Around a hundred days into my role as a first-time lead pastor, it finally happened: I felt besieged—over-gunned and understaffed. I don’t recollect the exact moment, but I recall the sensation. After the tenth warning in four days—via phone calls, emails, text messages, and face-to-face conversations—the system melted down: WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH VOLUNTEERS … YOU MUST “FIND” MORE!!!

The atmospheric pressure changed, alarms blared, lights flashed, and a ticker rolled across the screen in my mind—I didn’t know it was possible for a church to need so many different types of volunteers: nursery workers, Bible-study leaders, greeters, facility maintenance people, offering counters, and the list seemed to increase exponentially by the millisecond. Not surprisingly, as the congregation rapidly grew in attendance over the next three years, the required roster grew longer and more elaborate: parking attendants, ushers, musicians, soundboard experts, MOPS workers, and on and on. Every time we’d fill a slot, five more would open.

I look back on those days with a sense of haunting wistfulness. Attracting, motivating, training, and deploying volunteers in our post-COVID era feels far more complicated, painful, and fraught. Countless ministry leaders and parishioners are wrestling with burnout due to unprecedented amounts of change, leaving our congregations depleted and overtaxed. Add to that the steady decline of church attendance as of late, and many of us wonder: How do we keep our houses of worship afloat, especially given they are essentially nonprofit charities dependent upon the free gifts of people’s time, talent, and treasure? More pointedly, how do we preach in a way that mobilizes God’s people for effective ministry?

What I am about to share took nine years of trial and error to discover. I share this with a bit of chagrin: after our church finally hit our stride, COVID knocked us down for two solid years. However, by God’s grace, we got back up last year (2022) and started tentatively jogging again. With all that in mind, I pray these five suggestions offer hope and encouragement as we struggle to find a new path forward in our uncertain climate.

Repeatedly Remind Yourself Who’s in Charge

As the pastor of a church, I tell myself daily, “This congregation belongs to Jesus. He’s the general.” Why? It’s his opinion, not mine. After all, he declared, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18).

One of the ways I apply this truth is in my leadership. At the beginning of meetings, I remind our intrepid elders and staff that “Jesus is the ‘Chief Shepherd’ of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport” (1 Pet. 5:4). Then, at the close of each meeting, as we pray, I speak it aloud all over again: “Father, we know this church family belongs to you, so please help us steward it well.” Jesus’ Lordship is not a cliché but a reality we must regularly acknowledge and grasp.

Preach on God’s Purposes for Christians

Having embraced Jesus’ absolute ownership and leadership, the next step is to craft a few sermons that expound on God’s purposes for his people, whether as a stand-alone sermon series or as part of a more extensive one.

The technical term is teleology. To be clear, this involves offering more specificity than addressing the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

I’ve discovered that people need more, so I choose texts that connect our salvation to service. For instance, one of my favorites is Ephesians 2:1-10. After Paul asserts, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (v. 8), he then makes sure to explain why this is so: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (v. 10, emphasis mine).

Another notable passage is 1 Peter 2:4-10. The Apostle states, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (v. 10). Why does this matter? Through Jesus Christ, “the living Stone” (v. 4), we are “living stones … being built into a spiritual house [some translations say “into a temple of the Spirit”] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (v. 5). Through Jesus, our heavenly Father has shown us mercy so we can become a holy priesthood serving in his temple.

Keep in mind this thrust entails swimming upstream. The easy-believism and shallow discipleship of the American church underscores the salvation event to the exclusion of our sanctification through service. Both are free gifts of grace and are twinned in God’s eyes.

Preach on Spiritual Gifts

Hitched to the concepts of salvation and service are spiritual gifts. After much study, I’ve come to hone in on three texts that frame three categories whenever I preach on this topic.

The first is Romans 12:1-8, which offers what some call “motivational or practical gifts.” They are prophesying, teaching, encouraging, serving, giving, leading, and showing mercy. Whenever I preach on this passage, I provide definitions of each gift, and I point out that the first three gifts are “speaking gifts” while the final four are “service gifts.” All seven gifts are necessary for the body of Christ to thrive.

First Corinthians 12 details the second set of gifts and has been labeled by scholars as the “charismatic or spiritual gifts.” This includes wisdom, knowledge, discernment, prophecy, tongues, interpretation, faith, healing, and miracles. Again, when I preach, I provide definitions of each with the caveat that different Christian traditions possess varying understandings of these charisms. Depending on whether the church or denomination is Cessationist in some form, they may not acknowledge several of the gifts tendered in 1 Corinthians 12. The preacher must exercise wisdom here.

The third grouping is presented in Ephesians 4 and is often referred to as the “ministry or office gifts.” They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. While the final three offices are almost universally acknowledged, the first two are more contested. Given the theological diversity of our people, I think this should be explained to the congregation. Whatever the case, I tend to highlight the dominant idea of the passage, found in verses 12-13: Christ gives spiritual gifts to “equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” to “reach unity” and “become mature.” If believers do not discover and deploy their gifts, the body will be stunted and fail to thrive as Christ intends. We cannot impress this truth upon our congregations strongly enough.

This subject is so crucial I preach on it annually (most of the time). I usually reserve four to six weeks around the end of July and August to preach on God’s purposes and spiritual gifts (as a cohesive sermon series). I recognize this is not the standard operating procedure for many pastors. Our church is unique in that it is influenced by the nearby Navy station and, in particular, the rotation schedule of the US Naval War College. Dozens of new people—who’ve just moved to our city—start visiting our church in Mid-July before classes begin in August. Many of our new attendees will only be stationed in our area for ten months, so we don’t waste any time when it comes to plugging them into our faith community.

Whichever season works best for your church, I recommend preaching on spiritual gifts yearly. Why? God created his people to serve, gave them gifts, and they are unlikely to reach full maturity without total commitment and concerted effort.

Preach with Creativity

Because so much is at stake, invest massive doses of passion and ingenuity into teaching on spiritual gifts. What does that look like?

To start, give careful attention to your series titles and graphics. Are they interesting? Are they colorful and capture attention? Do you want to create a sermon-series bumper (promotional video)? You can find a sample from our church’s old YouTube channel here.

I will scour www.ignitermedia.com for dynamic concepts and images. Here’s a sample of series titles:

*Get in the Game (2009)

*Plug-In (2010)

*Blast Off (2011)

*Just Do It! (2016)

*Get on the floor WALLFLOWER! (2017)

*All Hands On Deck! (2018)

*Created to Serve (2019)

*Be the Church! (2022)

This is the bottom line: find an image, analogy, or metaphor that resonates and inspires action.

Let me paint a picture by providing a recent illustration:

Series: Be the Church!

Date: 7/24/22; Title: Be the Church; Text: Eph. 2:1-10

Date: 7/31/22; Title: A Precious Priesthood; Text: 1 Pet. 2:4-10

Date: 8/7/22; Title: One Body with Many Gifts; Text: Rom. 12:1-8

Date: 8/14/22; Title: Gifted for the Common Good; Text: 1 Cor. 12:1-14

Date: 8/21/22; Title: Gifted so We can Grow Up; Text: Eph. 4:1-16

Date: 8/28/22; Title: God’s Ambassadors; Text: 2 Cor. 5:11-21

Another recommendation is to find ways to make the series special. Consider festooning the sanctuary, foyer, or fellowship hall with banners, streamers, balloons, nice tablecloths, and so on. Instead of serving your standard, post-service snacks, upgrade to fancier fare: mini-quiches, cheese cubes, strudels, and the like. The goal is to signify that serving is significant; it calls for us to give God our best, not our leftovers.

Preach With Immediacy and Applicability

Years ago, I heard a well-known pastor say, “Preach from the bulletin.” Today I would phrase it this way: Make your announcements your sermon application. Be direct and as concrete as possible in sharing what the church needs. Don’t let people leave the church facility without taking the next steps.

To accomplish this, our congregation schedules “EFC Orientation” to coincide with the sermon series. We decorate the fellowship hall with balloons and table pieces/accents. We offer savory Hors d’oeuvres (not snacks nor donuts) and punch (not lemonade!). The point is to create a festive and elegant atmosphere. The message is: “We value you, and we take volunteering seriously!” We staff the tables with smiling, friendly leaders eager to speak with prospective volunteers.

The left side of the fellowship hall is occupied with tables and sign-up lists to serve in a ministry. We usually focus on a few critical high-value ministries: worship and tech, children and teens, soup kitchen, stewardship-facilities, to name a few. The right side holds the sign-ups for the community groups (small-group Bible studies) and the men’s and women’s ministries. We put up appealing and clear signage.

Furthermore, at the end of each sermon, for the application, I indicate we will now hear from two ministry leaders, who will gladly describe ways congregants can plug into the church. Each person spends two minutes each (back-to-back) introducing him or herself, explaining the purpose of the ministry and the current needs. We coach them to be energetic and articulate. They must be sharp and on-point; no droning allowed. Afterwards, I come back up and say, “So-and-so will be in the fellowship hall after this service waiting to meet you!”

Two additional suggestions may prove helpful. Multiple times during the sermon series, I urge people to take an online spiritual gifts test. I often recommend this free one. I tell people it’s a good thing to do whether you have never taken one or perhaps have not taken one recently, as people’s gifts can change over time, and maybe a less significant gift has become more developed as of late.

Second, I urge people to try out or test serving in a new ministry. If it’s a bad fit, or they don’t enjoy it or are not good at it, I give them permission to “quit” and try something else. We must allow people to experiment. Often people fear being trapped in a ministry indefinitely, and there’s no way out. Promoting a trial-and-error culture can only benefit the body.

The Importance of Preaching on Spiritual Gifts

While preaching on spiritual gifts is a lot of work, I am convinced it’s worth our best efforts. Whenever I feel the squeeze, I remind myself why it’s vital.

First, spiritual gifts are a core piece of our discipleship. Healthy apprentices discover and deploy their gifts for God’s glory and his church’s growth.

Second, Christians are called to invest their God-given time, talents, and treasure into his eternal kingdom, which will bear everlasting fruit. Stock prices rise and fall, and social media apps blow up and vanish, but God’s reign will last forever.

Third, we are one body with many parts and gifts. We need all the gifts to thrive and thus are truly better together.

Fourth and lastly, as Jesus communicated in his parable of the talents (Matt. 25-14-30), on the final day, every Christian must give a reckoning of how they stewarded what was entrusted to them. Accountability is unavoidable. I’ve found that most beloved sons and daughters of the King long to hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt. 25:23). If we can prepare people for those words, we will hear them as well.

Paul A. Hoffman is senior pastor of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport, Rhode Island. He is an adjunct professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is the co-author of 'Preaching to a Divided Nation' and author of 'Reconciling Places: How to Bridge the Chasms in Our Communities.'