Equipped for Maturity
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Announcements:
Announcements:
Friday May 28th I’d like to invite the men of the church to join the Elders in prayer @ 6am here in the church building. It’s early, but I always feel refreshed.
Regarding mask guidelines. We have landed that Harvest Bible Chapel Nashville will comply with the CDC’s latest guidelines regarding vaccinations and mask. If you have any specific concerns or questions please come see me so we can connect.
Ephesians 4:11-16
Ephesians 4:11-16
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
There are two ways to look at this:
The official offices of Apostle and Prophet
These are foundational to the Church proper and offices uniquely held by those Christ appointed in the 1st century church.
The attitudes of each one represented within leadership.
The Forgotten ways
Apostle = forward thinking
Prophet = truth telling call to repentance
Evangelist = kingdom expansion
Shepherd = Care of the Sheep
Teacher = Instruction and Wisdom
In the church, a large majority of Church leadership is focused on the S & T, because that is comfortable. The APE often time are pushed out of the local church and end up serving in “para church” ministries.
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Equipping is preparing
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.
As in preparing nets for use
Restoring for proper use Gal. 6:1
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
We are to live with Restoration always as our goal focus 2 Cor 13:11
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
There is a multifaceted equipping
The work of ministry
The building up of the body of Christ.
For the Work of Ministry
What is ministry?
it’s not a strictly vocational position
It’s not a specific call singularly focused on one person
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Ministry in Ephesians 4:12 comes from a word that means to serve.
The motivation of Ministry:
To walk in a manner worthy
Ministry can, and should, include ministering to the physical, emotional, mental, vocational, and financial needs of others. Jesus did, and so should we!
The focus of our work is to be a faithful witness of the Gospel
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
I think there is an interesting connection between Ephesians 4:12 & Ephesians 4:13 here that I don’t want to miss.
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,
The equipping and doing ministry is connected to unity.
We all know what happens when children get board around the house right?
They get into trouble
they fight with each other
The eat all your oreo cookies without leaving you even one. (not personal)
See, a fruit of being equipped for ministry… and then actually doing ministry is Unity.
Some people have been coming to church their entire lives continually being equipped
You know, at some point the natural progression when receiving instruction is graduation.
I mean, a 30 year old High School Senior isn’t normal.
Spiritual growth isn’t linear, but it does have a progression.
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,
The goal is unity and maturity, a reflection of Christ’s presence and character
Mature means it will be a community of good judgment, able to see clearly and respond accordingly
Two characteristics dominate such maturity: unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Son of God is the one reference to this title of Jesus here and in the Pastoral Epistles
Maturity is the result of a commitment to Jesus and all that he is. Knowing the Son means living out the truth in love (v. 15) and reflecting the way of life that mirrors his character
The truth that Paul is going to emphasize is a lived truth, not just ideas. It is moral maturity that is tied to a proper understanding
The ultimate standard of maturity is Christ. That our character, thoughts, actions, attitudes, reflect that of Jesus.
When I was a young boy my mother would take us on trips to visit our family in South Carolina. We’d always go out swimming in the ocean.
My mother had an older brother who drowned when he was 17, and as a consequence, my mother was kept away from the water and she’d never really learned to swim. Of course, I can swim like a fish and when we’d go to the beach, mom was always anxious about me going to far or too deep.
I knew of her warnings, but I didn’t listen. I remember once, I was about 12, I got caught in a strong current and was literally battling to get back to shore. A wave crashed over me and held me under as the current trashed me around underneath. I remember the feeling of running out of air, needing to breath, and fear.
I never really told my mom that story (sorry mom). But in that moment, in my immaturity, and in my youth I was “tossed to and fro by the waves”
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.
Take notice that “no longer be children” or being mature consist of:
No longer overwhelmed with false teaching
There’s an element of trust that we give spiritual leaders, or “men of the cloth” as some put it.
False teaching leads to false hope, and false expectations.
It’s really rough when you discover that the teaching you’ve been receiving isn’t consistent with truth or reality.
Human Cunning (trickery)
As an adult I have been played enough to know that not everyone has my best interest at heart.
Craftiness, suspicious wisdom
It sounds almost good enough to be true.
We see this with the temptation of Christ and the devil using Scripture in his encounter with Jesus.
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
Jesus responded:
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
We must become so intimate with truth that truth used to deceive becomes obvious.
Deceitful Scheme
Traps lying in wait
Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.
There are some things that are obviously traps in life.. I believe many of these can be uniquely to tempt each of us in different ways.
The goal and purpose for our gathering isn’t so I can have a weekly platform to tell you about life and God.
We gather here to grow.
Tommy Nelson story, asking about peoples spiritual growth. “How many of you, it took years before you saw spiritual growth in your life?”
My experience with Spiritual Growth (the frustration of not having a mentor)
The need for us to be in relationship and helping one another grow towards maturity for the sake of the Gospel.
Introduction / or Card example and challenge.