Are You Thinking Like a Minister, Yet?

Diakonos = Minister, Server, Deacon

Matthew 20:26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant [deacon/minister], 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave [doulos]; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served [ministered to] but to serve [minister], and to give his life a ransom for many." (NRSV)

Ephesians 4:11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

1 Peter 4:10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve [minister to] one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
2 Corinthians 3:4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, 6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, 8 how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory!

Tychicus is a dear brother and faithful minister in the Lord. (Ephesians 6:21) Epaphroditus is a messenger and minister to Paul's needs. (Philippians 2:25) Epaphras is a faithful minister of Christ. (Colossians 1:7)

  1. Are you thinking like a minister? Our ministry is a ministry of the Spirit. How is that different from a ministry of the law?
  2. Are you thinking like a minister in your family? Describe your ministry. What steps are you taking to develop your ministry? What blocks your ministry? What kind of healing do you need in order to more fully minister?
  3. Are you thinking like a minister in your church? What steps are you taking to develop your ministry? What blocks your ministry? What kind of healing do you need in order to more fully minister?
  4. Are you thinking like a minister in the world? What is your ministry in the world? What is the Lord giving you to do to serve others? In your workplace or neighborhood? What blocks your ministry? What kind of healing do you need in order to more fully minister?
  5. How are you a minister to yourself? What steps are you taking to minister to yourself? What blocks your ministry? What kind of healing do you need in order to more fully minister?