June 24, 2025 • 24 mins
When we serve God through ministry—whether vocationally or voluntarily—there are many challenges we can face. But when we realize that serving God is a privilege, then that realization brings everything together and helps us face those challenges effectively. On the next Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will help us consider how God chooses to use people like us to grow His kingdom, despite our shortcomings, is a humbling insight and makes us understand even more so, what an awesome God He is! To learn more about how to have an effective ministry while serving our awesome God, join us for the next Treasured Truth.
Treasured Truth is a listener supported program on Moody Radio. To join our team of supporters, click here.
To learn more about Pastor James Ford, Jr., click here.
To learn more about Treasured Truth, click here.
Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/treasuredtruth
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:00):
Here's what he's saying. Here's how I serve. Realizing it
was a privilege. Man, that sure brings everything together. When
we understand to serve God is a privilege that God
would use someone like me. What an awesome God.
S2 (00:25):
This is treasure truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us. As today we
begin a message from acts chapter 20 called How to
Have an Effective Ministry and pastor. Before we hear the
message and dive in and look at maybe some other things,
maybe having a right understanding of the fact that God
(00:46):
uses sinful people like us to accomplish his purposes. To
be involved in ministry would be a pretty good place
to start.
S3 (00:54):
Oh yeah, and all you have to do is just
if you read your Bible, what you're going to find
is Ideas. All gods, heroes and sheroes have flaws and
God is like my pastor. He came to our church
one time and he gave. He's a concert pianist. He
(01:15):
has a doctorate in rhetoric and he played. He takes
five random notes and makes a song. Afterward he said
to me, he said, Beauford, he calls me by my nickname, Beauford. Uh,
get your piano tuned up and fixed. You have two
dead keys. And I said, wait a minute. You were
able to play like that with two dead keys? He
(01:40):
said something I'll never forget. He said, well, you know,
I am a trained classical pianist. I said, oh, you're
a master. He said, well, if you want to say that.
And I said, wow. I said, you're a master who's
able to transpose the music Showing the flaws. I said,
(02:02):
I'm going to preach that. He said, I knew you were. Yeah.
That's it. And so broken keys. Yeah. Beautiful music. That's
our God. That's it. He takes us with the broken
keys of our lives, transposes his power over them and
makes beautiful music so that everybody can see that the
(02:24):
Lord is good.
S2 (02:26):
Yeah, well, that's one of the things that I still
marvel at sometimes, that God would choose to use broken
people like us when he doesn't need to. But what
a privilege it is to be used by him.
S3 (02:37):
Amen.
S2 (02:37):
So we have a lot of broken people who may
desire to be involved in ministry. God has done something
incredible in their lives and they say, now I want
to serve him. I want to have an effective ministry. Um,
help us get an idea of what, uh, or how
you're defining what is an effective ministry, because that's what
today's message is all about.
S3 (02:57):
Well, here's how I'll define that, Steve. Eve. There's a
word teleos, and it's translated perfect. Mature. When is a
person teleos when they're fulfilling that for which they have
been created? These mikes. Uh, they can be more aesthetically
(03:17):
pleasing to the eye. Would you agree?
S2 (03:19):
Oh, sure.
S3 (03:20):
Could there be more expensive mikes, even though these are
very expensive?
S2 (03:24):
Yes they are. And yes, there are many more expensive mikes.
S3 (03:27):
But they're perfect because they fulfill that for which they
were created. They magnify my voice. Yeah. You have to
ask yourself, am I doing what God called me to do?
Am I using what we talked about in earlier broadcast?
Am I using my gifts? Okay, I'm going to have, uh,
issues as I'm utilizing it, but that's why I have
(03:50):
first John one nine. If I confess my sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from
all unrighteousness, to reestablish me so that I can continue
to serve him. Yeah. Nobody's going to be perfect, and
no one's going to be sinless. Even though as we
continue to walk with him, we sin less and less
and less.
S2 (04:09):
Yeah. Well, this is kind of a unique broadcast, because
this is not a message that you preach to your congregation.
This was a special DVD you did for your leadership.
S3 (04:18):
That's right. So that we weren't going to have a meeting.
And I wanted them to have instruction. And so this
is the result.
S2 (04:25):
All right. So if you don't hear the normal whooping
and holler and that that's why. But man the content
is great. It's from acts 20. Open your Bible. Join
us there as we begin this message. How to have
an effective ministry. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3 (04:39):
Well, when I was a student at the Moody Bible Institute, uh,
a pastor came and preached to us at pastor's conference,
and he said, listen, if you're going to be a pastor, uh,
you need at least three things to have an effective ministry.
He said, you've got to have the mind of a scholar,
that you've got to have the heart of a child.
(05:02):
And he said, you have to have the hide of
a rhinoceros. Well, I've been pastoring a long time, and
I guarantee you that that man was right. You need
all three of those to have an effective ministry. Now,
everybody wants to have an effective ministry. Uh, because God
has gifted us and given us, uh, the ability to
(05:25):
be able to minister to other people, and I, I
don't know if you found it out yet, but ministry
is hard work. And so in this text, Paul calls
the elders of Ephesus down to an island called Miletus.
And he says to them, let me recount to you
(05:48):
the effect of my ministry among you, and the timeless
principles are there. Uh, five marks of an effective ministry.
Let's look at them and clothe ourselves with this text.
It's powerful, especially if you want to be able to
hear our Lord and Savior say, well done, thou good
(06:10):
and faithful servant. And so then notice the first mark
of effective ministry. In verse 17 of acts chapter 20,
Paul says this. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus,
and called the elders of the church. And when they
were come to him, he said unto them, you know,
from the first day that I came into Asia, after
(06:30):
what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
here's the first mark of an effective ministry. He says
the first mark of an effective ministry is presence. Be
with them. Uh, Paul, uh, this church, uh, is the
longest running tenure of our famed apostle Paul. He pastored
(06:51):
this church for three and a half years. You can
go back to acts 18 to see, uh, where he
founded it and where he he stayed there and pastor them.
Now he's getting ready to go to Jerusalem. So he
calls them to Miletus, which is approximately 28 miles south
of Ephesus, southeast of Ephesus. And he begins to tell them, listen,
(07:15):
I want you to know that the first mark of
an effective ministry is presence. Be with them. Now, I remember, uh,
one time, uh, a sister said to me, she said, pastor, uh,
I won't be with you, uh, on Sunday, but I
want you to know that I'll be with you in spirit.
(07:36):
You know what I said to her? I said, sis,
because you know I do. And I am facetious sometimes
a little sarcastic every now and then. And I said
to her, I said, sis, I sure appreciate the sentiment,
but you know what? Uh, your spirit, uh, can't sing
the songs of Zion. Your spirit can't smile and lift
(07:57):
up a bow down head. Uh, your spirit can't reach
into your pocketbook. Get your checkbook and write out a
tithe checks to the church. So I appreciate the sentiment,
but I would rather have your body there. Uh, than
than your spirit. And of course, we laughed and chuckled
about it. But that's what Paul says. He says, man,
(08:19):
the the first mark of an effective ministry is you
gotta show up. And so, I mean, when you begin
to look at the church, uh, the, the empty pew, uh, is,
is a a loud witness to the effect that many
believers don't understand. Hebrews 1025 says, not forsaking the assembling
(08:40):
of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one another so much the more as you see
the day approaching. Acts chapter two, verse 41 and 42 says,
they continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine the breaking of bread, fellowship,
and prayer that they gather together every day. And so
(09:00):
it's important that you show up in ministry. I mean,
isn't that what God did? Think about it. Uh, because, uh,
God sent Adam, but his innocence wasn't enough to deal
with sin. Sin came into the world. And then God
raised up the patriarchs, which means first father or first leader. And, uh,
(09:24):
they couldn't lead sin away. And then God raised up
the judges to judge, but they couldn't judge sin away.
And so God raised up the prophets to preach, but
they couldn't preach sin away. And God raised up the
psalmist to sing, and they couldn't sing sin away. And
God raised up kings to lead, and they couldn't lead
(09:45):
sin away. And so God said, uh, like the old adage,
if you want something done, you've got to do it yourself.
So our God veiled deity in humanity stepped down, as
the old preacher would say, through 42 different generations and hung,
bled and died on Calvary for our sin. Man that's powerful.
(10:09):
It was his presence, as a matter of fact. When.
When after 400 years of silence, uh, the first word
that we get in Matthew chapter one, verse 22 and
call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.
The first thing that God did to seal, uh, the
(10:31):
truth to our hearts, to wipe away our sins, to
minister to us, was to be with us, man. Now, now, look,
because Paul qualifies, he says the first mark of an
effective ministry is presence. Be with them. Notice, he says
that it needs to be a constructive presence. Uh, now
(10:53):
notice what he says. And, you know, after what manner? Uh,
the NIV says how I lived among you. In other words,
there are some people who are with us in body
we wish were with us in spirit. Don't shout me down. Amen. Amen. Uh,
I mean, you know, they look like they got something
in their mouth, and it's real nasty. And they just
(11:15):
hold it and they can't spit it out. You know,
folk who act as if their spiritual gift is criticism. And, uh,
they've had a charisma bypass. That's what I said. Charisma bypass.
And so he says, no, no, no. He said I
had a positive effect on you as I was there.
(11:35):
And that's what we need. We need presence, but it
needs to be constructive. Let me ask you a question.
Are you someone who develops the body or destroys the body?
Are you someone who builds it up, or are you
someone who breaks it down? Paul says no, no, no, no.
You know that I had a positive impact on you
(12:00):
while I was there. And. And that's what we want
to be. We want to be present and we want
to have a constructive presence. But here's the second thing.
Not just a constructive presence. But Paul says, I also
had a committed presence. Notice what he says. He says,
after what manner I have been with you at all seasons. Boy,
(12:20):
I like that. Uh, because he says, listen, I was
there and I had a committed. There's so many people
who are like, what Doctor Warren Wiersbe calls nomads. You
say no, they get mad and off they go. There
are too many people who say to you, pastor, I'm
behind you, but they don't tell you how far behind
(12:43):
you they are. So many people, uh, when things don't
go their way, uh, when someone says something or does
something and then, boom, they're out of ministry, uh, they
leave the church. I mean, it happens all the time,
but Paul says not with me. At all seasons in
the good times and in the bad times. Uh, in
(13:05):
the in the times where things weren't going right at
all when we were on a mountaintop in the Valley,
he says, listen, I need you to know I was
committed to you. Now, it's amazing to me, uh, because
the word seasons here refers to, uh, chronos, uh, man's time. Now,
what would be the difference if the word was kairos,
(13:27):
which is the word? Generally, we say it's God's time.
Perfect time. Uh, then it would be, uh, he's there
because that commitment then is is rooted and grounded in
him from God. But he uses chronos, which is people time.
And I think there's some there's some truth to be
(13:48):
had here. Uh, that. Yes, that the commitment was based
on who he was.
S2 (13:55):
Now we're going to have to pause the message right there,
but we'll continue to look at how to have an
effective ministry. In just one moment. You're listening to Treasure
Truth with Pastor Ford, and if you ever miss a broadcast,
come to our website Treasure Truth radio.org. There you can
simply listen to programs by streaming them through your computer
or mobile device. You can download MP3's for free, or
(14:17):
you can order copies of this broadcast on CD. That's
at Treasure Truth Radio. Dot back to the message. Here
is Pastor Ford.
S3 (14:27):
So that's the first Mark. How you doing? First mark
of an effective ministry presence. Be with them. Here's the
second second mark of an effective ministry. Verse 18. And
when they were come to him, he said unto them,
you know, from the first day that I came into Asia,
after I read that already, you know, you know, verse 19,
(14:47):
serving the Lord with all humility of mind and many
tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in
wait of the Jews. Second mark of an effective ministry
is participation. Be a worker. Here it is. Presence. Be
with them. Participation. Be a worker. Now Paul was saying, listen, uh,
you know, uh, that not only was I there, I
(15:09):
rolled up my sleeves and I got busy. I began
to work for the Lord. See, a whole lot of
people talk a good game, but they don't walk a
good game. And it's amazing to me that we fail
to realize that Ephesians chapter two, verse ten tells us
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
(15:34):
that God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We have been saved to serve. And so Paul here
is saying, listen, listen, I have served the Lord among you.
I worked, I worked, you know, I was reading, uh,
(15:54):
the etymological construct for the word deacon. It literally means
double worker. It is an amazing. Now I know not
at your church and the church that I pastor, but
at a whole lot of churches you have deacons who
should be double workers doing no work. That's oxymoronic. If
(16:15):
I ever heard it and Paul says, yeah, if you
want to evaluate my ministry. No, I was there. But
then notice I was a worker. No. Not now. I
love the way he prefaces this because he tells us
several things about his work. Notice, first of all, the
motivation of his participation serving the church. Is that what
(16:39):
it says? Uh, serving my ministry, uh, utilizing my gift.
Is that what it says? No. He says serving the Lord.
The motivation of his participation was serving the Lord. One
thing that characterizes my ministry at Christ Bible Church, formerly
South Shore Baptist Church is the fact that I don't
(17:02):
ask people to serve. And when someone comes to me
and they say, um, we need this, we need that,
I usually ask them, Is God leading you to do it? Uh, well. Well, no. Well,
then why are you telling me? Well, we need to
do it. Well, see, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.
And so if God is leading you to do it,
(17:22):
then I will help you and equip you so that
you can execute what God has called you. I can't
put anything else on my plate. I'm already doing what
God has told me to do so that every ministry
we have, someone was led by God to start that ministry.
Every ministry. The only thing that I've started is our
(17:46):
multi sites and I did that for church planting. You say,
what's the point, pastor? Why are you telling us all this?
Because uh, the reason I've done that is if I
ask them and they get mad at me, Then it's
easy for them to step out of it because they
did it for me, and now they're mad at me
and they don't speak to me anymore. But you got
(18:08):
to realize that if it was God who told them
to do it, then even if they get mad at me,
they shouldn't leave that ministry because I'm not the one
that put them there. I'm not the one who told
them to do it. God is the one who told them. And, uh,
that's the way it ought to be. And so he says,
(18:29):
that's my motivation. Uh, a missionary was sharing, uh, that
she was working in a leprosarium. American company came over, uh,
to look for a site to take our jobs. He
saw her cleaning out the aperture of where a nose was.
(18:51):
And he said to her, ooh, I wouldn't do that
for $1 million without losing a beat. She said, It.
Neither would I. I do it because I love Jesus.
And this is what he's commissioned me to do, man.
That's it. That's it. That's it. No amount of money
in the world can get her to do that. But
(19:12):
Jesus said, I want you to go to India, and
I want you to work in a leprosarium, and I
want you to help these people who can't help themselves. Wow.
That's the now, now, now motivation answers the question, why?
Why are you doing what you're doing? Because if it
isn't for the Lord, isn't what the Bible says the
(19:34):
Bible tells us whatsoever you do in word and deed,
do some, do most. No, it says do all to
the glory of God. Why are you doing what you're doing?
Why are you serving like you're serving? Why are you
preaching what you're preaching? Why are you doing what you're doing?
Why are you singing in a choir? Why are you ministering, greeting, ushering,
(19:56):
whatever you're doing? Why are you doing it? Teaching a
Sunday school class. Preaching. Elder. Deacon. Ask yourself why? What's
my motivation? And I trust that it is what Paul's
is when he says I'm serving the Lord. But notice
not just the motivation of his participation. Notice secondly, in
(20:16):
this text, uh, in this in this point, notice secondly,
the manner of his participation. Now motivation tells us why
we serve. Manner tells us how. Listen to what Paul
says with all humility of mind. Wow. All humility of
(20:39):
mind and many tears. Here's what he's saying. Here's how
I serve. Realizing it was a privilege. Man, that sure
brings everything together. When we understand to serve God is
a privilege that God would use someone like me. What
(21:04):
an awesome God. So with all humility of mine, I
heard a story of a young man getting ready to
do his trial sermon, and he he just, uh, was
was like, fired up. And he was going to get
them straight. He had studied this message. He was going
to get them straight. So when it came time to preach,
(21:25):
he mounted up to the pulpit. He stormed up. Tum
tum tum tum tum. He looked at him and glared
at him. He's getting ready to preach. And then he
forgot his message and he forgot his notes. And he
walked down with his head down. He walked down. And
(21:46):
when he was on his way down, one of the teenagers,
one of the senior saints, met him. And this is
what she said. She said, young man, if you would
have went up like you came down, then you would
have came down like you went up. Now you think
about that. That's powerful. If you would have had humility
(22:08):
that you had going down, coming up, then you could
have stepped down in boldness that God had used you. And, uh, wow,
that's a powerful truth.
S2 (22:22):
Biblical insights on how to have an effective ministry from
Pastor Ford. You're listening to Treasure Truth, and you can
find us online at Treasure Truth radio.org. Hey, thanks for
remembering that this is a listener supported ministry. When you
support Treasure Truth with a gift, you're joining us as
we present God's Word to anyone with a radio at
(22:43):
no cost. And we do this because we want you
to grow. We want the church to be equipped, and
we want non-Christians to find Christ. Your gift of any
amount means that we can continue not only on this station,
but around the world. So give a donation today and
call us at 886 44, 7660 or go online to
(23:03):
Treasure Truth Radio.com. When you give a gift of any amount,
we're going to send you a book by Pastor Ford
called Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. You know, marriage
is a beautiful thing when we learn to do it right.
In a Pastor Ford's book, he's walking you through the
Bible to show God's purpose in the marriage covenant. As
you read, you'll discover how to strengthen your marriage God's way.
(23:26):
Give a donation and request your copy when you call
888 644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. Well,
I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us
again tomorrow for part two of this message, how to
have an effective ministry that's here on Treasure. Truth. A
production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Here's what he's saying. Here's how I serve. Realizing it
was a privilege. Man, that sure brings everything together. When
we understand to serve God is a privilege that God
would use someone like me. What an awesome God.
S2 (00:25):
This is treasure truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us. As today we
begin a message from acts chapter 20 called How to
Have an Effective Ministry and pastor. Before we hear the
message and dive in and look at maybe some other things,
maybe having a right understanding of the fact that God
(00:46):
uses sinful people like us to accomplish his purposes. To
be involved in ministry would be a pretty good place
to start.
S3 (00:54):
Oh yeah, and all you have to do is just
if you read your Bible, what you're going to find
is Ideas. All gods, heroes and sheroes have flaws and
God is like my pastor. He came to our church
one time and he gave. He's a concert pianist. He
(01:15):
has a doctorate in rhetoric and he played. He takes
five random notes and makes a song. Afterward he said
to me, he said, Beauford, he calls me by my nickname, Beauford. Uh,
get your piano tuned up and fixed. You have two
dead keys. And I said, wait a minute. You were
able to play like that with two dead keys? He
(01:40):
said something I'll never forget. He said, well, you know,
I am a trained classical pianist. I said, oh, you're
a master. He said, well, if you want to say that.
And I said, wow. I said, you're a master who's
able to transpose the music Showing the flaws. I said,
(02:02):
I'm going to preach that. He said, I knew you were. Yeah.
That's it. And so broken keys. Yeah. Beautiful music. That's
our God. That's it. He takes us with the broken
keys of our lives, transposes his power over them and
makes beautiful music so that everybody can see that the
(02:24):
Lord is good.
S2 (02:26):
Yeah, well, that's one of the things that I still
marvel at sometimes, that God would choose to use broken
people like us when he doesn't need to. But what
a privilege it is to be used by him.
S3 (02:37):
Amen.
S2 (02:37):
So we have a lot of broken people who may
desire to be involved in ministry. God has done something
incredible in their lives and they say, now I want
to serve him. I want to have an effective ministry. Um,
help us get an idea of what, uh, or how
you're defining what is an effective ministry, because that's what
today's message is all about.
S3 (02:57):
Well, here's how I'll define that, Steve. Eve. There's a
word teleos, and it's translated perfect. Mature. When is a
person teleos when they're fulfilling that for which they have
been created? These mikes. Uh, they can be more aesthetically
(03:17):
pleasing to the eye. Would you agree?
S2 (03:19):
Oh, sure.
S3 (03:20):
Could there be more expensive mikes, even though these are
very expensive?
S2 (03:24):
Yes they are. And yes, there are many more expensive mikes.
S3 (03:27):
But they're perfect because they fulfill that for which they
were created. They magnify my voice. Yeah. You have to
ask yourself, am I doing what God called me to do?
Am I using what we talked about in earlier broadcast?
Am I using my gifts? Okay, I'm going to have, uh,
issues as I'm utilizing it, but that's why I have
(03:50):
first John one nine. If I confess my sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from
all unrighteousness, to reestablish me so that I can continue
to serve him. Yeah. Nobody's going to be perfect, and
no one's going to be sinless. Even though as we
continue to walk with him, we sin less and less
and less.
S2 (04:09):
Yeah. Well, this is kind of a unique broadcast, because
this is not a message that you preach to your congregation.
This was a special DVD you did for your leadership.
S3 (04:18):
That's right. So that we weren't going to have a meeting.
And I wanted them to have instruction. And so this
is the result.
S2 (04:25):
All right. So if you don't hear the normal whooping
and holler and that that's why. But man the content
is great. It's from acts 20. Open your Bible. Join
us there as we begin this message. How to have
an effective ministry. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3 (04:39):
Well, when I was a student at the Moody Bible Institute, uh,
a pastor came and preached to us at pastor's conference,
and he said, listen, if you're going to be a pastor, uh,
you need at least three things to have an effective ministry.
He said, you've got to have the mind of a scholar,
that you've got to have the heart of a child.
(05:02):
And he said, you have to have the hide of
a rhinoceros. Well, I've been pastoring a long time, and
I guarantee you that that man was right. You need
all three of those to have an effective ministry. Now,
everybody wants to have an effective ministry. Uh, because God
has gifted us and given us, uh, the ability to
(05:25):
be able to minister to other people, and I, I
don't know if you found it out yet, but ministry
is hard work. And so in this text, Paul calls
the elders of Ephesus down to an island called Miletus.
And he says to them, let me recount to you
(05:48):
the effect of my ministry among you, and the timeless
principles are there. Uh, five marks of an effective ministry.
Let's look at them and clothe ourselves with this text.
It's powerful, especially if you want to be able to
hear our Lord and Savior say, well done, thou good
(06:10):
and faithful servant. And so then notice the first mark
of effective ministry. In verse 17 of acts chapter 20,
Paul says this. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus,
and called the elders of the church. And when they
were come to him, he said unto them, you know,
from the first day that I came into Asia, after
(06:30):
what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
here's the first mark of an effective ministry. He says
the first mark of an effective ministry is presence. Be
with them. Uh, Paul, uh, this church, uh, is the
longest running tenure of our famed apostle Paul. He pastored
(06:51):
this church for three and a half years. You can
go back to acts 18 to see, uh, where he
founded it and where he he stayed there and pastor them.
Now he's getting ready to go to Jerusalem. So he
calls them to Miletus, which is approximately 28 miles south
of Ephesus, southeast of Ephesus. And he begins to tell them, listen,
(07:15):
I want you to know that the first mark of
an effective ministry is presence. Be with them. Now, I remember, uh,
one time, uh, a sister said to me, she said, pastor, uh,
I won't be with you, uh, on Sunday, but I
want you to know that I'll be with you in spirit.
(07:36):
You know what I said to her? I said, sis,
because you know I do. And I am facetious sometimes
a little sarcastic every now and then. And I said
to her, I said, sis, I sure appreciate the sentiment,
but you know what? Uh, your spirit, uh, can't sing
the songs of Zion. Your spirit can't smile and lift
(07:57):
up a bow down head. Uh, your spirit can't reach
into your pocketbook. Get your checkbook and write out a
tithe checks to the church. So I appreciate the sentiment,
but I would rather have your body there. Uh, than
than your spirit. And of course, we laughed and chuckled
about it. But that's what Paul says. He says, man,
(08:19):
the the first mark of an effective ministry is you
gotta show up. And so, I mean, when you begin
to look at the church, uh, the, the empty pew, uh, is,
is a a loud witness to the effect that many
believers don't understand. Hebrews 1025 says, not forsaking the assembling
(08:40):
of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one another so much the more as you see
the day approaching. Acts chapter two, verse 41 and 42 says,
they continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine the breaking of bread, fellowship,
and prayer that they gather together every day. And so
(09:00):
it's important that you show up in ministry. I mean,
isn't that what God did? Think about it. Uh, because, uh,
God sent Adam, but his innocence wasn't enough to deal
with sin. Sin came into the world. And then God
raised up the patriarchs, which means first father or first leader. And, uh,
(09:24):
they couldn't lead sin away. And then God raised up
the judges to judge, but they couldn't judge sin away.
And so God raised up the prophets to preach, but
they couldn't preach sin away. And God raised up the
psalmist to sing, and they couldn't sing sin away. And
God raised up kings to lead, and they couldn't lead
(09:45):
sin away. And so God said, uh, like the old adage,
if you want something done, you've got to do it yourself.
So our God veiled deity in humanity stepped down, as
the old preacher would say, through 42 different generations and hung,
bled and died on Calvary for our sin. Man that's powerful.
(10:09):
It was his presence, as a matter of fact. When.
When after 400 years of silence, uh, the first word
that we get in Matthew chapter one, verse 22 and
call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.
The first thing that God did to seal, uh, the
(10:31):
truth to our hearts, to wipe away our sins, to
minister to us, was to be with us, man. Now, now, look,
because Paul qualifies, he says the first mark of an
effective ministry is presence. Be with them. Notice, he says
that it needs to be a constructive presence. Uh, now
(10:53):
notice what he says. And, you know, after what manner? Uh,
the NIV says how I lived among you. In other words,
there are some people who are with us in body
we wish were with us in spirit. Don't shout me down. Amen. Amen. Uh,
I mean, you know, they look like they got something
in their mouth, and it's real nasty. And they just
(11:15):
hold it and they can't spit it out. You know,
folk who act as if their spiritual gift is criticism. And, uh,
they've had a charisma bypass. That's what I said. Charisma bypass.
And so he says, no, no, no. He said I
had a positive effect on you as I was there.
(11:35):
And that's what we need. We need presence, but it
needs to be constructive. Let me ask you a question.
Are you someone who develops the body or destroys the body?
Are you someone who builds it up, or are you
someone who breaks it down? Paul says no, no, no, no.
You know that I had a positive impact on you
(12:00):
while I was there. And. And that's what we want
to be. We want to be present and we want
to have a constructive presence. But here's the second thing.
Not just a constructive presence. But Paul says, I also
had a committed presence. Notice what he says. He says,
after what manner I have been with you at all seasons. Boy,
(12:20):
I like that. Uh, because he says, listen, I was
there and I had a committed. There's so many people
who are like, what Doctor Warren Wiersbe calls nomads. You
say no, they get mad and off they go. There
are too many people who say to you, pastor, I'm
behind you, but they don't tell you how far behind
(12:43):
you they are. So many people, uh, when things don't
go their way, uh, when someone says something or does
something and then, boom, they're out of ministry, uh, they
leave the church. I mean, it happens all the time,
but Paul says not with me. At all seasons in
the good times and in the bad times. Uh, in
(13:05):
the in the times where things weren't going right at
all when we were on a mountaintop in the Valley,
he says, listen, I need you to know I was
committed to you. Now, it's amazing to me, uh, because
the word seasons here refers to, uh, chronos, uh, man's time. Now,
what would be the difference if the word was kairos,
(13:27):
which is the word? Generally, we say it's God's time.
Perfect time. Uh, then it would be, uh, he's there
because that commitment then is is rooted and grounded in
him from God. But he uses chronos, which is people time.
And I think there's some there's some truth to be
(13:48):
had here. Uh, that. Yes, that the commitment was based
on who he was.
S2 (13:55):
Now we're going to have to pause the message right there,
but we'll continue to look at how to have an
effective ministry. In just one moment. You're listening to Treasure
Truth with Pastor Ford, and if you ever miss a broadcast,
come to our website Treasure Truth radio.org. There you can
simply listen to programs by streaming them through your computer
or mobile device. You can download MP3's for free, or
(14:17):
you can order copies of this broadcast on CD. That's
at Treasure Truth Radio. Dot back to the message. Here
is Pastor Ford.
S3 (14:27):
So that's the first Mark. How you doing? First mark
of an effective ministry presence. Be with them. Here's the
second second mark of an effective ministry. Verse 18. And
when they were come to him, he said unto them,
you know, from the first day that I came into Asia,
after I read that already, you know, you know, verse 19,
(14:47):
serving the Lord with all humility of mind and many
tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in
wait of the Jews. Second mark of an effective ministry
is participation. Be a worker. Here it is. Presence. Be
with them. Participation. Be a worker. Now Paul was saying, listen, uh,
you know, uh, that not only was I there, I
(15:09):
rolled up my sleeves and I got busy. I began
to work for the Lord. See, a whole lot of
people talk a good game, but they don't walk a
good game. And it's amazing to me that we fail
to realize that Ephesians chapter two, verse ten tells us
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
(15:34):
that God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We have been saved to serve. And so Paul here
is saying, listen, listen, I have served the Lord among you.
I worked, I worked, you know, I was reading, uh,
(15:54):
the etymological construct for the word deacon. It literally means
double worker. It is an amazing. Now I know not
at your church and the church that I pastor, but
at a whole lot of churches you have deacons who
should be double workers doing no work. That's oxymoronic. If
(16:15):
I ever heard it and Paul says, yeah, if you
want to evaluate my ministry. No, I was there. But
then notice I was a worker. No. Not now. I
love the way he prefaces this because he tells us
several things about his work. Notice, first of all, the
motivation of his participation serving the church. Is that what
(16:39):
it says? Uh, serving my ministry, uh, utilizing my gift.
Is that what it says? No. He says serving the Lord.
The motivation of his participation was serving the Lord. One
thing that characterizes my ministry at Christ Bible Church, formerly
South Shore Baptist Church is the fact that I don't
(17:02):
ask people to serve. And when someone comes to me
and they say, um, we need this, we need that,
I usually ask them, Is God leading you to do it? Uh, well. Well, no. Well,
then why are you telling me? Well, we need to
do it. Well, see, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.
And so if God is leading you to do it,
(17:22):
then I will help you and equip you so that
you can execute what God has called you. I can't
put anything else on my plate. I'm already doing what
God has told me to do so that every ministry
we have, someone was led by God to start that ministry.
Every ministry. The only thing that I've started is our
(17:46):
multi sites and I did that for church planting. You say,
what's the point, pastor? Why are you telling us all this?
Because uh, the reason I've done that is if I
ask them and they get mad at me, Then it's
easy for them to step out of it because they
did it for me, and now they're mad at me
and they don't speak to me anymore. But you got
(18:08):
to realize that if it was God who told them
to do it, then even if they get mad at me,
they shouldn't leave that ministry because I'm not the one
that put them there. I'm not the one who told
them to do it. God is the one who told them. And, uh,
that's the way it ought to be. And so he says,
(18:29):
that's my motivation. Uh, a missionary was sharing, uh, that
she was working in a leprosarium. American company came over, uh,
to look for a site to take our jobs. He
saw her cleaning out the aperture of where a nose was.
(18:51):
And he said to her, ooh, I wouldn't do that
for $1 million without losing a beat. She said, It.
Neither would I. I do it because I love Jesus.
And this is what he's commissioned me to do, man.
That's it. That's it. That's it. No amount of money
in the world can get her to do that. But
(19:12):
Jesus said, I want you to go to India, and
I want you to work in a leprosarium, and I
want you to help these people who can't help themselves. Wow.
That's the now, now, now motivation answers the question, why?
Why are you doing what you're doing? Because if it
isn't for the Lord, isn't what the Bible says the
(19:34):
Bible tells us whatsoever you do in word and deed,
do some, do most. No, it says do all to
the glory of God. Why are you doing what you're doing?
Why are you serving like you're serving? Why are you
preaching what you're preaching? Why are you doing what you're doing?
Why are you singing in a choir? Why are you ministering, greeting, ushering,
(19:56):
whatever you're doing? Why are you doing it? Teaching a
Sunday school class. Preaching. Elder. Deacon. Ask yourself why? What's
my motivation? And I trust that it is what Paul's
is when he says I'm serving the Lord. But notice
not just the motivation of his participation. Notice secondly, in
(20:16):
this text, uh, in this in this point, notice secondly,
the manner of his participation. Now motivation tells us why
we serve. Manner tells us how. Listen to what Paul
says with all humility of mind. Wow. All humility of
(20:39):
mind and many tears. Here's what he's saying. Here's how
I serve. Realizing it was a privilege. Man, that sure
brings everything together. When we understand to serve God is
a privilege that God would use someone like me. What
(21:04):
an awesome God. So with all humility of mine, I
heard a story of a young man getting ready to
do his trial sermon, and he he just, uh, was
was like, fired up. And he was going to get
them straight. He had studied this message. He was going
to get them straight. So when it came time to preach,
(21:25):
he mounted up to the pulpit. He stormed up. Tum
tum tum tum tum. He looked at him and glared
at him. He's getting ready to preach. And then he
forgot his message and he forgot his notes. And he
walked down with his head down. He walked down. And
(21:46):
when he was on his way down, one of the teenagers,
one of the senior saints, met him. And this is
what she said. She said, young man, if you would
have went up like you came down, then you would
have came down like you went up. Now you think
about that. That's powerful. If you would have had humility
(22:08):
that you had going down, coming up, then you could
have stepped down in boldness that God had used you. And, uh, wow,
that's a powerful truth.
S2 (22:22):
Biblical insights on how to have an effective ministry from
Pastor Ford. You're listening to Treasure Truth, and you can
find us online at Treasure Truth radio.org. Hey, thanks for
remembering that this is a listener supported ministry. When you
support Treasure Truth with a gift, you're joining us as
we present God's Word to anyone with a radio at
(22:43):
no cost. And we do this because we want you
to grow. We want the church to be equipped, and
we want non-Christians to find Christ. Your gift of any
amount means that we can continue not only on this station,
but around the world. So give a donation today and
call us at 886 44, 7660 or go online to
(23:03):
Treasure Truth Radio.com. When you give a gift of any amount,
we're going to send you a book by Pastor Ford
called Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. You know, marriage
is a beautiful thing when we learn to do it right.
In a Pastor Ford's book, he's walking you through the
Bible to show God's purpose in the marriage covenant. As
you read, you'll discover how to strengthen your marriage God's way.
(23:26):
Give a donation and request your copy when you call
888 644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. Well,
I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us
again tomorrow for part two of this message, how to
have an effective ministry that's here on Treasure. Truth. A
production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com