a place that’s actually equipping you and preparing you to go out into the world and to face the world.

Paul is saying to Timothy, in order to have a mobilized church, you need to do this. There’s going to be times when it’s in season and people are ready to hear it. Then, there’s going to be times when it’s out of season, but I want you to preach anyway, even when it’s out of season. I don’t recommend hunting out of season; that’ll get you locked up. But, Paul says to Timothy that it doesn’t matter what the season is, I want you to stay faithful.

Paul says to do it with complete patience, recognizing that people are where they are in life. Be patient; be gentle with people but tell them the truth and to be faithful in doing it.

Let me give you a couple of verses to back up this idea of being serious and being watchful. 1 Peter 4:7 (NKJV) But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. Be serious and watchful. It’s so easy just to be looking for entertainment. I just want to be entertained. I just want to look at this cool video on my smartphone. I just want to watch this tv show. I just want to be comfortable. “But the end of all things is at hand.” The scripture says to get serious and “keep your head on a swivel.” Be watchful.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 (NKJV) Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Notice how that goes together. Stay awake; be aware of what’s going on around you, in your family, in your neighborhood, where you work or at your school. Don’t just be focused on you. Be focused outward and be aware.

Notice what it says in John 5:19-20 (ESV) 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing… It speaks of how Jesus was always watchful to see and listen where his Father was at work and then He would join Him there. Friends, if it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for us. This describes the adventure of following Jesus and saying, ‘Father, where are you already at work, so I can join You there.’ He’s already at work with that student at the next desk at your school. He’s already at work in that worker that works in the cubicle next to yours. He’s already at work at the next door neighbor’s house whose dog keeps waking you up in the middle of the night. The adventure of the Christian life is that you’re watching to see how you can join the Father where He’s already at work.

There’s a story in the Book of Acts, chapter 10, that talks about the apostle Peter and how he went out and started preaching in a little town called Joppa, or as they say it in the Hebrew, יָפוֹ, yāpô. This town was right on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a beach town; Peter was staying at a guy’s house named Simon the tanner. On this particular day, it was around midday and he went up on the roof, probably to catch the cool breeze off the ocean of the Mediterranean Sea and it was his habit to pray at midday. That was the habit of every Jew, during that time, to pray morning prayers, midday prayers and evening prayers. So, he goes up at midday. Meanwhile downstairs, the wife of Simon the tanner is preparing him lunch. Peter’s got it made. He’s staying at Simon’s house, he’s got a beach/ocean view, he’s got the cool breeze, and he’s got somebody cooking him lunch.

Peter begins to pray and he has a vision; a disturbing vision. This vision is a sheet coming down and in the sheet are unclean animals to the Jewish people. He hears a voice from the Lord saying, “Kill and eat, Simon Peter, kill and eat.” He sees the vision three times; it repeats itself three times. It’s like a waking vision. He says, “Lord, I’m Jewish. I would never eat these things; I’ve never eaten a thing like this.” The Lord says to him, “Don’t call unclean that which the father calls clean, ” and at that very moment, somebody knocks on the front door. Remember, that there were three visions. There’s three people at the front door . They’re coming for you. Don’t be afraid. Go with them. One of them was a Roman soldier and the two other guys were Gentiles. Normally, Peter would say, ‘no way I’m not going with them,’ but the father has prepared him now.

These three men were sent by a Roman centurion named Cornelius. Cornelius had an angel visit him and tell him to go down to Jaffa; there’s a guy named Peter, he’s staying at Simon the tanner’s house. See, this is long before we had “google maps.” Back in those days, people just had “angelic maps.” The angel tells him the address and to go down there. Cornelius sends one of his Roman centurion soldiers and two other servants down to get Peter.

The Holy Spirit says to Peter, “go with them.” Peter has it made here in Jaffa. He has people cooking lunch for him. He has an ocean view. The people are receptive. I have a place to live. (I want to plant a church here. That would have been my demographic study; let’s plant a church in Jaffa. You know, that would have been with human wisdom.) But the Holy Spirit said ‘No, I want you to go where it’s uncomfortable and dangerous. I want you to go up to Caesarea by the sea. I want you to go into the stronghold of the Roman guard to a Roman centurion. I want you to go to his house.’

What does Peter do? He says “yes.” He goes and he shares the Gospel with Cornelius, the rest of his family, the other guards and the assistants that were there. They all came to faith. Who did all that work? The Father did; the Holy Spirit did. What did Peter do? He joined Him there. How did he get there? He was serious about the command of the Lord and obeyed it. He had his “head on a swivel.” He was ready to see what God wanted him to see and do what He wanted to do.

Are you willing? Are you ready to be always watchful, always serious about what God’s called us to do? That’s the first imperative. Here’s the second:

2. Endure suffering.

My shortened version is, “Get tough. Get serious.” We, as Americans, are not very tough today. When I go and do missions work in other parts of the world, it’s kind of amazing the difference that we see in the people. When we go and partner in Uganda with pastor George Mybonye at his church and we travel around those little churches, he’ll put word out that we are coming and that I’m going to be leading a pastor’s conference and my wife is going to be leading a women’s conference. We’ll get there and it’s pouring the rain; it’s a bad storm. Pastor George says to me, “do not worry, they will come.” Sure enough , you’ll see people walking in the driving range, some of them by barefoot, some of them riding bicycles. Some of them walk twenty miles to be there and they’ll show up early. The conference might start at 10 or 11 in the morning. They are there early. They leave before the sun comes up. They walk in the rain. They travel over great distances and then, they’ll sit on a dirt floor or on old wooden benches. They’ll sit all day to hear someone teach the word of God. Their level of willingness to endure suffering is different.

Now, if I were to talk about us, if we look out the window and it’s too sunny, we’ll say, ‘it looks like a good day to go to the lake or the beach.’ If it’s raining, we will say, if I go to church today, I’ll get wet.’ Our level of comfort is so amazing and our willingness to give up on it in order to share the gospel with someone else is so low. We’re just not very tough. We’re not willing to endure suffering.

Part of being mobilized is a willingness to get out of your comfort zone and to do something that feels a little risky or dangerous. That’s where faith is; it’s out on the end of the limb, not up close. You have to climb out there and be willing.

Look at verse three and four. This idea of enduring suffering is in contrast to verse three, which says, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” They won’t put up with someone preaching like I am right now. They won’t because they have itching ears that need to be scratched. What created that itch? He tells you that they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

That word, “passion,” is “epithumia” in Greek. It could be translated ”over -desire or lust.” Paul tells Timothy that there’s a time coming when people will want to have teaching that affirms their sexual urges, their lusts and their desires. They will want someone to educate them. They’ll even want to build churches that have that kind of preaching and teaching that affirms rather than challenges their physical lust.

Can you imagine a day like that? You don’t have to imagine long, do you? We live in that day, The time has come when people are gathering teachers and preachers that would just scratch their lustful itch.

Paul says that you need to endure suffering because there’s a time coming when you won’t be popular. He says that these people will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Today, a so-called educated person can’t even tell you what a man or a woman is. They can’t even tell you that. That’s the day we live in; a day of myth. A day when we would rather believe a lie and swallow it whole than to believe the truth. I could go on, that’s just one myth. I could pick so many others. We live in a day in our culture today where the church needs to be willing to be different. Sometimes, that will mean we won’t be that popular. It’s hard to be “cool in school” if you’re a Jesus follower. It’s hard to be cool at work or in your neighborhood, but let’s just embrace it. Let’s just go ahead and say, ‘I’m happy to be a follower of Jesus. He has saved me. He has bought me. I am His. I am no longer my own. I’ve been bought with a price and I love Him. He’s my King. He’s my commander. I am mobilized. I am willing to endure suffering.’

Earlier in this same chapter, Paul told Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:8-9a (ESV) “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling.” Timothy could be a little bit anxious. He wasn’t like Paul; Paul is all bold. Timothy is more of an introvert. He’s kind of a quiet guy, and so, Paul writes this to Timothy. He says, ‘don’t be ashamed of the Lord. Don’t be ashamed of the gospel and don’t be ashamed of me. I’m writing you this letter from a Roman prison right now.’

That’s our tendency; it is to be ashamed. Are you ashamed of Jesus? Are you ashamed that you are a follower of Jesus? Are you like a “007 Christian,” trying to keep it a secret from everyone, afraid if the news gets out , it might mean a little bit of persecution. It might even be a little bit of suffering. Are you willing to endure? Are you willing to be mobilized?

Here’s the third imperative:

3. Do the work of an evangelist.

We’re getting this from verse five. We’ve already said, “always be sober minded.” In other words, “always be watchful, endure suffering, get serious, get tough” and then, do the work of an evangelist. In other words, “get going.” Notice that it doesn’t say “be an evangelist,” because not everyone is called to be an evangelist, but everyone is called to do the work of an evangelist. There is a difference. Some are gifted to be evangelists, but all believers are commanded by King Jesus to do the work of telling others the good news about Jesus.

How are we doing at this? I would say that many of us, if I look at social media, are really good at giving bad news. I’m having a terrible day and here’s why. Other believers get on there and say, , Oh, I’m so sorry for you. I have the same problems that you do. Let’s commiserate because misery loves company.

We’re called to do the work of an evangelist. We are called to give the Good News of Jesus day after day. Who called to do that? Everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus is called to do the work of an evangelist. It’s work but we’re called to do the work. In order to endure suffering, you sometimes have to go through a season of suffering. In order to do the work of an evangelist, it often kind of comes out of your suffering. You know what I need to do? I need to tell others the Good News because Jesus has brought me through a season of suffering.

In the military, they have a designed suffering course that is called “boot camp.” It’s in order to mobilize their soldiers, their marines, their sailors and their airmen.

When I was in high school, I played football. We never had tryouts at my high school. If you went out for the team and you went to practice, you were on the team. We had “two a days.” That’s where you practice from 8 to 10 in the morning and from 4 to 6 in the evening, in the August sun, for three weeks. We never had to have tryouts because one third to one half of the team quit the first week. I think the way they coached in those days would probably be illegal today.

There’s something about enduring suffering, with the Lord’s help, and then doing the work of an evangelist that just goes together. Jesus gave us this command in Mark 16:15 (ESV) “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” This is what the Lord has commissioned us to do.

He’s also told us He would give us the power and the strategy to do it. It’s in Acts 1:8 (ESV) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” He empowers you to do it as He did Peter, He does today for you and I. Then he gives us a strategy; “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,” which is for us, in Wilson. It’s your house, your home and your neighborhood. Judea, which is the larger area in eastern North Carolina. Samaria, is people not like you, maybe they are of a different color than you or speak a different language. To the ends of the earth speaks for itself.

He gives us power from the Holy Spirit and then He gives us a strategy. He says to start at home because, guess what? That’s the hardest group; they know you. Start with them and then begin to tell others.

When I was in college, one summer I went on a summer project with what was, at that time, called Campus Crusade for Christ. Today, they call it CRU. I went on this summer project. We would do evangelism every day. In the mornings, we would have devotions and for the first couple of weeks, I’m praying a particular prayer very passionately. I was thinking, This is a good prayer and I’m sure the other people that are listening to me are thinking, man, that Gary, he’s got a good prayer going there. That’s what I was thinking. Here’s what I was praying, “Lord,” and I would do it just like that “L-o-r-d” because if you do it like, with the four syllables, people know you mean it. “Lord just break my heart; break our hearts for the lost.” like that. I think I did mean it, plus, I was aware that it was a good prayer. After about two or three of these same prayers, the project director, his name was Daniel, pulls me aside and say to me, “Gary, can we talk for a minute? I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but how many lost people do you know?” I knew some lost people. He continues, “If you actually go meet some lost people, God will break your heart for them. You won’t have to pray for God to break your heart for lost people. If you actually introduce yourself and get to know their problems, their struggles and what they’re going through, God will break your heart. You just go out and meet some people far from God and talk to them.” I haven’t prayed a prayer like that since. He was right.

Then, I found out something else about myself. I told you about the 180,000 people that live in Nash County and Wilson County combined. I have to tell you, my heart isn’t broken for them. You’re probably thinking, ‘Now, we’re going to a different church. That pastor and his hard heart.’ But the reason is, I don’t know them all. My heart isn’t big enough, but God’s heart is big enough because He knows them all. Jesus died for them all; He knows them, but Gary doesn’t know them all. This I do know: He told me to reach them. He told us to reach them. I might not need to pray, “God break my heart for them.” He’s already broken my heart for them.

Out of obedience and to the Great Commission, out of obedience to the commander in chief, King Jesus, let’s go and reach every man, woman and child in the place that God’s called us to live right now. It won’t happen inviting one person at a time. It’ll happen because you’re in that workplace, in that school, in that neighborhood or in that family. That’s where it’s going to start happening. That’s where the movement begins. Will you come under the Lordship of Jesus and obey His command? I believe when your heart’s broken for Him, He’ll break your heart for others.

Here’s the final instruction:

4. Fulfill your ministry.

Do you see it in verse five? That’s the fourth imperative: Fulfill your ministry. We’ve said, (1) be sober minded,be watchful, (in other words get serious,) we’ve said (2) endure suffering (in other words, get tough) and we’ve said (3) do the work of an evangelist (get going.) Lastly, we are to get busy; fulfill your ministry. Notice, it doesn’t say somebody else’s ministry, it says yours. You have your own ministry. Well, Pastor Gary, we knew you had one, we already know you have one.

This is what Paul is saying: You have your own ministry; fulfill your ministry. “Fulfill” means to carry it through to the end; to accomplish it. What’s this word “ministry?” It could be service ministry; that which God has called you to do. Do you realize that God’s called you to a ministry? in fact, don’t call me the minister. I’m not your minister; I’m your pastor. I’m an equipper, a trainer, but you’re the ministers and I’m a minister, too. We’re all ministers and we’re all called to a unique ministry.

In Colossians, Paul says, Colossians 4:17 (ESV) … “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” So how do you know what your ministry is like? Your ministry will be based on your unique personality, your unique place in this world and your unique gifts, your spiritual gifts.

Notice what it says in Romans 12:4-8 (ESV) 4 “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation;

the the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” I think that Paul could have gone on; he just ran out of breath. There’s so many different spiritual gifts. This is not a conclusive or an entire list. But these are many of the gifts.

One of the things I’ve learned is that your unique ministry often comes out of your deepest wound or your deepest place of suffering. Does that surprise you? That’s often where your unique ministry comes from; a place where you had a wound and God healed you. He didn’t give you just enough grace to heal you; He gave you an excess of grace that overflowed so that you had an excess for others. He often does that. Someone who was an addict, an alcoholic or a drug addict, God heals them and they get so much healing that now they want to help others that are in that same spot now. They can share ; they can empathize and they can tell what God did for them.

There’s people here this morning that are hiding their ministry. God’s done something; it came out of a hurt and they don’t know if God wants to use it. It’s often a surprise to some of us, but He often uses the place of our deepest suffering, our deepest wound and He turns it into our greatest strength and greatest gifting. He often makes that our ministry.

Here we are on Father’s Day. Yesterday, I was looking for a photo to post on Facebook of me and my dad. My father died when I was eight years old. He was 39; he died of cancer. I’m the oldest of four children. My father was my hero; I loved my dad. I couldn’t find that many pictures. I only found two or three of me and my dad. My dad was the family photographer. If my mom took a photo, which she did take a few, usually, she would chop somebody’s head off in the photo. She wasn’t the photographer of the family. I have a lot of photos of me and my mom but not that many of me and my dad. I posted one that I did finally find of me when I was three years old with my dad holding me. I still have feelings about that. I was eight years old when he died but I can still remember the feelings. For years after that, I was looking for a father. I had a “father wound.” There’s a lot of children, a lot of young people today who have a “father wound.” If I had a coach, a teacher, an uncle, a neighbor or any man that would show me positive male attention, I would follow him around like a puppy dog. At an early age, I confessed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I confessed my sins and I said, “I need help, Lord.” I was mad at God . It didn’t seem fair that He took my daddy and so I didn’t trust God completely. I believed He existed, but I was just afraid He would hurt me. I had a wrong kind of fear of God, but I finally trusted Him. When I trusted Him, I got a father. I got a heavenly father that says, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” He began to heal that wound in me and I quit looking for a man to be my daddy. I quit looking for that wound to heal. I began to pour out my heart out my Father in heaven and He began to heal me. He poured out so much grace on me that over time I had an excess of grace. It’s like I went through the drive through at Mcdonald’s and a Holy Spirit voice said, Would you like for me to “supersize” that for you? I said, Oh, yeah, let’s “supersize” this. He gave me a father gift, so that I take great passion in the calling to be a father, a grandfather and a pastor. It comes from my deepest wound, but it no longer bleeds, it’s healed. There’s an excess that overflows from me.

Friends, that’s what God wants to do. He wants you to have a ministry calling. He wants for you to live it out and for it to be unique to you. It won’t be like my story. It will be your story; that’s what God’s calling you to, to fulfill your ministry.

Have you identified your spiritual gifts? Have you prayed and asked the Lord to clarify your ministry? Are you willing to be mobilized? Following Jesus means following Him onto the mission field. He’s already at work in the people’s lives around your circle of influence. Are you willing to be the messenger that talks to them about the good news?

This year is the 30th year of our church, the 30th year of our ministry, 2022. That’s pretty significant, right, we’re celebrating that this year. But did you know, it’s 10.5 years from an even more significant anniversary: 2033? That’s the 2000 year anniversary of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus! 2000 years ago, 33AD, Jesus died on the cross and was raised. 2000 years ago in 2033. Not only that’s the anniversary of the founding of the church and the giving of the Holy Spirit, it’s the founding of that time when Jesus gathered the disciples together and said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations; go and preach the gospel to the whole world.” It’s the 2000 year anniversary of the great commission 10.5 years from now.

Instead of worrying about us adding one at a time over the next two or 300 years and still falling behind, what if we all got mobilized and over the next 10.5 years, we saw the Lord reach our world with the gospel! How will it happen? It will happen if each of us says “yes” to actually being people who carry the good news to others.

Are you willing to be mobilized for Jesus? I get around this idea of 10.5 years from now. I can see that; I can see that. I think that Jesus is coming soon. No man knoweth the hour but I think it’s near. I think He’s coming soon, so let’s get busy.

Let’s pray. Lord, I pray, first of all, for that one that came in today who is far from You. They came in today, but they recognized now that they need You. That they need a Savior. If that’s you, my dear friend, would you pray right where you are? Just pray with me. ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe that You died on the cross for me and that You were raised from the grave. Come and live in me and forgive me of my sins and make me the person that You want me to be. I want to be a child of God and I want to follow You, Lord Jesus, as my Lord and Savior.’ If you’re praying that prayer, believing, He’ll save you and make you His own. Others are here today and you are a follower of Jesus; how are you doing on being mobilized? Are you willing to be a vessel of the gospel? Are you willing to be equipped and ready to go out and tell others? Right now, right where you are, put your “yes” on the table. Will you say it to the Lord? ‘My “yes” is on the table. Wherever You send me, here I am. Send me. I will go. I will be what You’ve called me to be.’ There’s someone here, perhaps under my hearing, either in person or watching online, that God’s called you into the ministry and you’ve been afraid. The Lord’s called you to be a missionary and you have been afraid to do it or God’s called you to lead a small group or to reach your neighbor. You fill in the blank. He’s telling you. If you’re being watchful and listening right now, He’s telling you. Would you say “yes” to Him in Jesus’ name? Amen.