May 13, 2010, Acts 6

Key Verse:

“²So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them ⁴and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’“

(Acts 6:2-4)

Central Truth:

God has given you a unique set of skills, talents and abilities to use to make Him famous.

IT’S YOUR SERVE

I absolutely love running sound.

I honestly don’t know that much about it, and I still have a lot to learn to become really good at it. But I am a technology geek, I am fascinated by the science of how things work, and I love music. You put those three things together and running sound is like being in my sweet spot. I love the fact that if I turn the correct knob I can change the sound of the bass you hear from an “I-think-I-can-hear-it” beat to an “I-feel-it-in-my-chest” kind of thumping. It’s like I’m in charge of the largest remote control known to man!

Now, I’ve heard it said that in any organization, the ability to grow and change hits a ceiling when the person in charge is unable or unwilling to let go of the reins and give responsibility to others. When all of the decisions have to be run through the top guy,the process is ineffective, and it hurts the organization. The same is true in the Church. The pastor cannot effectively run the entire church. It is impossible. Oh, he can try, and the Church may grow for a little while. But over time, the Church will hit a ceiling and things will stagnate or drop.

The disciples knew this principle and knew that their sweet spot was at the intersection of prayer and preaching. They knew that they couldn’t do that and run the food pantry and answer the phones and everything else that had to be done. That is why they had to delegate some of the responsibility for other areas of the ministry to “the seven.” The church was growing, and they didn’t have the time or the expertise needed to give to that portion of the ministry to make it as effective as it needed to be. But they were smart, stuck with what they knew was their calling, and the ministry flourished (vs 7).

I have a blast running sound, but it’s my skill set and my sweet spot. Yours is probably different (See Romans 12:4-8 and all of 1 Corinthians 12). You may come to the table with a love for kids and games. I can hear All-Stars calling your name. Or you may love to sing (but not in front of large crowds), and you just adore babies. I’m sure that there is a baby in Pee Wee’s that would love to hear your soothing voice. Or you may just enjoy making a fool out of yourself for others to see. I hear teenagers love that stuff. No matter what your skill set though, the important thing is that you get involved and serve somewhere. Jesus didn’t give us our particular talents, abilities, likes and dislikes so that we could just sit in the crowd on Sunday morning and watch. He gave us those things so that we could serve those who don’t know Him and make His name famous!