What Does Christian Ministry Involve?

Paul’s Christian Ministry

Tonight, we’ll be continuing our Sunday evening series through a part of the Bible called Colossians. You may remember, God gave Colossians to us in the form of a letter. It was written by a servant of Jesus named Paul. And it was originally sent to a Christian church in a city called Colossae. But when God gave us this letter, it wasn’t just for those Christians 2000 years ago. But God has preserved it for us. And so far as we’ve gone through this letter, we’ve seen how important it is for Christians to be rooted in gratitude, and built up in knowledge of Christ. We’ve gained helpful insights about the preeminence of Jesus and how he reconciled us to God. But now in our text tonight, Paul changes gears somewhat. And he explains what it involves, to get the good news of Jesus and his saving work out into the world. Paul tells us about the call of Christian ministry.

And so I’d encourage you, go ahead and grab a Bible. And please turn with me to Colossians, Chapter 1. I’ll be reading from Colossians Chapter 1, starting at verse 24. But before I do, please pray with me. [Prayer]

Colossians 1:24-29

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Six Features of Christian Ministry

[This sermon was preached by Rev. Devon Rossman at Fellowship Reformed Church – one of the bible-believing churches in Mt Pleasant, MI on November 8, 2026. To hear the full sermon regarding “the Call to Christian Ministry,” please listen to the audio recording above].