“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.” Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV
The Apostle Paul helps the Jesus followers in Ephesus frame the way in which Jesus wants for them to be the church. He writes that there are at least five unique roles through which individuals were gifted to lead. Of course, not everyone will have these particular five gifts, there are many more. Paul did not believe that these five roles were the only realities for leadership for all of time. He did, however, want them to be aware of the unique roles that would be present in the early church, and I believe the modern church as well. This Sunday we will be talking about these five gifts and the role they played in the early church. We will also discuss how these five gifts need to be rediscovered to help the modern day church be vibrant, vital and alive. In order to add to that discussion I am offering a writing that was posted by J.D. Walt on the website www.seedbed.com, which is a online publishing resource of Asbury Theological Seminary. I believe you will enjoy his take on the importance of what Paul writes in Ephesians 4. I invite you to follow the link and read this writing.
This Sunday we continue our message series entitled “Mystery.” We will look at the way Jesus gifts us for the positions of mystery. I hope you will join me this Sunday at 8:15|NINE45|11:15 for worship. You can also go to SAUMC.NET and join us via livestream. The best is yet to come. I love you all and can’t wait to see you in church!