Title: Growing Body. /Ephesians 4:11-16
A growing body means a growing church community. God wants his church to grow. Growing up is not forced. Watch the children grow. If you don't get sick and don't get sick, it will grow naturally. As long as the church is healthy and does not get sick, it will grow on its own. Let's take a look at the factors that make natural growth shown in today's text.
What does it take to be a growing church?
1. A leader who demonstrates leadership to raise ministers
In the church, Christ is the head. The church in Ephesus was a Gentile church. He gave this church a Jewish leader. These are the vision teams. These were the leaders who established the church with the vision Jesus spoke of. The church grounds were built on this original leader. These are not leaders who assert authority. They are not just people who are just playing with their jobs. These were the leaders who raised ministers. It was their mission to make the saints ministers. This did not end with their work, but other saints continued to do so.
In verse 11 of the text, it is said that the reason that God gave the church several workers was to establish the members of the church as ministers. All those in charge of each ministry department of the church are positions established to encourage others to participate as ministers and work. There should be more leaders with the leadership to raise ministers in our church.
All members of our church should be ministers. In order to be appointed as ministers, the saints must first be perfected. To perfect means to correct what is wrong and make it work for itself. The church must be a structure that can perfect the saints. It says that it must be a church with a system that can be perfected. When all the saints are prepared to be ministers and function properly, the church becomes a healthy church. All healthy churches have this structure.
The next thing is to do the work of service (verse 12). The work of service refers to the role of helping other members to grow spiritually. To voluntarily bear the toil of service in the Lord's church according to the gifts given to them is to build up and grow the body of Christ. Developing one's own gifts and working according to them will benefit each other a lot. But when we do the Lord's work, we do not always do the Lord's work only according to our gifts. Sometimes the Lord makes me do things I didn't think were my gifts. In this case, we must be believers who believe and obey that the Holy Spirit will give us the gifts that follow.
2. We must do everything in love.
3. A church with joints (verse 16)
4. Work according to the measure of each member (verse 16)
According to the measure of faith, according to the measure of gifts, according to the measure of office, according to the measure of knowledge. In the book ‘Gung-ho’, there is a story about an animal called ‘beaver’. Beavers do what they have to do. Do what you can, even if you don't. I do my best. No other beavers judge or argue about this. It is to build a dam to protect their houses by working according to the measure of the members.
Let's encourage each other rather than talk about what we are doing for the church. And let's do our best in what we do to benefit each other. This is what works according to the measure of each member. When this happens, the church, the body of Christ, grows. It says that the growth of the church must be done in love. Then, the natural growth of the church will take place on its own.
A growing church has the leadership to raise ministers. To perfect the saints for the work of service. And this work is done in love. The church should be filled with an atmosphere of love. Then, when we share our lives with each other, we speak the truth. In this way, you will grow into a holy community. You have to become a community of love to tell the truth. In this way, each other achieves spiritual growth. A growing church has nodes. There are people who connect and help each other. Such people are those who have the emotion of God's love. And by working according to the measure of each member, the church, the body of Christ, grows naturally. Let the leader be a minister who raises other leaders. Let's play the role of nodes to connect and unite the church community. Let's do our best with the gifts we have been given.