The Resurrection Life is Graced Life
October 22, 2015
God has a dream for us. God wants you to experience a community of grace: where everyone matters, where everyone serves with joy, grows in grace, and is lives a life of love.
1. Christ Gives us Grace to Enable Us Ephesians 4:7
Jesus gives everyone of us a portion of His grace so we can do our part in making the Church a beautiful community of grace.
2. Christ Gives us Coaches to Equip Us Ephesians 4:11-12
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service…
Apostle: Apostle literally means “sent one.” This gift exposes us to men or women who are living and breathing mission as a way of life. Such a calling is needed in every church to help us learn how to embrace our mission as “sent ones.” We need this gift to help us embrace our calling as disciplemakers. Without this gift among us we would have a difficult time embracing mission as a way of life. We need this gift.
Prophet: The original Prophets spoke new revelation from God to His people. A prophet then was a mouthpiece for the will of God. So now that we have the completed revelation of God’s Word in the Bible, this quality is seen in those who make God’s will relevant in our lives today. A Prophet speaks clearly of God’s will to our culture today. One with this gift keeps us faithful to God and His mission. We often see this gift in Men who are powerful preachers.
Evangelists: Evangelists makes the gospel clear to those outside and inside the faith. To those outside, he has an infectious gift to help people come to faith in Jesus. To those inside the faith, he has the ability to equip us to share the gospel with our family and friends. Again, we need this gift.
Pastors: Pastors prepare us to do life together as God’s spiritual family of misfits. Pastors are intent on helping broken people become whole, helping misfits fit in and helping all learn how to do life together so that together they learn how to love and serve one another.
Teachers: Teachers help God’s people grow in the wisdom and understanding of the mystery of Christ and the life He has called us to. God gives the teacher unique insight into how we are to live God’s will in every day life.
For some reason, there is an unspoken expectation that Pastors come equipped with all these gifts. But that’s not what Jesus gives. He gives to His people some who are apostles, some who are Prophets, some who are Evangelists, some who are Pastors and some who are Teachers.
3. Christ Gives us Works to Build Us Ephesians 4:12-13
Jesus uses our relationships in the trenches to build our faith, mature our lives and help us know Him better. Too many of us suffer under the illusion that Jesus will build us, mature us and help us to know him better through a private devotional faith. But that is not how God designed Christianity to function. No, Christianity functions best when God’s people do life together in community.
4. Christ Gives us People to Grow Us Ephesians 4:15-16
We must learn to speak what is true about Jesus: He is God’s Son given to die for us so that we might become Sons of God, forgiven and free. We must learn to speak the truth about God’s grace to one another. We cannot simply rely on one message a week. No, we must learn to speak truth to one another in love – to remind one another that we are the apple of God’s eye, His beloved. That God has always loved you, never gives up on you, and has given you every thing you need to become like Jesus. To remind each other that we are family, we have resurrection power, and that God is in control. And we must live this truth with each other daily, by being completely humble and gentle with one another and being committed to never giving up on them. And when we do this, when we love and serve one another with grace, when we continually encourage one another, carry one another’s burdens, pray for one another, when we do our part, this is the result: From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16