Sermon Tone Analysis
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Scripture
Introduction
Don’t forget that next Sunday is Thankful Sunday and ya’ll are the sermon.
If you are new and don’t know what this is, let me take a second to explain. . . .
Today we are looking at our value of intentional faith development.
We describe this value as:
Growing in Christ demands more than weekly worship.
It is through Intentional Faith Development that God’s Spirit works in us making us more like Christ as we grow in the knowledge and love of Christ.
We offer small groups, Bible Studies, music ministries, age group ministries, and other opportunities for spiritual growth.
It is our process of sanctification, a process of holiness where we become more and more like Jesus in our thoughts and actions.
Sanctification is the work that the Holy Spirit does in us to transform us to be disciples for the transformation of the world.
This is the part of being a Christian that is not easy.
It requires perseverance, discipline, and faith among other things.
It is something that we do together that we help each other do. it involves all 5 of the marks of a disciple.
It never stops, unless you stop it.
But if you do, you will never be what God knows you can be.
In this process we respond to God’s sanctifying grace.
We do this by saying Yes to where he is calling us.
You cannot, I repeat cannot, be who God wants you to be just by going to church.
To be a disciple requires a total sell out to Jesus.
It is all encompassing from the time you get up in the morning till the time you go to sleep.
Let’s take a look at what Paul says about this, but first some background.
Background
There is disagreement among scholars of who actually wrote this letter.
The Greek is somewhat different from Paul’s other letters.
For example, the author does not use the word charismata for spiritual gifts which Paul always does in his undisputed letters.
I happen to believe Paul did write this letter.
But whether Paul wrote it or not, we can say the letter is Pauline.
Someone that followed him wrote the letter if he didn’t, therefore it is authoritative.
But I am going to approach it as Paul is the author.
He says in the letter he is writing from jail.
Paul was put into jail many times so we do not know which imprisonment this might me.
There’s some guessing about it, but we really don’t know.
He is writing to help improve the quality of living for his audience.
That is to improve their relationship with Christ and with each other.
He stresses unity in the church, avoiding false teaching and maturing as disciples.
He would like his readers to maintain unity and live in harmony.
Ephesus is another really big city 4 or5th largest in the empire.
It even had running water in a lot of its homes!
It was a port city and was a center of worship for Artemis and the Emperors.
Paul lived there longer than any other city where he planted churches, about 3 years.
Exegesis
I am following the suggested sermon texts that coincide wit your study of YES!.
I thought this was an oddly chosen text because the verses are not the complete idea that Paul was trying to express.
You really have to go back to verse 7 to understand what he is talking about.
Lets take a quick look at verse 7
If Paul had not quoted the Psalm in verse 8 through 10, this would have read better.
We now know by going back to verse 7 that the gifts he is talking about are spiritual gifts, given by God’s charis or grace.
But the gifts are not gifts like we looked at last week, these are more like offices.
A type of office given for the edification of the body.
Let’s look at verse 7 straight into 11.
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers . . .
Without the Psalm getting in the way, it becomes much clearer that Paul is talking about spiritual gifts, but in a different way than in Corinthians.
He is talking about offices in the church: apostle, prophet, evangelist and pastor/teacher.
Pastor teacher seems to be one office.
Let’s take a quick look at these in the context of the first century.
This come from the NIV Application Commentary:
These are all roles that proclaim the faith:
Apostle: one who walked and talked with jesus and witnessed the resurrected Jesus.
Also came to be a leader of the church.
Prophets, they traveled about, those who spoke a word from God “thus saith the Lord”
Evangelists, they traveled about too, but we know little about them, primary activity was with unbelievers proclaiming the gospel and its relevance.
Pastor/Teacher, or more accurately, teaching shepherds, served the local church and were compensated by the local church.
Paul goes on to say these office are given, once again for the edification of the body.
But he gets even more specific.
They are to unify and to grow the disciples.
These are people given to people.
These are people who helped others mature as disciples so people’s beliefs would not be “blown about.”
They helped people grow into Christ, even better, they helped the body grow into the body!
They are the ligaments that hold the body together.
Paul actually use a Greek medical term here for the word we translate as equip.
The greek word actually means to set a bone.
It really means to grow in Christ we must “align” ourselves with God’s intentions, not be tossed about every wind of doctrine!
This is maturity or growing into Christ likeness.
Pul also says that is “until all of us come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God” and “we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
that way this is worded seems to indicate that this is a process that will not be complete till Jesus returns.
Well, what does all this mean for us?
Not much different than it meant for the Ephesians.
Application
We need to be intentional and deliberate in growing our faith.
We are gifts to each other in this process.
If you think all salvation is about is getting a ticket stamped to heaven and get out of this place ASAP, you are mistaken.
This is a process that answers the question, “What am I saved for?”
We are given gifts to educate and to grow each other.
The offices Paul lists here are not quite the same as they were 2000 years ago.
Today an apostle is one that is an ambassador for Jesus.
We do not stay disciples we graduate into apostleship.
Simply put a discipleship process can be this: Invite, grow, send.
The send part is when the disciple is sent forth and becomes an apostle.
A prophet today is not so much a seer as he or she is a preacher or one that preaches.
We have people that preach that are not Pastors—that’s another office.
a prophet brings a word from God.
An Evangelist is one that works to introduce non believers to Christ.
A Pastor is one that shepherds a flock, not much different.
He or she also teaches and also is a prophet and apostle.
Pastors in the church today have all these offices, just as Paul held all these offices.
And of course we have folks that teach that do not do any of the above.
The offices may be somewhat different today, but the still do the same thing.
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