Equipping The Saints For Ministry - The Practical Necessity

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                  "EQUIPPING THE SAINTS FOR MINISTRY"

                        The Practical Necessity

INTRODUCTION

1. In our previous lesson, we made the following observations...
   a. That Christ gave "gifts" to His Church - Ep 4:7-10
   b. That such "gifts" included such functions as "evangelist,
      pastors, teachers" - Ep 4:11
   c. That the goal of those so employed is to "equip the saints for
      ministry" - Ep 4:12-16
   d. That the Lord is still building His Church, opening doors for
      those prepared to serve - Ac 14:27; 1Co 16:9; Col 2:12; Col 4:3
   e. That if we desire the Lord to open doors for us, we must be
      prepared to serve, both as individuals and as a congregation
      - 2Ti 2:20-21; Re 3:8

2. Thus we have "The Providential Necessity" to be concerned about
   equipping the saints for ministry
   a. This needs to be a concern we have as individuals
   b. And it should be a concern we have as a local congregation

3. Before proceeding further, I thought it might serve well to describe
   what I call "The Practical Necessity" for equipping the saints for
   ministry

[In other words, from a practical viewpoint, any congregation that
wishes to grow must give serious consideration to "Equipping The Saints
For Ministry".

To understand what I mean, consider the challenge of maintaining
consistent church growth...]

I. THE "REVOLVING DOOR" SYNDROME

   A. MANY CHURCHES HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE GAINING MEMBERS...
      1. Some are very diligent in spreading the gospel, and people are
         obedient to the Lord
      2. Others are blessed to live in growing areas, and Christians
         look for a church when they move in to the area

   B. BUT MOST CHURCHES HAVE TROUBLE KEEPING MEMBERS...
      1. They lose members about as fast as they get them
         a. New converts become weak in the faith, and drift away
         b. Christians new to the area attend for awhile, and then look
            elsewhere
      2. It has been well documented that many churches cannot break
         beyond the "75 barrier" or the "200 barrier"
         a. Both barriers are related to "group dynamics" (principles
            that affect people's ability to relate to one another in a
            particular group)
         b. But the problem basically boils down to this:  growth does
            not continue, because people are not being assimilated into
            the "family life" of the congregation

[Some people do not really care about church growth, being happy to
maintain the "status quo."  But we are talking about souls here, not
numbers, and any true Christian will have a concern on what can be done
to add souls to the body of Christ!

The solution to the "revolving door syndrome" actually has several
different elements.  But in keeping with our theme of "equipping the
saints for ministry", let me focus on one essential element...]

II. INVOLVEMENT OF EVERY MEMBER

   A. THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERY MEMBER INVOLVEMENT...
      1. In his book WHY CHURCHES GROW, Flavil R. Yeakley emphasized
         the importance of every member getting involved in some way or
         another...
      2. "The more involved a person becomes in the work of the
         congregation, the more important the congregation becomes in
         his life. It logically follows, therefore, that a congregation
         which offers people many opportunities for involvement would
         be more successful in attracting and keeping converts than
         would a congregation which offers few opportunities for
         involvement." (p. 40)
      3. "Total evangelism includes more than reaching the lost. It
         also includes involving the members in the work of the local
         congregation. If a congregation does not use its members it
         loses them...the congregations with the highest drop-out rate
         were the congregations with the lowest involvement level."
         (p. 113-114)
      4. "If a congregation can maintain a high involvement level, its
         conversion rate will be higher, its drop-out rate will be
         lower, and thus its net growth rate will be higher." (p. 44,
         45)

   B. THE CHALLENGE OF INVOLVING MEMBERS...
      1. Yeakley also addressed the challenge a congregation faces to
         involve every member, especially when it starts to grow...
      2. "In general, the larger the congregation the lower the
         involvement level...Why does the involvement level tend to
         decrease as size increases?...The problem with the larger
         congregations is that they have not been able to increase the
         number of task assignments fast enough to keep pace with their
         expanding membership." (p. 41, 42, 43)
      3. "Actually, the real problem was not always the ACTUAL roles-
         to-members ratio, but was sometimes the PERCEIVED roles-to-
         member ratio. In other words, a larger congregation might
         actually have more than enough specific task assignments to go
         around, but the members might not be aware of the many ways in
         which they could get involved." (p. 43)
      4. "If a congregation has a good actual roles-to-member ratio but
         a low perceived roles-to-members ratio, the problem is one of
         communication...A congregation can have a high involvement
         level no matter how large it becomes--if:
         a. that congregation will do the necessary organizational work
            so as to have a high actual roles-to-member ratio
         b. the congregation's leaders will communicate in the right
            way so as to have a high perceived roles-to-members ratio
      5. So the challenge is not just to have something for people to
         do, but letting them know what is available to do!

CONCLUSION

1. Thus "Equipping The Saints For Ministry" is a practical necessity as
   well as a providential one

2. If we want the Lord to open doors for us so we can be used by Him to
   reach lost souls, we must equip ourselves to be of service (the
   PROVIDENTIAL NECESSITY)

3. If we want those who come our way to feel that this congregation is
   important to them and vice versa, we must provide opportunity for
   every member to be able to serve! (the PRACTICAL NECESSITY)

4. Indeed, if we desire growth in the body of Christ, EVERY member must
   be doing his or her part, if the body of Christ is going to grow as
   it should! - cf. Ep 4:16

Having emphasized in these first two lessons the NEED for "Equipping
The Saints For Ministry", our next study will focus on the diversity of
function in the body of Christ.
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