Partnership in Ministry

Welcome to the intense podcast the town reminding December stick job can get done more efficiently when people work together that principle applies to carrying the weight of ministry to wrap up our year-long ministry focus on freedom, learning how to be effective in ministry together.

Oftentimes real phase of the tremendous challenge, a wonderful opportunity.

If it's something that appears to be so overpowering.

We asked the question, but what can I do and that is always the wrong question.

The right question is what can we do and suddenly when you ask the question what can we do your potential for usefulness and effectiveness is multiplied many times over. That's what I want to talk about in this message and that is partnership in ministry someone you turn if you will. The Philippians chapter 1 and also read these first seven verses together. You recall that the apostle Paul is in prison and he is writing this letter along with others to these churches to whom he is menacing, with whom he shared the truth and in this particular one. The apostle Paul in a loving, beautiful way in this epistle of joy and confidence and assurance and encouragement describe straws how God's word should be carried out. So if you notice he begins with one of his cohorts. He says Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he begins, he says I thank my God in all my remembrance of you always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.

In view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now, for I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfected until the day of Christ Jesus bought is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you.

He says in my heart since both in my imprisonment, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. You all are partakers of grace with me now all of us like to be a part of something that is moving in something that is growing in something that is good and something that is successful and most of the time we rather not do those kind of things by ourselves, but rather participate with someone else and when ever we choose to cooperate and participate and become a partner with an partnership in something begins to happen to our potential. That is you personally could witness to a number of people in your life, but all of us together can witness to many more people than just any single one of us. Now what I was the see in this particular passage year is that the apostle Paul was one man in a whole partnership of people who were sharing the gospel. Everybody did do the same thing because God doesn't color one to do the same thing and you see there are three avenues I believe at least three avenues we think about a partnership in the gospel are three avenues which all of us can have a part. One of them is in prayer and you see when people pray for one another, they become a part in that person's life and Paul in this accolade should not in that first chapter beginning in verse nine is to me when the most powerful prayers and all the New Testament he was praying for them and they were praying for him and also in Colossians chapter 4. If you recall, that he mentions I Pampers who is a mighty warrior of prayer and he talks about how he labored for them earnestly and prayers and I standing in their behalf.

Well, Paul understood the necessity that everybody was important in the work of ministry, and he says one Avenue of partnership in one Avenue in which we can carry out the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is in praying for one another and pray for the work of God. The second way in which it is the debate on the second Avenue is in personal service and this is a good example of type tickets, take a guess.

To my knowledge, was not necessarily a Bible teacher. He was not pastor the church you know what he was using. Some people vacate serve in a big way and be upfront. They are preventable to serve God. Tire kickers was the apostle Paul's messenger boy he was.

His mailman and he was a fellow who cared epistle so Moses will that was very important to master question. How would you have felt the apostle Paul had handed to you the letter to the Colossians and said read this and then take it to Colossae. I think I would've read it every step of the way and tried to memorize every word of imagine taking those photos. There is no such thing as an on important person in the kingdom of God. There is no such thing as an unimportant work in the kingdom of God is man that has elevated man.

God doesn't do that because every single person.

The person who works in the nursery and change diapers. That is a part of the kingdom of God because that little babies go to either grow up and go to hell or heaven. And so every single person is important doing whatever God is called us to do. And the third avenue in which we can work together participate is in giving and that's what they were doing. Paul said when I left Macedonia. He was the only church gave to him materially and help them as they went along because he was a tent maker times, but sometimes he couldn't do that. And God didn't want him staying in one place all the time and so as they became partners of the apostle Paul thanking God for the privilege of doing their part, both in prayer and personal service like Tyco gives and is the Philippian church did they gave to them financially to helping in the ministry. Well, as I think about the whole idea of partnership and spreading the gospel and administration.

Think about this. The very idea of a denomination is the result of people deciding hey our church can do this, your church can do that. That church can do this but suppose we all decided to work together and suppose we decide instead of you sending your missionary and they'll send their missionary they'll send them missionary.

Suppose we decide to get together and organize a missionary organization, a mission where about. Together we support our missionaries and together we send them out.

It is partnership in getting the gospel to the world and you see, once people begin to understand hey listen I am a vital part of the kingdom got a notice that again there is no such thing as an unimportant person on unimportant job in the kingdom. And this is why so many people sit back in church week after week and they asked the wrong question. This is the wrong question. What can I do. That's not the right question. The question is what can we do and you see we need to recognize that we are a part of that we are partners with an ownership in the kingdom of God. We are all the children of the living God and he's called us to share the word of God. He's called us to help people who are in the East Coast to do many things to my knowledge, I love anything is colors to do as a Lone Ranger separately by ourselves. Now we going to have times of prayer and meditation and personal times by ourselves, but also we going to do it corporately and we gonna do it together and I think all of us know, it's one thing to pray alone. We all need that, but there are times when we want some of the pray with us. We need someone to pray with us. We want to hear someone else call and name before God. We want to hear him crying out to God. Never have. We want to hear them lifting our name and applications and Albertans and our heartaches to the Lord is something about togetherness and that's the way God built the whole body when every part of the body functions and cooperates and participates and is free in their participation something tremendous and exciting happened.

That's what the body of Christ is all about.

That's why he gave us different gifts somebody has the gift of service like Tyco's. Somebody has the gift of administration.

Someone is the gift of giving in teaching and prophecy. Summarize the gift of mercy and so someone no matter what their gift. There was a an opportunity to exercise that gift and some of the persons is what can I do.

I'm telling you that's not the right question the right question is what can we do because I need to see myself not as a single individual disorder drops in but as a part of the kingdom of God broken down from his mighty kingdom to his church and from the church. The local church a local church. A person of a group of people who are sharing the word of God and participating in meeting people's needs are.

That's what Paul was talking about in this whole passage is now when I think about ministry and I think about cooperation participation ministry. Here's the whole keel when you go back if you will to Romans chapter 15 and often times people say they will ask as well. Want one of you asked for money on your program was sent isn't because we don't need it is just that, we believe that God is said for us to trust him and to make the needs known when he sees fit to Laos to do that.

But here is the whole key to minister support, whether it is or it is a ministry that you listen to on television all listen to on radio over that is in your local church is the whole key know when you look, if you will, and in Romans chapter 15 the apostle Paul was concerned as we said before about the church in Jerusalem, and then he says in verse 25 but now I'm going to Jerusalem serving the saints, and he said for Macedonia. Speaking of churches like Philippi and Acadia have pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem because the saints in Jerusalem were going through a very difficult time because of hardship economically weatherwise and so forth. In verse 27. Look at this. Yes, they were pleased to do so.

That is, they wanted to do so. The Macedonian churches and their indebted to them. That is the church in Jerusalem.

The look of it brick the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things.

They are indebted to minister them also material things. I believe here's the whole key in the biblical basis for support of ministry is the reason is that Paul was saying. He says now where did you get the gospel from he said the gospel came from the city of Jerusalem that little church in Jerusalem where the Holy Spirit came and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit and they went out from there. From that place from that local body. He says that's how you Gentiles heard the gospel. So what did they do. He says those Jews in Jerusalem now convert to becoming Christians.

He says they share the gospel spiritual things with you now.

They need material things and he says it is only right that since they gave you spiritual things, and now they have needs is right for you to give to them material things.

That's the way God intends for ministry to be carried on as people preach the gospel and share the word of God, and teach the word of God. If that's where people receive their blessing of that's where they're being taught. God is instructing them and there is need there. He said it is the right thing to do when you have been blessed spiritually.

Then he says to return when their material needs. That's the way God cares on the ministry. That is the basic philosophy he says because it is only right to do so. That's the way and that's the biblical principle by which ministry is to be carried out, and so Paul had a wonderful relationship with these people in Philippi because that's the way they had operated now. The second thing I want you to notice here is the power in partnership it is very brief but it's so real that in partnership and working together.

First of all we can do more we can do it better and we can do it longer is just that simple. When there are people working together they can do more than a single individual. Second, that we can do it better. Why, because when people begin to cooperate and participate together.

God has put together all these different spiritual gifts in the church and so whereas I may have one skill someone else has all the skills someone else has another, we should be able to come from our diverse gifts and separated gifts thinking differently, but thinking toward the same goal until we come in unity and oneness of mind and heart. This is the will of the father.

This is what God wants us to do. How does he bring it to pass by participation, cooperation, working together, giving of ourselves to one another because we can do more by participation we can do it better because we have diversity of gifts and we can do it longer wise that because we carry out the work of ministry, and we build the body of Christ in such way that when all of us are gone. It's still going on and it's going on strong throughout the world. Why because somebody back yonder was willing to cooperate and organize to work to give to participate physically in the work of ministry.

Now one of the personal rewards from participation. That kind of ministry well is nothing about the apostle Paul and what he said to all of his friends here is he wrote to them. A number of things come to mama and the first one is this is the encouragement that comes through fellowship. That is when people work together is what happens when people begin to work together their vision and their focus changes.

You know you can get in the habit of going from your house to your job, your house to your job in your house to your church in your house. The store where you may shop and life can get real narrowed and focused.

But you know when you get a group of people and that group of people are excited about the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's doing.

Something happens. Our focus changes, and the truth is that many Christians who become discouraged because they never get into a group and participate and recognize the power of ownership in fellow shipping together in the body of Christ. So one of one of the positive and I think personal rewards participating together and in the work of ministry is simply that that is the encouragement comes in the second thing is the fact of how our own personal desire to be involved becomes heightened, that is when we begin to see what God is doing in other people's lives. We think what he meant. What did God do in my life and we see other people serving the Lord and how they get involved that we ask will. How can I be involved and so what happens is we begin to have a stronger desire to participate to get involved since ownership God isn't this just the church but it's my church and it is just the kingdom. I'm a part of the kingdom of God. And so what happens is participation site but not only that 1/3 thing a very important thing is this and that is our convictions about our life becomes stronger when you begin to participate in see that we're involved in ministry that goes around the world are reaches of the people's needs. What happens as we begin to see that our life counts that we are valuable to the kingdom of God and that we're bigger than something that just where we live in our house and I think there's so many Christians whose ideas about themselves are so erroneous. Every single person is important in the kingdom of God. Just find out what is it that God wants you to do. Give it all you've got it with all of your heart and trust him to use you and what happens here is when a person begins to see themselves in that light. All of a sudden everybody is important that you listen to the world.

I think when I go to church to waste the time you know why because their thinking temporal and rethink eternal and when you thinking is right. The actions become right and you see the apostle Paul is saying when you and I see ourselves as partners in the gospel of Christ, we see ourselves as partners elicit partners in the gospel of Christ means on the part of God the father and God the son this and every single one of us is a partner with Jesus Christ, the father and the Holy Spirit, they are committed to evangelizing the world, and upon committing with them that I'm a part of the triune God in accomplishing the work of the kingdom of God. Now, how much you can do by yourself but I can tell you this, you can do more as a partner in the gospel of Christ, and God has given us an awesome opportunity as partners in the gospel to make an eternal lasting effect upon the people of the world need the gospel of Christ. I don't know what you can do, but I have a little bit of an idea of what we can do and I want to ask you if you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Let me ask this question. If you've never trusted them as your Savior. What are you living for more than likely if you're honest you have to say well, and a conclusion.

The summation of it all is self. That's not very much of a worthy object.

A goal for which to live. But if you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then your goals become eternal, then the consequences than the impact of your life is beyond your imagination and God can begin to use you in ways you never dreamed he could use but you see a lost as unbeliever, having shut Christ out of your life. You gotta go it alone. While you may have earthly friends if you don't have God the father, God the son God the Holy Spirit is your friends.

You'll never be able to accomplish in life. What God created you to accomplish and someone encourage you to trust the Lord Jesus as your Savior are simply mean by that. To ask the Lord Jesus Christ, who died at Calvary who paid your sin debt in full.

To forgive you of your sin and to receive him as your personal savior by faith and say to him I choose to follow you, Lord Jesus, and find yourself a church that preaches the word of God and be baptized in that fellowship and become a vital part of that fellowship and become a partner with those people in preaching and teaching and sharing the gospel at home and around the world.

You need to get settled down and anchored down somewhere your life can begin to count for God because you only get one trip every second that passes by his over that much less of your life you have what you have to ask is, am I going to spend it. My gun investing my gun live isolated from people around me like a germ of a group of people doing the work of God the way God's goal is. Thank you for listening to partnership in ministry if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley in touch ministries in TextEdit YG. This podcast is a presentation of intense ministries advantage of