The Gift of Teaching

Series: Open to the Gifts Sermon: The Gift of Teaching Scriptures: Eph 4:11-16, Mt 28:19-20, Acts 8:26-39 (Slide) 11 It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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. 14 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 men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 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. Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV) Let’s look again at the purpose of the gifts… (slide) The Purpose of the Gifts “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.” Vv. 12-13 (slide) The Gifts “it is He who gave some to be…” • Apostle—dream awakener • Prophet—heart revealer • Evangelist—story teller • Pastor—soul healer • Teacher—light giver We’re going to focus in on one of these gifts this morning. The gift of Teaching. Not only do I want to see what the scripture says about it, I hope that I can show it to you this morning as well. Will you allow me to be teach-y this morning? Let’s see what JR Woodward says about this gift. Video - JR Woodward on Teaching gift (1:37) https://vimeo.com/46241700 I’ve printed a small reference sheet out for you in your bulletins, but I want to call out two points from JR Woodward on Teachers. What is the mission and how to they reflect the heart of God? MISSION What is their primary mission? Teachers help the congregation to be inhabit the sacred text by encouraging the community to immerse herself in the scriptures and live faithfully in God’s story. HEART How do they reflect the heart of God? Teachers have a deep desire that God’s people would be nourished by the scripture so that they might better understand the ways of God and build their lives on the solid rock of His Word. What if I told you that we’re all called to be teachers, not just those with the specific gift of teaching. (slide) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16 ESV It’s discipleship. Interestingly enough, that word isn’t found in the scriptures… Instead, what is found is “make disciples”. mathētĕuō, math-ayt-yoo´-o (slide) 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,* baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mt 28:19-20 NLT I like the way the authors of the book, Telling God’s Story put it: (slide) (slide) There is only one command—MAKE DISCIPLES; going, baptizing, and teaching are modifiers that explain how! Jesus commissioned us (His followers), gives us a task to accomplish, by giving us a command to obey. This command is followed by a promise, as we obey Him, His presence will empower us to accomplish what He commissioned us for! We should seek to be disciples who go and make disciples. We’re sharing Good News first. From there we’re in relationship with them, just as we are with Christ. Daniel Brown says, “When you tell people about what you have read without obeying it, you are “defrauding” (or cheating/swindling) but when you tell people what you have obeyed, you are discipling. The apostle Paul says, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” 1 Cor 11:1 **extra note* Acts 2:42 - devoted to the apostles teaching. Devoted- fidelity Fidelity - in short, faithfulness; also, the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced. All of this is a transformational process, we are being saved. Take someone with you for the journey, it’s literally a command from the Lord. I like the way that Grant Skeldon put it in his book, The Passion Generation: (slide) “To know God and to make Him Known.” - It’s the Great Commandment & Great Commission wrapped into one. To illustrate further, let’s look at the story in Acts 8:26-39 (slide) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.  33  In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.  36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. He had just come from worshipping God in Jerusalem. By Law he wouldn’t have been able to really take part. But he didn’t receive his conversion there, he was led to the wilderness/desert. It also wasn’t from Peter, James, John or from those in Samaria. I believe that this helps to illustrate that it’s not just certain pastors or leaders that have this responsibility alone. Instead, we are all called to be led by the Holy Spirit to share in doing His Great Commission. -Worship Team come up- (slide) “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Just as the Lord was preparing Phillip for this encounter, he was preparing the eunuch. All of this still goes on today… Has the Lord been speaking to you today? Would you allow us to come alongside you and help guide you in growing your walk with Him? -Pastor Kevin come up- Closing prayer, offering and dismissal