Christian Ministry: What Are The Tasks? Part 1

The point: Do not force yourself into the ministry or allow others to put you into the office if you do not have the gifts and graces required by the Lord Jesus and are not properly called by His church.

Martin compares an unqualified minister to himself trying to fly a 727 without training, emphasizing that just as he lacks the necessary skills for piloting, a minister without God's required gifts and graces has no business in the office.

Anyone who is in the Christian ministry, who picks up 1 Timothy 3, where it says, if a man desires the office of an overseer, he desires a good work. The overseer, therefore, must be, and when he reads through that list and sees that there are glaring inconsistencies between what God says he must be and what he is, he's got no more business being in the Christian ministry than I have any business this morning walking down or driving over to the Phoenix airport, finding the first 727 that's about to go out, barging into the cockpit and telling the pilot, I'm going to fly it. I'll tell you one t...

2:14 - 3:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Make time, guard time, and protect time for personal Bible reading and prayer, even if it means kicking yourself out of bed or pulling away from distractions.

The assimilation of God's Word is compared to a dry sponge soaking up water, making it its own, illustrating the deep, personal absorption of Scripture into the soul.

And there are many plans available in print that help us to guide us taking portions out of the Old and New Testament daily, or the Old and New and portions out of the Psalms. But have a plan in which you come to the Bible and read to me. this bible not hurriedly saturday night having never opened it from monday to saturday and looking for something to preach to others shame on you shame on you shame on you but coming to this bible monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday sunday not primarily as the book with which i'm going to thump others but the book by which i'm going to let god b...

25:17 - 26:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Make time, guard time, and protect time for personal Bible reading and prayer, even if it means kicking yourself out of bed or pulling away from distractions.

Martin uses the metaphor of 'finding time' for Bible reading, asserting that one will never 'find' time floating by, but must actively 'make' and 'guard' it, highlighting the intentionality required for spiritual disciplines.

You're never going to find a piece of time floating by you throughout the day saying, Hey preacher, use me to read your Bible for your own soul. You're not going to find time. People say, well, I can't find time. You can look forward to your eyeballs hang out on your cheeks.

28:11 - 28:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Fulfill your duty to pray even when you feel faint, have no desire, or your heart is cold, stomping on your feelings if necessary.

To emphasize the duty of prayer even when one doesn't feel like it, Martin uses the vivid metaphor of 'kicking your feeling in the teeth' or 'walking over the belly of your feelings,' stressing that obedience to God's command to pray transcends emotional states.

There are times when you've got to kick your feeling in the teeth. You've got to walk over the belly of your feelings. You've got to stomp on your feelings. You may go to the place of prayer and your heart is as cold as an iceberg.

32:38 - 32:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Fulfill your duty to pray even when you feel faint, have no desire, or your heart is cold, stomping on your feelings if necessary.

Describing a lack of desire for prayer, Martin uses the metaphor of a 'heart as cold as an iceberg,' to illustrate the spiritual dryness that can afflict ministers, yet still underscoring the duty to pray.

There are times when you've got to kick your feeling in the teeth. You've got to walk over the belly of your feelings. You've got to stomp on your feelings. You may go to the place of prayer and your heart is as cold as an iceberg.

32:38 - 32:49 Read in full sermon

The point: When you find yourself irritable and uptight in ministry, get into the secret place of prayer to regain proper perspective and deal with your heart.

Martin uses the humorous analogy of a wife thinking her irritable husband is 'going through to change her life' (menopause) to illustrate how a minister's unaddressed grumpiness and irritability, stemming from neglecting secret prayer, can negatively impact his family.

And you begin to say, there must be an easier way to make a living in this. Lord, how long have I got to put up with this? And you begin to get so grouchy. Your wife, if she didn't know better, she'd think you were going through to change her life the way you're acting.

38:04 - 38:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Be determined to keep a tender, blood-washed conscience at all times to prevent falling into adultery or other ministerial sins, by grieving over lustful thoughts as much as the act itself.

Martin tells a story of a man bringing a spotless lamb to the altar but remembering he'd 'blown his cork' at his kids, illustrating Jesus' command to reconcile with others before offering worship, emphasizing the priority of right relationships.

I don't want your stinking worship unless you're right with your fellow man. That's what God says. Now, can you imagine if people took that seriously? Some dude comes into the temple and he got him a nice old lamb.

49:23 - 49:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon concludes by reiterating that personal holiness is paramount for effective ministry, quoting Robert Murray McShane and an anecdote about a minister who knows God 'other…

Martin quotes Robert Murray McShane, 'What my people need more than anything else is my own personal holiness. A holy man is an awful instrument in the hands of God,' to underscore the supreme importance of a minister's personal godliness.

The care and nurture of yourself, and the first great area under that, is your own inner spiritual life and communion with God. Robert Murray McShane said it this way, What my people need more than anything else is my own personal holiness. A holy man is an awful instrument in the hands of God. There was a story told, and it's supposed to be true, that up in the highlands of Scotland, there was a Presbyterian church without a minister.

53:19 - 53:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon concludes by reiterating that personal holiness is paramount for effective ministry, quoting Robert Murray McShane and an anecdote about a minister who knows God 'other…

An anecdote about an old woman in the Scottish Highlands asking for a minister 'who knows God other than by hearsay' illustrates the deep desire of congregations for pastors with genuine, living experience of God, not just academic knowledge.

The care and nurture of yourself, and the first great area under that, is your own inner spiritual life and communion with God. Robert Murray McShane said it this way, What my people need more than anything else is my own personal holiness. A holy man is an awful instrument in the hands of God. There was a story told, and it's supposed to be true, that up in the highlands of Scotland, there was a Presbyterian church without a minister.

53:19 - 53:57 Read in full sermon