Sermon Notes - Things Churches Need... Ministry - Littleby Baptist Church - May 19, 2024

1.       Our last Things Churches Need… Evangelism was about being a witness.

a.       Praying for people to be open to receive the Gospel of Jesus.

b.       Walking along side of them, until they are ready to hear it and respond to it.

c.       In hope that people will be open to hear the message of Jesus’s love from someone they know.

d.       So that they can see that we mean what we say.

2.       This week’s Things Churches Need… can take several forms.

3.       But they ultimately stem from one place.

4.       1 John 3:17-18

a.       If God’s love resides in us, we will love others not just in what we say.

b.       But our love will be seen in how we live our lives in truth.

c.       And action will come from that love.

5.       Things Churches Need… Ministry is the outcome of God’s love pouring through us.

a.       God’s love fills us and goes beyond us.

b.       It drives us to do something.

c.       It moves us to Love Others.

d.       Not just an emotional love, but a love that is manifested in action.

6.       Since we are talking Things Churches Need, how does the church fit into this?

7.       The first part I would say we see in Galatians 6:10

a.       Christians are to work for the good of all.

b.       Especially for those who are fellow believers.

c.       Now Robert can go out and try to help someone and I am only going to get so far.

d.       Michael helps someone on his own and he too can only do so much.

e.       But combined we can do a lot more for a single person.

f.         As a church body, we can pool our resources of prayer, time, and money and have a much bigger impact than we ever could on our own.

8.       Think about our Cooperative Program.

a.       Southern Baptist Churches around the world give to the CP.

b.       Through our combined contributions for 1 year, the IMB planted > 21K churches and > 178K people accepted Jesus.

c.       As a church and as a group of churches the ministry we can do throughout this country and around the world is simply amazing.

d.       Things Churches Need… Ministry is accomplished when we, those in this room, and we, the Body of Christ work together in word and deed, in truth and in action.

9.       Galatians 6:10 (re-read)

a.       This verses puts an emphasis on taking care of those within the family of God.

b.       Acts 2:42-47

c.       Vs. 45 talks about how the proceeds were given to those with a need within the church.

d.       We are to help each other within the Body of Christ.

e.       We talked about being in Fellowship a couple of weeks ago.

f.         Part of that was being united and connected.

g.        As we walk through life together we are to help each other.

h.       Care for each other.

i.          Lift each other up when needed.

j.          That is ministry.

k.       May not seem as fancy as being church planter with NAMB or traveling to another country with IMB, but it is just as important.

l.          Our love for others starts in our homes, then our home churches, and grows from there. 

10.  But we must be careful.

a.       I have known of churches that were so focused on the ‘especially for those who belong to the household of faith’, that they forgot about the rest.

b.       Churches that had a food pantry that was hardly used but would not open it up to non-church members.

11.  As a church we are to care for those inside our four walls.

a.       At the same time, we have to make sure we are always looking outside.

b.       It can be overwhelming to think about.

c.       There is a lot of need in this world, in here and out there.

d.       But that is why this is not a need that only one of us is meant to take care of.

e.       These are needs for the church to fulfill.

12.  1 Corinthians 12:12-14

a.       We are one body, but there are many parts.

b.       We are not all the same.

c.       But we are united together in fellowship.

13.  1 Corinthians 12:15-17

a.       If we were all focused on a single need, it would be like we were all eyes.

b.       If we were all working to be international missionaries, we might all be ears.

c.       Things Churches Need… Ministry would be getting done, but a lot of things, a lot of needs, would be missed.

14.  1 Corinthians 12:18-28

a.       God has brought us together to make up this body.

b.       He brings together local bodies to make larger bodies that work together.

c.       We are all part of The Body of Christ.

d.       Some of us in this room are gifted to meet certain needs within our local church.

e.       Others are gifted to support the next generation at the camp.

f.         Others have been led to serve in Mexico for a time.

g.        None of us could do that alone.

h.       Together lives our changed.

i.          As a local church we may never visit China.

j.          But another church in our Association, State, or the SBC may have that calling and be the foot that will go there.

15.  Things Churches Need… Ministry is accomplished when the church, local and universal, work together.

a.       Lives are changed.

b.       Theirs and ours.

16.  Ephesians 2:10

a.       There is something we are meant to do.

b.       As we see in verses 8 and 9 (read them).

c.       We are saved by grace through faith, not by any work or anything we can do on our own.

d.       But there are things we are meant to accomplish while we walk on this side of eternity.

e.       God has prepared a path for each of us.

f.         A path that we are to follow.

g.        It includes our sanctification process, as we grow closer to Jesus.

h.       Pursuing righteousness.

i.          But it also includes things that we are meant to do.

j.          People we are to share with.

k.       Needs we can meet.

l.          Lives we can impact.

m.    Seeds that can be planted and watered.

n.       Gospel message that can be shared.

o.       Sheep that can be cared for.

17.  Things Churches Need… Ministry is seen in our daily lives.

a.       As we draw near to our Jesus.

b.       As our faith grows.

c.       We should be stepping out in faith.

d.       Doesn’t mean we are all signing up to go to Turkey next month.

e.       But it does mean that we should be asking the Holy Spirit to guide us to who has a need we are to meet.

18.  Remember the sheep and goats in Matthew 25?

19.  Matthew 25:31-40

a.       There is no limiter on who the sheep helped, they simply did.

b.       As part of the church, we are to minister to all.

c.       Sharing the love of Christ with all.

d.       Building up fellow believers when they are down.

e.       And showing Jesus’ love to those who do not know Him in hope that they will hear the Gospel and believe.

20.  That is a calling placed on each of our lives.

21.  Acts 13:1-3

a.       Barnabas and Saul, aka Paul, were set apart and sent out to do the ministry that they were called to do.

b.       The church recognized God’s calling and sent them out.

c.       This is important for pastoral or missions ministry.

d.       That is how the local church confirms they see God working in the person that way.

22.  Beyond that, I think this is something that really applies to each of us.

a.       As we have studied the Word of God, we have seen that each of us are meant to make disciples.

b.       We are all to be witnesses.

c.       I think we have seen even today that all of us are meant to do ministry in one form or fashion.

d.       These are things that every believer is called to do.

e.       We have been set apart to do the work that God has laid along the path we are meant to walk.

23.  In Things Churches Need… Ministry the church is to call out those who are called to ministry…

a.       Each of us are to be called out to the ministry God has prepared us for.

24.  We are going to do something different this morning.

a.       As a church we are going to lift up each other in prayer for the ministry we are created for.