Covenant Christian Reformed Church

Winnipeg, Canada

 

SERMON OUTLINE FOR JUN 28, 2009

Pastor Peter Hogeterp

 

THE 8TH BIBLICAL BUILDING BLOCK FOR THE TRANSITION PROCESS:

ÒThe 80/20 Principle Is Not In Effect HereÓ Ephesians 4:11-16; Matthew 25:14-30

 

Introduction:

Though the 80/20 Principle is as universal a Principle in every organization as gravity is in nature, we cannot let that Principle be in effect in the church of Jesus Christ. Every personÕs piece of the puzzle is required to make the picture complete.

 

  1. Two things that donÕt work to increase the percentage:

a)     Applying the horse whip

b)    Insisting that everyone do everything

 

  1. The Biblical Truth about giftedness

a)     Gumbel: Òthe church is like a soccer match with 20 people on the field badly in need of rest and 20,000 in the stands badly in need of exercise.Ó

b)    Does everyone know his/her spiritual gift?

c)     The Lord never asks us to do something He doesnÕt gift us to do.

d)    The Lord never gives a church a vision it is unable to carry out.

e)     A Spirit-filled church is a gift-conscious church.

f)     A gift-conscious church is a busy beehive of God-glorifying ministry.

 

  1. The Parable of the Talents

a)     What was the guy with the 1 talent thinking?

b)    We tend to err in one of two areas: either we think we have no spiritual gifts at all. Or we think the church cannot use my particular gift?

 

Conclusion:

The freedom God gives us in teaching us about giftedness is that He will use us in the area of our giftedness. We all have responsibilities in many areas; and each of us can grow in the use of gifts we didnÕt think we had. But we can say ÒnoÓ without guilt when people ask us to do something outside of our area of giftedness. And weÕll stand in line for the privilege of serving in the areas in which we are gifted.