Biblio

1.   Private victories precede public victories or ministry We need to have a consistent private victory over sins and a consistent private close walk with God. Jesus had a regular private time with God. Our ministry flows out from our secret walk with God. Ministry is a result of our intimacy with God (Mark 1.35) . In Martha and Mary’s case, Martha put service before intimacy with God which resulted in frustration and disappointment. Our ministry flows from our intimacy with God. We need to regularly spend time with God in prayer, word of God and worship all alone. God should minister to our hearts in our secret meeting with God. This is the foundation of our ministry. Authority and power in ministry come from our intimate relationship with Jesus. Consistent private walk with God over a long time is essential for effective and long-lasting ministry. It is also an integral ingredient for your ministerial growth and maturation. 2.    Character precedes your gifts/ministry/skill

Ephesians 4:11-12 11 And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,   “He personally gave some to be apostles…”:God gave offices of the church. They are not employed by anyone or are not professionals produced by some elite universities. Rather they are God’s anointed ones whom God appointed as leaders over His divine institution church which is eternal. “for the training of the saints”: One of the purpose of appointing them over church is to train saints for God’s work. All saints should be trained for work of God. Jesus trained his disciples for training. Paul trained Timothy for a ministry. Same way we all need to be trained for a ministry.    “Work of ministry”: Every believer has a ministry of God since God appointed every believer as His royal priests (1Pet.2.4,9). When you involve in your ministry, you are building up God

Acts 13:36 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, Acts 13:26 explains we are called to serve God’s purpose in our generation like David. Basically we have two purposes:     Primary purpose: To serve in God’s redemptive plan which is the salvation of human beings through Jesus Christ.   Secondary purpose: To serve the job or whatever position we are in. Serving Primary Purposes of Life in Marketplaces We often compartmentalize spiritual role and marketplace role. However, both have an integral connection.  Esther 4:13-14 tells primary purpose for Esther was not to become queen but to save the lives of Jews. God raises up people from nowhere to great positions and influence to serve God’s primary purposes. Genesis 45:5 tells primary purpose of Joseph was not to become in charge of the lands of Egypt but to preserve lives of people of God – Israel. God has given job, op

God created you with a purpose. You are not an accident on this earth. You are existing in this earth with a reason or cause. You met Christ with a reason. If you do not realise this reason, then you may be an unfulfilled person with dissatisfactions and longings. The reason is that God places both a general and a specified individual call and assignment (mission) in your life. General call and assignment is to preach gospel, prepare yourself for eternity and so on. The individual call and assignment is very special call and assignment that God has given to you as an individual. You all are unique with different talents, abilities, and so on. So also your individual call is unique and personal. Many times we know your call and assignment that comes from God. But we may respond wrongly. Today we may look at this issue- how we should respond to God’s call and assignment in our lives. Let us look at the passage Matthew 21.28-32. Here, Father asks his two sons to go to his vineyard. T

Many traditional churches have great potential to grow exponentially as long as people around them are not reached with the saving grace of Jesus. However, they are not growing. Growth means not only numerical growth with new believers but also overall health of the church and its impact and influence upon people. Here are few keys for church growth. Vision  Vision is like steering wheel of a vehicle, vision takes an organization into its future destiny. Vision is a picture of the future. It is a well known fact that you get what you see. Bible says that where there is no vision, people perish (Proverb 28.19). Vision guides us where to go. If pastor and church leadership do not know where to take church in the future, it cannot grow. Vision helps to focus what matters most. Vision gives a clear picture about what you want to achieve with your ministry. Vision inspires, motivates and engages people.  Habakkuk speaks about writing down the vision (Habakkuk 2.2). It indicates

Matthew 5:14-16: You are the light of the world-- like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.  15 Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.  16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.             Who You are? We were under darkness. Our minds were blind. God opened our heart and removed darkness from our mind and life. Devil has no more any authority over us. Light indicates all God given revelation about Christ and the life change and blessing that has brought to our life. God made us light. Our light comes from  Christ who is the Light of the world. We are now like a city on a mountain. We are light for those who are still in darkness like light in the night. This is the purpose of the light that God has given to our lives: share the light to others. Where is your light? We know that we are the light in this world. However, we

         God is active in this world. God has a plan for you. You have to take your role in God’s programme in this world. To release yourself into such plan and role, you need a few principles. These principles are drawn from Nehemiah’s personal life and ministry. 1.    Prayer with Burden to achieve God given task (Neh 1)        Nehemiah heard the pathetic condition of the city of Jerusalem and its people. He was keen to know it. He could see need and situation that beyond himself and his situation. This had brought prayer and burden for people to the life and heart of Nehemiah. He filled with burden. That led him to pray. He started to move beyond himself in prayer and burden. Paul said “ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish” (Rom 1.14).  Mk 6.34 says “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” Lk 19.10 says “For the

                Everyone in the church is a living stone (1Pet 2.4-5) who finds their foundation in Jesus, the cornerstone. Church is compared with a building. Here, it says the church is a growing spiritual building.  In the building, every stone is connected and carrying the burden of the other stones, likewise it is expected that every believer is to be connected to the other believer and should carry the burden of another. As every stone in a building has its own special role and function to build the building, to give the shape of the structure and to give existence for a building, every believer in the church has a role and function in the church to build it up. This particular role or function is nothing but the individual ministry of every believer in the Kingdom of God.                  The greatest job that Jesus is doing in this world is building his church (Mt 16.13-20). To this end, Jesus has given to all of us an authority. This authority is to overcome the pow

                               The church is the community of all true believers of all time, whom God called out from the world to participate his salvific programme. Church is body of Christ and Christ is the head (Eph 1.22–23). Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2.47). The church is local but universal. The metaphors that used for the church are: family (1Tim 5.1-2), bride of Christ (Eph 5.32), branches on a vine (Jn15.5), an live tree (Rom 11.17-24), field of crops (1Cor 3.6-9), a building (1Cor 3.9), a new temple (1Pt 2.5), God’s house (Hb 3.3). The main ministers of the church are: apostles, pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets, deacons, other ministers. The important events of the church are: Baptism, holy communion, worship, prayer, fellowship, ministry of word of God, evangelism and so on. Following are the essential attitudes which every believer needs to have in his or her spiritual life towards the church. 1. ATTITUDE OF UN