We Grow

All Grown Up and Nowhere to Grow

Have you ever noticed that as children we are constantly looking forward to the next milestone? We couldn’t wait to be the next grade or the next year. We would look forward to growing. Maybe you had those marks on the wall that noted how tall you were.

We move on from one grade to the next.

Get a drivers license

graduate from high school

maybe graduate from college and then maybe graduate school.

step into a career

possibly get married

and then...

The growth that came so naturally to us as children in so many different ways stops getting measured as we reach adulthood. Depending on the type of job you have, it could be easy to simply coast.

With the presence of smart phones and so many other electronic distractions, we run the risk of entertaining ourselves to death or at least ignorance.

I wonder if this is why some people get to midlife and have a crisis. We might look back on the first half of life, potentially disappointed that we are not farther along and look forward thinking that this path doesn’t seem to get much better.

When the career path of the upwardly mobile begins to flatten out and the metabolism of middle age causes you to forget the physique of youth then sometimes the motivation to grow in other ways can get easily overlooked.

I don’t mean for this to be a downer or some motivational speech, but what I want us to understand is that we are made to be life-long learners - but sometimes have to manufacture a learning process in order to awake from the stupor of complacency.

Last week, we began a brief series of sermons on the church - on our church - on us, because we are PBC. We considered the idea that We Gather regularly in big and small groups because it’s important to God and it’s important to one another. We considered the vertical direction of our gathering as we worship and the horizontal direction of our gathering as we “one another.”

Today, we’re going to look at another aspect of what we do as a church together. We Grow.

On one hand, we could look at this numerically - but that’s not really what we need to be addressing.

When we want to grow in our physical abilities - we have to enter into or start some sort of program or regimen. When we want to grow intellectually - we have to set up things that stimulate our minds. When we want to grow in our careers - we may have to change jobs or employers, attend leadership courses or other classes that will equip us with the latest knowledge for that next level - whatever that is.

But, I think that one of the beautiful things about the church is that in it, in this assembly, God has given us so many things that enable us to grow for a lifetime.

Today, we’re going to look more deeply at a passage that Sue read in the service last week as we consider what God has provided in the church in order to help us grow (I would argue that this growth has spiritual, relational, intellectual, and physical elements). Normally I use the English Standard Version of the Bible. Today, I want us to hear this from a different translation in order to help us to hear familiar truths differently. If you’d like to follow along in your Bible and hear this, feel free.

Ephesians 4:11–24 NLT

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

As we think about the church and our growth, I think it’s important for us to recognize that God has provided four things that foster our growth.

God Provided:

Foundation for growth (Eph. 4:11; 2:20)

In Ephesians 4:11 - we get to see a list of several groups of people. The first two of this grouping seem to represent the foundation. Let’s look briefly at Ephesians 2:20.

Ephesians 2:20 ESV

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

The foundation of the church is the Apostles and the Prophets - but what does that really mean? Didn’t we learn last week that Jesus would build His church on the rock of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Son of God? Yes - and the two are not mutually exclusive.

Apostles - There are a couple of different uses for the word Apostle. Most prominently, this refers to the twelve disciples - the 12 men who followed Jesus for 3 or so years. They were eye-witnesses to all that Jesus did and essentially became commissioned to bear witness about Jesus Christ - His life, death and resurrection. A.F. Walls, in talking about the office of the apostles said...

The primary function of the apostles was witness to Christ, and the witness was rooted in years of intimate knowledge, dearly bought experience and intensive training.

Walls, A. F. “Apostle.” Ed. D. R. W. Wood et al. New Bible dictionary 1996 : 58. Print.

He goes on to say that...

“the apostles are the norm of doctrine and fellowship in the NT church (Acts 2:42; cf. 1 Jn. 2:19). In their own day they were regarded as ‘pillars’ (Gal. 2:9—cf. C. K. Barrett in Studia Paulina, 1953, pp. 1ff.)—perhaps translate ‘marking posts’.

Walls, A. F. “Apostle.” Ed. D. R. W. Wood et al. New Bible dictionary 1996 : 58. Print.

The witness of the apostles became an important part of the initial foundation of the church. As Ephesians says - they are a gift of Jesus. (Eph. 4:11.)

In addition to being founded on the testimony of the Apostles, the foundation of the church is established on the proclamation of the...

Prophets - The prophets the instruments of God in the Old Testament to call people to repentance and righteousness and to foretell of the coming hope of Messiah. Their message gave people a timeline for the Messiah. Their message provided some insight into what he would be like.

The testimony of the Apostles seemed to reveal the fulfillment of the message of the prophets - there by laying the ground work for the establishment of the church.

We see the testimony of the apostles and the message of the prophets most clearly and completely in the Word of God -the Bible.

What a gift this is!

What a treasure to contemplate!

With the foundation laid, we can see in this passage that God also provided the...

Framework for growth (Eph. 4:11)

Now if we begin thinking about the church (the people) by comparing it to a building, we can see that we need more that just a foundation. We need a structure. As I consider these gifts that Jesus gave to the church and the way that they function - we can begin to see the framework for growth coming into view.

Evangelists - Like the vertical beams that ascend from the foundation, the evangelists work toward the expansion of the church. As they boldly and lovingly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ - the message gets out and expands the reach of the church. Now all of us are given the command to proclaim the gospel and make disciples - so to some degree, we are all a part of this. But there are some people who have the gift, the passion to evangelize. They almost can’t help themselves but bring the gospel to people’s attention. While I’ve not seen her evangelistic work in action, I’ve heard that Joyce Hartman has the evangelistic gift, sharing the gospel with people that she interacts with each day. Over the summer, several of us attended a Bridges class designed to give us some insight into how to reach muslims. Based on the testimonies we heard there, it was clear that Joy Brill and Jacob Yator demonstrated this gifting toward evangelism. Looking at how Tom and Robin regularly invite friends to church and hearing how Joanna Borman prays with students that she brings to school helps me realize that God has blessed this church with many evangelistic gifts. Again, if you don’t have an evangelistic gift - we all still have the responsibility to proclaim - but we are blessed by these evangelists. Evangelists help to get the word out, they help to expand the reach of the church, they are a gift to the church.

In addition to evangelists, Ephesians says that Jesus gave...

Shepherds - to the church. Thinking about the idea of a building, shepherds or pastors or elders (all kind of used interchangeably in the NT), are a bit like the roof. Just as shepherds provide shelter and protection to the sheep - I think this is a but of what your elders and I are called to do. Not a roof to keep us down, but a shelter to guard against the attacks of the enemy. I think that part of shepherding is nourishing and caring. Even though as we do life together - we get to mutually care for one another, it seems like the role of shepherds in the church should lead the way in that. I’m so grateful for guys like Carl and Vern. The way that they seek to pay attention to your needs, your joys, your concerns is a gift to this church. I love how they exhibit that differently and yet equally care for us. These men are a gift to the church. (As we prayerfully consider together about calling Bryan as another elder in our meeting at the end of the month, I’m looking forward to the way that Bryan will shepherd in his own way.)

Not only did Jesus give us evangelists and shepherds to establish the framework but Jesus provides...

Teachers - Those who have the gift of teaching are like those who frame in the internal walls of the church. They provide detail and insight into the truth of God’s Word. They seek to challenge us to think and yet also ground us confidently in truth. We are blessed with so many good teachers from preschool through adults - Lori, Carolyn, LeeAnn, Michele, Jackie, Jordan, Joanna, Lisa - as they work with children - communicating timeless truths in an age appropriate way; Dan, Tammy, Danielle, and Jennifer as they pour into our teenagers; Carl, Vern, Jackie, Bryan - as they unpack the Word for the adults - whether on Sunday mornings, Monday nights at the women’s Bible Study, or Wednesday midday at the S.I.S.T.E.R.S study. I know I have missed some teachers - but I want you all to know that you are gift to this church from Jesus.

We’re going to get into this in just a minute, but I want you to see that these gifts are given for growth. But, these are not the only gifts that God has given to the church (these are just the gifts listed in this passage) - in fact, He has gifted each one of us for that ministry, for that service - for His glory.

Throughout the letters of the New Testament, there are several lists of spiritual gifts - gifts given by God. Moody Handbook of Theology lists the biblical spiritual gifts as:

Apostle (Eph. 2:20; 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:28; 15:8-9)

Prophet (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10; Eph. 4:11)

Miracles (1 Cor. 12:10, 28)

Healing (1 Cor. 12:9, 28, 30)

Tongues (1 Cor. 12:10,28)

Interpreting Tongues (1 Cor. 12:10)

Evangelism (Eph. 4:11)

Shepherd (Pastor) (Eph. 4:11)

Teacher (Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28. Eph. 4:11)

Service (Rom. 12:7)

Helps (1 Cor. 12:28)

Faith (1 Cor. 12:9)

Exhortation (Rom. 12:8)

Discerning spirits (1 Cor. 12:10)

Showing mercy (Rom. 12:8)

Giving (Rom. 12:8)

Administration (Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 12:28)

Wisdom (1 Cor. 12:8)

Knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8)

If God gave certain gifts or roles in the church for growth, he equipped the rest of the church for ministry. I believe that every believer, every follower of Christ has a gift from God for the purpose of building up the body. Today is not the time to dive into depth on these - but I want you to know - you are a gift to the church and have been gifted for ministry.

Let’s do a little experiment. If you serve in one of these roles, please stand:

Prepared a meal for someone in need

Sunday morning coffee fellowship

work day

Sunday morning greeter

worship team - including running the computer and the sound board

Sunday morning usher

read scripture in the service

Deacon - present and past

teacher or classroom assistant

tellers - counting offerings

serve in art camp

help at the thrift shop or Frederick Rescue mission

serve at one of the local pregnancy centers

help to plan events like game night, retreats or fellowship meals - Easter, Thanksgiving

provided counsel

Help with the Lord’s Supper

served at Rise Against Hunger (any of the times we’ve done it)

pray regularly for the church at prayer meetings

I have probably missed some element of our church life - but I want you to see that there are so many ways that God has gifted us as a church. There are so many ways that we can all be used for the glory of God. In this passage - we may get to see the apostles and prophets as the foundation of the church and certain roles as the framework - but it takes everyone to make it work - there is a place for everyone be a meaningful part of the life of this church.

There are a variety of online and paper tools that you can use to evaluate what gift(s) you may have - but a better way would be to discuss this with someone you know and who knows you well - if you don’t feel like you have a gift - ask for insight.

So in God’s growth orientation - he has provided a foundation for growth in the apostles and prophets, the framework for growth in the evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. He has also given us a...

Focus for growth (Eph. 4:12-16)

These foundational and framing gifts from God to the church have a specific purpose - these are designed...

Ephesians 4:12–16 ESV

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

These are not just given so that we can grow in head knowledge but so that we can put that growth in action.

Growth is intended for...

Ministry (12) - As we’ve seen, God has gifted each of us differently. We get to see that put into practice in a variety of ways throughout the church. In fact, just on Sunday morning, we get to see the musicians use their gifts. We have already talked about the teachers. But we also get to see all of those who help with the ushering and greeting duties as they serve the church. We get to enjoy the tasty treats as various women use their gifts of hospitality and service preparing the coffee fellowship. Those who are gifted with administrative skills count the offerings that we give. Others gifted administratively work to plan events like retreat, game nights, youth activities, fellowship meals, and so much more. Beyond just what happens around church life - we get to see people use other gifts of service, mercy, wisdom and more when we serve at Poolesville day or make things for women in Africa, or support the Frederick Rescue mission, and serve those in need in our community through the Thrift shop and benevolence.

I hope you can see that we all are needed to use our gifts. God has gifted us - his church - for ministry.

Not only does our growth get to focus on ministry, but our growth gets to focus on unity.

Unity (13, 15-16) -

Ephesians 4:13 ESV

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,

and

Ephesians 4:15–16 ESV

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

As we minister together, recognizing that it’s God’s church and not ours, it’s God’s ministry and not ours, we get to grow in our unity with one another. We get to see this beautiful picture of each member using his or her gifts together to make the church work.

There will always be times when we may see things from a different perspective - but as we work side by side - my hope is that we will value one another as equal participants in the grace of God.

Beloved -if you don’t feel like you have a place to fit it, let’s have a conversation - let’s prayerfully consider how God has gifted you, what passions he has placed in your heart and put those in motion.

We’ll discuss this a bit more next week, but I want us to see that as we grow individually and as we minister together, we will strengthen our bond with one another.

But there is one more element to the focus of our growth and that is...

Maturity (13-14) -

Ephesians 4:13–14 ESV

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.

The Word of God that we have because of the witness of the Apostles and message of the prophets, that is explained to us by our teachers, should produce maturity in us. As we make time to fulfill our covenant with each other to make time to personally study God’s Word - we should grow in our knowledge and become more firmly established.

There are so many various doctrines and opinions in the world and in Christianity. My hope is that as we mature, we will become more firmly established on the essentials of our faith and won’t be shaken when “deceitful schemes” try to steer us off course.

So God has provided a Foundation for our growth, a framework for us to grow within, and a focus for our growth. There is one more thing that I think this passage helps us to see about our growth and that is a...

Fashion for growth (Eph. 4:17-24)

Now - I know - it sounds a bit odd to say it this way. We don’t wear certain clothes and I’m not advocating a uniform. But I think this passage helps us to see that God wants us to remove some garments and put on others.

Ephesians 4:17–22 ESV

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But 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, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

It seems like Paul is calling us here to...

Putting off our old ways (17-22)

He goes into a great deal of discussion about it, but there are two things that seem to mark our old ways. The first is that we should put off being...

Callous - Have you ever noticed that when you work with your hands a lot that you begin to develop callouses? Our hands build up scarred skin as a means of protection. It seems like Paul is saying here that before someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ that their thoughts are calloused - hardened because they refuse to be impacted by the truths of God. Blinded because they are closed off to spiritual and biblical insights. I think in some ways this callousness comes into play today when we succumb to the popularity of group think - reacting to things the way that is popular in society.

In addition to putting off callousness of our old ways, Paul is calling us to put off

Carnal - ways of living and acting. These are the sensual and greedy things that we do because of our nature. This is the “if it feels good do it” or “you do you” ways of living. The narcissistic bent of our human nature leads us to things that are worldly, selfish, and ultimately dishonoring to God.

I know - neither of these two things are popular to talk about - in fact many people would say that people of the Book or people who trust in the Bible are narrow minded and old fashioned.

But let me encourage you to be thinking about what are those things in our lives that we need to put off? What are those things that close our minds off from the things of God? What are those things that are foundational in our flesh - carnal, sensual? These are the things that as we grow individually and corporately that God will call us to put off, to lay aside.

But the fashion for growth that we see here is not simply putting off these things, but also...

Putting on new life and identity (24)

Ephesians 4:24 NLT

Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

When we become followers of Christ, we receive a new nature or life that is founded in Jesus. Our identity is no longer found in whatever is popular or self-gratifying, but our identity is joined with Jesus Christ. As we grow, and as we put off the old callous and carnal ways, and as we put on our new life in Christ, it will be manifest in two ways:

righteousness (right living) - doing things a right way - being honest, trustworthy, true, ethical

holiness (inward) - pure within

Neither of these things are instantaneous - but take time. Think about it like this, imagine if we moved to another country. We live there for a time, begin to notice that their customs and ways of life are different than ours. We begin to adopt those practices, learn that language, engage in their traditions, wear the clothes of the nation. At some point in time, we may even become a citizen of that nation. No matter how long we live there, we will always be battling against our old way of doing things, but as citizens of this other nation - our identity is now in our new home.

I know that all of us come from different backgrounds and our faith journeys are varied. For me, growing up in church, I began to be exposed to the things of God at an early age - and yet I still have to work at putting off callous and carnal things of my flesh - sinful thoughts, selfish deeds, salty language - and put on the garments of my new life in Christ.

You may not have grown up in a church - and that is fine. Maybe you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, observing. Maybe you’ve even begun to try to put on the fashion of the faith -without having a genuine faith within. That is what we call religion - its a performance. Let me encourage you to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Allow that seeds of His Word and His truth that have been planted in your life to grow. Receive His free gift of salvation. To do that, you simply need to admit that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ paid for the consequence of your sin through his death, burial and resurrection. That is a simple prayer that you can pray silently right where you are or its something that someone can help you with. I’d be happy to talk with you more about that.

Closing thoughts

While new years provide an opportunity for us to use the calendar as a crutch to put off some old habits and try to put on some new ones, I want to encourage us not to simply try to muscle through some half-hearted self-improvement plan. I’m not telling you to give up on a resolution that you may have made - I know I certainly have not. But when it comes to spiritual matters, God has already given us everything we need for continual, life-long growth. He has given us a

Foundation for growth in the Apostles and the Prophets - essentially, he has given us his word. Are we reading it, studying it, discussing it?

Framework for growth in the evangelists, shepherds, and teachers - helping us expand our reach, guarding us from the enemy’s dangers, and instructing us in the ways of God. He has also given us a...

Focus for growth - making growth more than just a self-improvement plan. By growing for ministry, unity, and maturity - our growth has an impact in our community. Finally, God has given us...

Fashion for growth - a new life of righteousness and holiness to put on as we mature in our faith.

Beloved, I pray that we are engaging with all that God has given to us.

Discussion questions:

Why is the foundation for growth that we find in the Word of God so important? Read Psalm 119:105. How have you experienced this?

How is God’s wisdom displayed in the framework for growth that He has provided through gifted evangelists, caring shepherds, and insightful teachers?

Look over the list of spiritual gifts - what gift or gifts do you feel God has given you? Are you using that gift for His glory?

Why are ministry, unity, and maturity important for us to focus on as we grow? Read Ephesians 4:14. What doubts or deceitful schemes do you face?

As we consider the fashion for growth that God has given us, what practices or habits do you need to put off? What new practices do you need to put on? How is your identity in Christ different from identity in the world?