Sermon Transcript
Father, to You alone belongs the glory and the honor and the praise, not to any of us. We are here because You are worthy. We are here because You are great. You do great things, and You’re a good Father. We thank You for this time of worship, and we pray that You would draw us near to You through Your Word.
We pray in Your name. Amen.
Oh, where’s my music stand? I had a music stand earlier. Here, I’ll just use— yeah, I’ll just use a stool.
Morning, everyone. I, uh, want to invite you to open up your Bibles, please, to the book of Colossians. We’re finishing up Colossians today. Yay! If you’ve been trailing with us for this semester, we’ve been tracking through the book of Colossians.
Just 4 chapters, but we’ve got a lot of meat out of it. And so we’re going to be looking at the very end last several verses, and as I was thinking about what to talk about today, you know, anytime you get to the end of one of Paul’s letters, you know what he does? He just lists a bunch of people that he knows and we don’t know. Thanks a lot for that, Paul, right? And we’re supposed to be tracking with this, and, hmm, you know, you can nod your head and pretend like you’re getting something out of it, but honestly, why does he put these names in here?
We— if you go through all of Paul’s letters, you see that he’s mentioning more than 100 names in his letters. Why does he do this? Part of it was the custom of the day, but maybe there’s something else that’s there. It got me thinking about people in my life that I know that you may not know, or maybe you do know these people, and they— anytime a name comes up that of somebody that I know, my mind immediately goes to what I think about those people. I just wanted to share with you a little photo album today.
You know, whenever you’re over at somebody’s house and they’re like, oh, let me show you our family pictures, and you’re like, oh, really? I need to see these family pictures? I’m gonna show you some pictures of some people that are near and dear to me that today’s passage kind of brought to mind, and you know a number of these folks. The first one is a photo from a few weeks ago that I was at one of those seafood restaurants where they put a bunch of seafood in front of you and you, like, crack it and you wear, like, a bib and it goes all over you, and these are folks who are part of our Fusion ministry, and in fact, specifically, our cooking and teardown crew. And we’ve got Dick Smith over here on the right.
Some of you know Kent and Margie Fisher. And then there’s me and my son CJ. And then, kind of blinding by the light there, ’cause there’s a halo over her head, is Ann Brushweiler. And then we have these 3 young ladies, Natalia Magdalene with Emma and Zoe and her daughters. And each one of these folks, just when I see this picture, makes me smile.
I was there a couple weeks ago with them. And I see this picture, and it just reminds me of people who faithfully serve behind the scenes. Chuck Swindoll, in his book, Hand Me Another Brick, talks about this phrase he uses for people who faithfully serve behind the scenes. Their names aren’t out in lights, but they get things done, and he calls these people willing unknowns. And these people may be unknown to some of you as to what it is that they do, but every week, Without fail, without receiving a paycheck, they cook for our Fusion Family Ministry on Tuesday nights.
They cook for people, they plan the menu, and they have such fun doing it. And I’m just thrilled that they’re a part of my life. Well, I got to thinking about them, and I got to thinking about another picture that Alba, our children’s director, shared with me where she and Vivian, our family ministries assistant, and Marci and Kathy— you guys know Marci Bates and Kathy Spolar, I believe— who faithfully work in our children’s ministry. And while Alba and Vivian are officially on staff, Marcy and Kathy are not. They don’t receive a dime for what they do, but week in, week out, they’re in the preschool ministry.
They’re helping out with our children, and all we have to do is say we have a need, and either or both of them say, yeah, I’m there. And they’re all over that, and it’s incredible, and that really inspires me. And then I pulled up on my phone a picture of Our church staff that we had from last year’s Christmas party. Some people who serve, serve in more prominent, visible roles like me. I’m up here on a stage, but there are other people who serve faithfully behind the scenes, right?
They’re in the financial office, or they’re perhaps an administrative assistant, or they’re doing some other ministry. And each person is so meaningful. And I look at this photo album and it just stands out to me of how just impactful these people are. To my life, and I am so indebted to them, and I just wanna say thank you to these folks. And then that got me thinking about all these other groups, and I don’t have pictures of these people, but just on a Sunday morning, I walk around campus and I see people.
I see Harold Stenfort and John Dodd, who are over in the children’s building receiving attendance folders from people for Sunday school, and they’ve been doing this for years, just volunteering to do that. And then I go on over to the nursery, and I see our nursery volunteers over there. First one I almost always see is Scott Irby. And if you don’t know Scott, he’s been serving faithfully at this church for so many years, and he’s usually the first one over there, and he unlocks the doors. And no matter how he’s feeling, he takes it so seriously that that’s his ministry and that he’s there to help greet the families as they come.
And then it got me thinking about the people who set up the tables and the people who help teach in our children’s ministry or in our adult ministries or in our youth ministries, the people who help out with our Friday night hangout ministry for our youth, or the people who help out in children’s choir, that it goes on and on and on. And eventually you feel a little bit like what Paul does where he mentions all these names and you’re like, man, there’s a bunch of people who are getting things done and many of them serve behind the scenes and they don’t want the credit. But we still need to say thank you, and that’s what Paul is doing here. So in the book of Colossians, here at the end, like he does in all of his letters, he says, Greet this person and greet that person, but very often we don’t know the stories behind their names. And I’m gonna give you a little story behind some of these names that are there that you may not know.
But if you piece the puzzles of— or if you put the pieces of the puzzle together that Scripture gives us, you see some amazing stories that are here because these are people that you and I may not know, but to Paul, these people were indispensable. They were so valuable. What they did contributed so much. And I just want to shine the spotlight on them. They wouldn’t want the attention, but we’re going to shine the spotlight on them, just like we should always say thank you to those who serve faithfully.
Now, you remember at the beginning of the letter, if you were here at the beginning of the semester, Pastor Dave shared a message, the very first message on Colossians, and talked about how Paul had the backs of these Colossians. He was telling them essentially, I have your back. I pray for you. I love you. I’m hearing great things about you, and I’m here to encourage you.
I’m hearing great things. And I have your back. But now here at the end of the letter, it’s essentially that he’s naming all these people and saying, they’ve got my back. Meanwhile, he’s in prison writing this letter. So this is an incredible sort of family, a group photo, if you will, from Paul’s life.
And I just want to take a look at a few verses here starting in chapter 4, verse 7. Paul mentions a guy that we don’t know, but I’m going to tell you a little bit about him. His name is Tychicus. Everybody say Tychicus. That’s like— say that several times fast and you’re gonna trip over your words.
It’s not Titchicus, it’s Tychicus, the way that it was pronounced back then. Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. So Paul is writing this and he’s saying Tychicus is coming to you, Colossian church, and he’s gonna tell you all the news about me. He’s a dear brother. Listen to these descriptions, the way that Paul describes people.
He’s a dear brother, Tychicus is, a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord. I’m sending Tychicus to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with— here’s another guy— Onesimus. Everybody say Onesimus. A little bit easier than Tychicus.
Our faithful and dear brother is Onesimus, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here. My fellow prisoner Aristarchus— let me hear you say Aristarchus. Yeah, that’s not too hard. There you go.
Sends you his greetings, as does Mark. I’m not going to have you repeat that one. That’s kind of a boring name, but as does— I’m sorry if you’re named Mark, by the way. As does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about Mark.
If he comes to you, welcome him. Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my coworkers. Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus called Justus. These are the only Jews among my coworkers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.
Epaphras— let me hear you say Epaphras. Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, Colossian church, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Verse 13, I vouch for Epaphras, that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our dear friend Luke the doctor and Demas send greetings.
Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea and to Nympha— I like that name— and to Nympha and the church in her house. After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea. What’s this other letter to the Laodiceans? We’re not sure, but there’s this other letter and they’re just supposed to swap letters. Verse 17, tell Archippus— I like that— tell Archippus, see to it that you complete the ministry you have received the Lord.
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Why were these people so indispensable to Paul? Why were they so valuable?
It helps to know a little bit about their story. And I’m one of these rare people who, whenever you read a book, you know how they always have, like, acknowledgments of people? I want to thank this person and those people. Do any of you actually read that? I do.
I’m sort of strange in that way. I like to know who this person is thanking. And on movie credits, anytime the movie credits go by, any of you ever sit to watch that unless, like, you’re waiting for, like, a trailer, like at the end of the Avengers movie or something? I’m one of those weird people that I don’t do it all the time, but I occasionally sit in the credits, and I have been known— and I know I’m a nerd, I do this— I have been known when I’m sitting there watching the credits and a name will pull up in the midst of other names, and it’s sort of an interesting name, and I’ll just Google that person. I’m not a stalker, okay?
So get off my case on that. But no, I Google these people and I just— I’m curious, who are these people in the midst of thousands of names? And that’s kind of what we’re at here with some of these names. Tychicus, why is he so valuable? One of the things that we see that Paul is talking about here is that these people are utterly dependable.
And Tychicus was just like this. Tychicus was one of the people we know from the book of Acts who who traveled with Paul. Anytime Paul went about from place to place, Tychicus was very often there. He was with him on this journey from Macedonia to Jerusalem to bring this giant offering to Jerusalem, and he needed dependable people to carry this offering. And we can read about that in the book of Acts.
Tychicus was part of that traveling group of people. And you hear how Paul described him. He’s a dear brother. He’s like a member of my family. He’s a faithful minister.
He’s a fellow servant, and in fact, the word there for servant actually means slave. He’s given his life to Jesus. He is so dependable. He is so dependable that Paul said, I’m sending Tychicus to you to carry these letters. He knew that Tychicus would follow through.
He wasn’t just carrying the letter of Colossians. He was also carrying, we believe, the letter to the Ephesians, which may have been that other letter that I mentioned.
But he was also carrying another letter, and traveling with somebody else named Onesimus that I’ll share with you in just a moment. But Tychicus had to be utterly dependable. A couple things that you may not know about Tychicus, but again, if you read the Scriptures, you’ll be able to sort of put the pieces together. Did you know that whenever Paul is writing to Titus at the end of Paul’s life, Paul is still in prison in Rome, he’s there for the second time, and he says, Titus, this young pastor, he says, Titus, please come to me during the winter. Please come to me.
Well, here’s the deal. Titus was a pastor on the Isle of Crete, and he’s gonna have to leave his own congregation in order to be with Paul, and Paul knows that Titus will be worried about him. But you know what Paul tells Titus in Titus 3? I’m gonna send you Tychicus. You come to me, Tychicus will take care of your congregation, sort of like an interim pastor.
He must have been incredibly dependable. Same thing happens in the book of 2 Timothy. At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul says, Timothy, I want you to come to me in prison here. Come be with me. Well, Timothy was a pastor in Ephesus.
So Timothy’s supposed to leave his church in Ephesus? Well, what is Paul gonna do? I’m gonna send you Tychicus. What a dependable guy, faithfully serving behind the scenes. And we don’t know his story, and yet if you put the pieces together, you see this guy was utterly dependable.
What about Onesimus? Who is Onesimus? Onesimus, we learn about, was from Colossae. Do you notice that Paul said, he’s one of you? So he’s from that area, and we learn about him from the book of Philemon.
Onesimus had been a slave under Philemon. Who’s Philemon? Well, he’s a person who came to faith through the ministry of Paul, and he was wealthy, and he owned slaves, as many wealthy people did back in the 1st century, and Onesimus was one of them. Well, what does Onesimus do? Flees.
He takes off. He disappears. He runs away. He’s a runaway slave. Where does Onesimus go to?
Well, sounds like he goes to Rome, and he bumps into Paul, of all people. What happens there? He comes to faith. Onesimus comes to faith through the ministry of Paul. Again, all this is in the book of Philemon, and you put the pieces together, and you see Onesimus now, who used to be useless, becomes useful.
And in fact, his name means useful, Onesimus does. And Paul writes that in the book of Philemon. He’s saying, Philemon, I want you to receive back this person who used to be useless to you, but he’s now very useful. He’s useful to me, and he’ll be useful to you. And he’s now your Christian brother because he’s come to faith.
So how dependable must Onesimus have been to be told, oh, I want you to carry these letters with Tychicus. I want you to accompany him and carry these letters. And by the way, I also want you to go back to your former master, and I want you to carry a letter to him. Had to be completely dependable.
And some of the willing unknowns that Paul shines a light on are these people who just follow through. And isn’t it awesome to know people like that who just follow through whenever they’re given a task? They follow through with or without fanfare. They get it done. Well, they’re also valuable because one of the things that Paul mentions here are people who stuck by his side.
He mentions 3 people specifically, although I’m going to add a 4th that was sort of mentioned a couple verses later. But the first one is this guy Aristarchus. Look how loyal Aristarchus is. The fact that Aristarchus also was a traveling companion, and wherever Paul was, Aristarchus seemed to be. There’s this story That to me is fascinating in the book of Acts where Paul is traveling and he’s in Ephesus and he starts saying to these craftsmen in Ephesus who make idols, he starts telling them, by the way, your idols are nothing.
There’s no such thing as an actual idol. They’re just little lowercase g gods. They’re not actual gods. So people start hearing this in Ephesus and they start getting all up in arms and a riot ensues, and a mob starts taking over because these craftsmen are so upset that Paul is causing them to lose money. All this is in Acts chapter 19.
Well, this mob shows up, and they start trying to seize Paul, but they can’t get him. So who do they seize? Aristarchus. Thanks a lot, Paul. He’s just traveling with him, Aristarchus is, and he gets seized along with his other traveling companion named Gaius.
And so Aristarchus is there, he gets seized, Paul also mentions here in Colossians, he says, he’s my fellow prisoner. But here’s the deal, we don’t have any record of him actually being an official Roman prisoner. What happened very often is somebody who was in prison often was given the opportunity to have somebody come to them to minister to them, to take care of their needs. And so what we think is, is that Aristarchus was a voluntary prisoner. He shared Paul’s confinement.
He didn’t have to do that, but he was there while Paul was in Rome to to share his confinement. If you read the book of Acts and you get to chapter 27, you see that on the way to Rome, there’s this violent storm where all these bad things happen, and there’s this horrible shipwreck. Guess who’s there? Aristarchus. Wherever Paul has trouble, there’s Aristarchus.
It cost Aristarchus, I’m sure, a lot to be with Paul, to be affiliated with Paul. This great inconvenience that he went to, but that’s who Aristarchus was. And then Paul mentions Mark. We’ll get back to him. But then he mentions this guy Jesus named Justus.
Well, why did they have to change his name? Well, would you want to be known as Jesus? To distinguish him, I guess, from the real Jesus. Jesus called Justus, although Justus isn’t helping much either because Justus means the righteous one. So his name really means Jesus the righteous one.
How’s that? For pressure being put upon you. We don’t know who he is. There’s not much told to us about who he is, but he’s just one of those faithful people. And Paul, in fact, again says there’s 3 people, Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus called Justus, who are the only Jews, the people of the circumcision, who are still by my side promoting the good news of the gospel.
That’s it, 3 people. And Jesus called Justus is one of those people. In verse 14, though, Paul also mentions another person who was exceedingly loyal, a guy named Luke. We know about Luke, wrote the Book of Luke, also wrote the Book of Acts, a constant traveling companion, traveled with Paul all the time. He was Paul’s personal physician, and he was beloved.
Everybody loved Luke, it seems like, from everything we can read about Luke. And Luke was with Paul in his time of need at the end of Paul’s life, where Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy. He says, only Luke is with me. Everybody else has deserted me, but Luke is with me. When there’s the shipwreck and the giant storm in Acts 27 that I just mentioned about Aristarchus being a part of, Luke was there too.
Simply put, Luke was always just there. You know anybody like that? They’re just there. They’re just faithful, dependable, loyal, get the job done. So these people are exceedingly valuable.
But not only that, he then mentions this guy named Epaphras. Who’s Epaphras? He has this incredible ministry of prayer. And we hear about it in verses 12 and 13. He’s persistent in prayer, this Epaphras guy is.
We believe he’s the founder of the Colossian church. We believe that from chapter 1 of Colossians. He’s the founder of the Colossian church. He’s likely the pastor of the church. And he’s— Paul says in chapter 1, he’s the one, Epaphras is, who got the gospel to the Colossian church.
It was him, not Paul. So what then is Epaphras doing in Rome with Paul and not in Colossae? Well, he’s bringing news of the Colossian church to Paul, which is the occasion for this letter. Paul’s like, I’m going to write back. But Epaphras sends his greetings, and he is praying for you.
Did you notice the words that Paul used to describe this prayer? He says he’s working hard for you. He’s wrestling. Over you in prayer. And that phrase working hard in the original language actually means intense pain.
It’s the same word that was used for Jesus when he prayed in the garden and was in intense pain. That’s how hard Epaphras was praying for these people. He labored for them. He was burdened for them. He wrestled over them and agonized over them in prayer.
And he didn’t just pray these little safe prayers. Have you ever prayed one of those general prayers? Oh, God, bless everyone. Or, God, just bless them and give them traveling mercies. Like, what is traveling mercies?
Epaphras didn’t pray for that kind of stuff. No, he prayed hardcore prayers. Do you see what Paul said? He’s saying that Epaphras is praying for you to stand firm, Colossian church. He’s praying for you fervently, constantly.
He’s praying for you to stand firm. He’s praying that you’d be mature. In your faith. He’s praying that you’d be fully assured of God’s love and of your faith. What an incredible ministry that Epaphras had here, and what a comfort that must have been, not only to Paul, but to the Colossian church.
So we see these incredible characteristics, but one of the other themes that, if you’re paying attention, you’ll notice kind of runs through this list of names, and that is this idea of grace. As a part of these relationships, that some of these relationships were exceedingly gracious. And if you know the backstories, it really can bring this out. You see, Onesimus, we already talked about him, this runaway slave who’s now coming back, and grace and restoration played a big part of that relationship. But he also mentions Mark.
Who’s Mark? Well, he’s the guy who wrote the book of Mark, we believe, which is the first of the 4 Gospels. Not the way that it’s listed in the Bible, but we believe it was the earliest of the Gospels. But we first meet Mark in the Book of Acts. In chapter 13, he’s a young man.
He goes by the name John Mark. And John Mark was asked by Paul to accompany Paul on his first missionary journey. So John Mark accompanies him, and just a couple verses later, it says John Mark deserts Paul and then goes back to Jerusalem.
Well, that didn’t sit too well with Paul because a couple chapters later when Paul decides, I’m going to go on a second missionary journey, and his traveling buddy Barnabas gets together and Paul and Barnabas say, Who are we going to take with us? And Barnabas says, I know. Let’s take John Mark. And Paul’s like, Are you kidding me?
And it seems like from Colossians, the way that Paul puts it here is that Barnabas and Mark were cousins.
It’s not mentioned in the Book of Acts, so there’s a family kinship there, but regardless, Barnabas wants Mark, and Paul doesn’t want anything to do with him, and so there’s such a sharp disagreement, the Scripture tells us in Acts 15, that they go their separate ways. Paul goes with Silas on his missionary journey. Barnabas takes Mark. Regardless, the work gets done, but there was sharp disagreement there. So what happened between then and now where Mark— like where Paul says, hey, Mark sends his greetings, and by the way, I want you to welcome him.
What happened?
We can read from 1 Peter that Peter considered Mark to be like a son to him. It sounds like in the interim time between Acts and here that Peter was a part of Mark’s life. And Peter knew a thing or two about failure and about falling short. You remember he denied Jesus. And he was the one who, after Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus specifically went to and restored.
And so, being tutored and mentored by Peter, most likely, Mark would have likely grown and matured in ways that we can never possibly imagine. And so now, Paul is saying, hey, Mark sends his greetings. And he’s part of Paul’s team. He used to not be very useful to him. To Paul, but now he says that Mark is useful to him.
What an incredible guy. What an incredible story, like Onesimus, who’s been touched by grace in these relationships. Well, then Paul mentions this guy named Demas. If you don’t know anything about Demas, you need to know he’s mentioned just 3 times in Scriptures, and each time he’s mentioned, there’s a progressive story that’s being written, and it’s a sad story. First time he’s mentioned is in the book of Philemon, where Paul says, Demas is one of my fellow workers, along with Mark and Luke and Aristarchus.
And you can read that in the book of Philemon. Well, now he’s mentioned here in the book of Colossians, and Paul just simply says, Demas. He doesn’t say any word of commendation or of identification there. He doesn’t say he’s a dear brother or anything like that. The 3rd time Demas is mentioned is in the book of 2 Timothy, where Paul says that Demas has left me.
It doesn’t say he left God, so we’re not really sure, but he left Paul. He deserted Paul. And it says that he loved the world, Demas did, and because of that, he left Paul’s side. So why is he put under this category of grace? Just the fact that there was still opportunity for restoration.
Grace doesn’t— grace in relationships doesn’t always mean that things work out happily ever after in the end. Grace, though, opens the door for the possibility of restoration. Grace opens the door for the possibility of a new beginning. And in this case, we’re not sure how it all ended, but if we see Onesimus and we see Mark, we know that maybe there’s a possibility that Demas had a change of heart later on in life. We’re not sure.
But regardless, we see loyalty and dependability, and we see prayer. And we see this grace flowing in these relationships. And then Paul ends his letter by essentially saying, hey, say hi to everybody else for me. You ever do that in, like, your emails? Hey, say hi to me, or say hi to them for me.
That’s kind of what Paul’s doing here. But he has one more thing to say, and he says it to a guy named Archippus. And you may have seen it there in verse 17. He says, tell Archippus, as you’re reading this letter, tell Archippus, hey, Archippus, see to it that this ministry you have received from the Lord that you’re faithful in it, that you complete it, that you fulfill it. We don’t know anything about Archippus.
We don’t know why he would need to be told to fulfill his ministry. All we know is that Paul told him 3 things. Archippus, you have a ministry. You have an assignment that’s been given to you. Number 2, it was given to you by God himself.
So, number 3, fulfill it. Complete it. Follow through with it. And whatever the challenges were, whatever the reason that Paul felt like he had to tell Archippus, Follow through, be faithful. I think it’s interesting that it comes where it does in the letter.
It comes on the heels of the list of all these other names of people who had been faithful, people who had followed through, people who did complete their ministry, their assignment that they had been given. And it’s almost like Paul is saying, hey, Archippus, pay attention. Look around at these other people that are these willing unknowns who are behind the scenes being faithful to carry out their ministry. Archippus, I want that to be you.
And we don’t know whether he did or not, but Paul had a specific word of just encouragement for him, an exhortation and an imperative for him.
And as I was thinking about what we can take from a list of names of people that we’ll never meet and that we don’t simply know, one of the things that stands out to me It’s related to Archippus, and it’s the fact that, you know, Paul often found himself in places he hadn’t planned to be, places he didn’t probably want to be, whether it’s prison or shipwrecked or deserted. And yet wherever Paul found himself, he was faithful there. He completed the assignment that had been given to him, right?
And I wonder if some of you are in a position like that where maybe you’re in a job you would prefer to not be in right now. Or you’re in a circumstance or a season of life you would rather not be in right now. And I think Paul would say to you and to me what he said to Archippus. Wherever God has placed you, this assignment that God has given you, complete it. Fulfill it.
Don’t get deterred. Don’t give up. Wherever God has placed you, be faithful there. Whatever the circumstances, be faithful there, church. I think that that’s what Paul would say to you and to me.
Whether you get credit for it or not, be faithful. Follow through. Fulfill your calling. Follow through on your assignment like these other individuals.
Another thing that stands out to me is this fact that no ministry is unimportant. That God uses all types of ministries to build up his church, whether it’s a ministry that is up front on a stage or it’s a ministry behind the scenes. That these God-given assignments are given and are put before us to fulfill, to help build up the church, and so that the gospel would go forth. See, that’s all that Paul cared about was that the gospel be advanced. He didn’t care who got the credit.
But no ministry is unimportant. None. If it’s given as unto God and you’re doing it for Him rather than for your own credit, God receives that and He blesses it.
And whatever that opportunity is that— or season or circumstance that you’re in right now, realize that that ministry is vitally important. I like how Paul puts it in Romans 12. When he says, we have different gifts, right? We have different abilities. We have different callings.
We have different gifts, he says, according to the grace given to each of us. If you’re called as a believer in Christ, if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, then you have been given a gift, multiple gifts, according to the grace that God has given to you and to me. And then Paul says there in Romans 12, he says, if your gift is prophesying, What are you supposed to do? Well, prophesy in accordance with the faith that you have. If your gift is serving, then serve.
If your gift is teaching, teach. If your gift is to encourage or to give encouragement, then give encouragement. If your gift is giving, give generously. If your gift is to lead, then lead diligently. Maybe your gift is to show mercy, and Paul says if that’s your gift, then do it cheerfully.
Whatever the gift, be faithful. In it. Follow through, not because God needs it, but because God is building up his church and he uses people like you and me and like these others that we’ve just mentioned. And we miss the blessing that God wants to give us when we say no to an assignment that God gives us. Very often we come up with excuses about, I’m too busy, I’m not able.
But if God is placing a need in front of you and it is within your power to be able to meet that need, then God wants you, I believe, to meet that need. I don’t know what form that might take, but when it is within your power or within my power to help meet a need, let’s meet it. Let’s step up and let’s be faithful wherever God places us. Another thing that stands out to me is the importance of saying thank you. I was talking to somebody in between services, and this person used to serve on staff here at the church years ago and was told by somebody that anytime this person would write thank-you notes to people, this person— another person would say, you’re just wasting your time writing thank-you notes.
People are serving just out of the goodness of their hearts. And I just think, I don’t agree with that. That doesn’t make sense to me. Paul thanks people, so we should thank people. We should single them out and say thank you.
And I wonder if there’s somebody around you that you need to say thank you to. I know that this sermon has brought names of people to my mind. So don’t waste time. Say thank you. Let people know the difference that they’re making.
And lastly, one of the things that I take out of this is the fact that Jesus changes everything. You have somebody who formerly persecuted the church in the form of Paul who now becomes this person who’s this pastor writing all these letters and How Jesus could take somebody who used to be a persecutor and now becomes a builder of the church. Somebody who used to be a griper and a complainer became a contributor.
And we don’t know the stories of all of these folks and how they came to faith, but the point is, is that their motivation for serving had to have come not because Paul was great, but because Jesus had done great things in their lives. And that’s the greatest motivation of all. Why should we serve? Why should I be faithful in my ministry? Why should I follow through on this assignment that I’ve been given or that is before me?
Why should I do that? Because Jesus came to serve, and we follow Him, and we imitate Him.
We come not to be served but to serve. We come not to be a consumer but a contributor.
And ultimately, we want to see God build up his church. And I want you to be a part of that, and I want to be a part of that. So say thank you to someone today and be faithful wherever God has placed you. Be faithful in that. Let’s pray.
Father, I thank you for this reminder that there’s a story behind every name. And it’s fascinating. We may not pay attention to the signs and connect the dots, but there’s a story behind every single person. And I pray that You would remind us to say thank you to those individuals who are faithfully going about, whether serving up in front or serving behind the scenes as an unknown. That we would give thanks as Paul gave thanks.
But I also pray that we would be faithful in our ministry that You’ve placed before us.
Father, I think anytime we’re in a room of this size also that there’s always bound to be one or more people, Father, who have yet to put their hope and trust in You for salvation. That they’ve yet to call upon You as their Savior. And I pray that we would recognize that that’s our greatest need. That as important as fulfilling a ministry or meeting a need might be, that our greatest need is actually being right with You. And the only way we can be made right with You is through what Your Son Jesus did on the cross, not through our labor, not through our works, but through Your grace.
And I pray that if anyone here does not have a relationship with You today, I pray that they would call upon You. For we believe the Scriptures that say, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That if they believe in the Lord Jesus, not only that He existed, but that He accomplished the finished and final work on the cross, that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus will be saved. I pray that that would happen here today. And if that’s you, you just simply on your own can just pray a prayer.
Jesus, come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. I want to be made right with you. My sins have separated me from you, but what your Son Jesus has done on the cross has made me right by your grace.
And you just receive that today.
Father, as we close out our time here today, as we leave from this place, may we leave encouraged.
And may we have a change of perspective and a change of action in light of what we’ve learned here today, in light of the good news of the gospel, in light of the fact that You change everything.
For we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
