4 Defining Cores in Ministry



“Until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen”
(Acts 1:2 New King James Version)



There are many details mentioned in the beginning of the letter of Acts as to how the ministry continues, the equipping, and the expansion, which began after Jesus ascended into Heaven. It is the perpetuation series of the spreading of the Kingdom of God. God’s grace was working through the hand of the apostles empowered by the Holy Spirit, the miracles, the prayers, the converts and more, reveals such an indelible history that we can’t neglect its effect until today.

In this letter of Acts, we are learning how the ministry continues to spread throughout the world, who empowered the Gospel carrier, what foundations the church is built on, how and why the persecution started. Every Christian can't afford to miss this verse of the scripture because there are some valuable nuggets that are applicable to the church.

Let’s start to talk about the 4 cores in ministry that Luke felt necessary to share to Theophilus, and interestingly enough, all of them are centered on one unique person and His name is Jesus. These 4 defining cores in ministry should at least be refreshed occasionally among church leaders to get the right perspectives on what ministry is about, so here they are:

1.   Ministry is a delightful occupation (Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up): Jesus was always caught doing the Father’s business, He went out to pray before the dawning of the day, He teaches anytime of the day, traveling with the disciples and His followers and imparting some spiritual wisdom to them.

2.   Ministry is to be led by the Holy Spirit (He through the Holy Spirit): The Holy Spirit moves to empower, enable, and equip a person to know about Jesus and making Him known. The works of the Holy Spirit is dynamic in reaching out to people and it can lead a person in its variety of works. Its wisdom, counsel, and understanding (Isaiah 11:2-3) can administer and connect to every individual either at church or on the mission field like Philip (Acts 8:29). If God can put His spirit into His servant (Isaiah 42:1) anytime, then the Holy Spirit is subservient to His command for anyone to be filled with His Spirit, besides, He gives the Spirit without limit (John 3:34). The Holy Spirit and God’s word compliment to each other (Isaiah 59:21), it brought a dynamite effect either on a large or small scale of the listeners.

3.   Instruction is given for ministry (through the Holy Spirit had given commandments): it is like a roadmap to know which direction to go. The instruction can be summed up in this way: to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach about God’s way, just like the great commissioning in Matthew 28:19-20. Commitment, dedication, and maturing are what the great commissioning is about. These three indicators are to direct someone to be sold out solely to Christ and not controlled by the world and its direction which is self-seeking.

4.   Knowing the calling of the ministers (He had chosen): God chooses people to be saved. To have been regenerated by receiving salvation offered through the blood of Jesus Christ. We cannot afford to serve in the church without being regenerated. The calling demands the cleansing of a person to make ministry pure and clean. Jesus chooses His disciple not by coincident, though one of them is betraying Him, but He choose them purposely. Though Judas Iscariot was given all the time to repent, but he’d rather condemned himself and choose to commit suicide. Jesus is calling the twelve by sending them two by two to heal and to preach the Gospel around Jerusalem and Judea. God has called a certain individual for a certain project and purpose to accomplish His will. He didn’t choose David to build a temple but Solomon instead (1Chronicles 22:6) and also Paul was called to be an apostle in Corinthians 1:1.

Acts 1:2 contributed lots of outlines to be drawn and dissected it, but let me just get a collective application from this verse alone: ministry is not a job that we looked for, but is about answering the call He made to us. Enjoy and love the ministry. I know there are some more inputs that you want to add on, what do you think are they?


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