This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:7-16, the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, December 12.

⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸This is why it says:
   "When he ascended on high,
      he led captives in his train
      and gave gifts to men." ⁹(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until 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.

 ¹⁴Then 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. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From 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.

Let's dig into verse 12 today. How does it make you feel? For those of us who are looking for purpose and meaning, this is very encouraging. "God has a job for me. Great, I needed that." However, for others of us those words could represent an added burden or be the first step of a guilt trip. "Really? Something else I need to do?" Neither response is surprising. Our world is in gridlock with people who are looking for meaning or for a way out.

The most challenging response of the two possibilities is the "burden." In today's hyperactive world, we are capable of seeing this cup half empty, unless we see this Ephesians 4 instruction in light of Ephesians 1-3.

The reality is that to be the people Paul describes in chapters 4-6, we must view all of the instruction in the second half of Paul's letter through the lens of what we affirmed in Ephesians 1-3. None of us needs or wants another impossible burden, but what we do need is a fresh sense of Ephesians 1, 2, and 3--a day-to-day awareness of God's amazing kindness, His love demonstrated in so many powerful ways, His incomparably great power, the depths of our need, and the glorious riches of His grace.

As your schedule permits, spend some extra time in Ephesians, referring to your sermon notes and journal entries from these past weeks. Let Paul wrap his arms around you with his teaching about how great our God is; the reality that our eternal future is not in our hands, but in the hands of the sovereign God of the universe; that our infinitely loving God chose us, sent His very own Son to rescue and redeem us, and transform us from the inside out.

It is our gratitude--our love in response to His unending love--that moves us to serve. Nothing more and nothing less.

Father,

Thank You for loving me. For choosing me. For forgiving me. For redeeming me. Thank you for giving me purpose and allowing me to be a part of Your plan--right now and for eternity. Let that reality infuse my thoughts, my words, my relationships, and all I do today.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:7-16, the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, December 12. Today we'll read chapter 4 in the New Living Translation.

¹Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. ²Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. ³Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. ⁴For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. ⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

⁷However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. ⁸That is why the Scriptures say,

   "When he ascended to the heights,
      he led a crowd of captives
      and gave gifts to his people."

 ⁹Notice that it says "he ascended." This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. ¹⁰And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

¹¹Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹²Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

 ¹⁴Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

"All the world's a stage . . ." Unless he knew about God's unfolding plan for rescuing humanity from eternal death and destruction, William Shakespeare had no idea how very accurate were the words with which he began his famous soliloquy from "As You Like It." It is on this "stage" that the forces for good and for evil do battle, and the dramas of our daily lives take on epic proportions--far beyond what we can see from our human perspective.

The good news? We know how this play ends. And we don't have to audition to get a part. Paul reminds us in today's reading that God has a special role assigned to each of us, a "special work" for which we have been uniquely equipped. We each play a key role in God's grand story--a mystery that has been progressively revealed in His Word and is now being played out in and through the lives of His Children, the body of Christ.

And while God gave some the gifts to be apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers, His purpose was not that these leaders alone would fulfill His plan, but that they would equip God's people to do His work as His plan unfolded. Grasping this idea, making this plan our own, changes everything for us, and for our church. Wheaton Bible Church is not Pastor Rob's church, or the Elder's church, or the staff's church. More precisely, we don't go to church--we are the church. We, you and I, each have a necessary role--not as spectators, but as an invaluable part of what God is doing.

The stage is set, the directions have been given and the roles have been assigned. Now is the time to act, to give the performance of a lifetime--in fact, that is exactly how long we each have to accomplish all He has for us on this earthly stage.

Father,

Show me today where You are at work and what role You have for me. I want to live a life "worthy of my calling"! I want to make every day count for You. Give me a heart to serve Your purposes and a sensitivity to know Your Spirit's leading.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:7-16, the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, December 12.

⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.  . . .  ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until 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.

 ¹⁴Then 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. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From 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.

The Bible is full of insights and warnings about our words, our mouths, our tongues--and the good and bad they do. Our mouths can speak praise, they can speak evil. They can tell of God's faithfulness and confess His truth or they can do harm. What comes out of our mouths can bring honor and glory to God--or it can make us unclean. Our tongues can speak deceitful words, or they can send forth praise. The list could go on and on.

God's Word tells us again and again that what comes out of our mouths is important, so it shouldn't surprise us to read that one of the key signs a church is maturing relates to speech:  that as we grow together in unity and in the knowledge of Christ, we will "speak the truth in love."

What a challenging combination of words: Not only speaking the truth, but speaking the truth in love. Here Paul articulates a critically important blending of the boldness to say what needs to be said along with delivering it in a way that shows and reinforces love and a Christ-like desire for the hearer's very best future. 

And the truth we speak? It's not something that we might think someone needs to hear, but rather it is God's truth as He has given it to us in His Word--expressed out of love for those to whom we speak.

How is that possible? Only by depending moment by moment on the power of God's Spirit who lives within us (John 14:17) and whose presence in us is evidenced by love (Galatians 5:22a)--and by developing the kind of fluency in the language of God's truth that is nurtured through a steady and consistent habit of spending time in His Word.

What would it mean in our community to be a church known for being "truth-in-love-speakers"? How would our homes, our workplaces, our families feel the impact? It would change everything.

Father,

My mouth has so much potential to do good or evil, to dishonor You or to bring glory to Your name.

Give me a growing appetite for Your truth and a love for others that can only come from You. Let me be so completely in Your control today that my words will be characterized by Your truth and Your love.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:7-16, the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, December 12.

⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.  . . . ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until 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.

 ¹⁴Then 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. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From 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.

If you've ever worked on a 500 or even 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, you know how useful it is to be able to see what the whole finished puzzle will look like. Propping the box lid up at the side of the table and having access to that picture gives you a sense of your goal, and also offers some solid clues along the way as you begin to piece together small sections and place them in the larger framework.

In some ways, what Paul offers us in the text we're studying this week, particularly in verses 11-16, is the same sort of clarifying picture. In these verses, he vividly describes what God's new society, the Church, will look like when it's fully functioning as He intended: When each of us, as parts of the body of Christ, is equipped and serving in that place for which we have been supernaturally gifted. When "we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature." When we have attained "the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

Paul's picture is both useful and encouraging as he teaches the Ephesians about why God gave these gifts to the church. Notice his use of words that point us ahead and spur us on: To prepare God's people for works of service, to be built up until we all reach unity,to become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. It is an ongoing process that will only be fully completed in eternity. But until then, Ephesians 4:14-16 is a look at a glorious future that we can begin to experience today as we allow God's Spirit to grow us together and move us toward maturity.

Take a few minutes to read and reflect on verses 14-16. As the puzzle comes together--from our perspective a "not yet" but "becoming" reality--be encouraged by this amazing picture of the finshed product--the Church, mature and united, growing and building itself up in love, "as each part does its work." Which of these images represents how God is working in your relationship to the body of Christ? How can these verses inform your prayer for the Church worldwide and specifically for Wheaton Bible Church?

Father,

What an amazing future you have for me as I grow together with my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Keep this image of Your church in my thoughts and help me to grow in my understanding of how You have gifted me to serve You. Use me today--my time, my energy, and my resources--by Your Spirit, in Your power, for Your purpose, and for Your glory.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:7-16, the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, December 12. Today we'll read in the New Living Translation.

 ¹¹Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹²Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

 ¹⁴Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

John 1:14 represents the Gospels' briefest, but no less powerful, retelling of the Christmas story: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Mary's baby was God in human skin, the One who set into motion the redemption plan that changed everything for those who have been "made alive" in Christ.

Our God in human form has since returned to heaven, but His body--the Church--remains to serve His purposes and do His work, led and empowered by His Spirit within us.  

As we celebrate Christ's coming as a baby, let's thank God for choosing us to be part of His Church--the body with Christ at its head--and the opportunities we have together to serve as His hands and feet in human form, translating His love, speaking His truth, and proclaiming the riches of His grace.

Father,

Use my flesh and blood body to serve Your purposes, to touch people who need Your love, to be Your feet and Your hands, and to speak Your truth. Help me to let Your Spirit work through me today.

Amen