Title: Spiritual Growth and Church Growth
Spiritual Growth and Church Growth (1)
2005-08-14
“By him the whole body was helped by every joint” (Ephesians 4:16a).
I. Text Commentary
Those who are set up as officers in the church are specifically called to serve the saints, and when the saints grow into full members, the church, the body of Christ, becomes strong and able to fulfill their original mission to the world. But here, the complete growth of the saints means spiritual growth, and this is achieved through the elements of knowledge and love. The text talks about the service of the saints who help the church based on this fact. If we have looked at how a Christian who has been grafted into the church as a saint grows up with the help of the church, from here on, the saints who have grown with the help of the church are now We need to look at how we should fulfill our role of helping the church.
II. Church with the help of saints
A. Source of Help: Christ
The Bible makes it clear that the source of the saints' help in helping the church is Jesus Christ. The “he” of “from him” is Jesus Christ, who is not far from the church, but is the head of the church seated in it. Whatever the saints served the church, it was not their own, but was given to them by Jesus Christ, the head. Therefore, no matter how much the saints serve, they cannot boast of themselves. Because he knows he's just an errand man. Knowledge, grace, material things, health, and love all came to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus pours out the resources in Him to the church through the service of the saints.
B. How to help: grace
1) “Through each word”
When our hands pick up an object, it is not something that the hand alone does by itself, but just as every joint of our body follows the command of the cerebrum and the hand functions together to pick up the object, so is our service in the church. . Some things seem important and big, and some seem small and insignificant, but in fact, all the things that the Church of God requires the service of the saints are important things that are closely connected and working in order for the church to function properly as a church. None of the missions and services that God has given us are superfluous. And they all function together in the marvelous wisdom of Jesus Christ to make the church the church.
2) Serving of each saint
As long as you look at yourself, you don't realize how selfish you are. But when we encounter a time when we have to make sacrifices to love others, we realize how selfish we are and move on to self-brokenness. Therefore, those who do not practice sacrificial service are bound to become corrupt.
The church is not an institution where only a few people work hard and others just enjoy the benefits. When you let the grace you receive through service, keep in mind that through that service, you are first built up properly, and the church is also firmly established with the help of that service. It is not just one person who has received much grace, but each member of the congregation should become a serving tool that fulfills the role of a node. Doing your best to serve God entrusted to you is not accomplishing one thing, but serving your neighbor, serving the church, and serving the world.
Most of the grace, benefits, and help we enjoy do not come directly from God, but have been passed on to us through someone else's hard work and service. It was through the service of so many unknown people that we were able to possess this much knowledge of God and grow in faith. Therefore, we, too, must help the church by serving the best we can, thinking of Jesus without name and without light in the place where God has established us.
C. Must be under grace
The saints are not mechanical parts of the church. Just as the church is the body of Christ, so each of us is the body of Christ. In order for us to live contributing to the church as a word of the church, each of us must first be captivated by the wonderful grace that comes from Jesus Christ. Even when we are not faithful, we are members of Jesus Christ. When one part of our body gets sick, it is a problem that not only ends with pain in that part, but also seriously affects other joints. Therefore, we must strive to be under grace, not only for ourselves but also for the church community. No matter what talents and resources we have, they cannot be of Jesus Christ unless we are captivated by Jesus Christ. I must never forget the humble heart of being nothing and the childlike dependence of my heart that I can do nothing without Jesus Christ. 2005-08-14
Spiritual Growth and Church Growth (2) 2005-08-21
“Continuing and uniting, working according to the measure of each member, it makes the body grow and builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16b).
I. Text Commentary
It is for the church, the body of Christ, that believers keep their faith life well within the church. In the process of building up the body of Christ, believers can enjoy the happiness that God pours out.
II. How churches are built
The church, the body of Christ, grows as the saints who have received grace serve each other.
A. Unity of Saints
‘Contact and coincide’ means that the entities are organically connected to each other, rather than acting alone. When we did not know God, we were separated spiritually and lived independently of each other. However, at the time of creation, the creatures were all connected under the full power and wisdom of God with their own functions and actions, and they revealed the full glory of God according to the purpose of creation. However, after sin intervened, the entire creation world was stained with sin because of man and the order of creation was destroyed. Thus, human beings have been living in pursuit of their own happiness in the best possible way, centering on themselves. However, after hearing the gospel, receiving the light, and receiving Christ as the Lord of salvation, he became a beloved child of God, not a child of wrath. In this way, one saint and one saint are grafted into the body of Christ to form one family, the body of Christ, and the church is established. Since they have become one spiritually connected body, the grace received by one saint flows and circulates throughout the church, and the body of Christ grows healthy.
Ⅲ. Conclusion and application
Have you prayed with all your heart for the unconverted? The saints who have received grace should do their best to pray for them. If they don't cry, we should weep for them. Let's cling to God and ask with tears to save them. When we stand as true saints, how much love will be poured out on Christ, our head, so let us look forward to seeing the glorious coming of the kingdom of God in us who are converted. 2005-08-21