Standards for the Ministry of Helps Romans 12 PT 4

  

1. Be a living sacrifice RO 12:1

2. Conform to God’s will RO 12:2

3. Don’t think of yourself higher than you ought RO 12:3

4.Recognize you’re part of the body of Christ and you have a gift from God for the work of the tabernacle RO 12:4

5.Whatever your gift, operate in it through the grace of God

               RO 12:6

 

    

6. Recognize there are many gifts in the body RO 12:5 - 9

   

•    “If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else. If you help, just help, don’t take over.  If you teach, stick to your teaching;  if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy. If you are put in charge, don’t manipulate;  if you give aid to people in distress,  keep your eyes open and be quick to respond;  if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.”  RO 12:6 - 8 MES

Service Quotes 10/29/2011

"There's no next time. It's now or never."     Anonymous

"Too often we say, "I have no talent to teach a Sunday school class." "My home is not nice enough to have a Bible study here." "I don't cook well enough to help with Meals on Wheels." "I'm a businessman, not a carpenter. I wouldn't know the first thing about building a house for Habitat for Humanity." When we step out in faith and offer all we have, God will use it in powerful ways. How much is enough? Just what we have when God is with us!"

Jane Douglas White

"In Christian service the branches that bear the most fruit hang the lowest."  

 Anonymous

"Be wide awake to the dangers of unlimited hospitality. You might reach saturation point and end by becoming superficial, distracted, or monopolized. Do not be nowhere in your effort to be everywhere, or attentive to no one simply because you are running after everyone."    Anonymous

Standards for the Ministry of Helps Romans 12 PT 3

5.   Whatever your gift, operate in it through the grace of God               
            RO 12:6

^“Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help.  Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don't put it off; don't frustrate God's work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we're doing. Our work as God's servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power; when we're doing our best setting things right; when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.”                2 CO 6:1 - 10 MES

Service Quotes 10/18/2011



"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."

Anonymous



Joel Osteen

1963 -



"When you focus on being a blessing, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance" 

                                                                                                           Joel Osteen

C.S. Lewis
1898 - 1963

" If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with itself."

C.S. Lewis

                                                                              



Charles Spurgeon
       1834-1892



                                                                                           

"When Andrew went to find his brother, he little imagined how eminent Simonn would become. You may be very deficient in talent yourself, and yet you may be the means of drawing to Christ one who shall become eminent in grace and service."

Charles Spargeon                                                                                               



 



Standards for the Ministry of Helps Romans 12 PT 2

4. Recognize you’re part of the body of Christ and you have a gift from God for the work of the tabernacle RO 12:4

·       “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body,  and each member belongs to all the others.” RO 12:4 NIV

·   "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.        1CO 12:12- 27

We are interdependent and we all depend on the Holy Spirit.  

·    “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them.  Now to each one the manifestation Spirit is given for the common good.”         1CO 12:4 – 6 NIV

Standards for the Ministry of Helps Romans 12 PT 1

Standards for the Ministry of Helps Romans 12

1.     Be a living sacrifice Romans 12:1

·   “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”  RO 12:1 NKJ

·   “Greater love has no one than this,that he lays down his life for  a friend.”  JO 15:13 NIV

   

2.     Conform to God’s will RO 12:2

·   “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is -  His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  RO 12:2 NIV

·  “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch not the unclean thing”  2 CO 6:17

3.     Don’t think of yourself high that you ought RO 12:3

·   “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone of you;  don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought,  but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,  in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you”  RO 12:3 NIV

·  "Don’t have an exaggerated opinion of yourself or your abilities.

·  “Live in harmony with on another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive),  but readly adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks.  Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.”  RO 12:16 AMP

A Prayer for Those Who Serve in the Ministry of Helps - Joy

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, Psalm 30:11  Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. Psalm 106:4-6 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence. Acts 2:28  Have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.  Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. Psalm 86:3, 4 God opens my ears to instruction and discipline, and commands that I may return from iniquity. According to your word if I obey and serve You, I shall spend my days in prosperity and my years in pleasantness and joy. Job 36:10-11

In Jesus Name I Pray

Service Quotes

"One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve."

           Albert Schweitzer

"Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. For remember, you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too"                                           Albert Schweitzer

                                                                                                    Albert Schweitzer

                                                                                                      1875-1965

"It is my desire, in the office of a Christian minister, to do nothing which I cannot do with my whole heart. Having said this, I have said all."
             Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless."
                Billy Graham

             

Fundamentals of Service - Fear,Serve, Obey and Don't Rebel Against the Lord

"If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following  Lord your God."

1 SA 12:14 KJV

When you

1. Fear the Lord :

• "The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and skill [the preceding and the first essential, the prerequisite and the alphabet]; a good understanding, wisdom, and meaning have all those who do [the will of the Lord]. Their praise of Him endures forever."  PS 111:10 AMP

• "Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him." Psalm 34:8-10  "But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children."  PS 103:17 NKJ

2. Serve Him

• "Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you."         1 Samuel 12:24
• 
  “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts..."   1 Chronicles 28:9

3. Obey His Voice

• "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice  (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them."    Deuteronomy 4:29 - 31  
• 
  

  "Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.”   And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”  Joshua 24:23-25 NKJV

4.  Do not rebel against the commandment  of the Lord

• "But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors." 1 Samuel 12:15

You and your leader (or the ministry that you serve) will continue in the things of God. 

The First Act of Service - Serve the Lord

The first act of service for a Minister of Helps is to serve the Lord.  That is the foundation and reason for your service in the kingdom. Serve the Lord!

 “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!  Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God;  It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:1-3  (NKJV)

The Amplified says it like this "Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing! Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." 

We must obtain an intimate personal knowledge of God.  Understanding all that He has done for each and every one of us.   We don't belong to ourselves.  Submitting yourself to God with your whole heart will compel you to serve God's people. We must chose to serve Him.            

"...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua  24:15b (KJV)

Who operates in the ministry of helps?

           The real short and simple answer to that is anyone who is not the head or the leader of an organization. It doesn’t matter if it is a church, a fortune 500 company, a governmental agency or a social club. If you’re not the head than you’re a helper.  One who has come along side to accomplish a set goal. In the body of Christ; God gives a vision to a person that person communicates or writes it down.

  

Habakkuk 2:2 “Write the vision and make it plain On tablets, that he may run who reads it.” NKJ

    

      All those people who are “running” are in the ministry of helps. They didn’t personally receive the vision but they believe that it  truly came from God, they want to see God’s will done in the  earth. They help in whatever capacity that they can.  It really  doesn’t matter what personal God given gift is there really can’t  be more than one head.   If there is more than one head …   they must communicate to the “helpers” with one voice.   If there  is competing visions within the same group no good thing will come forth.  Which direction does a two headed beast go?  God  gives the authority to govern over a group.   

        Psalm 75:6, 7 “For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south  come promotion and  lifting up. But God is the judge! He puts down one  and lifts up another”   AMP     

   

        Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject to the  Governing authorities.  For  there is know authority except from God and the authorities exist are appointed by God” NKJ 

              By the very definition of leader (one who leads, a person who has commanding authority or influence.  A first or principal performer of a group) connotes followers. The very notion of being a leader without followers can not be.  A person may have leadership skills and  destiny is calling them to a leadership. A person may have   the same gift as the leader and they may have leadership  abilities.  God may or may not bless them with their own vision one  day. But while they are planted or en graphed into  another man’s vineyard they are  a helpers.  They are operating the minister of helps. Majority of the body of Christ operate in the ministry of Helps.  Great ministries are undergirded by the many  many unnamed members behind the scenes.  

 * Miriam and Aaron heard from God on behalf of the people but Moses was the designated leader.  God spoke to him face to face. Then God chose Joshua.  God's choice.

The Purpose of the Ministry of Helps

1.      Purpose –

A.    The formal purpose of the Ministry of Helps is to help  accomplish a goal, vision, mission or command of  authorize individual or group.  A group of persons formally joined together for some common interest.  To assist, support, aid, and sustain an organization,   an association, a department or unit. The common  interest can be social, business or religious.

B.    A more intimate and personal purpose of the ministry of helps is to simply be a help.  To bring aid or relief to an individual or group.  The act of ministering help.  What ever that help might be.  Something grandiose or something most people don’t even take the time notice.  The things that most people take for granted. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9,10a “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up”