A Powerful Ministry

Dear heavenly Father. We come before you, quieting our hearts, desperate. To see Jesus through the eyes of faith. And to hear him speak to us.

We confess, Lord, that it is easy for our hearts to get cold. To grow lukewarm. To be distracted, Lord, when you wish to speak to us, I pray against all such distractions. Lord, we come before you understanding that Christ died on the cross in order to Deal with our sin problem.

We know Lord that he died for sinners such as ourselves. We confess ourselves as sinners, therefore we qualify for your salvation, we qualify for your grace, we qualify to receive from you the help that we need. Again, help us Lord, to behold Christ, help us Lord, to hear him speak, help us as it were to be in your very presence and to sense that you are the God who is near. I pray, Lord, that if there is anyone here this morning, Who does not know you.

I pray, Lord, for your spirit to be at work, to draw them to yourself by your irresistible grace, Lord, that you would cause them to be born again, cause them to be born again. Lay hold of their heart, arrest their attention, and cause them to sit up and to listen to what you want to say to them. I pray, Lord, for anyone who is here this morning, who is in Christ, but discouraged. I pray, Father, that you administer encouragement to those people.

I pray, Lord, for all of us that as we wrap our mind around your word, That Lord, you would help us. To understand, to receive, to embrace. Lord, your word. Is living It is active.

It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Use the sword of thy spirit, Lord, to cut through. The brokenness and the hardness. The remnants of the indwelling sin inside of us, and Lord, perform surgery on us.

conform us into the image of Jesus. I pray, Lord, that you would use me as your unworthy servant to be a blessing to these your people for whom the blood of Christ. was spilled. I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. The young lady was uncontrollably shaking. True story, tears pouring from her eyes as she told her story. She was raised by godly parents.

Attended the great church where the word was preached and the gospel proclaimed, she went to college and began to drift from the Lord. She wonders if she ever really knew the Lord to begin with. After college, she landed a job and began to climb the corporate ladder, and by then she had turned her back on Christ. She hung out with the wrong crowd and made compromises that would not have been imaginable.

As a youth. Her sinful lifestyle culminated in a major car accident that should have left her and the other innocent driver dead. She was driving under the influence of alcohol, and now she finds herself in the counseling office shaken to the core. Over the course of that ninety-minute meeting, the young woman would hear Christ proclaimed and as a result, experience a transformation that never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined.

During that meeting, the Lord showed up in a powerful way and the young woman left the office changed. This is but one example of the power of the gospel to transform a life as well as God's ability to work powerfully through a human instrument. I trust you are here this morning because you desire to be used by God in a powerful way. You want to be used mightily in the lives of other people, to see folks get saved and to see believers built up.

If that is your desire and it should be, then this message is for you. The purpose of the message today is to help you and to equip you so that you can experience a powerful ministry. The message is entitled A Powerful Ministry, a powerful ministry, and we will take a look at 4 commitments we must embrace in order to minister in a powerful way. If you want to minister in a God-glorifying and powerful way, if you want to be used of God, in powerful ways to bless others around you, to make a difference in the lives of people.

There are 4 commitments that I will present to you. That should be embraced in order to minister in such a way. Let's begin by reading the passage. We are gonna read Colossians 1:28 to 29.

If you have your Bible, you can turn to Colossians 1:28 through 29. If you don't have your Bible, the passage is on the screen behind me and you can read from the screen as I read aloud. Well, let us hear God's word. It says, the apostle Paul speaking, and we proclaim him.

We proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also, I labor, I labor striving according to his power which mightily works within me. Let's now consider the first commitment we must embrace if we want to minister in a powerful way. Number one, we must proclaim Christ.

We must proclaim Christ, the apostle Paul declares, and we proclaim him. Him is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, we proclaim Christ. And in our proclamation, we are admonishing every man, and we are teaching every man with all wisdom.

We must never lose sight of the fact that a powerful ministry is always grounded upon a prayerful proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul has already prayed for his readers in Colossians 1:9-12. In our passage today, Paul declares that he proclaims Christ. He knows that man's greatest need is an encounter with Christ.

Man must hear the truth about Jesus and behold him through the eyes of faith. In 2 Corinthians chapter 3, at the end of the chapter, Paul states that as we behold Christ, as we behold Christ, we are being transformed from one level of glory onto the next level of glory. Man's greatest need is an encounter with Christ. We must behold him.

A careful observer notes that Paul's proclamation is literal. It is literal. He literally opens his mouth and he proclaims Christ. I have heard it said that he who testifies with his life testifies only to himself.

It is imperative that we testify with our lives. But we must also testify with our lips. We must open our mouths and we must proclaim Christ if we want to accomplish what it is that God has made us for. But what is it about Christ that Paul proclaims, you might ask, what is it that he says?

The answer to this question can be found in every epistle written by Paul, but we need go no further than Colossians to get an understanding of truths regarding Christ that Paul proclaims. Earlier in the chapter beginning in verse 13, we read, now listen. The, the Christ that Paul proclaims is the Christ that he is writing about here, beginning in verse 13. Listen to what Paul has to say about Christ as he proclaims him to the Colossians.

He says in verse 13, for he, this is Christ, delivered us from the domain of darkness. We were in darkness. And he has delivered us from that domain, and he has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved sin, from darkness into light. If we have Christ, we have been delivered by Christ from darkness and into light.

He goes on to say, in whom we have redemption, Christ through his blood paid the price necessary to purchase us from the marketplace of slavery so that we would be set free from the law of sin and of death. And so in him we have redemption and he goes on to say the forgiveness of sins. Our many sins have been forgiven. Our countless sins that we have committed, sins of omission and sins of commission, all of those sins, sins that we know about and sins in our lives we don't know about those sins have been forgiven through the blood of Christ.

He goes on to say, and he, Christ is the image of the invisible God. If you have seen him, you have seen God. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, the preeminent, the ultimate one of all of creation. For by him all things were created.

He is the creator of all things. Everything that you see out there in creation has been created by Christ. He was involved in the act of creation. He says by him all things were created.

both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, what you can see and what you can't see, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by him and they exist for him. To the praise of His glorious grace. We have been made for the purpose of glorifying Him. We have been created for his pleasure and for his exaltation to reflect his image.

He goes on to say, and he is before all things. You can go all the way back to before time began and there was Christ before all things and in him all things hold together. Everything is being held together by the word of his power, and if he chooses to lift his power from holding things together, it would all fall apart, including our own very lives. In him all things hold together.

He is also head of the body, Paul says the church, and he is the beginning, the first. born from the dead, the first to be raised bodily from the dead so that he himself might come to have first place in everything, that he would be the preeminent one, that he would be the priority, that he would be the one who we worship and live for. He goes on to say, for it was the Father's good pleasure for all of the fullness to dwell in Christ and through Christ to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

He is our peace, who has broken down every wall.

We have peace with God the Father because God the Son died on the cross for us and there is now peace between us and Him because He died for us. Having made peace through the blood of His cross through him I say whether things on earth or things in heaven, and although he says you were formerly alienated and you were hostile in your mind, engaged in your evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death. There we have it, the bloody sacrifice of Jesus on a cross once again, through him, we are reconciled and he says, in order that This is the reason, this is the purpose, this is why he came to die on the cross for sinners such as ourselves in order to present you before Him.

Holy And blameless.

And beyond reproach. He has a purpose for our lives. And so, this is the Christ that Paul proclaims. In short, Paul proclaims the gospel.

Elsewhere, the gospel is described as the very power of God unto salvation for all who believe. If you want to experience a powerful ministry, be sure to proclaim the truth about Jesus. There is power in the gospel as the gospel is preached, and God can use your proclamation of the gospel in a powerful way to make a difference in the lives of the people around you. I also want you to know this Paul's use of the first person plural.

He does not say I proclaim Christ, though that is true. He says, we proclaim Christ. Paul does not bear the burden alone. Paul along with his ministry companions, share the same burden to present every man complete in Christ.

It is appropriate for every believer everywhere to have a burden for every man to present every man complete in Christ. You will know from the text that Paul's proclamation is marked, his proclamation is marked. It is marked by admonishment. The Greek word is mutateo, and it carries the idea of to admonish, to warn, to exhort.

Paul's proclamation of Christ goes hand in glove with admonishing, warning, and exhorting. This makes sense when you think about it. What often happens when the Lord reveals Himself to a person? What is a common response when a person is confronted face to face with the Lord?

What happens? Isaiah declared, woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips. Peter said, Away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. John fell to his face as a dead man.

Why? Why would men like these respond in such a way? It is because the Lord is holy. He is holy.

He is Altogether set apart in his purity and his perfection. When Christ is rightly proclaimed, sin will be exposed. Light reveals what darkness tries to hide. Christ is the light and when rightly proclaimed, sin will be exposed, our proclamation of Christ should be accompanied by an admonishing grace designed to motivate folks onto holiness.

But you will know there's something else about Paul's proclamation of Christ. His proclamation is marked by teaching, by teaching, the apostle Paul taught the truth of God's word. In 2 Timothy 3:16 and following, Paul describes all scripture as being useful. For teaching.

Paul taught the scriptures and did so in a gospel centered God glorifying way. Paul teaches the truth of God's word so that it can be understood and lived out. To teach is to impart skills and knowledge that can be acted upon. In the Greco-Roman world, teaching was not teaching until it was understood, embraced and acted upon by the students.

This is what teaching is, and this takes us to a final point about Paul's proclamation. His proclamation is marked by wisdom, by wisdom. This is the capacity to understand and to function accordingly, according to Christ. Wisdom involves the ability to apply the truth.

It is knowing how the truth gives practical shape to life. The wise person knows truth and he lives in light of such truth. Paul proclaims Christ, admonishing every man, and he's teaching every man. With all wisdom.

When we proclaim Christ, we must do so with wisdom. In proclaiming Christ with all wisdom, Paul is connecting the dots. We must relate our proclamation of Christ to life. Our goal, remember, is to present every man complete in Christ.

We are aiming for transformation. When Christ is proclaimed, lives should change. We need to know how to accomplish that. We need to know how to proclaim Christ in such a way that lives are conformed into the image of Christ.

This is in part what is meant when Paul declares, we proclaim Christ with all wisdom. He is also saying that in proclaiming Christ, he is applying wisdom. Proverbs says that a wise man makes knowledge acceptable. A wise man makes knowledge acceptable.

When proclaiming Christ, Paul seeks to do so in a winsome manner. He does not want to cause any undue offense in his approach, while he does not fear folks taking offense at the gospel. He does fear being the one who causes undue offense. He seeks to proclaim and apply the truth about Christ in a way that garners attention and respect.

We proclaim Christ with all wisdom. How we come across as we proclaim Christ is important. we do not want to be offensive. We want to come across in a caring, In a compassionate, concerned, humble, and respectful manner.

We want for the fruits of God's spirit to be on display as we proclaim Christ. We want for folks to sense from us that we do in fact care, that we love them. We also want to proclaim Christ in a way that connects. Folks should not hear about Jesus and then remain comfortable in their sin.

The proclamation of Christ should motivate folks to change. The proclamation of Jesus should have a bearing on one's intellect, emotions, and will. Christ should have some bearing on what we think and how we feel, what we desire, what we say, and what we do. Paul declares that his proclamation of Christ is marked by all wisdom, and we do well to follow his example.

So, if we want to minister in a powerful way, we must follow the example of Paul and his ministry companions, and we must proclaim Christ, admonishing every man, teaching every man with all wisdom. Let's now turn to the second commitment that we must make, that we must embrace in order to minister in a powerful way. Number 2, we must minister with vision. We must minister with the future in mind.

We must have a vision. This is what Paul does. He ministers with a vision for the spiritual maturity of every man. He knows what maturity is and what it looks like, and he aims to get every man to that place.

He ministers so that folks have a big view Of God, embrace the gospel, walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, being conformed into the image of Christ and glorifying God in everything that they do, whether they eat, Or sleep, drink. Whatever they do, His goal for them is that they do all for the glory of God. but his vision, I believe, goes beyond spiritual maturity this side of heaven. He has a vision for a future day in which he will present every man to the Lord and his consuming passion is that we might present every man complete in Christ.

Keep in mind that Paul's vision for the spiritual maturity of every believer is grounded upon The vision of Jesus Christ Himself. We see this earlier in verse 22, where Paul says to the Colossians that quote, Jesus has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order, this is the purpose, in order to present you before him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach. This is the vision of Jesus. Do you see?

Christ lived life with vision. His vision was that he would die on the cross, so that through his bloody death, sinners such as ourselves would be reconciled to God, but his vision builds upon and moves beyond his death for sinners. Jesus envisioned a day, a future day in which he would present all of the elect before Almighty God, holy, And blameless and beyond reproach. Jesus died for sinners with judgment day in mind, and his vision was that sinners such as ourselves be able to stand before Almighty God on that day.

So Paul's vision to present every man complete in Christ is grounded upon the vision of Jesus who died for you in order to present you wholly, blameless, and beyond reproach. When Paul writes, every man, every man, you'll note he says that 3 different times. I believe he is referring to every man. Paul is not being chauvinistic.

Man refers to mankind, thus it includes women. Paul is referring to every person. We know that Paul cannot proclaim Christ to every single person, but if Paul could have it his way, he would proclaim Christ to every single man, woman, and child, and he would successfully present every single person complete in Christ. This is Paul ministering out of the overflow of the very heart of his triune God.

This is a gospel heart that we see on display in his desire to see every man complete in Christ. The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The Bible tells us that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The Bible tells us that God's desire is for all to be saved.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the savior of all men, especially those who believe. I know that for some of us, it is difficult to believe that God does in fact love everyone, but I submit to you this morning that he does in fact love everyone. The sad thing is that his love for everyone will eventually come to an end and that those who die apart from Christ, those who die without Christ will no longer be on the receiving end of his love, and his love for them will expire while his love for the elect, for those who belong.

To him, his love for them will continue on throughout all of eternity, and it is immense beyond our ability to comprehend.

He loves us as he loves his own son. He loves us and he gave his son for us. He loves us that much. And so you get a clear sense that Paul has a vision for every man.

We have already seen that Paul admonishes every man and he teaches every man. Here he says that we may present every man complete in Christ. In chapter 2, Paul communicates his heart's burden for the Laodiceans. It's not just the Colossians, but it's the Laodiceans, and he says, for all who have not personally seen my face, Paul has his mind's eye on every man.

Paul's vision transcends his own ability. His personal limitations will not allow him to reach the all that his heart is burdened for. Nevertheless, he is burdened for every man. This passage, along with others has hit me with how easy we, I settle for little.

So often our vision is myopic. We think about the roughly 290,000 nonbelievers in the city of Riverside without Christ, and they are headed for hell, and we would be stoked to see 100 of them come to faith in Christ today. But what about the 289,900 who are still dead in their transgressions and sins and headed to hell? Should our hearts not simultaneously rejoice in the 100 saved, yet ache over the 289,900 headed to hell?

Listen to. Paul in our passage we proclaim Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man that we might present every man complete in Christ. Paul has a vision that transcends his human ability to see every man complete in Christ, but he does not because of his limitations shrink back from such a vision. We read about Paul's burden for the lost as he addresses unbelieving Israel in Romans 9 beginning in verse 1.

Paul says, I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites. From where Paul does such a burden for every single Israelite come? It comes from Christ. Consider also Paul's burden for the church, which no doubt included false converts even in Paul's day.

In 2 Corinthians 11:23 through 29, Paul is defending his ministry and in the process reveals his heart for and commitment to every man in all of the churches. Are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane. I'm more so in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.

5 times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. 3 times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, 3 times I was shipped. Wrecked a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

I have been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst. Often without food, in cold and exposure, and apart from such external things, he says there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all of the churches who is weak without my being weak, who is led into sin without my intense concern.

Do you not get a sense of the love of Paul for all believers everywhere, the concern that he has for the church to be built up, any wonder he ministered with power because of his heart, because he had a vision to present every single man complete in Christ.

This vision includes nonbelievers and believers, those outside the church as well as those inside of the church. And some of you might be tempted to say, but, but that's Paul. He's an apostle. It is not necessary for me to share Paul's same burden for every man.

Let me remind you here of two things. I'm reminding myself as well, guys. First, Paul elsewhere exhorts his readers to follow him as he follows the Lord. He sets himself up as a model for us to mimic.

The burden that he has for people is a burden that we should participate in as well, and then second, Christ is the ultimate example in whose steps we are called to follow and we do well to share in his burden for humanity. The power of Paul's ministry is marked by vision. In part, his vision is for the spiritual maturity of every man, but his vision reaches beyond this. He envisions a day in which every man will come face to face with the Lord Jesus, and Paul's great concern is that every man stand before Christ on that day complete.

Brothers and sisters, look, look around you. This church is filled with folks who need for you to share a concern for the state of their souls. I need for you to be concerned for me, and you need for me and the pastoral staff and the elders here to be concerned for you. We will all come into the immediate presence of the Lord someday.

Our purpose here at Cornerstone is to help folks journey from brokenness to wholeness through the Gospel. The last step on that jour journey is gospel glory. We will someday be in the immediate and direct presence of the Lord, and we do well to have a vision that we present every man complete in Christ. Well, let's move to the 3rd commitment that we must make for a powerful ministry.

3, we must embrace personal sacrifice. We must embrace personal sacrifice. We got a taste of this already as we read Paul describing his ministry, right? But there's more.

Notice what he says, he says, for this purpose, what is the purpose, Paul? To see every person complete in Christ? He says, I labor, also striving. Labor striving, we know his purpose and so with a purpose in mind, Paul describes his powerful ministry as one that is marked by labor and striving.

The word for labor is kappao. It is present tense, active voice. Paul, a man imprisoned because of the gospel, continues to labor for the sake of the gospel. The word.

Apao speaks of laboring to the point of becoming weary and tired. It speaks of physical, mental, and spiritual exertion. It carries the idea of hard work, toil, labor, and struggle. Paul is actively engaged in ministry even to the point of exhaustion.

He makes personal sacrifices for the sake of the gospel and the building up of the body of Christ. In the text, the word labor is accompanied by the word striving. The Greek term is agonitomai, from where we get agony. It speaks of fighting or struggling.

Paul is engaged in an agonizing fight that requires much of him. Brothers and sisters, Christianity is no walk in the park. Those who are fully engaged. Ed will experience the agony of ministry.

Those who are fully engaged will experience the agony that is ministry. They go hand in glove. The word agonitoai also speaks of engaging in an athletic contest. Folks from the Greco-Roman culture would identify with Paul's description.

The marathon runner, for example, would engage in intense training prior to running a race, and his running of the race would itself be marked by agony. He would exert every last ounce of his effort in order to not just cross the finish line, but to win the race. It was not uncommon for the athlete to cross the finish line and collapse in complete exhaustion. Paul declares that he is giving everything he's got, so that he might present every man complete when together they are in the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word is in the middle voice and according to Greek scholar Daniel Wallace, the middle voice indicates that the subject experiences the action. The emphasis is on the subject's participation in the action. He is striving. it may be said that the subject acts with a vested interest.

Paul goes on to say that he is striving according to his power. This is the power of Christ which mightily works within me. It is clear that Paul experiences an intense striving, but that he is not alone in such striving. The Lord is with him and more will be said when we get to commitment number 4.

Suffice it to say, That Paul engaged in a powerful ministry and such a ministry included personal sacrifice marked by labor and striving. Paul enjoyed much for the sake of the gospel sacrifices were made. One such sacrifice, I believe, was his decision to not marry. And to not have children.

Such a decision freed him up in ways to engage in the ministry in ways that he did. Can you imagine Paul traveling the Roman world the way he did with a wife and children? Can you imagine Paul being able to make some of the additional sacrifice had he chosen to marry? And I say this not to undermine being married and raising children to the glory of God, but to highlight the value of singleness.

to the glory of God, the value of singleness to the glory of God. If you are single, use your singleness to the glory of God. Don't get caught up in lesser things, make sure that your priorities are in alignment, make sure that you are seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness, and what, all of these things will be added on to you. Make it your Your heart's ambition that Christ because as you seek to know Him, He will prepare you for whatever it is that he has for you and if he wants you to marry, wait upon him to give to you the one he wants you to marry.

Seek first Him, seek Christ. Don't waste your time with lesser things. Young person, listen to me, seek Christ. He is all at the At the end of the day that matters.

He is the one that you will see face to face on the day that you die. Seek Christ, seek Him, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Behold him, make it that the love of your life is Christ and what? He will meet whatever needs that he knows better than you, that you have.

Understood? Seek Christ. Seek Christ, seek Christ. God may not be calling.

I, I just wanted to give it some time for that point to sink in. God may not be calling you to singleness this morning. But he is calling you to personal sacrifice. There may be things you need to surrender for the glory of God.

Are there things that you need to surrender? There may be decisions that you need to make. For the glory of God. There may be sins that you need to forsake, there may be disciplines that you need to engage in.

It may be that you need to finally embrace commitment to Christ and his cause. He is building his church and he calls you to join him in this endeavor. He wants to use you to help folks journey from brokenness to wholeness through the gospel. This includes leading sinners to the savior, immersing them in the gospel, integrating into the life of the church, training them to reach others for Christ and all the while preparing them for the day when they transition into eternity and behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Paul says for this purpose I labor striving. A powerful ministry involves personal sacrifice marked by labor and striving. I remember years ago, many years ago when I first came to Cornerstone, my early 20s, I'm 47 now. I just celebrated a birthday.

You can sing afterwards, but many years ago in my early 20s, a single man wet behind the ear. For those of you who didn't understand, I was born with one ear, so wet behind the ear. That was funny to one person. It was funny to me, so that makes 2.

but I remember years ago when I first came to Cornerstone, I was invited to the home of Ellis and Grace Honecker. Few of you here will. Few of you here will remember the Hanukkers as charter members of this church. Ellis and Grace represent some of the wisdom.

Upon which cornerstone is built. We had a wonderful dinner together and I enjoyed hearing Ellis share with joy about how the Lord called him into vocational ministry through the words of the apostle Paul where he declared, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. I remember those words coming from Ellis's mouth like it was yesterday. Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.

At one point during the meal, I dismissed myself to use the restroom. That's all of the detail I'm going to give you. It was then that Ellis asked me to do something that I had never heard of before. There was a bucket of water in the tub, and he wanted me to use some of the water in the bucket to flush the toilet.

That seemed very strange to me. It wasn't that the toilet was broke. He just wanted to be sure that I knew that the water in the bucket was to be used to flush. Whatever.

I later learned that the Hanukkers were on a tight budget and wanted to do all that they could to give to the ministry. One way that they cut costs was through their water usage. They would save their shower water for the purpose of flushing the toilet and even watering the garden. That way they could lower their water bill and have more to give to the ministry.

They gave to the church and they supported missionaries to the day that they died. Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting that you recycle your shower water to lower your bill to give more to Cornerstone or to myself for that matter, but I share this to illustrate in a tangible way the sacrifices that can be made for gospel purposes. I submit to you this morning. That we can minister in powerful ways through personal sacrifice.

Let's move to the 4th and final commitment that we are to make in order to minister. In a powerful way. Number 4, we must minister with confidence. We must minister with confidence in the power of God to work in and through us.

The apostle Paul declares in verse 29, and for this purpose also I labor, striving, and then he says, according to his power which mightily works within me. You will recognize Paul's choice of words. He declares that he is agonizing according to his energy which energizes him powerfully or which powerfully energizes him. you understand then from where these Greek words come, Paul ministered, but he knew he was not alone.

He knew, I'm not alone. The Lord is with me every step of the way. From the cradle to the grave. He is with me Paul ministered with confidence in Christ.

He was not self-confident, he was not trusting in his own inner ability to muster the power needed for ministry, no, his power came from the Lord. He believed in and he embraced the fact that the Lord is powerful and that the powerful Lord delighted to minister through him in power. This same confidence is expressed in Ephesians, where Paul prays for the Ephesians to be strengthened with power by the Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ might dwell in their hearts through faith that they would experience the immeasurable love of Christ in order to be filled with all of the fullness of God, and then he immediately follows up with a confident declaration in the Lord when he says to him who is able To him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly all that we could ask or think.

You see, Paul trusted in the power of Christ to work mightily through his life and so he was willing to put himself on the line and to say, OK, Lord, here we go, use me, and what, the Lord saw fit to use him in a mighty and powerful way.

He trusted in the Lord. He was confident that his God was with him and that he was not alone. He understood where the Lord says, and lo, I am with you always, even until the very end of the age, and by faith he ministered and he ministered in a powerful way. He was not alone, but the Lord was with him.

In our passage today, Paul expresses confidence in the fact that the Lord is with him, working through him in a powerful way. He is confident that Christ, the Christ he proclaims is pleased to impart power and energy and ability so that Paul might minister in a powerful way through the power of the Spirit. And I remind you refresh this morning that you have a mighty and powerful God. The God who spoke all things into existence by the word of his power and who raised his son bodily from the dead, desires to empower you with the ability to live for His glory and to make a difference in the lives of people around you.

He has given to you all that you need for life and godliness. Peter tells us, you have God's word, you have the resurrected and ascended Christ, who is your great high priest who intercedes for you, your sins are forgiven and you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You have the privilege of prayer which serves as a weapon. With which you can war.

If you are indeed in Christ, then the third person of the triune God indwells you, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God has taken up residence in you, and you can be strengthened by the spirit in your inner man. Jesus gives command to go and make disciples with the assurance, he says, and lo, I am with. you always, even until the very end of the age. As a child of Almighty God, you have every reason to be confident in the Lord's ability to use you for His kingdom purposes.

The Lord wants to use you to minister in powerful ways in the lives of others. Do not underestimate the power of the little things you do. You recall the little lad who had nothing more than 5 loaves and 2 small fish, and how the Lord powerfully multiplied his offering so that thousands were fed and there was plenty leftovers to take home. They had doggy bags.

You recall the widow who gave her two mites. It was all that she had, and the Lord used her little offering to point out to the religious leaders just how abominable their empty and loveless religion was. The Lord powerfully ministered to Ellis and Grace Honecker through their decision to conserve water in order to give to the Lord's work, and the Lord desires to use you. He wants to use you.

He is using you, and he will continue to use you for his glory and for the advancement of His kingdom. Our message this morning has been entitled A Powerful ministry for commitments we must embrace in order to minister in a powerful way. Number 1, we must proclaim Christ together as Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church, we must proclaim Christ to those in our spirits of. Influence to make Christ known and to let the Lord deal with them however he wants but to proclaim Christ.

Number 2, we must minister with vision. We must minister with a vision that tells us that we want for these people to, to come to Christ, to be made whole in Christ, to be complete in Christ, and to be prepared for the day when they stand before him in judgment. Number 3, we, we must embrace personal sacrifice. To this end I labor, striving, I labor, striving, and then number 4, we must minister with confidence.

I am striving according to his power, which mightily works inside of me. And this is what the apostle Paul did, and the Lord used him mightily to help turn the Roman world upside down. He traveled throughout the empire. Leading countless folks to Christ, planting churches and developing leaders, and his labor continues to this day to bear fruit.

Many of us have been saved as a result of Paul's ministry to us. Many of us can go to that verse and say it was that verse, it was those words written by Paul that God used to cause me to be born again. This is a powerful ministry. Paul's ministry was a ministry marked by power.

Because he did these things. Had he not done these things, then where would we be? Where would we be? Earlier I mentioned to you the story of a young woman raised in the church, drifted in college, rebelled as a young woman, and shaken to the core as a result of an accident that should have taken her life.

When Kelly Lammon and I met with her in the conference room, we honestly had no idea how the meeting would go, but we knew that we needed to proclaim Christ. We knew that we needed to minister with an eye to her growth in Christ and being ready to meet the Lord on judgment Day. And as a pastor of this church, I am always mindful of the sacrifices made by folks here through your hard work and your sacrificial giving. Men like myself can minister in the way that I do.

Had it not been for you, I would not have been there in the office counseling this woman, being used of the Lord in the way that I was, and it was us together as cornerstone that made the difference in their life. Praise to God. Praise be to God. You should know as well that there are untold sacrifices that your pastors make.

On behalf of this body, you have great leaders. We have great leaders who so often go the extra mile in order to minister to the Cornerstone body. Cornerstone would not be the church, it is apart from the sacrifices made by so many in the past and even in the present. God has been good to Cornerstone.

But back to the young lady, though I was not sure how the meeting would go, I can honestly say that I have been in enough counseling situations to know with absolute confidence, confidence that the Lord is faithful. He always provides wisdom for the moment to know what to say and how to move forward. He is faithful and he always gives wisdom for the moment. The meeting that Kelly and I had with that young woman proved powerful.

Later that week, we received an email from an out of state friend expressing appreciation for taking the time to minister to this young woman. We were told that the meeting made a significant difference. In fact, I received a phone call from her father and I spoke to him over the phone for several minutes, maybe about 15, who told me that the meeting changed her life. Many had been praying for this young lady, and it just so happened that Kelly and I were answers to their prayers as we were privileged to participate in what God was doing in this young woman's life.

And I share this not at all to draw attention to myself, but simply to illustrate that the Lord sees fit to use broken vessels to minister in powerful ways. Are you a broken vessel? God will see fit to use you, despite your brokenness to minister in powerful ways. He is not limited in his ability to use us by our own brokenness, but in fact, he uses such brokenness to highlight, to grandstand his glorious grace in our lives.

Over this next ministry year, you will face opportunities for ministry. It could be a family member, a friend. A neighbor, a coworker. The Lord will bring folks along your way, and you will be left wrestling with what to do.

I want to encourage you this morning to seize upon the opportunities to proclaim Christ, admonish and teach every man with all wisdom so that you might present every man complete in Christ. Take steps of faith and embrace the sacrifices necessary in order to make a difference in the lives of others. Do not shy away from the labor and the striving that is ministry. Step forward and seize the opportunities with a confidence that the Lord will work mightily through you.

May the Lord bless you and mightily empower you as you seek to minister for His glory. When I ask you to join with me in prayer. Let's pray And we proclaim Him. Admonishing every man.

And teaching every man. With all wisdom, so that by your grace, oh God, we might present every man complete in Christ. And to this end, we labor, striving according to your power which mightily works within us. God, I pray.

That Lord, that description. would be what we are characterized by. Help us, Lord, as a church. To exalt you Use us, Lord, for the purpose of building up the body.

We are all gifted in many and various different ways. Use each of the gifts that are represented here for the building up of the body. Help us, Lord, to take our part in what it is that you are doing. Help us Lord, with an eye on the future, to seek, to go after people and to minister the gospel of your glorious grace to them, Lord.

Transform our hearts, move our hearts, Lord, cause us to be conformed into the image of Christ and help us Lord, help us Lord to be what. You call us to be, strengthen us with power by your spirit in our inner man. Christ that you would dwell in us through faith, that we would be grounded in your love and filled with fullness, Lord, may you fill this place with your glory. May you fill us, Lord, with yourself, may you have your way, be in control and exalt your holy name through us, Lord.

Do your work, do your work, Lord. Father God, we will return to you now, but a small portion of what you have blessed us with. We give to you, Lord, and we pray that You would multiply the offering, that you would use this act of worship, Lord, to glorify yourself, do much with the little that we give to you, God, for your glory's sake, Lord. Father God, thank you.

Thank you for these people, for this church, and for your work in the lives of so many who are here. Thank you, Lord. Now let us sing to you, let us worship you, Lord, in spirit and in truth, let us lift our voice to you, God, and let us exalt your holy name, oh God, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.