Our Mission: Part 1 - The People (2)

Series Review

When it comes to understanding our DNA, that is, when it comes to understanding God’s design for His church, it may be helpful to ask certain questions.

Question #1: Who are we?

Question #2: Why do we exist?

This week, we will ask a question of ourselves that, Lord willing, we will spend this week and the next 2 weeks answering. Here’s the third question:

Question #3: What are we to do?

We have an answer to that question that is clear in our mission statement.

Our Purpose Statement answers the question, why do we exist?

Our Mission Statement answers the question, what are we to do?

So here’s our mission statement:

To build up the body of Christ through biblical maturity

Some clarifications

we believe this helps us to obey Christ’s mandate to His church: make disciples

the only way for the body of Christ, in other words, the church, to be built up is through maturing. This can include growing in numbers, but numbers are not a marker of maturity in-and-of-themselves

Maturity is defined in Scripture

So, how do we build up the body of Christ through biblical maturity? This is what we will address today and, Lord willing, the next two Sundays.

The ground zero passage of Scripture that defines the process of ministry in the local church, and therefore, where we can go to understand how to build one another up, is

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 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.

Today’s sermon is part 1 of our consideration of our mission statement. There will be 3 parts:

Part 1: The people of the mission

Part 2: The goal of the mission

Part 3: The Process of the mission

So today

The Mission: Part 1 - The People

I have been attending church for nearly 30 years, and I know many of you have been attending churches longer than that. One observation I have after those 30 years is that we can loose sight of what the church is all about and what we’re here for.

Just ask yourself right now: What am I here for?

If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. But it’s important that we are clear on the Bible’s answer to that question.

For what reason are God’s people to be part of a local church?

Not knowing the answer to that question is what I call

Church Haze

But the bible will help us out of the haze. It will give us clarity. Here’s what I suggest is true based on Eph. 4

Christ gave His church people to fulfill His mission for His church.

The people of God are God’s gift to His church because He uses His people to build His church.

Remember presupposition #2: Christ will build His church. But we need to understand that we, as God’s people have a role to play in that. So much so, that I am suggesting we should think of God’s people as His gift to His church because they will be used by Him to full is mission for His church.

What’s the connection between people and the fulfillment of Christ’s mission?

This is what we will seek to answer now

Context

Ephesians 4:1 ESV

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

Walk worthy means to live our lives so that they reflect the transformation Christ has accomplished in His people through His redemptive work.

A big part of walking worthy is to value and protect unity among God’s people.

Ephesians 4:3 ESV

eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul also makes clear that all God’s people have been given His grace so that they can serve Him after the order Christ served His people.

That brings us to our passage, and Paul begins by focusing on the people of Christ’s church in vss 11-12.

Again

What’s the connection between people and the fulfillment of Christ’s mission?

Every member has a role to fill (11)

If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you are to be part of a local church… We’ll make the case for church membership in the coming weeks.

Many of you are members of this church, and make no mistake, if you are a member of this church, you have a role to fill.

Now back in the Spring we were going through Ephesians, and when we cam to this particular text, I said something that I want to say again.

Having a role and having a title are not the same thing. Furthermore, fulfilling your role in the church does not require that you possess a title.

Titles are fine, and helpful. We should know who the elders are, deacons, ushers, childrens church workrers, youth ministry leaders, stream team members etc.

But for those of you who take the time to encourage a brother or sister. Praying for them, praying with them. Helping them with a need. Phone calls, letters etc. That doesn’t have a title, but it is wonderful and crucial part of this ministry.

Notice the list of titles that Paul names in v. 11

Apostles: one sent. A reference to the 12 apostles and then Paul added later. They were to spread the doctrine of the gospel. hey were involved in planting churches and strengthening churches. I think Scripture makes clear that their office is no longer a functioning office, so we don’t have apostles today.

Prophets: They received and declared the word of God. There is not receiving the word of God today in the sense that prophets did then. There is no new revelation. We have God’s complete revelation in His word. Proclaiming His word today still occurs of course, but prophets who receive God’s revelation that is not contained in His word no longer exist.

Evangelists: There are 2 references to these in the NT

Acts 21:8 ESV

On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

2 Timothy 4:5 ESV

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Francis Foulkes said this about Evangelists:

Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary b. Diversity in Unity (4:7–16)

We may assume that theirs was an itinerant work of preaching under the apostles, and it may be fair to call them ‘the rank and file missionaries of the church

One more role is mentioned. We say one because of the grammar behind the phrase shepherds and teachers. All the others titles were separated a definite article (the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists). But there is no definite article… no “the” between Shepherds & Teachers. We think this is because Paul meant us to understand that those two titles are referencing the same role.

Shepherd & Teacher: It seems best to understand this role as referencing leaders of the local church. Elders and Pastors. The others mentioned were not necessarily linked to a specific local church. This title is referring to those who are responsible for the day-to-day building up of the church. They are to feed the the flock (shepherd) with the word of God (teacher).

Jesus talked about Himself this way

John 10:11 ESV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

And He remains the Chief Shepherd today

Hebrews 13:20 ESV

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

Shepherds (Pastors) are to be teachers.

Now, what I want us to see is how Paul began in listing these titles. And He gave. Christ gave. What we must keep clear in our minds is that while God’s people have roles to fulfill in the local church, it begins with Christ in giving people to the church. No one in this list in v. 11 appointed themselves. Christ appointed them.

Are here we are. New Life, God has appointed us to this church in this time to fulfill a role. You are not here my chance or mistake. God has something for you to do. What specifically? Chances are, I can’t answer that right now in this moment, but I certainly would be willing to help you understand that more clearly. But regardless of the specifics, all our roles are to work towards one common end. We’re going to get to this next week, but look at v. 13

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,

For now, we’ll say that all of our roles is to help one another to mature manhood… womanhood.

We all have a role to fill but what about these roles? How are we to understand these roles?

Every role centers either on equipping or serving the body of Christ (12a)

Every role within a local church is primarily about equipping or serving. Certainly there is overlap between the 2. We are all to be servants, and I am sure there are times when someone functioning in a servant role ends up contributing to the equipping of other servants.

Note the 3 phrases in v. 12

to equip the saints

for the work of the ministry

for building up the body of Christ

It’s probably correct to understand for the work of the ministry to depend on equipping the saints. And building up the body of Christ to depend on equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.

So where do we get the idea that every role in the church centers on either equipping or serving?

Equipping the saints is obviously where the emphasis on equipping comes from. But what does this mean?

Lit., v. 12 reads to the equipping of the saints. The word equipping is a noun here, and it only appears here in Eph. 4:12. There is however a verb form of this word elsewhere in the NT.

Hunt (noun) Hunting (verb)

The verb form of the equipping means to repair something or to make straight which is crooked.... like setting a bone. One place we see this is in

Matthew 4:21 ESV

And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

It also carries the idea of bringing the saints to a condition of fitness or readiness for their role in the church.

In many ways, equipping roles focus on assisting people to become ready to execute their role.

People who have never run a marathon, don’t just run a marathon. They train, and often such people will connect with a trainer. The trainer does not run the marathon for them but helps them be ready to run it.

The same is true of the equippers of the church. They are not to do the work of the ministry for those who serve in roles in the church but to help ready them.

Keep this in minid when you think of your role in the church and when you think of the role of the elders and other leaders in the church. We’ll say more about this in a few moments

But then there are roles that center on serving the body of Christ

We get this from the next phrase, for the work of the ministry

The work of the ministry is the substance of what actually takes place in the life of the church.

What’s the work of the ministry? The work that people do in connection to the local church for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Ushering for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Greeting for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Counting the offering for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Leading Children’s Church for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Prayer for your brothers and sisters for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Organizing food for the fellowship times we have not had after church for almost a year for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

Attending a funeral to support another member of the church for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ

And it’s not that equippers do not doe these things or that they teach us how to attend a funeral or count offerings, but they teach us the word to help us to see the gospel-centerdness of what we do. It’s not ultimately about counting and attending and organizing. It’s doing those things for God’s glory, and God meant for us to have that perspective as a result of being equipped for ministry.

It’s not until this approach to ministry is in place that the final phrase comes to fruition. Remember:

Christ gave His church people to fulfill His mission for His church

And when people do the equipping and when others do the serving (works of the ministry, THEN

The body of Christ is built up when its members fill their roles (12b)

Churches are commonly criticized for not being places where the people feel built up. And there are lots of potential reasons why this may be the case.

I suggest one of them is that we don’t order ourselves after the model we see here in Eph. 4

Sometimes the equippers, such as pastors, elders etc., don’t equip and do the work of the ministry instead of those who are supposed to do it. It’s common for pastors to leave the ministry because of something called burnout. Listen, I am not here to do the work of the ministry as it is referenced in Eph. 4. I and here to equip, and that primarily happens through my ministry of preaching and teaching.

If you want something done right just do it yourself, has no place in the pastor’s ministry. I, along with the other elders and other ministry leaders need to equip the church to do the work of the ministry. If this does not happen, the body of Christ will not be built up. There’s allot t stake here.

But if the servants of the church think that the pastor should do the work of the ministry, because why else do we pay him, and therefore refuse to do the work of the ministry, then the body of Christ is not built up. We all have roles, and no member of this church is not called to a ministry. Again, resist equating role with title. Taking food to someone in the church because of illness or a challenging situation is work of the ministry. No one here has been given gifts by God to benefit themselves. They are always meant to bless the body of Christ.

Conclusion

Church, there is more at stake here then perhaps we know. We need to function this way if we are to fulfill Christ’s mission for His church.

Equippers equipping and servers serving. We should not hesitate to hold one another accountable for this.

Because of the way God has extablished His church, we need one another to be a God-honoring church.

If you have a desire for a particular ministry to occur in the church, don’t just say, we should do … Pray and be ready to lead the efforts to start doing … And expect the elders of the church, once a plan is in place to equip you to do that work. That’s how this is supposed to work.

So church remember, Christ gave people to His church to fulfill His mission for His church.

This is crucial to building up the body of Christ through biblical maturity.

We’ve talked about the people of the mission (equippers and servers), nexxt Sunday we’ll focus on the goal of the mission.... The goal of equipping and serving.