I. Introduction

A. Illustration – An unknown missionary wrote, (NEW SLIDE) Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter (as cited on PreachingToday.com).

B. It’s hard to think about failure. It’s even harder to fail. But failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because we learn quite a bit from those down times. That’s an important point we’ve got to understand this morning as we focus on the fifth principle from Pastor Michael Slaughter’s book, Spiritual Entrepreneurs. That principle is the Priesthood Principle. (NEW SLIDE) The Priesthood Principle states that equipping lay people for ministry is crucial for renewal. That includes helping people identify God’s call for them, with the church functioning as a seminary, and leaders throwing gasoline on burning bushes (as in Moses’ burning bush). There are a couple of passages of Scripture we’ve got to take a look at first that help us understand this Priesthood Principle. The first one is 1 Peter 2:5-9, and I’m reading from the New Living.

C. 1 Peter 2:5-9 (from the New Living) – (NEW SLIDE) And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. (NEW SLIDE) 6 As the Scriptures express it, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.” (NEW SLIDE) 7 Yes, he is very precious to you who believe. But for those who reject him, “The stone that was rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone.” (NEW SLIDE) 8 And the Scriptures also say, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that will make them fall.” They stumble because they do not listen to God’s word or obey it, and so they meet the fate that has been planned for them. (NEW SLIDE) 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. (NEW SLIDE) This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Peter is telling us that we are God’s means of sharing His goodness with the world around us, which is what Israeli priests did. The second passage is Revelation 1:4-6.

D. Revelation 1:4-6 - This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; (NEW SLIDE) 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the commander of all the rulers of the world. All praise to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. (NEW SLIDE) 6 He has made us his kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen!

E. Our calling is to serve before God by sharing His good news with those around us and ministering to their needs. Sharon Amos, a member of Ginghamsburg Church writes, “Churches need to be allowing their lay people to be in ministry. They need to be stretching them. They need to be teaching them. They need to be challenging them. They need to give them that chance to fail… I’m so thankful for the chance I had. It changed my life.” This lady is obviously someone who is on fire for ministry! And we’ve all got to get to that place ourselves as individuals and as a church.

F. The problem for us lies in the risk. We tend to be a bit gun-shy when it comes to risking failure. Now I’m not going to argue that all of us have been burned and have some reason to be a bit gun-shy, but moving forward with God requires risk. (NEW SLIDE) Involving ourselves in ministry requires risk. And God always rewards that kind of risk!

II. The Business of the Church

A. It’s so easy for us to get sidetracked. We get focused on meetings and on trying to micromanage the ministry of the church. That’s playing it safe. When we play it safe, we lose sight of that all-important question – what really is the business of the church?

B. Ephesians 4:11-13 paints a marvelous picture of how the church is supposed to run. I’m reading from The Message. (NEW SLIDE) He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s Body, the church, (NEW SLIDE) until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. Slaughter writes, “This is the primary business of the church – to enable our people to know Jesus as Lord, and then to equip them for ministry.”

C. That’s what we’re all about. That’s why we’ve got to rediscover the New Testament principle of the priesthood of all believers if we’re going to experience renewal. The early church very clearly understood this principle. Their early success in spreading the gospel all over the world was grounded in the fact that the lay people had been equipped to be ministers and to proclaim the Word. The professionals stayed in Jerusalem, where they kept equipping others for ministry in Jesus’ name. Lay people, not professional clergy spread the gospel.

D. (NEW SLIDE) One of the most important truths for us to understand is that all of us are ministers. D. Elton Trueblood wrote, If you are a Christian, then you are a minister. A non-ministering Christian is a contradiction in terms (as cited on PreachingToday.com). That’s what the early church clearly understood, and it’s what we’ve got to understand as well. Slaughter writes, “I don’t say that I am a minister and you are a lay person. I am a pastor. The pastor has a function in the body, not a position… There is only one position defined in the body, and the one who holds that position is Jesus Christ, the Head.” That is a profound truth, and one that I believe in very strongly. When someone asks me what I do for a living, rarely do I tell them that I’m a minister, unless of course I’m trying to impress them! I tell them that I am a pastor. That’s God’s calling for me – that’s His function in the church for me, and He has a function in the church for you as well.

E. Leonard Sweet writes, “Once we start trying to say “This is your sphere, clergy” and “This is your sphere, laity,” for me, it is always a sign of…a dying church.” I don’t believe we’re to that point, but I do believe that all of us have got to reevaluate our own lives and get involved in the ministry that God is calling each one of us to. Slaughter writes, (NEW SLIDE) “When the church is at its best, you can’t tell the professionals from the rest of the players.” That sounds great to me, and especially since our own church comes from such a heritage. The early circuit-riding preachers, like Josiah Bowersox who founded our church, would serve the sacraments and take care of weddings when they stopped at each church. The rest of the time, it was the lay people who took care of the business of worship, teaching, evangelism, and social ministries. That rich heritage that we owe so much to is what God wants us to grab hold of and run with!

III. Organic Ministry

A. What God is calling us to is a living, organic ministry. (NEW SLIDE) God intends for us to function in interdependent relationship with one another as the Spirit works through us. We tend to be a bit afraid of those relationships, again because we’ve been burned in the past. It’s so easy to fall back on that old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!” Opening ourselves up to those kinds of close relationships is hard, yet God is the One who heals us and will help us build those bridges to help each other in ministry.

B. (NEW SLIDE) One of the ways we can help build those bridges is to intentionally help each other identify God’s call on each one of our lives. Intentionality is the key. We can intentionally be each other’s sounding boards, prayer support, even service partners. If we believe that God has called us into a ministry, then as Slaughter puts it, “belief equals commitment, which equals service.” God calls our lay people, the church equips our lay people, and our lay people go out and serve. As Slaughter writes, (NEW SLIDE) “The church must function as a seminary that equips the laity for the mission of Christ.”

IV. Developing the Curriculum

A. A seminary has curriculum. If we’re going to be serious about equipping lay people for ministry, we’ve got to develop a curriculum that will give lay ministers the skills and knowledge they need to fulfill God’s call on their lives. (NEW SLIDE) As Ephesians 4 taught us, some are gifted as pastors and teachers, and those are the ones called to do the equipping, so that the Body of Christ will be powerful and effective in transforming our world. All of us have got to take advantage of any opportunity we can find for quality training for ministry.

B. Our church already has some good opportunities available to help people grow in their walk with Christ and to equip them for ministry. We have the Alpha Course material not only to bring people to Christ, but also to teach new Christians the basics of the faith and give others a refresher course. Sunday School classes challenge us in our faith to help us grow. Care Groups provide encouragement in growth. Accountability groups help those involved use spiritual disciplines to mature in Christ. Discipleship Training helps in a similar way. Have you noticed a pattern here? These are for general discipleship – for helping all Christians grow in their walk with Christ. What about equipping lay people for ministry?

C. The two main tools we’ve used for equipping for ministry have been Saturday Seminars, which I have taught, and simulcasts, which are outstanding. We’ve also set up a lay pastor training program. Some Saturday Seminars have been fairly well attended and others not. Some of the simulcasts have had decent attendance and others not. I do realize that we live very busy lives, but at some point we’ve got to make the choice that investing time in being equipped for ministry to fulfill God’s calling on our lives is a high enough priority.

D. Here are some other options for equipping that we could do here. Maybe accountability groups that focus on spiritual disciplines AND needs in specific ministry areas. Maybe special training events, like weekend retreats and leadership retreats. Maybe weekend conferences. How about on the job training for folks interested in different ministries. Or maybe sending lay people to key training events. The list could go on. There are lots of other options out there, and I am open to trying whatever options it takes for us to get the job done. I’m willing to do whatever I can to help train you for ministry. As Slaughter writes, (NEW SLIDE) “If it is the business of the church to equip laity for the purpose of ministry, then we must invest in the education of the laity.”

V. Accountability

A. If we’re going to make a commitment to the priesthood principle, and if that commitment is going to bear great fruit for the kingdom of God, then we can’t afford to overlook accountability. This is a tough one in church ministries. Years ago when I would do anything in the church or for the church, I’d feel like, “Hey, I’m a volunteer, so you’d better be thankful for anything I’m willing to do.” That’s a lousy attitude, and it makes me a bit angry with myself that I ever allow myself to have that kind of entitlement attitude. Slaughter gets it dead right when he says, “Christ does not call volunteers. He calls servants. These servants are people who are actively hearing God’s call and following Jesus in the way of the cross.” (NEW SLIDE) By following Christ, servants have committed themselves to His standards of social and moral integrity.

B. When we recruit people for ministry, we’ve got to make sure they understand these standards up front. If our ministries are to have integrity and vitality, it’s better to let a position go unfilled than to recruit someone who’s lukewarm. Sounds tough, but doesn’t our service to Jesus deserve high standards?

VI. Where Do I Find My Burning Bush?

A. I know many folks feel like, “I’m just an ordinary person, so how can I get involved in ministry? How do I find my unique calling from God? How do I find my burning bush even as Moses found his?” Slaughter interviewed lay people at his church who were instrumental in starting new ministries. None of them has gone to seminary. None of them got specialized instruction in starting a new ministry. They come from a variety of professional and religious backgrounds and a wide range of personalities. They have profoundly different ideas on how to accomplish their goals.

B. What do these folks have in common? “They felt a need to pursue a certain ministry. They saw a burning bush. They had a vision for a particular ministry, to meet a particular need. God spoke to them in some manner, communicating to each of them God’s plans, dreams, and visions. They all have a passion to serve Jesus, as he has shown them how and where to serve.” It’s not rocket science, folks, it just means that we’ve got to listen to Jesus and follow Him.

C. Carolyn, a lay minister at Ginghamsburg Church, writes, (NEW SLIDE) “Living a life of yieldedness and obedience, and listening for the voice of the Spirit, allows God to work those plans through us. I believe he matches us up according to temperaments, natural talents, interests, and spiritual gifts with the plan he has for us. In other words, he equips us to follow his call – even before we are born!” Carolyn is obviously somebody who not only gets it, but is passionate about what God created her to do. That’s a passion we’ve all got to allow to burn in our hearts – the passion to do what God created us to do.

D. We’ve got to learn to see what we’re doing from Jesus’ perspective – to see what needs to be done through His eyes. Mike, who’s involved in teen missions, writes, (NEW SLIDE) “To dream, we must simply be open to listen to God. To accomplish the dreams, we must be willing to go where God leads us, even if it is new or alien to us.” A while back we went on a spiritual adventure called “Daring to Dream.” Have we forgotten those dreams already? It’s so easy to get so focused on what has to get done that we forget to look outward in the same direction as Jesus. (NEW SLIDE) We’ve got to focus on seeing the world through Jesus’ eyes, and then work to meet the needs we see. Mike continues, “The transforming part of our journeys has come through patience and perseverance, and by being attentive to the opportunities around us.”

E. This all sounds like good stuff, doesn’t it? But maybe you’re still asking how ordinary people dream God’s dreams. Here are some suggestions from Ginghamsburg lay people.

i. (NEW SLIDE) Read God’s word.

ii. Hang around God’s people.

iii. Listen for God to speak through His people.

iv. Listen for his voice.

v. (NEW SLIDE) Open yourself – say, “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

vi. Don’t wait for the perfect time, perfect people, and perfect ministry before serving. Get in there and serve, and God will show you his dream.

F. Where do you find ministry opportunities? Look at the needs around us. (NEW SLIDE) As we see the needs, they become our burning bush. How do you take an idea within you and turn it into a reality?

i. (NEW SLIDE) Share your dream with someone you trust.

ii. Then be patient and allow the dream to percolate and watch for doors to open. Open doors include seeing a real need for the ministry, other Christians who encourage you to “go for it”, others who want to be involved, or financial resources.

iii. (NEW SLIDE) Don’t be afraid to fail. If it’s God’s plan, he’ll make it succeed. He may let you fail a few times to help you learn valuable lessons, but he will make it succeed.

G. Slaughter writes, “The rhythm continues: God’s initiative; my obedience. His plan within me; my response in action, no matter where the path may lead. God’s plan for ministry; my call to fulfill that which is deep within me and to be God’s hands and feet in the world. We, laity and clergy alike, are in ministry together, following the agenda of Jesus to make Him known and to lead his people into wholeness. This is the business of the church in renewal.” (NEW SLIDE) It’s the church’s business to help people identify God’s burning bushes. Then to throw gasoline, not water, on their burning bushes. Leaders have got to nurture visions.

H. Illustration – Dr. Bruce Emmert wrote, God has given us all a sweet spot—in fact, Paul says that God has given us the gift of a sweet spot so that we could serve God and produce the maximum result and maximum satisfaction both for God and for us. Mark McGwire said, “When I feel the ball hit right on the sweet spot, a home run is just around the corner.” I believe that when we serve Jesus from our spiritual sweet spot, a spiritual home run is just around the corner. Paul calls that we have a sweet spot, a spiritual gift—a special talent or ability that God has supernaturally given us so that we can produce the maximum result in making a world of difference in our community and around the globe and experience the maximum satisfaction (as cited on SermonCentral.com).

I. My prayer is that all of us find our sweet spot by committing to the priesthood principle and moving forward to fulfill God’s calling on each one of us. Dream God’s dreams, and watch His work!

VII. Conclusion

A. Please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for each other’s privacy. What has God been speaking to your heart this morning? Have you been afraid of dreaming God’s dreams and serving Him in the special calling He has for you here at Sodaville? Let’s spend a few quiet moments listening to His Spirit speak to our hearts.

B. Again, what’s God been speaking to your heart this morning. If you want to surrender this morning to His call to fulfill your place in His priesthood of believers by allowing yourself to be equipped for ministry and then serving, please stand with me now. If you’re surrendering to His call to be equipped and to serve, please stand now. Let’s pray.