I am challenging you to take control of your calendar so that your days and your weeks reflect that Jesus Christ truly is your Lord, the Head of His Church. Do even more with Sermons4Kids Plus! Each of us is to do his or her part, make his or her contribution as God has intended. I’m called to use my gifts for the church no more than you are called to use your gifts for the church. They want each player to make the contribution they are trained for and practice for. Scripture: Ephesians 4:31–5:2. When we hold back for fear of coming off as pushy or arrogant, we’re holding back a gift that God gave you, yes, but a gift that is not just for you! So, this trend is a good one. Ephesians 4:11-16 ICB And Christ gave gifts to men—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to … Please, Lord, stir within this body the unquenchable desire to be a player and not a spectator. The problem, however, is that maturity seems to be a thing of the past. Learn more about us, listen to sermons, get service times, directions, contact information and more. It's nice to be asked. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. We would value his instructions. But don’t let that be your cop-out for not learning to lead someone to the Lord yourself. Let’s pray to God, and thank him for loving us, and taking care of us as his favorite things. Paul is in the middle of explaining the role of gifts in the unity of the church. In the more general sense, those gifted with prophecy are gifted in telling and explaining the truth of God, His Word. Review and Setup (4:1-10) Before we read those verses, look with me at the first ten verses of Ephesians 4: For this message I used the Whirl Story Bible (2014 sparkhouse). They want each player to be supportive and encouraging of all the other players. The 3rd step is this: This perfecting of the saints, this maturing of Christians that the leaders, in particular, are to faithfully pursue, it’s not the goal in and of itself. I know that sounds odd, but let me explain: the only responsibility given in the Bible for pastors, specifically, is to see to the maturing of the members of the flock that God has given him! (Ask the kids to share about something they want to have a new beginning with this year.) The elders, hopefully, are doing everything they can to help guide and protect the flock. Children are to honour their parents by external tokens of respect. The text is Ephesians 1:3-14 and… The people around you want their gift from God. Ephesians 4:1-3 (NIV) – [men] 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. My intention for focusing on this chapter at this time is that I believe it has instructions that, if followed, will prepare us as a congregation for effective ministry this fall. Is that a proper understanding of the role of the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers? Introduction. Among those fresh starts that a new school year provides are the re-formations of athletic teams. "1In the NT it is used as a technical term to refer to Christ-designated messengers given authority to speak for him and to establish his church. Growing in knowledge and character just doesn’t really seem to matter anymore to the average Christian. Verses 11-12 again: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”. John Piper Mar 27, 1994 301 Shares God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him Children's sermon. He gave the apostles. As your pastor, I beg of you, don’t hold it back. Here are the verses in question: “(Ephesians 4:11) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, “(Verse 12) for the equipping of the saints … This is why I devote myself to the work of expository preaching of the Word. “Hey, come on, come on! THE ROAD TO MATURITY . He is the source of life and growth and health and love. 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Repentance and faith. Are we making disciples like Jesus did, which is a huge part of maturing and becoming like Jesus? They sound pretty good, right? Leader – [Tell the children to sit down and start handing out a type of snack, if the children are allowed to have them.] Speaking the truth in love grows up the body of Christ. Bear them. We, ourselves, are leading people to the Lord! I think it’s a pretty important question for any pastor or church leader to ask: What is my ultimate goal in the ministry? Revised Common Lectionary – Year B. The Giant Book Of Children's Sermons. Coffee & Fellowship
September begins a new season for us as a church. We apologize, but the audio is not available for this particular message. So, here we are, an assembled team of players. When we’re ALL maturing and ministering, the Body is built up, how? As we stand at the threshold of a new school year, ministry opportunities abound. They are gifts given by the Lord Jesus (see Ephesians 4:7-10). In Ephesians 4:11, he wrote, "The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers." The promise is that the local church, the local expression of the larger body of Christ, will grow and will build itself up in love. I mean, he’s a millennial; that’s how cool he is!” Again, I’m not saying don’t invite people here. You’re worshipping in a different way, by building up the Body in a small way. GOD’S GIFTED MEN EDIFY – Vss. Ephesians 4 tells us what a worthy walk of a believer looks like. They were privileged to be personal disciples of Christ and witnesses of His resurrection (Acts 1:15-22; 1 Cor. By Rev Charles Seet. In verse 8 of chapter 1 Paul says that God “lavished” his grace and goodness on us. Raintree Students
The text is Ephesians 1:3-14 and… For this message I used the Whirl Story Bible (2014 sparkhouse). Featuring a sermon puts it on the front page of the site and is the most effective way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands including all mobile platforms + newsletter. Children are to obey the just commands of their parents. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”. Our greatest need, for January-through May, this serve cycle we’re starting, our greatest need is with children. That’s God’s assignment, not mine. It does mean that when we get the green light from the Lord to speak the truth to our brother, we must always do it in love. Pardon the football analogy again, but if we think of apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastor-teachers as specialized coaches, they are assigned to work with each player to prepare them for works of service in order to make their contribution to the achievement of the team vision. Children hesitate. We will also see that Paul’s strategy calls for a very intentional effort to maintain the unity of the team by expressing support and encouragement at every turn and in every situation. His genius is that of a handyman. Do you agree? Devotion. Mar 27, 1994. Not every once in a while, but consistently. Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2005-01-15. Ephesians 4:12-16. We can't wait for school to start, and dread summer vacation. I know many of you don’t want to miss our worship time, even once a month, which all the positions during this time are for once a month, but let me just say: you’re not missing worship! 16 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. We weren’t made to mature on our own. 10:1-4). Today, we’ll talk about another new beginning. That’s the outcome God has in mind for His church. Children don’t have much discernment, do they? And this makes the whole body grow and be strong with love.” Ephesians 4:11-16 (International Children’s Bible) We heard the Good News and responded. God wants His church to grow into Spiritual maturity. We have been privileged to hear that word, to repent and are now assembled here for further instructions. Verse 13-16. They were particularly helpful before there was a New Testament canon. One of the most direct ways to apply this text is by being willing to invest into the lives of people who are so impressionable and teachable and are constantly developing, our children! Ephesians 2:1-10: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. The variety and respective usefulness of the members in it ( 1 Corinthians 12:15 , etc. For I believe the Scriptures tell us that it is through the local body of Christ where the rubber meets the road, where our love for Christ is given the best opportunity to develop and be employed. But, someone functioned as an evangelist to us. They want each player committed to following the assignments they are given. Why? RCL and Narrative Lectionary Based Children Sermons. Surely we would take heed, then, to his admonishments. II. He did it so that the body would grow and build itself up in love. Not only is the body growing and building itself up in love, but, Paul says in: Ephesians 4:14 (NIV) 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. But, because we have turned and place our faith in Christ, we will instead be judged according HIS righteousness that has been imputed to us, as if it was our righteousness. As a result, each of us are brothers and sisters called to humbly serve our Lord side by side in worship and evangelism. The text is Ephesians 1:3-14 and… We would welcome his warnings. They don’t want to be spectators. 2. We are saints, truly, because of Christ! Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no ... We are consequently warned not to continue children, but to advance steadfastly towards manhood. The running back who scores the touch down must never forget he had teammates who laid down their lives for his successful run. God wants His team, His body, to be built up. Some of the players we counted on last year have moved on. Forgive them. It is a sobering thought that God decided to use individual people in the Body to build up the church. I just want to make our church more successful.”. .” Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 2: What we need to know: sin, salvation, service; I know a lot of things. We want to really teach our kids who God is! But the context here is clear: it’s actually speaking of YOU as a Christian maturing, and, as we’ll talk about in a minute, ministering first to the Body of believers! This chapter started out with the exhortation to bear with one another in love. Many of the players already know the positions they want to play. Wherever we’re at, we must never stop growing and developing and maturing. And while sometimes you do need to hire people, of course, the great majority of what the church is to do and be should be developed and executed from within its own membership! Because the result of doing so is too wonderful for us to miss! Discernment will be common among all the members. Not to mention that supernaturally receiving a direct word from God– there’s not much of a need for this anymore, at least not prophets with the same type of authority as in the first century when they didn’t have the written Word yet. The apostles have made and continue to make their contributions to the building up of our team. . God gave you certain abilities. This article is a sermon on Ephesians 6:1-3. Ephesians 6:4 . But the Gospel isn’t just a one-time thing you do, you repent from your sin and place your faith in Christ. Look again at the text in verse 16. At least it’s not the only goal. And Paul is giving us a strategy to make that happen right here at New Heights Christian Church. 14 Then we … Somehow we have communicated to our children that they are a burden rather than a blessing. GOD’S GIFTED MEN ENABLE – Vs. 12. Even if you don’t like your gift or your abilities, you’d rather do what’s he’s doing or what she’s doing, realize this: it is because God gave the gifts that that there is no reason for envy or ambition. Discipline. It’s the same idea we find in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, part of the passage we read last week, which tells us our primary tool in maturing believers: “All Scripture is God-breathed, and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Being equipped means maturing, progressing toward completion. A church year tends to follow the pattern of the school year of our children. Ask them what they did to deserve this treat – Their answer should be “Nothing.” Yes! We will speak the truth with love. The 2nd Step of God’s process for spiritual maturity: So now we’ll focus in on church leadership, because that’s really what Paul is focusing on here. T. H. L. Parker’s fine book, Calvin’s Preaching ([Westminster/John Knox Press], 1992), shows that Calvin’s main emphasis in reforming the church was his amazing expository preaching ministry. In ordinary social terms: we expect parents, teachers and others to spend much time, energy and money in enabling children to grow up, and become mature, responsible adults. This was the opening Children's Message for our sermon series on Ephesians, "Where Do I Fit In?" They have a task ahead of them. Our primary goal as a church is to help you mature as you help the person next to you mature. That’s it! Most of this is organic. But, in another very real sense, we still need sanctification, we need spiritual growth and maturing. Find Top Church Sermons, Illustrations, and Preaching Slides on Ephesians 4:11-16. In some ways, every Sunday should be like Christmas where we all get to experience the gifts and abilities that believers have in building up the body! No, he didn't develop any scientific theories like Einstein did. If we only had those people working with children, we wouldn’t have enough teachers for our public school system, and we definitely wouldn’t have enough leaders for our children’s ministry here at Raintree. The Power to Change; If I Am a Butterfly, Why Am I Still Crawling? Or do we have lots of programs and schedules that make us a busy church, but, simply, are we reflecting the life of Christ more and more? 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Unfortunately, this is not the norm in modern churches. 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