DESTINY #4: WALK WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING
(May 2010 – Beausejour Church – Pastor Chris Jordan)
INTRO: What a joy and a privilege it is to be your pastor! I love this church! Explain…
REVIEW WEEKS #1-3: Our Destiny Series in Ephesians.
• The first three chapters talk about what God has DESTINED us to BE.
• Chapter #1: We are Chosen, Adopted, Accepted, Redeemed etc.
• Chapter #2: We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and we are His masterpiece.
• Chapter #3: God wants us to dream big and take the limits off:
• The last three chapters talk about what God has DESTINED us to DO.
OPENING TEXT:
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” (Ephesians 4:1).
• What does it mean to walk worthy of the calling? We have a DESTINY in Him!
• Amplified Bible adds “with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service.”
• Eph. 2:10: “For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
• This is our destiny. We are called to live extraordinary lives in the Kingdom!
ILLUSTRATION: From the movie The Lion King:
Young lion cub Simba was born to be king, but because of a mistake, he ran away from the kingdom and ended up ‘in the world’ living a “Hakuna Matata” life – no worries, no responsibilities. However, he had a vision of his father saying, “Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king!” We need to remember who we are in CHRIST!
O We are children of the King – royalty – let’s act like it!
ILLUSTRATION: THE DASH – what will you do with the life you’ve been given?
When you look at a tombstone in the graveyard, there are three things: The date a person was born, the date they die, and the dash, which represents their life. You have no control over when you are born, or when you will die. But what will you do with THE DASH?
• (Answer = walk worthy of the calling with which you were called!)
THE BIG IDEA: God has called us to walk worthy of our calling, by walking in love and unity with others, and by doing our part to help the body to be healthy and growing.
1. WALK IN LOVE AND UNITY:
“with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3).
• Lowliness = humility – having a humble opinion of yourself. (opposite of PROUD).
• - following the example of Jesus who did not come to be served, but to serve others.
• Gentleness = being gentle is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit
• Longsuffering = patience – another fruit of the Holy Spirit
• “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23).
• Bearing with one another in love = making allowance for each other’s faults (NLT).
• Keep the unity of the Spirit = in the bond of peace – guard the unity!
• The Holy Spirit is key to being Christ-like (the fruit of the Spirit).
• ILLUSTRATE: When we walk in the Spirit, we become JUICY FRUIT CHRISTIANS!
• How’s your fruit? Is it juicy? Do people walk by and want what they see?
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6).
• Seven times in this passage Paul used the word “one” to picture the importance of unity!
• One Spirit, One Lord (Jesus), One Father = unity in the God-head.
• One body = one family of God. We are family!
FAMILY ILLUSTRATION:
A little five year old boy one day was playing with his two year old brother when the two year old reached up and pulled his older brother’s hair. He screamed in pain, and his mother came rushing in. He cried and said that his younger brother had pulled his hair. His mom said, “Well, he’s only two years old and he doesn’t know what its like to have his hair pulled.” The mom left the room and seconds later she heard another scream, but this time it was the two year old screaming in pain. She rushed in and asked what had happened, to which the five year old explained, “You said he didn’t know what it felt like, well, now he does.”
• As Christians, we are family, so let’s learn to get along with each other!
• Let’s walk in humility, gentleness, patience, peace and love, amen?
2. GIFTS FROM JESUS FOR THE CHURCH:
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” (Ephesians 4:7-11).
The hand symbolically represents the five-fold ministry:
1. The Apostle is the thumb because it is the only finger that can touch all the others, therefore it establishes and brings order to the other ministries.
2. The Prophet is the index finger because he speaks a word of direction from the Lord.
3. The Evangelist is the middle finger because it stands out from among the rest and reaches out to save the lost.
4. The Pastor is the ring finger because symbolically he is married to the Church.
5. The Teacher is the little finger (pinky) because it balances the rest of the hand and the Church's teachings.
3. BUILDING UP THE BODY: What is the job of the pastor & the 5-fold ministry?
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-12).
• It’s not the job of the pastor to do all of the work of the ministry.
• It’s the job of the pastor to equip YOU to do the work of the ministry, like a COACH.
• EVERY member of the church is to MINISTER – in one way or another.
JOKE: Coach Shug Jordan at Auburn University asked his former Line-backer Mike Kollin, who was then playing for the Miami Dolphins, if he would help him do some recruiting. Mike said, "Sure, coach. What kind of player are you looking for?" The coach said, "Well Mike, you know there's that fellow, you knock him down, he just stays down?" Mike said, "We don't want him, do we, coach?" "No, that's right. Then there's that fellow, you knock him down and he gets up, you knock him down again and he stays down." Mike said, "We don't want him either do we coach?" Coach said, "No, but Mike, there's a fellow, you knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up." Mike said, "That's the guy we want isn't it, coach?" The coach answered, "No, Mike, we don't want him either. I want you to find the guy who's knocking everybody down. That's the guy we want."
“13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph. 4:13-16).
• God wants us to grow and become mature – more like Jesus (fruit of the Spirit).
• It’s time to grow up – to no longer be like little children, fighting and immature.
• Baby Christians, like natural babies, make lots of noise and big messes.
• “Under his direction, the whole body is fitted 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.” (Ephesians 4:16, NLT).
• You will never be fulfilled and satisfied in life until you are serving and giving.
• We are blessed to be a blessing!
CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: We need every member – YOU – to do their part!
Hand out puzzle pieces to everyone who doesn’t have one from the last time I did this.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH: RESPONSE FORM
1. Children’s ministry or nursery – give up one Sunday a month to serve our children
2. Youth ministry – looking for a leader right now, but also need helpers
3. Sound, Easy Worship, Ushering and Greeting
4. Worship team – singers and musicians
5. Prayer team – meets once a month to pray and intercede
6. Home groups – hosting or leading
7. Serving – during the week in janitorial or maintenance work
8. Fill in the blank – what’s in your heart to do?
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
