Becoming A Super-Natural Servant IX, Securing Success As A Servant

We'll be sharing from the word tonight how to avoid Burnout in ministry. I want to while you're turning in your Bibles To Colossians chapter 1. I'm gonna just while you're doing that ask our ushers to Help me as I welcome any visitors that have joined us tonight here at North Way. I see a few faces. I don't recognize him We're always glad to have visitors We feel it's an honor to receive you and we want you to know we're Delighted that you're here just so you might know a little bit more about us We want to welcome you if you just raise your hand right now I want to give you a packet and let you know we're glad you're here any other visitors tonight I saw welcome a couple gentlemen here over here In the back. Thank you over here anyone Great. That's great. We have about a half a dozen visitors tonight. Thank you for coming and Please take a moment during the service and look into that packet and there's a card in there We'd like you to fill out and give us at the time of the offering a little later if you'd be so kind All right Colossians chapter 1 just a couple of verses to start out for the night verse 25 I've become its servant by the Commission. God gave me to present to you the Word of God in its fullness The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations But is now disclosed to the Saints To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery Which is Christ in you the hope of glory We proclaim him Admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Look at verse 29 to this and I labor Struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works in Me how many of you have ever heard of a bell-shaped curve? All right Good more than I expected. Well a Bell-shaped curve is a very important analytical tool in business and lots of other ways Most of us learned about it in high school business course, maybe even college But a bell-shaped curve represents sort of a life cycle of many products and Sometimes even trends and popularity Look something like this in case you're not familiar with that's a homegrown bell-shaped curve, but that's what it looks like All right, roughly speaking Let's leave that up there. Let me just help you to think of some things that have experienced The bell-shaped curve, let's think of a product what comes to your mind right off the bat that began its life cycle just kind of low on them on the market scale and if the horizontal bar is time and The vertical bar is popularity just kind of rose up in popularity over a space of maybe a couple of months or years Hit a great peak and then came down again. How about in the 50s and 60s what comes to mind? Hey Yeah, you're hula-hooping how many of you still are out there hula-hooping, huh? Then in the 70s, there was one. It just stands stood out to me The pet rock. Well, I don't think the pet rock ever hit it quite that high One that comes to my mind is The CB radio you remember when you couldn't even buy one There were so many CB radios on the only ones that at first, you know in the early 70s Only truck drivers had them boy, then they became the rage and you know, everybody got a handle and you know now it's you know Kind of buried those buggers, you know, we don't want to be seen with that necessarily And then in the 80s, there was one that the kids all loved. I remember get Cabbage patched off. How did you know? I mean there it is. I Had physical damage done to my body getting a cabbage back cabbage patch doll for Amy once Beaten up at Children's Palace, but now So we all know a bell-shaped curve interestingly the bell-shaped curve also represents the course of lots of major ministries in America Think in your own mind of some ministries that once were Insignificant grew to great strength and popularity Rode the peak for a little while and now Have either begun to crest or in some cases the line is drawn flat dead. Even don't even exist anywhere. I had a Dinner with Paul Cole. They remember Paul was here a couple years ago Help us with our video things and Paul was telling us of all the ministries He knows that once were booming and now don't even exist. Of course, we think of the obvious ones How about you know Rex Humbard? and of course you think of PTL and so but there's lots of them lots of smaller ones as well now where this gets really personal And where it hits the subject for tonight? Is that the individual ministries of many believers? Also tend to follow the course of a bell-shaped curve many well-intended spirit energized believers Have a Tendency to jump on the bandwagon of ministry I'm going to describe this in a minute to get really fired up to find some places to go Rise up on a surge of excitement and involvement Move along for a bit and make a great impact and then suddenly something starts to happen almost imperceptibly at first the things begin to crack and Some of the Expectations aren't met and then some of the demands become overbearing and pretty soon They begin to slip down in terms of their involvement and isn't long before they're sitting flat on the bottom of the curve You know, I I see this Many more times than I'd like to report to you people who Come to Christ experience the grace that's in Jesus You know find the Lord and get so excited about what they've discovered that they want they want to do anything They can to tell someone else to help someone else grow. They just to them. It's the greatest thing they've ever found and so they pour themselves into it and you know along the way they they get no small amount of encouragement from certain leaders and Certain opportunities come along and people just get you know, they get charged up But some things happen along the way and more times than I could begin to recount to you I've stood beside people who Had hit the peak and in a few short months Begun to go To the bottom and dear ones. There's hardly anything more Sorrowful to me than seeing a person who was once on fire Riding on the bottom of the bell-shaped curve. I mean now they don't even listen when we call for help They don't even stir in their seats when we tell them about an opportunity for ministry They don't even have an inkling of a desire to be involved anymore, and I have to say Sadly some of us here tonight fall into that category Some of us here tonight are burnout victims Ministry casualties some of you here once Rode the top of the way and you're already uncomfortable because you know, I'm talking to you Because you're sitting on the bottom right now. No the question of course begs to be asked. Why does this happen? I mean nobody that I know starts out hoping to burn out Why do well-intended servants fall into the trap? Why do they follow fall short of Galatians 6 9 which says don't weary and you're well doing because if you if you Persevere you're gonna reap a great harvest. Well, I want to submit to you tonight Three specific reasons and I want you to check yourself If you're involved in a ministry check yourself on these three Specific reasons why people burn out and make sure that you're guarding and if you find that you're a casualty Maybe there'll be some kind of an explanation as to why you were because I want to say something right now This church is terribly Underpotentialized we have far more potential as a corporate body and we're beginning to Exercise and if just those here tonight and this is a fraction of our body just you here tonight really discovered What God wants you in ministry it could change this body and it could change your life So let me give you first of all the the first of the three reasons that servants burn out The first thing that we need to guard against is that we have a proper motivation a proper motivation For ministry, you know, once you come to know Christ, how many of you know that? The whole idea of working for your salvation no longer makes any sense, right? I mean we are saved by what? Grace through faith so we know that we don't have to work our way into God's approval and it's a wonderful liberating kind of thing I mean the kind of deal where you know, you're you're working your way to get closer to God doesn't even appeal to us anymore We know we've been saved by grace So what properly motivates us is a response to the grace we've received The only real reason why you should do anything for God is a response to God for what he's already done for you Psalm 116 verse 12. What should I render to the Lord? For all of his benefits. Go ahead. Let's read it together How can I repay the Lord for all? How can I do it Paul says it this way and by the way, there's no better study in the Bible about Christian service, of course than Paul a Verse that just jumped off the pages to me in this study with 2nd Corinthians 5. Why don't you turn there just to? Underline and underscored in your own experience 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 14 Paul's writing is to why he does what he does. You should always bring your Bibles Wednesday night Here's what he says For Christ's love compels us See that Second Corinthians 5 14 for Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died Why did Paul pour himself out for others? Why? Because Christ's love his love constrained him. It was a response to the love of God We can't help but want to give back something because of all we received in Christ, you know 20 some years ago now I Finished my college education. I was kind of an in-between phase between going into military and service and I got a very A Wonderful job working for the University in the admissions office and so I was hired there and I got an apartment my life changed a bit and that's when I first met Carol and During that time I Had grown in Christ from a being a real Snot-nosed baby if you'll forgive the term in Christ for the first years to being a disciple and by that time I had such a desire to give to people and And the only people who wanted to hear me work high school kids in a Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Virginia And I found myself every night of the week On the road for the school pouring out into a youth group of kids. Just meeting with them. We go to the Unmentionable kinds of hamburger joints that they had in Lexington's a booming town of four and a half thousand people We went back on our our reunion and the same wasn't in that place Kenny burgers the same Kenny burger place with the broken arch and you know, one, you know, it's still At the same place, you know, it's still broken and hanging 22 years there But it it was amazing to me how how much I wanted to give. I mean I did no one paid me a cent and The church really didn't even notice it all that much. We just did it. Why did I do it? Because Christ loved compelled me I love doing it and I did it Just because I wanted to and because God had done so much for my life It's so changed that I wanted to tell these kids that there was a better way than you know, cruising Main Street in Lexington and going to Kenny burgers you see Along the way something's got to break loose in you. That's an inner motivation a fuel source that cannot be used up And if you serve God for any other reason than simply Wanting to return the love that the Holy Spirit's put on you you are gonna get discouraged you're gonna get frustrated You're gonna get beaten down. You're gonna get mad at the leaders. You're gonna blame people but if the Spirit of God If you're living in a communal relationship with the Holy Spirit, there's a source of power That some of you look like you need right now that will energize your life And make a difference Let me give you some of the improper motivations. Can I? Here's some reasons why I think people get hung up and they just don't make it number one They join a church like this and they say well, you know, we got to do something there Nelly. We We joined I guess we ought to do something. We're gonna pay our dues more lesson They kind of feel like being involved has to do with paying back the church in some way Sort of a dues-paying mentality, you know, but you're gonna be a member you got to serve well We don't have a rule like that here. You see I mean we encourage people we don't make a rule of it secondly far too many people serve the Lord out of guilt and I've had to really work at avoiding that motivation You know, it's easy for us to come in here someday and say, you know, by the way The kids are ripping the wallpaper out of the nursery right now and eating it and they're holding Pastor Jeff hostage back in the back. They've got him tied to the electrical box You know if you don't get back there and help him. Well, you see motivation by guilt Ultimately will end in frustration. It's really hard to not use that one, but it's true Number three some people serve to gain favor with other men They want to be kind of recognized as you know, hey, here's he's a really good guy, you know, he's in the parking lot for services a week night and day He's a good guy You know something if that's your motivation and somebody doesn't notice you guess what happens You hate that job. You hate the parking lot You hate it when it's sunny. You hate it when it's cold and your burnout some people serve out of boredom This is the only place they have to go so I might as well go serve there Looking for another night out, you know that kind of motivation doesn't make it won't be long before you'll just you know You'll despise you'll stay away from here, too. You know and some people It's just feel like in some small way. They're gonna improve their standing with God God will love me more if I you know now keep in mind. It's okay to expect a reward for your service. I Believe that's true But God isn't gonna love you anymore Is that you understand the difference? He's not gonna love you more He may you may get a reward but he's not gonna love you more because you said none of these will work all of them Will lead you to frustration and dear ones. I have to say Christian service is very rigorous One of the problems that we get into is that people sign on and hey, I mean every Sunday I have to be here to do this or you know home group meets every, you know twice a month you know, I have to be here and Pretty soon, you know If you're not motivated properly it you just you get real tired of it real fast and you get bitter and the worst thing is You end up going all the way back to where we started before we even came to Christ back to watching out for me first Remember that message the me first mentality and sadly way too many people come to church with me first in mind That's the only thing they think about what am I gonna get out of it? The sadness really is the waste the waste of wonderful gifted talented people like I'm looking at right now, and so I Just want if if you're sitting on the bench after having once been a key player somewhere because you got into a ministry and the motivation dried up and You just hated it. I want to say to you Get back to where you can come to God and say Lord listen, I Want to know where I'm supposed to be. I want to know where I'm gonna find fulfillment I want to know where I'm gonna be Just you know, I've discovered that people who know what they're to do and are motivated properly They just can't be stopped sometimes and I'm going to talk about their problem at the end here. I All right, the second thing to check is proper ministry The first one's proper motivation But you may already know why you're certain you just love God and you want to return love to him and you just want to be a faithful obedient servant of the Lord and and his Holy Spirit in you is giving you energy as We just read in Colossians 129 the energy comes from the Holy Spirit and how many of you know, that's not a limited supply People say to me sometimes, you know, how do you keep the schedule? Well, obviously I don't do it all that well but what I do is because the Holy Spirit just gives me the energy to do it and I know many of you in that same category, but You can have all the energy the Holy Spirit puts in you But if you're calling if you're not clear of your ministry, you're bound for frustration Once again, too many serve without a sense of calling Paul says over and over and over again first Corinthians 1 1 Paul called to be an apostle Called to be how many of you know? There's a difference between just making up where you're gonna serve and being called to it You know knowing that God fashioned you to fit right in there Well, that's a great gift I have to say, you know, I know I'm called to be a pastor I Know that I mean, it's just like I was made to do this and some you know Some of you may not think so, but I I know it. Okay, and I know other people I I know for example, I'll pick on Jan for just a minute Jan Sherman, you know she's called to kind of of God to be a person who spearheads a Ministry that presents Christ in worship and in in visual ways and in in dramatic ways and She just gets more and more fired up as she does it and it's kind of it's almost like, you know It just keeps consuming and it's it's a I mean Building itself as she expresses those things now on the other hand people who are out of their call It becomes drudgery in a hurry. Let me use a very secular You know out of this realm illustration. I Mean it comes every spring and the Pinewood Derby has become Pastor J's nightmare and I a few years back when this thing started, you know, the little box kits came, you know with those little things and Jonathan was following I said dad when we're gonna do this, you know, I look at this thing I look I pull this thing out. It's a block of wood in case you don't know. It's just a little block of wood, right and They have this vision, you know this incredible Sleek race car, you know that with a point one five Drag coefficient on the thing is just sliced through the air Idea how to make that happen. We just block the wood, you know, I Want to take that block of wood and I want to take the axles and pound the nail Wrap them around and put the wheels on say, you know, it's a little blunt, but it'll get down the hill Yeah, so I'm looking at this thing, you know and Jonathan when we do this daddy, you know I'm thinking I'm gonna go nuts doing this In the end, it's gonna be awful. Anyhow, you know, he's gonna be mad at me. You know, this looks like a job for Grandpa, so, you know, we invite we invite we call him Papa. We might pop over after church So they want to come have some fellowship Papa We talk a little bit hey, let's get out of the garage I want to show you something something with the car Down the garage, you know and down we go and he looks at things. So what it's my other car said nothing. It's this one Well, see My dad kind of likes to work with things like that I mean, I wouldn't say he's a pro but he likes to do it, you know, he really enjoys it. He's got some You know, so the next three nights, you know, he brings his machine tools over and belt sanders and Spray painters and you know, I come home for more than I imagine the lights are on and you know He's turned it into us in a paint booth in the garage Well after three days this car is you know, I think it's tremendous I didn't win but it was tremendous and the bottom line was he had a great time Jonathan was happy. I was really happy. I Used my gifts he used this gift now Folks the problem is far too many people in the church are out there Making pinewood derby cars when they don't have a clue as to what they're doing Because they think that's the only thing they can do We've got to come to the place where we serve in The exact place where we know God has us now admittedly that can change in seasons in our life I agree with that, but most of us need to know that what we're doing is fulfilling us. We're getting joy out of it It's not depleting us. It's giving us in you know, a sense of enjoyment I mean if you close down your home group after a Sunday night, so oh my god, that's over. I Mean, maybe maybe that's not exactly where God's called you to be right then There's the end of the home group ministry right there. Okay Sadly, you know what happens is it? Far too many people if they fail at one thing or if they just get disgusted and discouraged with one thing, you know what they do They go right back to the bench and sit down and they think that anything they do would be like that And I want to say no, it's not that way I mean the way to find where you fit in the body of Christ is to get out there and try some things and Realize that it's okay to transfer departments now and then and not just resign from the company I mean we have some wonderful people here tonight Who've tried a couple of things and didn't do all that well and we had to say to him, you know Being in music ministry just isn't your best calling Have you considered the parking lot? You know? No, there's some people who love and are you know, the kind of people that are Love to be out just and you know hitting people head-on impact wise in terms of greeting and all that kind of stuff That's a place they need to be they wouldn't do well at all You know in an intimate kind of serving setting. I mean You know what I'm talking about The key is find where you've been fashion and how many of you know in God's eyes remember remember 1st Corinthians chapter 12 the toe and the nose rather than the toe and the nose and the elbow the thing in God's eyes every part has a role and every part is important and You'll never hear me say anything good That man or woman in the parking lot is just as important a man or the woman behind the piano or up here behind the pulpit In God's eyes. We're a body And he rewards you according to the faithfulness that you demonstrate in your specific home So if you don't know where you fit, let me say we have a ministry for you. What's it called? steppingstones or network ministry the steppingstones class will go through a whole list of an inventory of spiritual gifts and you and They'll counsel with you help you to find it and they'll even help You know where in the church you fit by the way pick up that gold sheet right now Right there is an illustration of all the different ways that you can serve the Lord And if you've been listening the last several weeks, we've been talking about how to know your spiritual gift if you don't know it the people and steppingstones Matt McCabe is the elder over that ministry will be happy to receive you and go through a four-week course and help you to find where you fit I Mainly want to say to the ones who've already been there and haven't found it yet Don't give up if any of these look like someplace that you can serve Call that person say I'm interested in helping out and if we left someone off here, please forgive us So we know there's we don't have everything down exactly, right? But if you're not sure where you fit in the end, or you don't know where to go call pastor Scott That's his ministry. He'll find help you find your place. All right So get in your Bible right now, you'll always have wouldn't that be great Now when you've tried all 52 of these and you still know where you fit We have a deliverance ministry that will come and get all this thing straightened out, you know find wisdom here somehow, all right Finding it quickly. Let me talk about the third point The third thing to monitor so you don't burn out and that is Proper management dear one. Some people burn out because they serve too much Now you're hearing me say that all right We do have people who are highly motivated out of the love of Christ who are properly Directed in the area where they're best equipped to serve These are the kind of people who just can't wait to jump. They're the people who will say something like I'd rather burn out than rust out but unfortunately Some of these people do just that Burning out after a year of service is not God's idea of a long and fulfilling career in ministry Lots of misunderstandings lead to this in people and I want to share a couple of them with you. All right First of all, some people think that the need constitutes a call All right, the need is not you may see a need that doesn't necessarily mean you're called to meet it I'm gonna free some people up here tonight You may find that there's a need to be with One need that I see right now in our church is a need for someone who's called to help in long-term Caring of people who are in are infirm people who have a heart to go in and sit with somebody who's You know in serious physical condition can't get out shut-ins and someone who loves to go in and just encourage somebody We need a ministry like that. I Know that's need but I want you to know something I see that need but I know I'm not called to do that ministry. The need does not constitute a call Now, I think it's always appropriate to say Lord. Do you want me to meet that need? But he may not he may have someone else some people think that every need out there they've got a fill that's not true Secondly, some people think if a little is good a lot is better You know if I'm serving Ten hours a week and love it just think how much I love it if I serve 20 hours a week not necessarily so You can begin to overload yourself and sometimes so saturate your life that nothing really seems to fulfill you number three Some people think if you're really gonna make a difference in the kingdom, then you got to be totally sold out These are the folks many of whom grew up in parachurch ministries You know the radical discipleship ministries The message there oftentimes is if you're really serious about Jesus, you know, you'll put all your stuff in the goodwill box Every possession you have you'll park your car beside that and you just wait for God to lead you and you're totally sold out Now that may be true for some of us at some time in our life, but I have to say to you You can make a big difference doing one little thing and there's not one of us that can't do one little thing Some of us are called to leave everything and go serve the Lord on the foreign field some of us aren't You can make a difference just know where it is and be focused on it number four Some people think busyness is next to God. Isn't that how that goes? Some people think that God, you know loves those who live on the edge of exhaustion I mean if you could just about be ready to collapse, you know every day because you serve It's just that's we need to be but these kind of values in the end will destroy people These aren't the kind of values that I think God really is pleased with and you see no doubt about it The me first mindset isn't pleasing to the Lord Who is first in our life? Jesus is first Christ is first. Others are important. In fact, the Bible says Look out for others more than yourself. So it's Jesus and others But what about you? What about you? You matter to God, don't you? I mean, you know that he cares about how you're doing And I think there's a little bit of an inclination in some people's mind to have a continuum between self-centeredness here where all you think about is yourself and Selflessness all the way over here And in your mind all you think about is everything else out there Dear ones. The truth is that somewhere in between this is where we live I mean if all you ever did is live here you'd burn out How do I know that because who is the most selfless person that ever lived Jesus Christ, what did he do on occasion for himself? He got away from the service of God He left his I was looking mark 631 come along come along with me He said and let's go to the other side of the lake and rest for a while Let's watch out for ourselves. There needs to be a healthy balance in this folks That's why I'm and I want to encourage people from time to time take a break from involvement if you need to Or just back off for a little while and you know, let some things settle up take a personal Rest or vacation now and then for ministry Don't think that you're gonna you know Blackball yourself from the future not at all You need to look out for you from time to time One of the reasons why I've begun taking, you know Chunk three or four weeks in the summer when I don't go, you know and try to change the world I just go and try to just be with the Lord. I've learned how much I need there I've learned how much I need to just quiet down and settle down and be with the Lord and and not be pouring out because The other 11 months it's just it's sort of non-stop And all of us need that it can happen in different ways That's important. I mean, aren't you glad to know God loves you? I mean, he didn't create you to use you He created it Let his life flow through you. That's why he's made you the way you are. And so if you balance those things things will be fruitful and how many of us want in the end to be able to say Lord, I Love what I'm doing. I enjoy where I'm serving. I find myself fulfilled and it's not Heavy, I'm not bored. It's not a drag for me to come out. I love it. I don't want to live like that Now how many of you are? Okay That's the question you'd ask yourself I have no doubt let me end here I have no doubt that this assembly here tonight is made up of people who want to serve God I really believe that I mean with a few exceptions, maybe a few people just You know if you don't come someone will Stop making a dinner at home or something. No, it's like bribery But most all of you are here because you want to be here those three motivations. We put this up again Having the three safeguards proper motivation proper ministry and proper management Examine your life according to those three and if they're in a balance If you're moving along those lines, I want to tell you you're gonna find yourself fulfilled You're gonna find yourself fruitful. You're gonna find yourself being happy to be part of what God is doing That's how I'm trying to operate in my life I commend it to you I think it's God's Word in the matter I think it'll change us all and make us stronger men and women of God. Let's stand and pray together Shall we join the hand of the servant next to you? You don't stand alone here tonight Lord, I pray as Paul prayed that the eyes Of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we might know the hope to which he has called us the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints and The incomparably great power that's working in those of us who believe that power which is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and Seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm Lord, I pray tonight that everyone hearing my voice Would be challenged to check their motivation To know that they're giving of their of themselves Lord in small ways and in great ways simply because they love you Not needing a pat on the head or back all the time But just simply hearing you say well done. Well done whether it's in the nurseries or in the hospitals In the marketplace opportunities of service in the children's ministry wherever it is Bless your servants fit people into ministries God Cause us all to keep you first In all that we do.