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Dynamic Ministry Jobs
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Note to the teacher: Before preparing this lesson, Dynamic Ministry Jobs please read our approach to planning a
Sunday School Lesson
This lesson has the same format as our lesson planning sheet. In preparing this lesson we suggest that you: 1. Print the lesson planning sheet. 2. Read the Bible passage. 3. Fill in your lesson planning sheet. You will find it helpful to have a printed copy of the lesson planning sheet along side as you read Dynamic Ministry Jobs. The progression will make more sense. |
Dynamic Ministry Jobs
The human need this passage meets is: all ministry jobs can influence others through depending on God.
Learning Goals: By the end of this session, each learner should be able to. . .
Know: Understand that Jesus leads all disciples into personal ministry jobs.
Feel: Feel the desire to have a miraculous influence on others.
Do: Either begin or continue a personal ministry through reliance upon God.
Hook
Think about two words: Spectators & Participants. We all know that spectators are watchers; participants are doers.
At your tables, share some individual thoughts around these two statements.
- Name an activity that you dislike doing yourself, but enjoy watching others do.
- Name an activity that you enjoy doing yourself, but dislike watching others do.
Transition
There are two reasons I wanted us to think along these lines this morning:
1. For the first year or so within Jesus’ 3½ year ministry on earth, his disciples were primarily spectators. They saw Him preach, teach, heal the sick, and raise the dead. But today, we are going to see a turning point in their spiritual development. Instead of merely watching Him minister, he is going to send them out for a brief ministry tour to do what they had seen Him do.
2. There comes a point in every Christian's life when he must stop being a spectator, and start being a participant. Sadly, many believers never read that point. But the truth is, unless you let Jesus lead you into ministry jobs your Christian life will be unfulfilling, unchallenging and boring.
In other words, with Jesus, you can only listen and watch so long. The ultimate goal that Jesus has for your life and mine --
- is not learning more about the Bible, though that’s important
- is not enjoying the fellowship of the church, though that’s important
So, the way Jesus would look at our Sunday School Class would be to ask --
- is your class a holding tank or a launching pad?
- is your class a Christian club or a ministry team?
Habitually coming together and turning inward -- without habitually going back into the world and turning outward is not real Christianity. We might have fun, learn a lot, and enjoy our fellowship, but without personal ministries, we’re only existing for ourselves.
Bible Input
Let's read: Luke 9:1-17
Life Application
Let’s discover two truths about all ministry jobs:
1. All ministry jobs should have a miraculous influence on others
In modern Christianity, Success usually involves numbers, buildings and programs. But to Jesus, success means one word -
influence.
Luke 9:2 He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick.
Luke 9:6 So they went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
But, it was more than mere human influence. It was a miraculous, supernatural influence. By miraculous, we don’t mean something that is spectacular, or sensational. A miracle is merely something that has no possible explanation apart from God. If it can be explained in human terms, it’s not a miracle.
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NASA can send a man to the moon; that’s pretty spectacular, but not miraculous. David Copperfield can make people disappear & reappear; sensational, not miraculous |
In this text everyone recognized this influence as supernatural. Herod was perplexed because people were saying that John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded, had been raised from the dead. Others wondered whether Elijah or another prophet had appeared. Everyone who heard about what Jesus and the apostles were doing knew that these things were humanly impossible.
| In Robert Lewis’ book The Church of Irresistible Influence he says that a fitting description for the church would be -- “A community of people who present living proof of a loving God to a watching world.”
Now, isn’t that what the 12 disciples were doing? |
Jesus merely equipped them to present living proof of a loving God to a watching world. Jesus can equip you and me to do the very same thing!
Today, we don’t have to be able to “heal the sick” to present living proof to a watching world.
But we do have to:
2. All ministry jobs require dependence on God
In Luke 9:12-17, we see the miracle of how Jesus fed 5,000 men plus women and children. This miracle is the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). What was the vital principle that Jesus wanted the disciples to learn? I believe it is found in v. 12 - 13.
Verse 12 says that it was getting late and the apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the crowd away.” But, in Luke 9:13, Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples' reaction to those words illustrated how unreasonable they thought that idea was.
First, Philip said, “eight months wages would not be enough money to buy bread for this crowd.”
Secondly, their only resource was one boy with a small lunch. Andrew said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” In other words, it’s still impossible. If we can’t feed all of them, why feed any of them?
Finally Jesus showed them the principle he was trying to teach them.
Luke 9:16 Taking the loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.
That was the principle he wanted them to learn and the principle he wants us to learn.
When you learn to depend on God,
nothing is impossible
Our tendency is to get a little cynical and say, "Sure that was easy for him to say because He was God. But I want you to realize that you think that way, you are wrong. NOT in saying that Jesus was God (for God he is, was, and always will be) but wrong in saying the reason he was able to perform a miracle was because he was God.
When Jesus came into the world he became a man. The reason that Jesus could perform miracles as man, is that in everything He did, He perfectly depended on His father as God. This is the secret Jesus kept trying to reveal to His disciples.
John 14:10 It is the Father, living in me who is doing His work.
Acts 2:22 Jesus of Nazareth was a man, approved of God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him.
Jesus never intended for the 12 disciples to perform this miracle by their own power, because he never intended to do the miracle by His own power. He simply wanted them, and us to recognize that nothing is impossible for the person who depends on Jesus the way Jesus depended on His Father. So, when Jesus gives us a personal ministry, he’s expecting us to count on him to produce the results.
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Major Ian Thomas, in his book The Saving Life of Christ tells this illustration. Suppose Jesus found an atheist in the crowd and said to him, “Excuse me are you an atheist?” "Yes" "Good. You are just the person I’m looking for. We have a little dilemma here and I want your advice. As you know, it’s very late in the day and my disciples want me to send the people home, but I want to feed them. What do you suggest?" What is the first question the atheist would ask Jesus? "Well, how much money do you have?” Since the atheist didn’t believe in God, the only resources he ever considered counting on were resources he could see. It’s easy to explain how an atheist would think God was irrelevant for any situation, but the disciples had Christ himself standing right in front of them, yet for that situation He was irrelevant. |
And that’s what we still have today. Believers who are professing Christians but practicing atheists. Unbelieving Believers.
Think about your own life today, this past week, this past month, past year. Are you facing a situation where you feel that your human resources are inadequate? If you are a Christian, Christ Himself is living within you. Can you count on Him or is He irrelevant?
Finally, how do you know that you are totally depending on him? When you pray the prayer Jesus prayed here in Luke 9:16.
That’s the kind of faith Jesus is looking for -- the kind that simply says, “Lord, I knew that you can handle this situation, Thank you.”
Discussion Questions
1. What does it mean to depend on Jesus as He depended on His Father? How do you know that you are not relying on yourself and your resources?
2. What miraculous influences have you experienced - either influencing someone or being influenced?
3. How do people get involved in their personal ministry jobs? How do you know what ministry God wants you to be involved in? Is it true that Christianity without a personal ministry is boring?
| Need help in motivating believers to fulfill their ministry jobs? Kingdom-Driven Discipleship will meet this need. |
4. What ministry jobs are you now involved in - or want to be involved in? What steps will you take this week?
| Learn more about First Steps in Ministry. |
| Narrow Your Focus to be more effect in your ministry. An audio sermon with outline. |
Author:Paul Schlieker www.bible-study-lesson-plans.com
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