SPEAKER_00: So we are looking at Ephesians chapter 4, and we're going to start in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to go ahead and read through the whole text of Ephesians 4, 1 through 16, and then we're going to unpack it a little bit together, but it's going to be a little bit more brief than usual.
SPEAKER_00: We're not going to be able to dive into the depths quite as much.
SPEAKER_00: So if you would, will you stand for the reading of God's Word?
SPEAKER_00: These aren't James' ideas, these aren't my thinking.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we stand to honor God as we read His Word.
SPEAKER_00: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, and with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body, one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
SPEAKER_00: But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore it says, When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.
SPEAKER_00: In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
SPEAKER_00: He who descended is the one who also ascended far above the heavens, that he might fill all things, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 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, and deceitful schemes.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 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.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a seat.
SPEAKER_00: Use this to shape us, use this to mold us.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray that you would teach us today, that you would sharpen us, that you would guide us in truth and guide us in your word, guide us in your will.
SPEAKER_00: It's in your name that we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: As we walk through this sermon series, Made for More, we keep addressing this idea that we are made for more than what we are used to.
SPEAKER_00: We're made for more.
SPEAKER_00: We're made for more freedom, more purpose, more joy.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to unpack how the gospel reshapes us in each of these areas, our relationships, our identities, our work, our worship.
SPEAKER_00: Our theme for this year is the text that we're looking at today.
SPEAKER_00: This idea that we can grow up in love, this idea that we can grow up in unity, this idea that we can grow up into Christ, who is the head.
SPEAKER_00: And we're so grateful for God's word pointing this out to us that this would be our focus for the year, that we would be the men and women and children that God has called us to be.
SPEAKER_00: That we would grow up in every way into Christ, becoming more and more like him, being built up in love, united with Christ, growing in maturity, becoming more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And this all happens as we're connected not just to Jesus, but to one another.
SPEAKER_00: Like we need one another.
SPEAKER_00: And if you understand your body and the way that it works, you actually understand how the body of Christ, the church, is meant to work.
SPEAKER_00: Because there are things like this exciting back to school bash that was really awesome that Aaron and Mandy and Hand and Harvest were able to put together and pull all of these resources together in a way that, like if you're talking about it, some of us might get overwhelmed and say, that's a lot of work.
SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of things to do.
SPEAKER_00: This is a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But then you see, okay, there are gifts that I don't have that are present in the body of Christ that we can appreciate.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this idea of unity and diversity, that different body parts have different functions.
SPEAKER_00: And as you use the body properly, appreciating and empowering and deploying the different gifts to operate in their giftings, then you see the work of God done in a way that, like countless people came up to me yesterday and said, Wow, I'm so impressed by Taylor Bible Church.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so impressed by Hand and Harvest and the work that I'm seeing you guys do in this community.
SPEAKER_00: And it was encouraging to me, but also this is the work of Jesus on display of saying it's not about a brand, it's not about a certain entity or group, it's about showing the love of Jesus tangibly to people who might never walk through the doors of this church.
SPEAKER_00: But they are going to be walking through the doors of their middle school, their elementary, and their high school.
SPEAKER_00: And so we get to partner together to do more than any of us could do individually, as we say, how do I partner together with the body of Christ to do his work?
SPEAKER_00: How do I appreciate those diversity and also strive for that unity?
SPEAKER_00: We were made for more.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this idea Paul is writing this as a prisoner of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: He's writing this as a prisoner of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called.
SPEAKER_00: You go doctrine, then you go practice.
SPEAKER_00: So some of us are like, teach me the things of God, then show me what that looks like in real life.
SPEAKER_00: Let's put the rubber to the road.
SPEAKER_00: Let's see how this we can walk this out in real life.
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the instruction that we're going to see in the rest of Ephesians, it's going to be talking about walking in a certain way, walking in this calling.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling them now in this text to walk in love, to walk in unity, to walk in this togetherness with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.
SPEAKER_00: There's these three virtues that he's highlighting: humility.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm placing myself low so that others can be lifted up.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about this gentleness, like it's not just your word selection, but it's also your delivery of those words.
SPEAKER_00: Your emotions are under self-control because these allow for us to be united in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He talks about patience, endurance with one another under affliction.
SPEAKER_00: Like when we're wronged, when we're going through the unthinkable, you don't retaliate.
SPEAKER_00: We pursue unity with these three virtues that he's highlighting here.
SPEAKER_00: This idea of unity in the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We're united by a divine calling.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to individually to walk in unity as one body.
SPEAKER_00: We've got that on a slide, Aaron, if you want to put that up.
SPEAKER_00: We're called individually to walk in unity as one body.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of my favorite texts.
SPEAKER_00: It's actually the reason why we named ace is this text.
SPEAKER_00: There's this highlighting of this oneness.
SPEAKER_00: Ace, if you don't know, is Greek for one.
SPEAKER_00: Heis means one in the masculine.
SPEAKER_00: Heis, Mia, and hen are the masculine, the uh gender neutral, and the uh feminine version of the word one.
SPEAKER_00: So we're one church.
SPEAKER_00: There's this these seven ones that he's gonna call out in verses four through six.
SPEAKER_00: There's one body, one spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You are called the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
SPEAKER_00: There's this picture of oneness that he keeps highlighting.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're all saved by the same blood of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to one body of Christ, one Holy Spirit to be united together.
SPEAKER_00: We have one hope, Jesus Christ, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
SPEAKER_00: And as we're united in this way, we're called into this selflessness, the selflessness that is uh powered by love and it's promoting unity, the selflessness, this loving unity and reflection of the unity that's present within the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to this unity that we would walk worthy of the call that we've been given.
SPEAKER_00: Because we're called in Christ, we would live in that way.
SPEAKER_00: In a way that would confound those who are far from Christ, that we would see unity, because unity is beautiful in that it puts on display the work of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Like Jesus when he prayed for us in John 17, he said, I do not ask for these only, talking about his disciples then, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
SPEAKER_00: Like our unity puts on display that Jesus was sent by the Father.
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's a high call for us to see and understand and walk out.
SPEAKER_00: This oneness is that we're called individually to walk in unity as one body.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to keep moving to verses 7 through 12.
SPEAKER_00: And in verses 7 through 12, what we see is this idea that we are given gifts to serve and build up his one body.
SPEAKER_00: You can put the point up there.
SPEAKER_00: We're going quick today.
SPEAKER_00: We're given gifts so that we might use them, exercise them, to serve one another, to serve those outside of the church, and to build up his one body.
SPEAKER_00: Like there's this language used of a victor.
SPEAKER_00: So, like if a Roman army were to capture and conquer an area, then they would bring the servants of those people that they had just conquered into their fold.
SPEAKER_00: And as they brought them into their fold, they would give them gifts because they now were part of the same family, the same group together, and they would give them these gifts.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is kind of borrowing some of that language that Jesus descended so that he could rescue us.
SPEAKER_00: And as our victor, he gives us these gifts, not so that we can feel good about ourselves and be like, wow, I have this gift and I'm just important.
SPEAKER_00: We don't need help with self-importance.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We are given gifts to use them to build up the body.
SPEAKER_00: And it's almost like this bodybuilder language of as you exercise those gifts, your body is built up.
SPEAKER_00: The body of Christ is built up to grow it numerically, spiritually, and in stature in this way that the body of Christ grows, and you see something beautiful start to happen as there's this unity that you have to fight for.
SPEAKER_00: Because Satan will come in and will cause disunity.
SPEAKER_00: We will come in and we'll just get our feelings hurt and we'll cause disunity ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: So we have to fight against the disunity and we have to fight for the unity to say, how can we serve one another in love?
SPEAKER_00: How can we exercise these gifts?
SPEAKER_00: What are these gifts?
SPEAKER_00: These gifts are the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers.
SPEAKER_00: There's these five unique gift sets that uh he's describing to say the apostles are like the starters, the people that would go and start something brand new, like a church plant or like a nonprofit.
SPEAKER_00: And they say, I want to be on the front lines of starting something new.
SPEAKER_00: A missionary or a sent one often is used in as we're describing uh one of these this gift set, an apostle like a missionary.
SPEAKER_00: We see there's also the prophets.
SPEAKER_00: These would be those who exhort us using God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's the idea of forth telling prophecy, like as you're preaching the word, it's it's like, did somebody key in the preacher to what is going on in my life?
SPEAKER_00: Because it seems like as they're talking, they're speaking directly to me.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you what, you can't speak directly to a single individual.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's an informant over here, like in my ear.
SPEAKER_00: All right, on row three here, we got this news.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just bring it this way.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get that, but the Holy Spirit is doing what the Holy Spirit can do by using God's word preached accurately to shape and sharpen and encourage and embolden his people.
SPEAKER_00: Evangelists.
SPEAKER_00: Evangelists can look a few ways.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's more than a few, but I'll just give you a few.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it could look like Arian going door to door, knocking on doors, saying, Hey, let's, do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_00: If you were to die today, do you know what would happen to you?
SPEAKER_00: It could look like Rhonda going to serve at a pregnancy center and saying, Hey, I know that you're in a situation that seems hopeless, but let me tell you about the hope that I have.
SPEAKER_00: Or it could look like Mandy and Aaron and Hand and Harvest.
SPEAKER_00: And when you show up and you start to serve people, and they say, Why are you doing this?
SPEAKER_00: What is that about?
SPEAKER_00: And you say, Well, let me tell you about the hope that I have in Jesus that's changed my life.
SPEAKER_00: And because he's poured out love on me that doesn't make sense, I want to pour out his love to those around me to just show the love of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds are those who uh they care deeply.
SPEAKER_00: They want to run towards those who are hurting, they want to love and shepherd and nurture them.
SPEAKER_00: They want to show compassion, they want to show grace, they want to show mercy.
SPEAKER_00: When I think of shepherds, I think of your small group leaders, I think of our region leaders, I think of pastors, I think of biblical counselors, these are the shepherds and teachers.
SPEAKER_00: What are the teachers?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think of our youth group that we're hoping to start in the future at some point.
SPEAKER_00: I think of our children's ministry workers that uh we always need more, so please sign up for children's ministry if you haven't already.
SPEAKER_00: I think of those who say, I want to teach the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'll study in a way that uh doesn't make sense because I want to just be able to say it a little bit more clearly to those who are listening.
SPEAKER_00: I want to instruct people in the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And what he's saying here is that these gifts were given for a purpose.
SPEAKER_00: The purpose of equipping the saints for the work of ministry.
SPEAKER_00: So as these gifts are deployed, it equips all of us to be able to do the work of ministry in a greater way.
SPEAKER_00: We see it in verses 11 and 12 here.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
SPEAKER_00: That's the primary purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Two, for the building up of the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Three, for the work of ministry.
SPEAKER_00: So there's equip the saints to do the work to build up the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: There's this purpose that's very clear.
SPEAKER_00: This is why God gave us these giftings.
SPEAKER_00: This is why God gives these offices, so that the saints would be equipped, so the saints could exercise those gifts, so they could build up the body in unity and in oneness.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: And then verses 13 through 16.
SPEAKER_00: We grow together as one body, becoming like Jesus Christ, the head.
SPEAKER_00: As we exercise these gifts, we grow together in one body, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is the goal, this is the hope.
SPEAKER_00: This is our focus for the year, that we would be equipped for the work of ministry, that we would build up the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 13 through 16.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Until we all attain the unity of the faith, like being united as one body, the knowledge of the Son, to mature manhood, this idea that we would grow up together.
SPEAKER_00: Numerically, sure.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritually, individually, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: We want to grow together and in unity.
SPEAKER_00: Those are three very different, very difficult things to maintain together.
SPEAKER_00: As you grow and you add people, there might be more arguments.
SPEAKER_00: There might be more divisions, there might be more difficulties.
SPEAKER_00: But as you grow spiritually, it can't be like, okay, well, this is James's way.
SPEAKER_00: We all need to just follow James.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's we're going Jesus' way.
SPEAKER_00: What is Jesus' way?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ, who is the head, we're all growing towards him.
SPEAKER_00: Because I will fail you.
SPEAKER_00: Like any of you individually, will fail the rest of us.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus Christ will never fail us.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus Christ is our hope, the one that we proclaim, the one that we say he is our only hope.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one we look to, he's the only one that can unite us.
SPEAKER_00: So less of me and more of him.
SPEAKER_00: I want to say yes to what he's calling us to and say, absolutely, let's go your way, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens as we do that?
SPEAKER_00: We're no longer children.
SPEAKER_00: We're no longer tossed to and fro by the waves.
SPEAKER_00: We're no longer carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, craftiness, and deceitful schemes.
SPEAKER_00: But we're able to speak the truth in love, have hard conversations, difficult conversations, in a way that's not just slash and burn.
SPEAKER_00: See you later.
SPEAKER_00: But let me be surgical with this difficult conversation that I need to have.
SPEAKER_00: Let me make an appeal on Jesus Christ of this way that we need to correct so that we can be united together as a church.
SPEAKER_00: Like how it blows my mind that this was Jesus' prayer for us in John 17, that we would be united together as one.
SPEAKER_00: And experience unity like he and the Father and the Spirit experienced.
SPEAKER_00: That's his prayer that we would have that kind of oneness, that kind of unity.
SPEAKER_00: Because he's the one who holds us together.
SPEAKER_00: The whole body is joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly.
SPEAKER_00: It makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
SPEAKER_00: We get to grow in love as we're united in Christ, who's the only reason we're able to be held together.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: So, church, we grow together as one body, becoming like Jesus Christ the head.
SPEAKER_00: And our question today is this will you exercise your gifts to grow up in love?
SPEAKER_00: Like God gave you gifts.
SPEAKER_00: Will you exercise those in love so that you might experience this unity?
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we can feel lonely and isolated.
SPEAKER_00: And as we feel lonely and isolated, uh, he's calling us into this unity together, saying, exercise your gifts, continue to exercise these gifts, continue to share life, continue to bear your burdens with one another.
SPEAKER_00: And like, you don't have to bear with one another and be patient if everybody is really, really easy to get along with.
SPEAKER_00: You have to bear with one another in patience when we're difficult because we're like spiky, scaly people that as we start to rub elbows, you're like, hey, that's a little sharp.
SPEAKER_00: It's a little difficult to do life together.
SPEAKER_00: And the more that we start to share life, the more that we're going to say things that offend each other.
SPEAKER_00: And so if we're not quick to keep short accounts, if we're not quick to pursue unity, the enemy will divide us and we won't be built up together in love.
SPEAKER_00: And the enemy loves to divide us oftentimes through change, through new endeavors.
SPEAKER_00: As we say, like we're about to pursue a lease space, and we have as many different opinions as there are heartbeats in this room.
SPEAKER_00: You've heard the classic story of like churches dividing over carpet color, over the color of the pews.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's funny, but it's real.
SPEAKER_00: And so we've got to be on guard against those types of things of saying, well, there might be a better thing somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we haven't seen it.
SPEAKER_00: And we've looked under every rock and we've pursued every option.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're pursuing unity and love.
SPEAKER_00: Saying it might be not be perfect, but this is where the Lord has brought us together.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to pursue this unity.
SPEAKER_00: We have to pursue this unity together.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we exercise our gifts, as we work together, as we're both needy and needed, we experience this incredible unity of seeing the body built up in love.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to invite you into that at Taylor Bible Church.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that looks like your next step is pursuing membership at Taylor Bible Church of saying, what does it mean to be a member here?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe for some of you that looks like serving in a ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Like saying, Yes, I will be here longer.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I will prepare outside of here.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I will do whatever it takes to serve the church.
SPEAKER_00: I want to sign up for that.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you, that might look like baptism, taking steps towards being baptized.
SPEAKER_00: You believed in Jesus, but you haven't taken that step of obedience.
SPEAKER_00: What's your next step?
SPEAKER_00: Will you exercise the gifts that He's given you to grow up in love?
SPEAKER_00: That looks like for some of us, showing up to the men's study or the women's study that are going on now, or when we roll out our experience in God's study next month, that you sign up for that and say, Yes, I want to grow.
SPEAKER_00: I want to grow in knowing what it means to experience God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe for some of us that's a call to give for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: Or to pray about what you're giving and to pray and say, God, is this an amount that you are honored by?
SPEAKER_00: Is this an amount that I can joyfully give for you?
SPEAKER_00: Like you're as you praying about what are your next steps, what does it look like for you to lean into the body, for you to exercise the gifts that He's given you, for you to invite people into your space, to say, can we study the Bible together?
SPEAKER_00: Can we grow in Christ together?
SPEAKER_00: Let me share that deep, dark secret that nobody else knows and bring that into the light and experience freedom through confession.
SPEAKER_00: What's your next step?
SPEAKER_00: Will you exercise your gifts to grow up in love?