THE JESUS MODEL FOR MINISTRY 2 Cor. 6:3 & 1 Cor.

11:1 We do not wish to stand in anyones way, nor do we wish to bring discredit on the ministry God had given us. Indeed we want to prove ourselves genuine ministers of God 2 Cor. 6:3-4 (Ph) Paul: Follow my example as I follow the example of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1 Jesus: I know where I came from and I know where I am going. John 8:14 I must be about My Fathers business. Luke 2:29 I have completed the work You gave Me to do. John 17:4 Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but only one thing is needed Lk. 10:41 Paul: This one thing I do Ph. 3:13 10 PRINCIPLES 5. DELEGATION: ________________________________________ He appointed twelve designating them apostles that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach. Mark 3:14 2 Tim. 4:10-13, 19-21

1. IDENTIFICATION: ________________________________________ Jesus: I am the one who testifies for Myself John 8:18 If you only knew who I am, you would ask Me for some living water. John 4:10 God gives us many kinds of special abilities (and) there are different kinds of service to God There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are His. 2 Cor. 12:4-5

6. MEDITATION: ________________________________________ The news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and be healed But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:15-16 Jesus: What I have heard from Him I tell the world. John 8;26 Keep yourself in training for a godly life. 1 Tim. 4:7 (GN)

2. MOTIVATION: ________________________________________ I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me. John 5:30 We are not trying to please men, but to please God, who tests our motives. 1 Thess. 2:4

7. RELAXATION: ________________________________________ 3. DEDICATION: ________________________________________ Jesus: I am the Truth John 14:6 If a man keeps himself clean from the contamination of evil, he will be a vessel used for honorable purposes, dedicated and serviceable for use by the Master ready for any good purpose. 2 Tim. 2:21 (Ph) 4. CONCENTRATION: ________________________________________ Because so many people were coming and going that they didnt even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, `Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Mk. 6:32 Jesus came enjoying life Mk. 11:19 (Ph) 8. EDUCATION: ________________________________________

As Jesus continued to grow in body and mind, He also grew in the love of God and of those who knew Him. Lk. 2:52 (Ph) The scriptures are the comprehensive equipment of the man of God, and fit him fully for all branches of his work. 2 Tim. 3:17 (Ph)

9. EXPECTATION: ________________________________________ Jesus: Father, I thank You that You have already heard Me. I knew You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me. John 11:41-42 We were powerless to help ourselves but that was good, for we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for He can even raise the dead. And He did help us and we expect Him to do it again and again. 1 Cor. 1:9-10 (LB)

10. DETERMINATION: ________________________________________ The people tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, `I must preach the Good News of the kingdom to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Lk. 4:42-44 Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing, if we dont get discouraged and give up. Gal. 6:9 (LB) Keep a critical eye both on your life and your teaching 1 Tim. 4:16 (Ph)

ii

THE JESUS MODEL FOR MINISTRY 2 Cor. 6:3 & 1 Cor. 11:1
2 Corinthians 6:3-4 (Phillips translation) We do not wish to stand in anyones way nor do we wish to bring discredit on the ministry God has given us. Indeed, we want to prove ourselves genuine ministers of God. Thats really a prayer of my heart. Isnt that a beautiful verse? We dont want to stand in anyones way. We dont want to bring discredit to the ministry God has given us. Circle given. The ministry that you have is not something you achieve, but something youve received. It is a gift. Just like salvation is a gift, the ministry that God has for you is a gift. He says, We want to prove ourselves genuine ministers of God. Tonight I want to talk to you about the life that can minister. What kind of person is it that is effective in ministry. This study I didnt do for your benefit. I did it for my own. I did it because more than anything else in my life, I want to be able, when I get to heaven, to not only say, that Im matured like Jesus but that I ministered like Jesus. Not only was I like Him in character but that I was like Him in conduct and that I did the ministry that He gave me in a Christlike way. When you look for a life that can minister who do you look at? Obviously, the model is Jesus Christ. But Jesus was perfect. So we also have a human model in scripture and that is Paul. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example as I follow the example of Jesus Christ. Tonight what I want to do is give you ten principles of the life that ministers the way Jesus would minister if He were you. How would He do your ministry? How would He perform it? How would He fulfill it? Im going to give you two things: An example from the life of Jesus and a principle from the life of Paul. Both of these are like a double whammy of these ten principles that if we want to be effective in ministry, these are the issues we have to settle in our lives.

life I am the way, the truth and the life I am the door I am the resurrection I am the Good Shepherd. If you dont know who you are then other people will decide who you are for you. And youll find yourself being pressured into molds. That causes all kinds of stress. Stress is when you try to be somebody that youre not. If you havent settled this first issue of Who am I? What did God make me to be? youre going to fall prey to two problems, two traps: Comparison and Copying. If you dont figure out the first principle of knowing who you are in ministry, youll have the tendency to first compare yourself to other people. And the Bible says dont do that. Thats stupid. Galatians 6:4 says dont compare yourself to other people Each man should test his own actions then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to others. Dont com pare yourself because you can always find somebody whos different than you. Everybodys different. And when you compare you tend to fall into the second trap copying. All of us start off as originals in life. But we end up as carbon copies. We look at somebody else and think, Thats the way I should minister. No. Youve heard me say many, many times when you get to heaven God isnt going to say, Why werent you more like. Somebody else. But Hes going to say, Why werent you more like you. God has gifted you with gifts and abilities and heart and personality and temperament and experiences all these things because only you can minister the way Hes made you to be. The goal of our church is to help you make a difference with your life based on who God made you to be. If you dont understand this principle youre driven by insecurity in your ministry. As a result you tend to overwork, youre hard on yourself, youre hard on other people and it just doesnt work out. You know who you are by knowing whose you are. And knowing that God has given you specific gifts. 2 Corinthians 12:4-5 God gives us many kinds of special abilities and there are different kinds of service to God. There are many ways in which God works in our lives but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are His. Paul is simply saying here that youre different. Youre unique. So your ministry is going to be different than any other ministry even if youre in the same ministry as somebody else. The way you approach it is going to be different because of who you are. God made everyone us, like snowflakes, unique. Know who you are.

1. IDENTIFICATION: KNOW WHO YOU ARE Ive got to know who I am if Im ever going to be effective in ministry for Jesus Christ. That involves knowing my strengths. It involves knowing my weaknesses. It involves knowing my limitations. Identify who you are your SHAPE. Thats why we spend a lot of time talking about SHAPE. Jesus said, I am the one who testifies for Myself. John 8:18. In John 4:10, If you only knew who I am, youd ask Me for some living water. Jesus had no self-doubts. He knew exactly who He was. Eight times in Scripture He said, I am and then He defines Himself. I am the bread of

2. MOTIVATION: CLARIFY WHY IM IN THE MINISTRY

This is a settled issue for Jesus. He dedicated His entire life to pleasing God. John 5:30 He says I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me. What was Jesus motivation for ministry? To please God, the Father. Was it to please Himself? No. Other people? No. To be popular? No. To make a lot of money? No. Ego strokes? No. He said, I do it to please the Father. You have to clarify, What am I serving? Right up front: Regardless of whatever kind of ministry youre in, ministry is too costly to be motivated by the wrong motive. It takes it out of you. You will not last in the long haul in serving Jesus Christ unless youve got the right motive. What is the right motive? I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me. Jesus dedicated His entire life to pleasing God. When Jesus was baptized and the Spirit came down as a dove and the Father spoke and said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The fact is, you cant please everybody. Thats one of the great stresses in ministry. No matter what you do. From experience as a pastor two facts: Ive learned that there are some people in the church that no matter what I do, theyre going to love me. And Ive also learned that there are some people in the church that no matter what I do, theyre going to criticize me. So you just dont base your ministry on what other people say about you. You base your ministry on what does God say to do. You focus on pleasing Him. If you dont, everybodys got all kinds of different expectations for you. I got this chain letter to get a perfect pastor. It said, The results of a computerized survey of the expectations of church members now indicate the following characteristics of the perfect pastor. He preaches exactly fifteen minutes and includes all that the Bible has to say about the sermon subject. He condemns everybody elses sin except yours and never says anything anyone might disagree with. He works 6 a.m. till midnight, gets eight hours of sleep to stay healthy. Hes also the janitor after each service. He prepares a sermon every week for 40 years and never repeats an idea, an illustration, or a joke. He makes sixty dollar a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a new car and gives fifty dollars a week to the poor. Hes 28 years old and has been in the ministry for 30 years. Half of his hair is youthful blond and the other side is gray to give him that distinguished look. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens. Hes a close personal friend to every member. The perfect pastor smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 visits a day to church families, shutins and the hospitalized, spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched and is always in his office when you need him. He has four kids who never get in trouble, a wife who cooks like Betty Crocker, counsels like Joyce Brothers, prays like Anna and looks like Marilyn Monroe without making anyone else jealous. If your pastor

does not measure up to these expectations, simply send this chain letter to six other churches whose pastors fail to reach these reasonable standards. Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of the list. In one year you will receive 1643 pastors. And one of them should be perfect. Warning: Keep this letter going. One church broke the chain and got its old pastor back. Thats not just true for pastors. But this is true for anybody whos trying to serve. You cant please everybody. And once you put your shingle out, somebodys going to start throwing rocks at it. You have to settle the issue of motivation. Who am I trying to please? You cant please everybody. 1 Thes 2:4 We are not trying to please men, but to please God who tests our motives. Circle test our motives. V. 6 says and we were not looking for the praise from men, not from you or from anybody else. Learn to live for an audience of one. Im learning more and more the importance of that statement. No matter what I do, what matters is what would Jesus think about what Im trying to do.

3. DEDICATION: I MUST KEEP MY LIFE PURE Jesus said in John 14:6 I am the truth. He didnt say, I tell the truth I have the truth He said I am the truth. Why did He say that? Because integrity is the basis for all legitimate ministry. You need to constantly ask yourself, am I exactly what I appear to be? Or is my home life and ministry life Dr. Jeykl and Mr. Hyde. Am I exactly what I appear to be? I may fool you but Im not fooling God. And neither are you. The issue is the issue of dedication, that we dedicate ourselves to God and therefore attempt to live a holy, a pure life of integrity. If man keeps himself clean from the contamination of evil, he will be a vessel used for honorable purposes, dedicated and serviceable for use by the Master, ready for any good purpose. He says that the characteristic of being dedicated and serviceable so that God can use you, that youre ready for any purpose, is that you keep yourself clean. If I keep myself clean, then God can use me. God can overlook a lack of intelligence. He can overlook a lack of gifts and abilities He knows what He gave you. But God will not use a dirty vessel. And when I allow sin to stockpile in my life, when there are relationships that are not right and I let them go on and on and fester, when there are habits in my life that need to be changed and I know it, those things keep God from being able to use me. A dirty vessel is set upon the shelf. It doesnt take

brilliance for God to use you. It takes cleanliness. Thats what it means to be dedicated. God, I dedicate myself to You. Acts 24:16 So I strive always to keep my conscience before God and man. Paul says I want to serve the Lord with a clear conscience. As honestly as I know how I want to say to you that thats my prayer to the Lord, that I will serve God with a clear conscience. I am not perfect, but I try to serve God with a clear conscience and not wear any masks.

Luke 10, Jesus says to Mary and Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but only one thing is needed. Thats a message most of us need to hear. Circle distracted. How many times have you been distracted by good things that really dont matter? And the best enemy of the best is not bad but good. Good is the enemy of the best. There are a lot of good things that I could give my life to. There are a lot of good things I could spend my week, my hours, but one thing is needed. Thats what Jesus said. He said you need to do the important things. Paul says in Philippians 3:13 This one thing I do. You need to learn, if youre going to be effective in ministry, the difference between effectively and accomplishment. Theres a big difference. There are some things in your ministry that are just activities. But there are some things that really are accomplishments, changes in the lives of people. We should focus on the things that produce accomplishment. I use to have a sign in my office: Beware of the barrenness of a busy life. Theres a difference between activity and productivity. Between a full schedule and results. So I have to focus on the things that count. This one thing I do. If I ask you about your priorities and you say you have twenty priorities twenty priorities means no priorities. At Saddleback we have four priorities Membership, Maturity, Ministry, Missions. Over and over. We do four things here: bring them in, build them up, train them for, send them out. Thats the whole purpose. Were not trying to do a lot, just four things. Many priorities means no priorities. Most people that I meet are too diffused to get anything done. Its like a laser. Light diffused has no power but light concentrated has focus and power. The people who made a difference in the world are the people who are the most focused. They focused on a few things and said, this is what Im going to do with my life. Not these twenty things I dabble in but this one thing I do. You need to determine the direction of your life. You need to set some goals. You need to set some priorities, plans, targets. If you dont live by priorities, youll live by pressures. Either you determine whats important in life or other people will determine it for you. Do you ever get to the end of the day and ask, Did I accomplish anything today? that means we didnt follow our priorities. Were frustrated. You cannot chase two rabbits at the same time. Jesus was a master at this. He said, I've completed the work you gave Me to do. Hes persistent, Hes focused, Hes determined.

4. CONCENTRATION: I MUST FOCUS ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT Its interesting that Jesus said, I know who I am, I know who Im trying to please, and then He said in John 8:14 I know where I came from and I know where I am going. Thats pretty clear. Luke 2:29 He says I must be about My Fathers business. He was 12 when He said this. Id say theres a guy who had His purpose pretty well clarified. Before He was a teenager, He could say, Ive got to be about My Fathers business. Almost His last words in John 17:4 I have completed the work You gave me to do. Thats like bookends on a successful life. At twelve, He says Im going about My Fathers business and at the end of His life He could say, Ive completed the work He gave Me to do. Thats what I call focus. Thats what I call concentration. There are many, many good things you can be involved in in your life that arent going to be worth spit five years from now. What counts is whats important. When Jesus said, Ive completed the work He gave to Me to do, had He healed everybody? No. Had everybody become a Christian? No. Had everybody even heard the good news? No. Most of the world was still ignorant. Yet Jesus said, I completed the work He gave me to do. What does that mean? It means that God doesnt expect for you to do everything. I have just enough time to do the will of God. He does not have more will for your life than you have time to do it. If you say, I dont have enough time to get everything done, it either means a) Im doing things that are not the will of God that I should not be doing or b) I should be doing some other things that Im not doing that are the will of God. When I get to heaven, God is not going to hold me responsible for things that my human limitations would not allow me to do. Theres no way I could visit everybody in this church. No way. So God doesnt hold me accountable for it. But what He does hold me accountable for is what I do. And I am to discover His plan and concentrate and focus whats important.

5. DELEGATION: INVOLVE OTHER PEOPLE IN MY MINISTRY God has called you to ministry but He has not called you to do it alone. In fact, Lone Ranger ministers burn out. They dont last. Dont try to do it all yourself. Mark 3:14 says He appointed twelve, designating them apostles, that they might be with

Him and that He might send them out to preach. Circle those two things: that they might be with him, and He might send them out. One of the things that happens, why people burn out in ministry, is they start tending to feel that it all depends on them. I used to feel, particularly in the first couple years of the church, that I was holding all the strings and if I let go of the strings, everything would fly away. Jesus Himself who was perfect, enlisted and trained twelve people. That in itself shows the need for relationships. He needed association. He needed community. So do you or you wont make it in ministry. Thats one of the reasons why we have SALT. We need each other, to get to know each other, to build each other up, encourage each other. When you start to get discouraged, you know there are other people out there who are praying for you and praying with you. Youre not alone. 2 Timothy 4:10-13. I want you to see that not only did Jesus have people with Him all the time, but so did Paul. We looked at a couple of these verses a couple of weeks ago. V. 10 Demus, because he loved the world, has deserted me. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you because hes helpful to me in my ministry. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas. V. 19 Greet Priscila and Aquila in the house of Onesiphorus, Erastus stayed in Corinth and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you and so do Linus, Claudia and all the brothers. Who are all these people? They are ministry associates of Paul. If you study the book of Acts, everywhere that Paul went, he took people with him. He never went anywhere alone. He never ministered alone. He took other people. Two reasons: One, support. Two, training. That they might be with him and that he might send them out. Where did he get that idea? Jesus. That they might be with him and that he might send them out. Saddleback outgrew me a long time ago. If I tried to control everything, do everything, this church would have stopped growing at about 300. Your ministry needs to outgrow you. In order to reach the number of people in this valley, you must be willing to give your ministry away. You must be willing to share it, delegate it, let other people. D. L. Moody said, Id rather put ten people to work than do the work of ten people. Thats a good idea. Why dont we like to delegate. A couple of reasons. One is perfectionism. Nobody can do it like I can. When Jesus sent the twelve out to minister, could He have done a better job than the twelve? Absolutely. Ive learned not to make all

the mistakes yourself in ministry. Allow other people the privilege of making some of the mistakes. Dont hog them all. I tell that to the staff. How do we learn? From experience. How do you get experience? By making mistakes. How do you make mistakes? By doing it. So the way other people get experience in your ministry is to allow them to make some of the mistakes. I think another reason we dont like to delegate often is insecurity. They might do a better job than we do. We need to rejoice with those who can get the job done. I think one of the marks of maturity I can think of people who have been here from the start like Don Dale who started up ministries, began them, then gave them away, turned them over to new people and went out and started new ones. That takes tremendous maturity, to have a ministry that maybe was your baby and give it to somebody else and share the load and delegate. 6. MEDITATION: IVE GOT TO MEET WITH GOD EVERYDAY Ive got to get alone with God for inspiration, for renewal. This could also be the principle of isolation. If you are in ministry, which is usually people-intensive, you need separate times alone by yourself. Luke 5:15-16 The news about Him spread all the more so that the crowds of people came to hear Him and be healed. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Circle often and lonely places. Jesus, in the middle of His ministry, often isolated Himself and no matter how busy Jesus got, He took time to get alone with God to pray, to be alone, to have a quiet time. I look at a quiet time in my own ministry as a decompression chamber. Its a time to unload burdens, receive new inspiration, new revelation, to talk to God in prayer, listen to Him through the Bible, evaluate my schedule do these kinds of things. The fact is, when you study the ministry of Jesus and if were going to minister like Him, youre going to find that you need to take time alone with God. I believe that the more people you deal with, the more time alone you need. I was reading about Charles Spurgeon, one of the great pastors of the last century in England. He had a huge church, preached to about 5-10,000 people every week and thats before they had microphones. He would suffer great fits and bouts of depression. He was getting drained emotionally. His board went out and built a cabin and every Monday one of his elders drove him out to the cabin and made him stay there all day. Why? Because of this principle. You need time apart. You need time alone. Jesus, when He got alone with God, waited for instructions. Jesus said, What I have heard from Him [the Father] I tell the world. Circle heard. Youre not ready

to tell the world until first youve heard from God. The problem is most of us are so busy telling, we dont have time to hear. Were so in a hurry doing the ministry. Its like being a hamster in one of those cages wheels; youre rolling around and around but youre making no progress. You need to get alone with God. Pascal said a lot of mans problems come from his inability to set still. The Bible says Be still and know that I am God. Jesus withdrew to lonely places. He prayed. He said, What I hear from Him then I go back and tell the world. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7 Keep yourself in training for a godly life. In other words, its a never-ending battle. How quickly can you lose physical fitness? Very quickly. Many of us are living proof of that. How quickly can you loose spiritual fitness? Just as quickly. Under this principle of meditation also write the word isolation. You need to be alone. You need time alone with God. I once read that the minister whos available to people all the time isnt worth much when he is available. You need time alone with God. Every leader needs think time. I find that if I get short on that, a deficiency in think time, time to think about where Im going, I start feeling frazzled in life.

One of my favorite verse is Mark 11:19 Jesus came enjoying life. Isnt that a great verse? Thats not a verse you hear many theologians or people on the TV talking about. They talk about Jesus the old sourpuss. Have you noticed on TV that they always show Jesus from the back and when they do it from the front Hes always got this sour, dour face, so serious all the time. It says Jesus came enjoying life. He survived stress by enjoying life. God wants you to do that. The Bible says in Timothy, God has richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment. As we use it for His glory, we also get to enjoy it at the same time. Balance is a key to stress management. Youve heard me say before: Divert daily, Withdraw weekly, Abandon annually. Divert Daily Every day you need to take mini vacations to recharge you. You need to know what recharges you. Withdraw weekly have a day off. Abandon annually to have the relaxation that you need.

8. EDUCATION: I MUST NEVER STOP LEARNING Luke 2:52 (Phillips translation) As Jesus continued to grow in body and mind, He also grew in the love of God and of those who knew Him. This is saying that Jesus was balanced and He grew four ways: wisdom, stature, favor with God and man. First, in body. That means He grew physically. Then, in mind. He grew in wisdom. He grew intellectually. He grew in the love of God. He grew spiritually. He grew in the love of those that knew Him. He grew socially. The more balanced you are in these four areas, the more effective you are going to be in ministry. Its interesting to me that Jesus took thirty years to prepare for three years of ministry. He was always growing, always learning, always developing. What do we learn? How do we learn? 2 Timothy 3:17 The scriptures are the comprehensive equipment of the man of God, and fit him fully for all branches of his work. (Phillips translation) Growing ministries require growing ministers.

7. RELAXATION: I NEED TO TAKE TIME OFF TO ENJOY LIFE. Mark 6:32 Because so many people were coming and going that they didnt even have a chance to eat, [thats a pretty serious ministry!] Jesus said to them, `Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. He said, Fellows, you deserve a break today. Come to the desert and were going to rest. Rest and relaxation is so important God put it in the Ten Commandments. Every seventh day you rest. If youre not taking a day off every week, youre breaking one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus said of the Ten Commandments, Man was not given for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was given for man. Its for our benefit. Its to rest and to restore. Our bodies need this. He says get by yourself and get some rest. Im more and more convinced of the importance of balance in ministry. All of our lives have to be balanced. There is an ebb and flow in ministry, a time when you give out and a time when you receive, a time when you work and a time when you rest. Ecclesiastes says, Theres a time for everything in life to laugh, to cry, to build up, to tear down.

9.

EXPECTATION: I NEED TO EXPECT GOD TO USE ME

If Hes going to use me, I need to expect Him to. There are many examples I could have used but I used the one from John 11:41-42. Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Remember the story. Jesus was just a few miles away in another

town. One of His best friends, Lazarus, was sick. Mary and Martha were Lazarus sisters. They sent a message to Jesus, Jesus! Please come quickly. Your friend Lazarus is sick. And it takes Jesus about three more days to get there. Hes only a few miles away. What was He doing? You would have thought He would have rushed over immediately. But nothing ever pressured Christ. He was never in a hurry. They said, Your best friends dying, and it takes Him three days to get a few miles. By the time He gets there, Lazarus has died. They come crying, Oh, Lord. If Youd been here, he would have still been alive. You blew it. He said, No, this illness is for the glory of God. I had a purpose in delaying. I am fulfilling the plan of God. He walks up to the tomb where Lazarus has already been buried and in v. 41 Jesus says Father, I thank You that You have already heard Me. I knew You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me. Underline I thank You that Youve already heard Me. When Jesus Christ went to raise Lazarus from the dead, He didnt say, Father, please raise him. He didnt beg God. He didnt request of God. He walks up there and says, I think You Youve already heard Me. And, by the way, Im just saying this for the people around Me so theyll believe I am who I say I am. What was He doing when He said, I thank You, Youve already heard Me. He was expecting to be used. You know how much Gods working in your life? Hes working as much as you expect Him to. No more, no less. You study scripture, you find every time God moves out of heaven, does a miracle it was because somebody believed. What are you expecting God to do in your life tomorrow morning? What are you expecting Him to do in your world, in your neighborhood, in your ministry? Paul expected God to use him and expected God to take care of him. 1 Corinthians 1:9-10 We were powerless to help ourselves but even that was good, for we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us for He can even raise the dead. And He did help us and we expect Him to do it again and again. Paul expected God to work in his life. And God did.

preaching in the synagogues of Judea. It says, the people, when He was preaching in this one area, tried to keep Him from leaving. They had another agenda for Jesus. They said, We want You to do this: Why dont You just stay here. Jesus said, No. Ive got a plan, a purpose. Ive got a mission to fulfill. Ive got to keep on doing what Gods told Me to do, and it says He kept right on doing it. He didnt give up. Paul says Let us not get tired of doing what is right for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we dont get discouraged and give up. Determination.

These are ten principles that I have drawn from the life of Christ and the example of Paul on how to have a life that can minister. 1 Timothy 4:16 Keep a critical eye both on your life and your teaching. Thats what I want to leave you with tonight. The Bible says we need to evaluate ourselves with a critical eye and you can use these ten points to evaluate yourself Am I ministering the way Jesus would minister?

10. DETERMINATION: I MUST NEVER GIVE UP. I must be determined to fulfill the mission that God has given me in the world, fulfill the ministry that God has given me in our church. Luke 4:42-44 The people tried to keep Him from leaving them. He said, `I must preach the good news of the kingdom to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. And He kept on