2. Introduction (Help from Zondervan Pastor’s Annual)  “Do you consider yourself to be a minister of Christ’s Gospel? Probably not because most people have been conditioned to think of ministers as being only pastors or some other full-time vocational Christian servants. Many find it hard to believe that the New Testament doctrine of the priesthood of believers taught that every Christian is in the gospel ministry and has a ministry to perform.”  The effectiveness of each Church’s work would be greatly improved if all of the members were to view the gospel ministry as an ‘our’ (pastor’s and people’s) ministry rather than ‘his’ (pastor’s) ministry. This viewpoint would then correspond with the writing of Paul concerning the Christian ministry

3. Introduction (Help from Zondervan Pastor’s Annual)  A look at the definition of the term minister will help to clarify the confusion  Minister: Dictionary.com  a person acting as the agent or instrument of another  to give service, care, or aid; attend, as to wants or necessities.: to minister to the needs of the hungry.  Minister: World English Dictionary  A person who attends to the needs of others, esp in religious matters  A person who acts as the agent or servant of a person or thing  To attend to the needs (of); take care (of)  Minister: Word Origin and History  C.1300 “one who acts upon the authority of another”

4. Introduction (Help from Zondervan Pastor’s Annual)  I believe we can all derive from these definitions that as Christian, We are all ministers (people acting as the agent or instrument) Of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ attending to the needs of those in this world

5. Our ministry is a demanding ministry  Through the testimony of his own personal life, Paul revealed to the Christians at Corinth and to us the demands of the gospel ministry  It demands our faithfulness (2 Cor 4:1)  We do not lose heart “Here it means, that by the mercy of God, he was not disheartened by the difficulties which he met; his faith and zeal did not flag; he was enabled to be faithful, and laborious, and his courage always kept up, and his mind was filled with cheerfulness;” (Barnes’ Notes )  To be faithful we must put into practice the truth of Paul’s words in Phil 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

6. Our ministry is a demanding ministry  It demands our truthfulness  There is no place in our ministry for dishonesty, deceitful conduct, or corrupting of the Word of God  Our truthfulness should be pleasing and honoring to God  Eph 4:1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,”

7. Our ministry is a proclaiming ministry  It proclaims the truth about Satan  2 Cor 4:3-4  If we are to proclaim the truth about Satan, we will describe him as the enemy of the Christian and the father of lies but he can be defeated  1 Pet 5:8; Jn 8:44; Rom 16:20; Jam 4:7  It proclaims the truth about Jesus Christ  2 Cor 4:5  The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the eternal, virgin-born son of God, the only Savior of humankind, who died on the cross but rose again and resides in Heaven  Jn 1:1-3; Is 7:14; 1 Cor 15:3-4; Mk 6:19

8. Our ministry is a powerful ministry  Powerful even though we are weak  Every person has some type of weakness that could destroy the effectiveness of the gospel ministry if it were not for the power of God  Zech 4:6; 2 Cor 12:9  Powerful even though we suffer  No one in the ministry is exempted from possibility of having to suffer for the gospel’s sake…The good news is the Lord will see us through  Acts 14:22; Ps 37:24; Phil 4:13

9. Our ministry is a victorious ministry  There is a promised victory to every minister of the gospel  1 Jn 5:4  Victorious over the failures of the flesh  The same power that raised Christ from the dead will give you victory of the failures of the flesh  Rom 8:37  Victorious over death  Paul was aware that death does not stop the work of the ministry  1 Cor 15:54-58

10. Conclusion  Every Christian is in the ministry  This is both a privilege and a responsibility  Let us do our best to make our ministry what God wants it to be