HOW TO RECEIVE ENCOURAGEMENT FOR MINISTRY

TEXT - 2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-2

INTRODUCTION

This morning I am going to begin a new series of messages from the book of Second Corinthians.

An overview of this book reveals that the main theme deals with the topic of "ministry."

The word minister has come to mean something much different today than it did in biblical times.

Today, many people think of a minister as an ordained pastor of a church.  Then there are those who use this term to refer to others who are paid by the church to perform special functions, such as "minister of music" or "minister of education."

The word minister however can also be used to refer to any member within a church, who is serving in any capacity.  Each member of the church should be a minister in the sense that they are involved in some aspect of the church's ministry.  Throughout this letter we find many references encouraging us to be ministers or to become involved in ministry.

In the book of First Corinthians Paul primarily pointed out the moral and spiritual problems that were within the church in Corinth.

In the book of Second Corinthians Paul gives this church instruction on how to solve and avoid many of the problems that the lord's churches experience.

One of the reasons why there are so many churches having so many problems today is because the members are idle and not involved in the ministry of the church.

The well known radio preacher M. R. DeHaan preached one morning with his right eye swollen shut, his cheek puffed up as though he had an orange in his mouth, and his upper lip was four times its normal size.  The reason for his condition was not because he got into a fight but because he had been attacked by a bunch of loafer bees.  His beehive was so full of honey that it literally crowded out the bees. There were thousands of them and they gathered on the outside of the hive.  Having nothing to do, they just loafed at the entrance looking for trouble.  The swarm had always been gentle, so DeHaan didn't bother to wear a veil or gloves.  But before he could do anything, he was attacked.

The reason why this colony become so vicious was because they were idle.  As long as they were busy gathering honey and storing it away, they never bothered anyone; but having nothing to do, they became loafers and began looking for trouble.

This same thing also occurs within many of the Lord's churches.  Some of the members are simply loafing around not involved in the ministry of the church and like the bees, they begin to attack the people who are trying to help.  Like the old saying goes, “You can’t rock the boat when you are rowing.”

As we study this book together I would like you to ask yourself one question over and over again, "Am I involved in the ministry of my church?"

This morning our text is found in 2 Corinthians 1:1-2 and the title of my message is, "How to Receive Encouragement For Ministry."

As we study the introduction to this book I would like us to see three ways we can all find encouragement in our ministry for God.