Improving Your Serve Series

Improving Your Serve

Ephesians 4:7-16

Rev. Brian Bill

March 2-3, 2024

Around 35 people who are new to Edgewood attended our Next Steps classes this past weekend. After summarizing our history and heartbeat, we emphasized our commitment to gathering, growing, giving, and going with the gospel. We don’t want our members just sitting in seats, but committed to serve Christ and His kingdom. Someone asked this question, “Are there a lot of people serving at Edgewood?” I opened it up to a couple of our leaders and they said, “Yes there are a lot who are serving, but there needs to be more!”

Last week, we were in Ephesians 4:1-6 and focused on five essential qualities which lead to unity within community.

• Humility.

• Gentleness.

• Patience.

• Forbearance.

• Love.

We ended with a challenge to tether ourselves to seven truths: we are part of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

As we come to Ephesians 4:7-16, we move from saving grace to serving grace, from a community of unity to a celebration of diversity within our community because unity is not the same as uniformity.

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 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, 14 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. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 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.

Our big idea for last week was, we all win when we walk as one. Here’s the main point of our passage today: No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

There’s a place for you in this place because there’s a role for every one who has been redeemed.

The Reality of Discovering Spiritual Gifts (7-11)

Before we jump in, it’s helpful to define what a spiritual gift is. Here’s what I wrote down: “A spiritual gift is a special divine empowerment bestowed on each believer by the Holy Spirit to accomplish a given ministry in order to reach the lost or build up believers.”

1. Christ gives gifts to every believer. Let’s begin with verse 7: “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” The word “but” serves as a contrast to the first six verses as Paul goes from talking about oneness to how Christ uses each individual Christian in diverse ways. The phrase “grace was given” shows that we can’t earn spiritual gifts because they are given graciously to us. A gift says nothing about the one who receives it, but it does reveal a lot about the character of the giver.

Notice these gifts are given to “to each one of us.” That means no Christian has been forgotten or overlooked. This is reinforced in 1 Corinthians 12:7: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Around 20 different spiritual gifts are spelled out in five different Scripture passages (Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30; Romans 12:6-8; and 1 Peter 4:11).

These gifts are given according to the “measure,” or “pleasure” of Christ Himself. He apportions and assigns gifts according to His plans and purposes. Our gifts vary from each other because God’s grace is manifested differently in each of our lives.

In verse 8, Paul anchors the distribution of these gifts to Psalm 68:19, which references the mighty Messiah as a victorious warrior who has returned home with gifts to distribute: “Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high he led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’” Since Jesus has defeated death, depravity, and the devil, and is now ascended on high, He shares the spoils of victory with His own.