INTRODUCTION
„X Isn¡¦t it nice to come here today to a warm building? Isn¡¦t it nice to have the lights turned on? I really like coming in and having a nice bulletin that we can look at and know what is going on this morning and this week.
„X I also like the fact that someone took the time to plan out all the song service and that we have someone who is willing and able to play for our song service.
„X I very thankful for the person who organizes sets the schedule for meditations, scripture readers, benedictions, servers, nursery workers, Jr. and Wee Worship workers, and van drivers.
„X I am thankful we have Worship leaders, teachers, and those who take the leadership roles in our various ministries in the church. I am also thankful for the men who are deacons and the men who are our Elders, who make sure the ship stays on the right course.
„X It takes a lot of work and people to make this church run.
„X What would happen if we all decided to sit back and pass the buck off to someone else? What if the people who prepare communion decide to just not do it anymore? Would we have communion today? Yes, but it would be more work.
„X In the church we ALL need to understand that when God builds a Church, it is full of people who are willing to be active vital parts of the ministry of the church.
„X We are going to have a Youth Christmas program in 2 weeks that is taking a lot of help and work to pull off. What if no one stepped up to the plate to do it?
„X God has placed each of us in His church so that we can in part help the church to function at its¡¦ fullest potential.
„X The church cannot afford for any of us to sit back and think, ¡§It is not my job!¡¨
„X Each and every one of us has an important role to play in the building of God¡¦s church.
„X Let¡¦s turn to Ephesians 4:11-16. READ
SERMON
I. EACH PERSON HAS A ROLE IN GOD¡¦S CHURCH. (11-12A)
„X In verses 11-12 we see to types of people who are being spoken to. Each of us falls into one or for some, both of these categories.
„X The first category is that of equipper. In verse 11 we see that God gave some as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers.
„X This list is not a comprehensive list of equippers, but it is enough of one for us to get the idea.
„X In God¡¦s church, there must be a group of people who are willing to step up and use their God-given abilities to equip other. Some of the above listed positions were part of the foundation of the church and are no longer functional, but yet their work is still impacting the church to this day.
„X Apostles and prophets were part of the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2:20 reminds us, ¡§having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,¡¨
„X The apostles and prophets built the foundation in which the rest of the church functions under Jesus. Evangelists are literally ¡§bearers of good news.¡¨
„X They publicly and privately proclaim the gospel. (Acts 8:5-13, 26-40)
„X The ¡§pastor-teachers¡¨ shepherd and feed the flock (the church). It is interesting to see how these equipping positions depend on one another to work. Those who shepherd the flock do so because of people whom the evangelist presented the message to and whose message came from God¡¦s Word that was written in part by the apostles and prophets.
„X The second category of people is those who are being equipped. Verse 12 says the equippers are to equip the saints. The saints are Christians.
„X It is all of our jobs to allow ourselves to be equipped. We are to allow the leaders to teach, shepherd and help us grow spiritually!
„X I was one who allowed the church to equip me for the work of ministry.
„X We are called to be equipped for the work or ministry of service.
„X No preacher or elder can do the work of the church alone. Too many churches have had the mentality the ¡§paid staff¡¨ or the leadership has the responsibility to do all the work service in the church.
„X Many churches never get over the 100-200 barrier because not enough people are willing to do the work of service. They cannot hire enough staff to do the work they want done so the church stays at the level at which the few who are working can handle.
„X As a side note, I am so encouraged by all the ministry involvement forms I have received. I think we have over 60 turned in!
II. EACH ROLE HAS AN IMPORTANT PURPOSE. (12-13)
„X Do you realize your role is important to the function of the church and the role you play in the church has an important purpose?
„X There are five important purposes listed in verses 12-13.
„X The first one is that our part in the church is supposed to help build up the body.
„X God desires the church to grow up to be big and strong. If the church has too many parts that are not working, then that will be hard to do. I like to work out, but a sore back, sore hip, sore elbow, or sore shoulder will stop me in my tracks. If part of my body is not working right, it makes it hard for me to do things.
„X If the parts of the church are not doing what they are called to do the whole church suffers. We are to work as a unit to build up the body of Christ.
„X In verse 13 we find the second important purpose behind each of our roles in God¡¦s church, obtaining a unity of faith!
„X This does deal with agreeing on EVERYTHING, but it deals with a total trust in Jesus as our savior and Lord. We are not only looking to add more people to God¡¦s kingdom, but we are trying to help one another grow in our trust in Jesus. If you have a group of people who are sold out to Jesus and fully trust Him, the sky is not even the limit as to what can happen!
„X Verse 13 gives us the 3rd important purpose, that we gain knowledge of the Son of God!
„X The word for ¡§knowledge¡¨ does not just deal with an intellectual exercise, but a knowing by experience. It is a knowledge you gain from personal involvement with Jesus. In Philippians 3:10 when Paul says he want to ¡§know¡¨ Jesus, he wants more that intellectual understanding of Him, Paul wants to experience Jesus at the deepest levels!
„X The 4th purpose in verse 13 is that we mature.
„X This purpose deals with being full-grown or complete. Some people can look mature for their age, but inside they have not matured. Jesus wants us to mature in our faith verses being a child in verse 14.
„X HEB 6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
„X The 5th purpose found in verse 13 deals with the fullness of Christ.
„X This term deals with being a person who is complete with a balanced character who can replicate the life of character of Jesus in their life. The goal of the church is to have each of it¡¦s members be able to reflect Jesus to the point that other people will want to Jesus to be the center of their lives also. We will never reach the fullness of Christ until He takes us home, but this is what we strive for!
III. EACH ROLE HAS IMPORTANT RESULTS. (14-16)
„X Each of us has an important role with important purposes which in turn produce important results.
„X We do not belong to the church just so we can put on a nice worship service or have a nice Bible Fellowship program; we are here to help one another grow in Christ, which in turn will make the church an important part of the world.
„X If we fulfill our roles and we fulfill the purposes we are striving for, then we will see some results. In verse 14 we see the first one.
„X We will no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. We will not be deceived by every person who is trying to defraud us of our joy and faith in Jesus!
„X Trickery of men is a term derived from the word used to describe dice used in gambling, which during Jesus day cheating was the standard practice.
„X When we are mature in our faith, we will not be swayed by every wind of teaching. We will not fall for the latest scheme that will take us off course.
„X The second result of maturity is we will speak the truth in love. Look at verse 15.
„X As we mature, we are better able to deal with people who are trying to deceive us or trying to lead us off the path.
„X I find that people who do not know why they believe what they believe, get mad and start calling people names instead of dealing with the issue at hand.
„X I used to get rather aggressive with people when it came to disputes or disagreements. Some of it was insecurity on my part. As you grow, you start to have a quiet confidence what you believe, it keeps you from dealing harshly with people who do not agree or who want to take you down a path you ought not go.
„X We will never win people over with anger and name calling.
„X As I look at the abortion issue, in the 80,s it was marred by Christians calling people names and by anger. Everyone was not like that, but there were enough of them to label all pro-life Christians as nutty. Then when speaking in love became the rule, hearts and minds have been changed.
„X The third result of maturity is the growth of the body of Christ!
„X READ VERSE 16
„X When all the parts are functioning and working according to plan, the body grows!
„X Do engineers put extra parts in an automobile engine? Does a computer have a bunch of extra parts in it? NO! Each part performs a vital function.
„X DO we have extra parts in the church? NO. Each part performs a vital function!
„X If we are all using our gifts and talents for the glory of God, this church will grow beyond your wildest belief!
„X When we all work together, we can accomplish much!
IV. FULFILLING YOUR ROLE IN GOD¡¦S CHURCH BENEFITS YOU IN MANY WAYS!
1. Spiritual growth.
2. A sense of belonging.
3. A sense of purpose.
4. Great joy! Being an active part of the team is more rewarding than sitting the bench.
CONCLUSION
„X The key to godly growth that accomplishes the purpose of the Head is for every part of the body to function. The leadership (v. 11) cannot do all the ministry, while the saints merely watch. When certain parts of the body have to try to perform roles normally handled by other parts, two things result: (1) those parts must leave off doing their own important function; (2) they perform less efficiently in the new roles for which they are less well suited.
„X God has called EVERY one of us to get into the game. We are not called to sit the bench.
„X Sitting the bench gets boring, playing the game is fun. Church may be boring and unfulfilling to you if you are sitting the bench. If you will get into the game, you will have a great time in the Lord!
