8.

The Ministry of
Jesus was by
Teamwork
 A team is a group
organised to work
together for a common
goal or project
 What Biblical
Examples of Team
Ministry can you
think of?
The Trinity Paul & Timothy /
Adam & Eve Epaphroditus /
Moses and Titus
Jethro / Joshua The Jerusalem
David & Jonathan Council
Joshua & Caleb Nehemiah
Paul & Barnabas Esther & Mordecai
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Women in the team…
In Philippi, Lydia, Acts
16:11ff
Priscilla (Acts 18:2,18, 26)
and Aquila, instructed
Apollos, who was a
teacher (Acts 18:26)
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Some suggest that women are
leaders of house churches: Chloe (1
Corinthians 1:11), Nympha
(Colossians 4:15) and Apphia
(Philemon 2).

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There are at least thirteen women
mentioned by Paul (Lydia, Chloe,
Nympha, Apphia, Mary, Persis,
Tryphena, Tryphosa, Priscilla, Euodia,
Syntyche, Phoebe, and Junia) who
took part in the gospel ministry.
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Paul’s words made no distinctions in
role or function between men and
women in ministry.

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Phoebe is assumed to
have delivered Paul’s
letter to Rome, and is
warmly praised by
Paul to the church in
Rome (Rom. 16:1–2)
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Phoebe is assumed to
have delivered Paul’s
letter to Rome, and is
warmly praised by
Paul to the church in
Rome (Rom. 16:1–2)
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Ecclesiastes 4:9 Genesis 2:18
Proverbs 27:17 1 Cor. 3:9
1 Peter 4:10 Romans 15:1
Hebrews 10:24 Exodus 18:17-21
1 Cor. 12:14 Proverbs 11:14

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"It is amazing what you
can accomplish if you do
not care who gets the
credit.”
Harry Truman
 “Scripture shows that God
values, honours, and
establishes team leadership in
His church for the good of the
body and His glory”
In Acts, the Early Church:
At Pentecost Peter stood up with the
eleven, 2:14
He spoke declaring that they were
witnesses, 3:15, 2:32, 5:32
He and John ministered as a team—
Acts 3, 4; In Samaria 8:14
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Visiting Cornelius he took 6
brothers.
The first missionary team to
the Gentiles was two men
(3 with John Mark) 13:2.
Both Paul and Barnabas
formed new teams when
they separated, 15:39-40
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When Paul went to Rome
he had Luke with him, 27:2
We don’t have information
about the roles of the team
members—we do see that
Peter and Paul appear to
be the main spokespeople.
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Paul has co-authors in 8 of
his 13 letters: Gal 1:1, 1
Cor 1:1, 2 Cor 1:1, Phil 1:1,
Col 1:1, 1 & 2 Thess 1:1,
Philem 1

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- Named are, “all the
brothers’, Sosthenes,
Timothy, Silvanus, and
Mark in 2 Tim 4:11

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For Jesus,
Basic team of 12
Occasionally only 3
Ministry in 2’s, Lk
10:1, Mk 6:7

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By the end of his life they were his
friends, Jn 15:15
I no longer call you slaves, because a
master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now
you are my friends, since I have told you
everything the Father told me.
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A few ideas about
team ministry from
Jesus:

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1. Jesus had a team
from mixed
backgrounds
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 A leader should try to begin
with people who share common
traits and values. Therefore they
won’t need to explain
themselves to one another, or
learn each other’s backgrounds.
Some of the first disciples
were fishermen—Andrew,
Peter, James and John.
Matthew was a tax
collector, on the far left of
politically, and working
with the Romans. 
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Simon the Zealot was on the
Some of the first disciples
far right politically, he hated
were fishermen—Andrew,
anything to do with Rome!
Peter, James and John.
No information about Judas
Matthew was a tax
Iscariot, Philip,
collector, on the far left of
Bartholomew, Thomas,
politically, and working
Thaddaeus or James, the
with the Romans. 
son of Alphaeus. 
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Simon the Zealot was on the
far right politically, he hated
anything to do with Rome!
No information about Judas
Iscariot, Philip,
Bartholomew, Thomas,
Thaddaeus or James, the
son of Alphaeus. 
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Simon the Zealot was on the
far right politically, he hated
anything to do with Rome!
No information about Judas
Iscariot, Philip,
Bartholomew, Thomas,
Thaddaeus or James, the
son of Alphaeus. 
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Simon the Zealot was on the
far right politically, he hated
anything to do with Rome!
No information about Judas
Iscariot, Philip,
Bartholomew, Thomas,
Thaddaeus or James, the
son of Alphaeus. 
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Jesus saw past the
differences and saw the
value each would bring.
Good teams are made up of
people with varied
personalities, backgrounds,
gifts and perspectives.
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We might note here that…
Jesus began with a core
group that had something
in common. (Peter,
Andrew, James, and John—
fishermen and taxpayers
to Rome)
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Diversity was introduced—
strong teams are built
upon diversity.
Jesus didn’t fear tension
and conflict. 

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 Jesus built
relationships within
his team
 2. Jesus did not
always treat all team
members in the same
way
Peter, James, John were
Jesus' “inner three.” They
experienced and saw
things the others didn’t. 
John was “the disciple
whom Jesus loved.” 

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Peter asks Jesus about
John and asks, “What
about him?”  Jesus said, “If
I want John to live until I
come back, what is that to
you?  You follow me.”
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One person suggests that
Jesus invested more time
with the high
performers on his team. 

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3. Jesus Delegated
Work
Jesus could have done
everything better than
anyone else…But he didn’t
do everything himself.
Some jobs he delegated
weren’t exciting.

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Jesus sent Peter fishing so
that they could pay the
temple tax (Matthew 17:27)
He sent two of His disciples
to fetch a colt (Matt 21:1-2).
He sent disciples to set up
the Last Supper
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Jesus gave His disciples
exciting jobs too.
Preach the gospel and
heal the sick (Luke 10:1-9)
—without any money or
supplies!

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They got to help in
feeding the 5000—even
though at first stood back
and Jesus ended up doing
it himself.
The Great Commission!

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4.  Jesus gave away
Authority
How Mark Dever
Gives Out Authority
Senior pastor of the
Capitol Hill Baptist
Church in Washington,
D.C.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-mark-dever-passes-
out-authority/

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Here are a few of his ideas:
1. Make sure your elders (leaders) are
staff and non-staff.

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2. Limit the percentage of main-slot
preaching.
Mark preaches 50-65% of Sunday
mornings.
The congregation depends more on the
Word than on one man.

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3. Create many
other
opportunities to
teach.
Dever rarely
preaches on
Sunday evening. 

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4. Give young preachers / teachers the
chance to make mistakes.

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4. Give young preachers / teachers the
chance to make mistakes.

“…generally speaking, young

teachers have a lot of leeway in
our church to be boring and to
make mistakes.”

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5. Let others steal your ideas.

6. Be willing to lose elder

votes. 
Some pastors “never lose
votes.” Dever says in that case,
you might as well get rid of
your elders.
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7. Let other leaders / elders lead the
congregation through issues in
meetings. 
Let the elder who’s been most involved in
something lead the church through it
publicly.

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8. Be devoted to one thing in the church
and give freedom elsewhere. 
Mark is a gifted preacher and devotes time
etc. to preparing sermons.
If the church works in another area, others
lead it—he keeps his hands off.

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9. Don’t micromanage. 

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9. Don’t micromanage. 

Make sure you know what is important for

you to micromanage.
In most other things gives free rein.
Micromanagement not only exhausts a
leader and stops others growing.

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10. Review weekly services. 
This helps people to evaluate, to think,
and to love the congregation better. It
grows them as leaders.
Invite lay leaders, non-church staff, to
comment.

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10. Review weekly services. 
This helps people to evaluate, to think,
and to love the congregation better. It
grows them as leaders.
Invite lay leaders, non-church staff, to
comment.

40
11. Be willing to receive criticism. 
Mark invites criticism.
This gives other would-be leaders room to
spread their wings. If you never invite
criticism, you’re teaching everyone around
you that they must follow your likes or be
punished. Leaders don’t grow in this kind of
environment.
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12. Be quick to forgive. 
It’s hard for a fault-finder to
give away authority—you only
see faults, so don’t trust. If
you’re quick to forgive, you’ll
find it easier to entrust and
empower others.
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13. Rejoice in the
victories of others.
Do you like to see
someone else do the
job well?

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