You are the Lord’s temple; you are His holy nation. My prayer is that you’re beginning to realize more and more the glorious privilege and radical power such a calling entails.

But how does a church get built-up like this, so that it becomes, increasingly, a beautiful temple and a holy nation?

Paul tells us that as church members take up works of ministry Jesus uses them to carry out His plan for building the Church (Eph. 4.11, 12).

This means that every member of every local church is a vital brick in the temple of the Lord, a contributing citizen to the holy nation. Each of us must submit to the teaching and equipping we need in order to carry out our callings as ministers and servants of the Lord.

Every member a minister

The service we take will be unique to the places we go and the people we meet there. Each member of a local church has a Personal Mission Field to which he or she has been sent by the Lord Jesus to bring near the Kingdom of God, hoist the banner of God’s glory, and serve the needs of those around them (Jn. 20.21; 2 Cor. 10.13-8).

Every day we encounter people who need to know some touch of Jesus’ grace, truth from His Word, or presence of His comforting Spirit. Church members are called to be conduits of grace, truth, and comfort to the world, just as Jesus was when He walked among us.

But the life of service doesn’t come naturally to us. Rather, we must embrace it in prayer, prepare for it in study and training, and seek it every moment in all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities. We must pray daily that God would help us to make the most of our time, and that He would show and lead us into just the work of service that each person we meet may require (Eph. 5.15-17; Ps. 90.12, 16, 17).

No local church can seriously regard itself as such which is not diligently equipping and sending every member of its body for works of ministry. This is how local churches grow in unity and maturity; this is how, by word and deed, we proclaim the excellencies of Christ to the world around us. The temple where Christ dwells swells with His presence and issues in rivers of living water through the citizens of His Kingdom, as they are dispersed throughout the neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools of our communities (Jn. 7.37-39).

Gifts for serving

To help us in this high and holy calling, Jesus has provided gifts for ministry which He bestows according to His good pleasure by His Spirit (1 Cor. 12.7-11). Every church member has access to all the gifts for ministry Christ would give us, according to the opportunities for serving others that crop up before him each day.

It will help us be more alert to such opportunities, and ready to draw on the gifts of the Spirit, if we begin praying more consistently for the Lord to use us as His servants, and if we will prepare ourselves through training and discipline for whatever situations we might expect in our Personal Mission Fields.

The Church is called to be the servant of the Lord, and to reach out in love to those around it with the same love that Jesus showed when He walked among us. Unless equipping all the members for works of ministry is our objective, we are not building the Church as Jesus intends.

Next steps

Have you mapped out your Personal Mission Field? Download our free brochure by clicking here, and get started praying and preparing to fulfill your calling as a servant of Lord among the servants of the Lord. Share this exercise with another member of your church.

Additional Resources

Download this week’s study, Christ’s Vision for the Church.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

The Church is the flash point for revival, but only if we prepare for it as we should. Order a copy of T. M.’s book, Preparing Your Church for Revival, from our online store.

And men, download our free brief paper, “Men of the Church: A Solemn Warning,” by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.