Family Unity

He lived in Ephesus for 2-3 years and spent a lot of time evangelising this city and presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ as the one true and only God.

Ephesus liked to deify many Gods, in particular had issue with Artemis the goddess of fertility.

The worshippers challenged Paul for several hours in the ampi theatre of the city, she was their identity and their livelihood.

Now Paul established a church and went out to do several missionary journeys, it was his home base for some years. it was from here that he wrote Corinthians.

Written AD 60 from Rome

Unity is an important subject to Paul, much of his writing was about unity and loving the one and only God.

Ephesians 4:1–3 NIV

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3

Paul emphasises what creates unity, He also emphasises Unity of One God deliberately because he is trying to break down the strongholds of the many gods that Ephesus had come accustomed to.

Ephesians is the Handbook of Unity in the church and with one another

Key text

It is a handbook on unity, in the church and with one another

so that the believers will be equipped and empowered to fulfil their life in Christ, that they will be mature and complete disciples of Jesus Christ.

Live worthy of our calling

How

Ephesians 4:8 ESV

Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

Eph 4;

Psalm 68:18 NIV

When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious— that you, Lord God, might dwell there.

Colossians 2:15 NIV

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

When He ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people

the greek word here means both men and women

He took ultimate authority

Ephesians 4:11 NIV

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

Gifts were given for unity and life and faith

Ascension gifts the gifts of leadership and authority to equip the church to be all she was called to be.

Apostles

Prophets

Evangelists

Pastors

Teachers

1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Who is the church?

We are the church, you and me...

She’s not buildings or demographics or political views.

who

She is made up of people who Love Jesus and have been redeemed by the power of His blood and resurrection.

She is the Body of Christ

Christ dwells within her.

She is not a building she is people

Ephesians 4:12 NIV

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

Eph 4:

Ephesians 4:12 ESV

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Eph 4:

THE Body of Christ needs us all

We are not to sit on our dairy airy we are all to be activated in the body the church, helping others in need, serving the community of faith, and serving our local community.

Ephesians 4:13 NIV

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Here the full measure of Christ dwells

Ephesians 4:14 NIV

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Eph 4:14

Ephesians 4:15 NIV

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Ephesians 4:16 NIV

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Eph

1 Corinthians 12:1 ESV

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

I Cor 12:1

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 NIV

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

1 Cor 12:12-

Vision and Mission

We are a pentecostal, biblical, generational community of believers, we exist to empower and equip every generation into a full life in Christ, reaching out to all generations

EQUIPPING, EMPOWERING AND CONNECTING GENERATIONS INTO A FULL LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST

We are a Pentecostal, biblical, generational community of believers in Christ Jesus who love God and love people. We exist to Equip, Empower & Connect every generation to maturity in Christ Jesus and to reach all people. (, )

this scipture of under guirds how we see the ministry of the church the congregation the body of Christ.

We are a friendly church and as part of our mandate is to seek and save the lost.

Lets Continue to not look inward and navel gaze but continue to look outward to be part of the answer for our community and the communities of the globe.

nity and the communities of the globe.

Our missions giving helps us to continue to support oversees missions.

Operation Christmas Child.

Knitting blankets

We are a generous church who loves to give and bless, so I thank you for getting behind the vision and supporting what we are doing together we are in partnership with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are all in this together, we are better together.

We need one another.

Gifts

Paul’s example,

Prophets - have been called to equip you to do the work of the ministry

Evangelists -We are all called to evangelise, but there are some who have a give to raise up other evangelists and equips us to be empowered to evangelise in a more effective way.

These 5 gifts are for the establishment of the church, so that the church will become mature and complete.

Evangelists -We ae all called to evangelise, but there are some who have a give to raise up other evangelists

Apostle

Apostles- Are here to equip you to do the work of the ministry, has the big vision, has big capacity to do many things

Paul’s example,

Ambassador for Christ

Definition NT

An apostle is generally over churches and missionary endeavours.

An apostle in the early church was someone who was an eye witness of Jesus of His resurrection and His teachings.

But so was Paul and Barnabas apostles, but the 12 apostles were a special bunch.

Special function is preaching, teaching and establishing the church.

An apostle is a messenger, a sent out one.

They have the authority by the one who sent them.

Their authority is confirmed by signs and wonders.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Apostle

APOSTLE. An apostle in the NT is an envoy, an ambassador, or a missionary. In the NT the term “apostle” is applied to one who carries the message of the gospel.

A. Definition and Origin

B. Apostles as Missionaries

C. Jesus’ Disciples as Apostles

D. Paul as Apostle of the Gentiles

E. False Apostles

F. Christ as Apostle

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Apostle

The noun “apostle” (apostolos) is originally an adjective derived from the verb apostellō (“send”), found in the NT with a considerable range of meanings. The basic concept is that of the sending of messengers or envoys; an apostle can also be called angelos (“messenger,” e.g., Luke 7:24; 9:52) or kērux (“herald,” e.g., 1 Tim 2:7, 2 Tim 1:11; cf. Mark 1:45; 2 Cor 5:20). Apostles can be human or divine, sent by human or divine authorities.

It was a secular term that seemed to be adopted by Christian’s and the early church to explain the term.

Prophet

Prophets - have been called to equip you to do the work of the ministry

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Early Christian Prophecy

Early Christian prophets were both itinerant and settled, though itinerant prophets seem to have been more prevalent in Syria-Palestine and Asia Minor than in the European churches. A group of prophets including Agabus traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch, according to Acts 11:27–30. Later, Agabus traveled from Jerusalem to Caesarea to deliver a prophetic warning to Paul (Acts 21:8–11). Judas and Silas, both prophets (Acts 15:32), carried a letter from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to the Christian church in Antioch (Acts 15:22–35); they appear to have been specially selected for that mission because of their prophetic status. The prophet John addressed seven different communities in Asia Minor (Rv 2; 3), and it is probable that he was personally acquainted with each community, probably through past visits. On the other hand, many prophets seem to have remain settled in their communities and to have exercised their prophetic gifts only locally (1 Cor 12–14).

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible The Function of the Prophet

The Function of the Prophet. It is sometimes said that prophets are not foretellers but forthtellers.

A prophet is not a fortune teller, they are a Forthtellers,

A prophet in the NT is a proclaimer of revelation that directly comes from God. The NT prophet made the OT prophesies plain revealing their truths and mysteries.

This helped laid the foundation of the church.

Often in the church we have prophecy operating amongst believers, words of encouragement here we are operating in the gift of prophecy. Because we are filled with the Holy Spirit we partake of prophecy as the prophet Joel prophesied that in the last days you sons and daughters will prophesy.

Pastor

Pastors - they are here to equip you to do the work of the ministry, are here to raise up teams of carers to do the caring, to follow up

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Pastor

Pastor. Word literally meaning “shepherd,” used in both the OT and NT in a figurative sense for rulers and leaders. Of the 12 times the word is used in the NT as a metaphor for “leader,” it is translated as “pastor” only in Ephesians 4:11 (KJV, RSV, NIV, TEV, ASV).

The NT imagery comes from an OT and Palestinian background. In the Jewish economy, the shepherd who tended a flock of sheep or goats held a responsible position. Great flocks had to be moved from place to place, and it was necessary that they be guarded from wild animals and robbers. Because of the fundamental role of shepherding in the ancient world, the word “shepherd” became a common term for a ruler.

Evangelist

Is the bringer of Good news, preaches and proclaimer of the gospel, anointed to preach to the poor.

Evangelists -We are all called to evangelise, but there are some who have a give to raise up other evangelists and equips us to be empowered to evangelise in a more effective way.

Luke 4:18 NIV

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,

Their purpose for the church. The evangelist stirs up the church, they bring life and energy and help the church to evangelise

Teacher

Teachers - to equip and train, to teach you to do the work of the ministry

Is someone who edifies and teaches the body of Christ.

They water the seed of faith that has been planted in the believer

eg Apollos

Acts 18:27 NIV

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

Acts 18:27

Teachers are gifted by the Holy Spirit, have the ability to bring truth training and inspiration to the body of Christ to raise up other teachers to the same

They make complex concepts simple and easy to understand.

Summary

In the church there are these gifts some have more than one, others are gifted strongly with one.

But their job is to equip the saints....

to Build up the Body of Christ, so that she is powerful and effective.

These gifts are to build and establish the church to be all that she has been called to be.

In our church we have, teachers, pastoral gift, prophet, evangelist and an apostolic gifts.

Matthew-pastor, teacher, Marilyn-teacher, Hannah-strong pastoral gift, Grant apostle prophet, evangelist.

Each have their part to play in establishing the church and building her up.

We are here to help you be empowered and equipped into making the purpose of the church great.

part to play in establishing the church and building her up.o

so that we can be built up, encouraged, attaining unity in the faith, so that the fullness of Christ is seen and experienced.

There is something about the body of Christ, the church when she gathers there is a sense of God’s pressence.

For many of us Sunday as we gather as a church it is the highlight of our week, we go away empowered and equipped and encouraged by the word of God.

We are Ready

Ps Ric Burrell spoke a couple of weeks ago at Proclaim Camp.

His word for us was that we are ready for what God wants to do.

We have the resources within us to do the work of the ministry.

Many have expressed their desire to reach into the community.

Are we ready to engage our community bringing the love of Christ to all people.

We are wanting to strengthen our impact on the community.

Can you imaging us having such an impact that the community of Penshurst and Hurstville St George and Kogarah and beyond that they would miss our influence.

Isaiah 43:16 ESV

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,

Isaiah 43:18–19 NIV

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19 NIV

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Is 43

Isa 43:19

We are already involved in Schools and scripture boards

English programs

Hospital visitation

Nursing home ministry

Kids club

University ministry

Helping the poor

Some of these area’s need strengthening

But there are other areas we can continue to stretch out our arms and continue to embrace others.

We are the family of God and we are better together to equip, empower and connect Generations into a full life in Jesus Christ.

The church is to go together with one heart and one call to reach and save the lost

WE are family and we are ready for all that God has for us.

Here is the point

We need everyone activated into Kingdom purpose, God purpose, so seek and save the lost, establishing and building of the church

Paul encourages the Ephesians to be mature, disciplined and to seek unity

Be at one with one another and God the Father

We are to Grow and Go on mission with one heart and one purpose,

How with maturity and discipline and love

Why to establish the church, to seek and save the lost bringing many into the Kingdom of God

Who: Together with one heart, one purpose and one call

We need to learn to speak the truth in love, so that we can be strengthened together-so that we protect the unity in the faith.

No one has the whole measure of Christ, but we pursue it and Christ in all His fullness.

We all have a part to play.

We all have a responsibility towards one another in Christ to love, build up, forgive and learn to do it well