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Pastor Kris Freeman

Pleasant Union General Baptist Church

Sunday morning, June 15, 2008

“Be A Man of God”

 

Text: Romans 1:8-16

 

We are thankful for the Godly leadership of many men throughout the history of our church.

In honor of Father’s Day, I am offering a spiritual charge to the men of our church. This is the way you can step to the plate as a man of God and become involved in the ministry of Pleasant Union.

 

1. ARMOR BEARERS — Seven to 12 men to bear the spiritual burdens of the ministry with the pastor, to serve as the backbone of the ministry and the foundation for God to build upon in prayer. This is a pastoral prayer team.
1. Consider the role of the armor bearer and his relationship to Jonathan, the son of Saul, in 1 Samuel 14:6:

                                                               i.      Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come let us go over to the garrison of the uncircumcised, it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many, or by few. So his armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Go then, here I am with you according to your heart.

                                                              ii.      Do you believe in the vision for your church and through the shepherd (the pastor) that you are willing to stand with him and pursue that which God has laid before you? An armor bearer is man dedicated to bear the spiritual burdens of the church and be the foundation for the pastor to build leadership in the kingdom of God.

 

1. SPIRITUAL SERVANTS — Men who will take into account the spiritual needs of the church and activate the power of the Holy Spirit within them. By edifying one another, these men will serve as mentors to the young men of our church.
1. Paul had a huge role in the building of the early church. To many, he was the first contact with Jesus that many people ever experienced, as he ministered and traveled on missionary journeys to many Gentile nations.
2. Paul’s role as a missionary made him a spiritual servant for God, and therefore he was given the opportunity to evangelize, to disciple, to shepherd, to exhort, to edify, to correct and to lead many people in their faith in Christ. Consider what he says about this in our text from Romans 1:8-12:

                                                               i.      First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, when I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in prayers. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established, that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith of both you and me.

                                                              ii.      Do we have the men in our church who will take into account a spiritual relationship with God, which both builds their own faith and the kingdom through their contact with others? Could you be a spiritual servant?

 

1. FELLOWSHIP FOUNDED — Men who will take serious the opportunity to serve the needs of fellowship in our church, both inside the doors and outside of it. Areas of need including the serving of our elderly, ushers and greeters to serve the needs before and after service and extending a right hand welcome of fellowship to the newcomers in our church.
1. Fellowship is a vital aspect of the church and a definite purpose for God’s people in the role of edification and the building of the body of Christ.
2. Are we a church that is “good in the door and bad outside it,” or do we want to be known as a church which makes relationships a priority so that others will be introduced to Jesus Christ? Fellowship leads us to this mindset and is one of the most critical ways to grow a church from the inside out…when the people who are inside it are taking their faith to a world outside it.

1. LABOR FORCE — Men who will activate ministry in the local community by banding together in manual labor needs. These men work not for the money, but to serve the ministry in honor of the Master.
1. Perhaps you do not like to stand and lead in prayer, or spiritual disciplines are a private matter and you have trouble sharing your faith publicly with others, then perhaps you could be a tremendous force as a labor worker in the church and in ministry. There is an opportunity to be a labor force in the kingdom of God by using your strong back and workman’s skills.
2. What if you and a group of friends signed up for the Missions Volunteers Program and went to Honduras for a week to build a site for kids to worship? Or perhaps you mow yards in the community as an outreach to the elderly. There are great service ministries all around you which can bring God glory.

1. FAMILY MATTERS — Men who will take serious their role as a physical and spiritual leader of the home as holy husbands, loving fathers, best brothers and faithful friends.
1. The book of Ephesians reminds us as men of our role in the home:

                                                               i.      Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. – Ephesians 5:25.

1. As the spiritual leader of the home, we have the opportunity to restore the one thing in our society which has crumbled more in the past 50 years than any element – the God-led Christian family, as:

                                                               i.      Holy Husbands

                                                              ii.      Loving Fathers

                                                            iii.      Best Brothers

                                                            iv.      Faithful Friends

 

1. LAUNCHING LEADERS — Men who will experience an ultimate calling  into the spiritual leadership of the body of Christ, as pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists, apostles, disciples, deacons, and servants, and be willing to be trained for this purpose through the Word of God.
1. The Bible speaks of the five-fold ministry of the church in Ephesians 4:11-15, as it says he gave some to be: apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers, and it has a two-fold purpose:

                                                               i.      The equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry

                                                              ii.      The edifying of the body of Christ (building up)

1. You are given an opportunity to answer God’s call in many ways in the church, but once God places the call on our lives, it is our responsibility to faithfully answer and be utilized in the place where God has gifted us, as:

                                                               i.      Pastors

                                                              ii.      Teachers

                                                            iii.      Missionaries

                                                            iv.      Evangelists

                                                              v.      Apostles (followers of Christ)

                                                            vi.      Disciples

                                                           vii.      Deacons

                                                         viii.      Servants

1. It is the pastor and the church’s responsibility to follow through on proper leadership and training for the individuals who are called into service. In fact, between the book of first and second Timothy in the Bible, Paul lists at least 44 responsibilities of leadership (the role) for the pastor.

It is my prayer and desire that God launch an army of men in our church to minister to the needs of our congregation, our church and our community for the cause of Jesus Christ.

 

We must go into the world “ready-armed” for the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Numbers 32:17).

 

You fit somewhere in the list but you must first be founded in the family of God.

 

Will you serve with Him, for Him and to Him?