SUNDAY SERMON RECAP (19 JANUARY 2014)
Special Gifts by Ps Samuel Hari
Text: Eph 4:7-16Grace is a Special Gift. One aspect is it’s the unmerited favor of God. The other is it's a special gift! We are GRACED by God through Christ to be a blessing to the church and to the world!
What is the Gift? (V11)
The 5 Fold ministries. We need all five in the church to be balanced. Don't reject or favor a particular ministry because we are uncomfortable or like it. They are ALL SPECIAL GIFTS from the LORD (through the generosity of Christ (v7)) to us.
WHY did He GENEROUSLY give us these gifts? (V12-13)
• To EQUIP us to DO God's work
• To BUILD UP the CHURCH or THE BODY OF CHRIST
• A CONTINUOUS and PROGRESSIVE work. We are not there yet; SO be patient...press on!
The result
• Unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God which equals to...
• MATURITY, to a MATURE MAN, which is measuring up to the FULL and COMPLETE standard of Christ
Ephesians
4:11-13 MSG
He
handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train
Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the
church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each
other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature
adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
No longer IMMATURE like children. Childish vs Child-like. We need to GROW UP!
V14. NOT...
• tossed and blown by every wind of doctrine/new teaching
• be tricked by half truths. Looks like, smells like, feels like but is NOT the truth! Not just doctrines; developing discerning...listed as Holy Spirit gift..1 Cor 12:10
V15. INSTEAD...
• speaking the TRUTH in LOVE
• GROWING in every way, more and more like Christ who is THE HEAD
V16. Christ does His part and we do ours (the gifts given to the body 1 Cor 12:7-11). We cannot leave everything in God's hands without doing our part. It's working together although it seems impossible when people have different gifts, talents and mindsets. However, when we do our part and leave the rest to God, He will fit everything together PERFECTLY and the whole body WILL be HEALTHY, GROWING AND FULL OF LOVE!
