TEXT: EPHESIANS 4:1-16
Beloved children of God, in Ephesians 4: verse 1, Paul tells us that we need “to live a life worthy of the calling you have received”. Verse 12 says preachers and teachers and the like should “prepare God’s people for works of service…” And verse 16 says a healthy church “…grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
God never designed His church for His people to wait around for a Pastor to do work for them. A healthy church is a place where the people realize the importance of there being Ministers of God and Workers. It is where meetings take place where the Pastors don’t have to show up, where people take on jobs like the Sunday Service Bulletin, the Church Face Book Page and the Church Website. It is where people are waiting in line to teach the Sunday School Classes and the mid-week “Digging Deep” Bible studies and work in the Photography, the Children and Youth Departments.
Brethren, Ministers of God have one goal: “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”. These leaders have been ordained by Jesus to train the rest of us for ministry, so that we can serve God even though we are not yet ordained Ministers of God. We must all do good works as Jesus said in Mathew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven”. Jesus wants to empower us so that we can bring Him glory and so that people can be saved. That is why He has ordained leaders in the church to train us in to the Ministry. Life in Christ means we have to live in this world but we are not to be controlled by this world. We put away the former life, put on the new life and put down the devil.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to have the power to do ministry then we need to be constantly tied to God so that we can be effective. We need to be talking to Him, spending time in His presence and looking to Him in expectation for His power and His direction. God’s energy and His resources are inexhaustible and are always available at the moment of our need. We need to be connected to Him to lay hold of His overwhelming power.
PRAISE THE LORD!
