“You’ve Got What It Takes”
1 Peter 4:10-11
Sermon Series: “Thrive”
Introduction: Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Every Christian is called to be a minister. However, many fail to realize this truth or do not feel capable of ministering. Rick Warren writes, “The designation ‘active’ member in most churches means those who attend regularly and financially support the church. Not much more is expected. But God has far greater expectations for every Christian. He expects every Christian to use his or her gifts and talents in ministry. If we can ever awaken and unleash the massive talent, resources, creativity, and energy lying dormant in the typical church, Christianity will explode with growth at an unprecedented rate.”
What is ministry? Gene Mims has defined ministry as “meeting another person’s need in Jesus name.” Warren Wiersbe says that “ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.”
Main Idea: You may not realize you are a minister or feel capable of ministering, but you’ve got what it takes because God gifts every Christian for ministry.
1. We are saved to minister. In other words, we enter the ministry when we get saved. Our passage tells us that every Christian (“as each one”) is gifted for ministry and that this gifting is part of God’s grace in our lives (Ephesians 4:7-16). God’s ultimate plan for His children is to make them like Jesus (Romans 8:29), and we cannot be like Jesus without serving (Philippians 2:7, Mark 10:45).
2. We are supernaturally enabled to minister. That is the idea of these spiritual gifts being bestowed on us by grace. John MacArthur defines a spiritual gift as “a graciously given, supernaturally designed ability granted to every believer by which the Holy Spirit ministers to the body of Christ.” Verse 11 categorizes them into speaking gifts and serving gifts. Part of the idea is that Jesus does not ask us to do anything that He does not enable us to do by what giving us what we need to do it with.
3. We are commanded to minister to other believers. The Lord tells us here to “minister [our gift] to one another.” We are disobeying when we do not use our gifts to minister to other believers. If we are not using our gifts, people’s needs will go unmet and they will fall through the cracks. Every member of the Body of Christ deserves to be loved and cared for, but it takes every member of the Body of Christ to fully and properly provide that type of ministry.
4. We are accountable to God for our ministry. Verse 10 tells us to be “good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Remember that a steward is someone who manages the affairs of another and will have to give an accounting for that stewardship. Applying it to this concept particularly, God has given every believer a gift or gifts, we are commanded to use those gifts in ministry, and we will answer to God for how fully and effectively we use what God has given us.
5. We are to bring glory to God by faithfully using our spiritual gifts. God’s ultimate will for our lives is for us to glorify Him. The text is crystal clear that one of the ways we do that is by ministering to others with the gifts that God gives us. We serve God by serving people. We are glorifying Him by being His mouthpieces, hands, and feet in the world.
Conclusion: You are hereby commissioned as a minister of Jesus Christ. Will you obey Him by ministering with the gifts He has given you?
