Give them Jesus

Intro

Good morning, it’s a pleasure and honor to bring the Word to you today. Pastor Jason is away with his family this weekend celebrating his son’s college graduation. My name is Darren Anderegg, and I am the director of Children’s Ministry here.

Last week we began a series on discipleship and Pastor Jason hit us all with a really fun image. If you remember, he invited us to consider a church of caterpillars, and ask ourselves how would that congregation be pastored toward metamorphosis? As the children’s director, you know I’ve got to have graphics for this. Now last week we learned that our caterpillar pastor, if doctrinally sound, would not just call the congregation to “think about becoming a butterfly”, or “set your mind on becoming a butterfly”. No, he would teach them to go into the solitude of that chrysalis and die to self, and be remade by Jesus. Through this image pastor Jason reminded us that discipleship has an urgency to it. We do not trip into spiritual formation, it is intentional and purposeful. A caterpillar will not become a butterfly without this and we do not grow as disciples (or make more!) when we coast. There is urgency to our discipleship.

Today we will be looking at Ephesians 4 to help us understand more about the nature of that discipleship. Let’s pray as we get started.

Prayer

Now if you thought we were done with caterpillars for the day, you thought wrong. As we turn to Ephesians 4:11 I want you to imagine more caterpillars, but this time, of the construction variety. Why? You’ll find out. Let’s jump into our passage

Read (11-12)

Ephesians 4:11–12 “And he (Jesus) gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”

Exegesis:

The first thing we notice is that Jesus is talking about the church, which is called the body of Christ; the collective of believers. And what does it say? I see a four-step process here: Jesus (the head of the body, the savior of the church) gives -> leaders equip -> saints minister -> body is built

Too often the process is disrupted and leaders fail to equip and try to do all the ministry themselves, the saints have no role, and the church is not built, but suffers as a result.

When done properly, discipleship builds the church. There’s our caterpillar, building the church. So let’s ask ourselves, where do I fit in this picture?

For most of us we fall into the last two camps. Saints and body. Btw Saints here does not refer to the catholic conception of saints. In Greek, the word is literally “holy ones” and it is Paul’s way of referring to the saved of Christ. That’s you if you believe in Jesus for salvation. we are all the saints and we are all the body of Christ. So what does that tell us? It tells us we have a job, a lifelong occupation.

Ephesians 4:11–12 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers (the leaders), to equip the saints for (pause) the work of ministry”

What is your occupation? You are a Minister of the Gospel.

Occupation: Minister of the Gospel

That is what you are called to be

Pop Quiz! Did you know what Paul was, by trade? He was a tent maker. Do you know what he never puts in his letters as he greets the churches? “I Paul, a tentmaker for the Lord”. No, he refers to himself as a minister of the Gospel, as a servant of the Lord. He understands that THAT is his true occupation and tent making is his trade.

Now I want you to hear this carefully, because this understanding never demeaned his trade. Several times in the Bible he explains how his work supported him and there is nothing negative about that. Paul was a minister of the gospel who was a tentmaker. Church, what if we saw ourselves this way?

You are a minister of the Gospel, who is a nurse, auto worker, teacher, mother”

The call here to the “work of ministry” is a call to discipleship. We are all called to be disciples who make disciples. Do you see yourself that way?

Your trade, as a mother, as a father, as businessman or woman, as a student puts you in a position for discipleship that’s unique only to you. You have access to people and experiences that others don’t have. God has placed you in your family, in your job, in your community, in your school to be a discipling minister of the Gospel.

4-14 window

The National Association of Evangelicals found that 63% of members chose to follow Jesus between the ages of 4 and 14. This window represents the time when people are developing their belief systems and are best situated (statistically) to make a life decision for Christ. We teach our kids hygiene, and safety, and communication skills; are we discipling them to know the Lord? Mothers are you mom or are you a minister of the gospel who is mom? Fathers are you dad? or are you a minister of the gospel who is dad?

Church family, are we coming alongside parents to support and disciple them as they disciple their kids. We cannot neglect this duty.

So! We are ministers of the gospel, but what is the assignment? What is the aim of our discipleship. This one is pretty straight forward, right there in v. 12.

Assignment: Build up the Church

Let’s look at it

Ephesians 4:12 “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”

All throughout this passage is the language of growth and being built up.

Ephesians 4:13–15 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,”

Our discipleship is aimed at building up the body of Christ, the church, in “every way” it says. A few things are mentioned:

Unity of the faith

Knowledge of the Son

Doctrinal solidity

Loving truthfulness

In short, our assignment is spiriual maturity in Christlikeness. Which is why the language contrasts mature manhood with childhood and enjoins us to grow into Christ.

Are we about building up the church in every way? Is our energy directed toward building up or tearing down? The work of ministry is to build up the church. The work of discipleship is to build up one another in every way into Christ.

Now finally, we must ask ourselves: as a minister of the Gospel, called to build up the Church, what is the means by which this job is accomplished? What is the tool used to build up the church? Simply, we are called to give Jesus.

Means: Give them Jesus

We can read it right there in v. 13.

Ephesians 4:13 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God...” to build up the church, to disciple others, to do this work of ministry we must give each other Jesus. Obviously right here in v.13 knowledge is emphasized, teaching the truth so we can avoid doctrinal error. But it’s more than just head knowledge. look with me at v. 15 and consider it’s language

Ephesians 4:15 “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,”

and also jump down to v. 20 and look at the language.

Ephesians 4:20–21 “…that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,”

In both examples, the way the language is phrased helps us see that the goal is not mere knowledge about Christ, but something deeper. The work of ministry is not accomplished by creating people who are Jesus dictionaries. No, notice it says we are to grow into Christ, and we are to learn Christ (not simply about him), and the truth in Jesus, it comes in conjunction with him and cannot be pursued separately from him.

We know Jesus even claimed to be truth, the truth.

Thus, building up the church in spiritual maturity so we are not like children tossed and swayed by every wind of doctrine? - learn Christ, as the truth is in Jesus. So give Jesus.

What about the unity of the faith, we mentioned that in v. 13. Give Jesus. Why, because two chapters earlier in 2:14 Paul tells us that “Christ himself was our peace” the means by which dividing walls of hostility were broken down. Unity is in Jesus.

Want truth? - give Jesus

Want unity? - give Jesus

Want to build up the church? - Give Jesus

The tool given to us for discipleship is our witness to Christ.

1 John 1:2–3 “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; ...”

You don’t need to be a scholar or a pastor or a preacher to share what Christ has done for you and meant to you. Don’t disqualify yourself by saying that you need those things.

Closing

So let’s go back to that construction image, with our caterpillar bulldozer.

Your occupation - minister of the Gospel - which means we’re all spiritual construction workers with an assignment.

Your assignment - build up the church into Christ

Your means, the tool by which it is accomplished, the bulldozer that does the heavy lifting - giving Jesus.

Our experiences with him

Our knowledge of him

our joy in him

Last week Jason called us to discipleship urgency, but that shouldn’t be the urgency of panic. Panic says: “I can’t do enough, I’m not qualified, discipleship is complicated, I’m failing”. Don’t listen to panic. We should have the urgency of purpose. We are ministers of the Gospel with an assignment. Wherever God has put you, give Jesus.

Benediction

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Let us unveil his glory to each other, and give each other Jesus, and by so doing we will be transformed step by step and grow into Him.