The Four Stages of Ministry: Part Three - Fruitfulness

 
The Four Stages of Ministry: Part Three - Fruitfulness
By Jeremy Vess based on "The Four Stages of Ministry" by Gerald Brooks

I had the privilege of attending a pastors forum where Gerald Brooks was leading a session entitled "The Four Stages of Ministry."   The following is what I learned.  (my notes and thoughts are in italicized words)

When we learn to be faithful and to focus in our areas of ministry it brings about a rewarding season of being fruitful.  This time in our life of ministry is one where we begin to see the fruit of our labor.  We begin to see lives changed and people growing in their faith.  We also begin to receive compliments, little pats on the back for a job well done and this can be a dangerous time for many ministers if they allow it go to their heads.  We often do not truly discover our character's weak spots until we've achieved our goals.  It is in this time that it is easy to loose sight of the larger battles still raging.  

King David discovered this in his life in 2 Samuel chapter 11...

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

David had become content within himself, when he should have been off to war as was his duty as king. Remember to never delegate out the roles and responsibilities that GOD has ordained for only you to do. 

Stage 3: Fruitfulness

John 15:1-2 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

1. This is where people notice you.
2. This is when you see the payoff of time and skills.
3. This is also the danger zone.

Success can sidetrack you.
- Success gives you opportunities, which can distract you.
- Success gives you attention, which can flatter you.
- Success draws people who really do not really care for you.
- Success gives you a false positive about you

Biblical model: Jabez

1. Handle the weight of life with integrity
1 Chronicles 4:9a Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers

2. Step out from the crowd
1 Chronicles 4:9a Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers
 
3. Be bigger than your problems.
1 Chronicles 4:9b and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow.

4. Make prayer your lifestyle
1 Chronicles 4:10a And Jabez called on the God of Israel

5.  Don’t be comfortable
1 Chronicles 4:10b Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory,

6. Love God’s presence
1 Chronicles 4:10c that Your hand would be with me

We must learn the balance of being fruitful without loosing sight of our mission at hand.  We must walk introspectively and with fear and trembling as Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12-13 

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."


Lesson from 2023 Pastors Roundtable Victory Church Raleigh with Gerald Brooks "The Four Stages of Ministry"  Additional notes & commentary added by Jeremy Vess