Ephesians 4:1-17

We got it backwards

Main takeaways:

You have been called by God.

Church = Ekklesia which means those called out by God.

God has called each of us out of darkness and into his light

He has called us to live HOLY lives, aka different lives, set apart.

He has called us to make disciples, to be his WITNESSES.

This chapter starts of saying I beg you to live a LIFE worthy of your calling.

AKA, if someone were called to do these things, what should their life look like? Paul goes on to paint the picture. Humble, gentle, patient, full of love for others, someone that fights for unity in God’s people,

God gave us gifts to help EQUIP us to live this life and walk out this calling. 5 fold ministry.

Their Job is to raise up and equip the CHURCH, the called out ones, aka, YOU to do the work of the ministry.

Often we think it is the Pastors job to do all the ministry, when infact his job is to train YOU to do ministry everywhere you go.

so often people will come up to Pastors and say, “Hey why don’t we do this, OR hey could we do this?” and the Pastors repsonse shouldn’t be to do it, it should be to ask, “How can I help equip you and give you confidence to go and do that… because God has put it on your heart and I want to help you see it through.”

Pastors aren’t void of participation, but our role isn’t front and center, our role is to empower our congregation to lead forward. to push them to step up and build what God is calling them to build, to reach who God is calling them to reach, to SERVE who God is calling them to serve.

When this shift is made it frees Pastors to SHEPHERD and build up servants rather than being run into the ground running all the programs.

And it frees us to pursue God’s mission in our individual and collective lives.

What is the end Goal?

to be all built up to a level of unity and maturity that we stand up to the standard of Christ.

With these 3 goals in mind…

We won’t be tossed around by our own immaturity

We will speak the truth in love

We will grow more and more like christ so the body can be HEALTHY and full of love.

Questions following this message:

What is God calling me to build?

Who is he calling me to reach?

Who is he calling me to serve?

How do I need to live to accomplish that in my daily life?