When you're a preacher and you're writing sermons,
you end up leaving a lot of your material on the editing floor, so to speak.
And some of the material you leave on the editing floor,
God intended just for you.
Yesterday when I was preparing,
Ephesians 4 has this quote from Psalm 68.
So I was in Psalm 68,
and later on in verse 19, there's these words,
Blessed be the Lord, for He daily bears us up.
God is our salvation.
That was just the word I needed yesterday and today.
So let me just pray one more time.
God in heaven, we're so grateful that Your grace,
Your spirit is sufficient for the cause, for the challenge.
And You daily bear us up.
That is no labor on Your part.
We gladly receive Your grace and strength.
And now, Father, would You pour Your spirit about on us as we look to Your word.
Would You compel us unto Jesus.
Amen.
I spent a couple summers in Ocean City, New Jersey when I was a college student.
And I had the opportunity to watch the building of boardwalks.
Ocean City is right on the Atlantic coast.
And Ocean City is known for its boardwalk.
Well, what would happen is you bring these big steam-driven pile drivers in,
and they would take this huge pylon, which is basically a giant tree that's been stripped of all its branches,
dipped in tar, and they drive that thing down through layers of sand, layers of soil,
all the way down to the bedrock.
And then when that pylon hits bedrock, they're able to build on it, build a boardwalk on it.
This morning, we're not building boardwalks.
What we're talking about is building a church culture of disciple-making.
In an order for us to build a disciple-making church culture,
certain biblical truths must be driven down in us.
These biblical truths must be driven down past just hearing, past agreement,
past saying, yeah, that sounds really good,
down to the bedrock of conviction,
where we say things like, I've got to do that.
That's God speaking, and I must respond in faith, in action.
That's when it hits bedrock.
We must act together by faith.
This whole revision series is seeking to drive five biblical truths
down to the bedrocks of our beings
so that we could build a culture of disciple-making.
And so, the first...
Where did my thing go?
The first...
The first conviction that I have shared with you is...
I've got to find my pen.
No, this is a different thing.
I just had it.
This is phenomenal.
Hey, thank you, buddy.
It's not going to work.
Well, give it a shot.
Hey, I found it.
Thank you, Jacob.
All right.
So, conviction number one, we talked about weeks ago.
And the conviction one, or these convictions are posed as questions.
Why make disciples?
Do you remember how we answered that?
We make disciples because God has a big plan.
So, the first thing we've got to remember is that there is a triune God,
and He is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He is reigning over everything.
Remember that?
Ephesians 1, 3 through 14.
And God has this plan for the fullness of time.
We depicted it as a big arrow.
It includes all people, all time.
The triune God is moving everyone to a particular ending point,
and we've depicted that as a big throne.
Matthew 25, where Jesus sits on the throne,
and He separates all nations, all people, the sheep from the goats.
He is the one who is the judge who sits upon the throne,
and let's just put a crown on Him.
Not only is He the judge to come,
but the game changer in salvation history was the cross of Jesus Christ.
God's central to God's plan is the cross of Jesus Christ.
It is where God poured out His grace.
Grace to change people from those who are worshiping anything but God,
and do this radical work in their heart to orient us to God,
to make us worshipers of God.
And so this plan for the fullness of time,
where Jesus is, the cross is at the center of it,
we've talked about this as a people-moving plan,
as a disciple-making plan.
So this is where my technical drawing skills come in really helpful for you all.
So we know of people, we depicted like this,
who were running away from God.
I can't tell you how many hours I've put into practicing that.
And they're running away from God,
and this is the DOD,
not the Department of Defense,
but the domain of darkness.
And those God has created in His image,
corrupted by sin,
are running away from Him.
I used to be in that pack.
Many of you used to be in that pack.
But God did something,
all by His grace,
through the power of the gospel.
He called us to Himself.
He delivered us out of the domain of darkness,
and He made us alive in Jesus.
And so now,
that's kind of scary.
So now we are running together in a pack to Jesus.
And what I've been telling you all along here is that,
according to Revelation chapter 7,
this is what John was praying for just moments ago.
God is gathering Himself,
people from every tribe, tongue, and nation,
surrounding Him on the throne.
And they are singing His praises.
These are arms raised.
Praising God.
God.
Lifting up their praise to Him.
Salvation belongs to our God.
To the one who sits on the throne.
And to the Lamb.
Salvation and glory,
power and might,
be to our God forever and ever.
And so this right now is happening,
as we speak,
in glory around the throne.
And so,
this big plan,
is a glory plan.
He's flipping people living in the domain of darkness
and making them His disciples.
And what we've been talking about,
disciples are anyone who has experienced God's grace,
and as a result,
they lay down their lives for Jesus.
There's five L's.
Lay down their lives for Jesus
in order to learn from Jesus,
live for Jesus,
become like Jesus,
all because we love Jesus.
That's what disciples are.
Those who are living for Jesus now.
And then,
that's conviction two.
What is a disciple?
And then conviction three is simply the question,
how do you make disciples?
How are disciples made?
And last week,
I told you the four Ps.
Now, I'm not going to quiz you on this.
Just take it in.
The four Ps are this.
How do we make disciples?
Well, we make disciples by
the proclamation of God's Word,
prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit,
people are God's fellow workers,
and the last P is persevering step by step.
And I told you last week that this week,
I was going to expand on that third P.
People are God's fellow workers.
Which brings me in your bulletin,
if you're following along,
we've just done the review of
convictions one through three.
The claim,
the conviction number four claim is this.
Let me just first ask the question.
How,
who makes disciples?
Disciples?
Here's the claim.
Every Christian must be making disciples.
God has this plan,
where
He is moving people who are under His wrath
to moving people to under His grace.
He's doing it right now,
and we get to join Him in doing that.
He's doing that work right now in our city,
in our state,
country,
and world,
and we get to join Jesus
in what He's doing.
So,
who makes disciples?
We do.
Every Christian must be making disciples,
because every Christian is a disciple.
And if you are a disciple of Jesus,
you're going to be joining Him
and making more disciples of Jesus.
So what this means is,
we are moving people together
towards Jesus.
Both non-Christians and Christians
were always moving people towards Jesus,
either coming into a relationship with Him
or deepening their relationship with Him.
Every member of this church
is a minister.
This is the biblical truth
that was recovered back in the Reformation,
and it's known as the priesthood of all believers.
We're all,
every member,
is a minister in this church.
I had an illustration last week
where we're all members
of the Christ the King Church
ministry staff team.
Every one of us.
So this morning,
I've got six observations for you
from Ephesians 4,
and let me read that for you.
Now, don't fret.
This is not going to be a 90-minute sermon.
I'm going to move through
these six observations pretty quick.
But let me read this passage for you.
Ephesians 4,
11 through 16.
Robin, would you put it up?
If it's not up, thank you.
And He gave the apostles,
the prophets,
the evangelists,
the He, by the way,
is the risen and ascended Christ.
And He gave the apostles,
the prophets,
the evangelists,
the shepherds,
and teachers
to equip the saints
for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain
to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge
of the Son of God,
to mature manhood,
to the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ,
so that we may no longer be children
tossed to and fro by the waves
and carried about
by every wound of doctrine,
by human cunning,
by craftiness
and deceitful schemes.
Rather,
speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up
in every way
into Him
who is the head,
into Christ,
from whom the whole body,
joined and held together,
by every joint
with which it's equipped,
when each part
is working properly,
makes the body grow
so that it builds itself up
in love.
First observation,
each of us called.
Each of us called.
In verse 12,
we read this,
to equip the saints
for the work of ministry.
Saints
is another way
of just describing
Christians,
all Christians.
Every Christian is a saint.
And every Christian
is a disciple of Jesus,
someone who has
responded to God's grace
by laying down their life,
learning from Jesus,
living for Jesus,
becoming like Jesus,
all because we love Jesus.
So saints are Christians,
a.k.a.
disciples of Jesus,
speaking to all of us.
Now,
also in verse 12,
we see,
to equip the saints
for the work of ministry.
What is that?
Well,
you see in the verse,
for building up
of the body of Christ.
So whatever this work
of ministry is,
it builds up
the body of Christ.
And that's Paul's way
of talking about
making disciples.
Don't make
a contradiction
in your mind.
Paul's not talking
about something
other than making disciples.
When he talks about
building up the body,
he's not talking
something other
than making disciples
of Jesus.
What he's doing is,
he's speaking of
making disciples
in terms
of a unified body,
of distinct parts
working together
to move people
towards the head,
Jesus.
And that phrase,
the work of ministry,
is not just
one particular ministry.
ministry.
It's not only saying
this is what ministry
looks like
very narrowly defined.
This is a very broad
category.
It's actually referring
to a variety of ways
individual Christians
use their gifts
to grow together
into Christ.
This is,
what you need to see
here is,
the saints,
all Christians,
are being equipped
for doing
gospel ministry.
ministry.
But there are
a variety of ways
to do gospel ministry.
What I want you
to see here
is that each
and every Christian
is called
to be a minister
in and through
the church.
Last week,
I used this
illustration.
Imagine going to
the Christ the King
Church website.
You go to the menu,
and in the menu,
there is this tab
that says
ministry staff.
You click on that,
and before you,
our page after page
of every member
and regular attender
of Christ the King
Church,
because we are
the ministry staff
of this church.
We're the ones.
You're the ones
who do the ministry.
So,
here's the application.
Do you see yourself
as primarily
a recipient
of the ministry
of this church,
or primarily
as a participant
in the ministry
of this church?
Do you take
primarily,
or do you give
primarily?
Biblically speaking,
it's actually both.
Every member
in this church
receives grace
from other brothers
and sisters,
and gives grace
to other brothers
and sisters.
That's the way
it's designed.
But are you,
do you pull one way
or the other?
The call is to do both.
Remember the ad campaign
for milk,
milk it does,
the body good.
Grace it does,
grace does
Christ's body good.
And every member
of this church
has grace to give
and grace to benefit from.
Each of us called.
The second observation
I want you to see
is that each of us
is gifted.
If you're in Ephesians 4,
look at verse 7.
But grace was given
to each one of us
according to the measure
of Christ's gift.
In 1 Corinthians 12
and in Romans chapter 12,
the one who gives
particular gifts
to individual Christians
is actually the Holy Spirit.
Here,
it is the risen,
ascended Jesus.
Which means
the triune God
is involved
with giving gifts
to individual Christians.
Grace was given
to each one of us
according to the measure
of Christ's gift.
Which means this,
our risen,
and ascended Lord Jesus
decided what gift
and how much
of that,
what measure
of that gift
He would give you
and He would give me.
Which means
there's no need
for gift envy
in the church.
If you're envying
somebody else's gift,
you actually have
an issue
with Jesus'
decision making.
but what is clear
from all of these passages
is that
a grace gift
is given to
each and every Christian
and each gift
is intended
to build the church.
Imagine with me
a business woman
who returns
from an international
business trip
from Zurich,
Switzerland.
And she arrives
and gives boxes
of Swiss chocolates
to each of her
children and husband.
To one of
her family members,
it's Swiss chocolate
caramels.
To another,
it's Swiss chocolate
nut clusters.
To another,
it's another kind
of Swiss chocolate
truffle.
And her intention
in giving these boxes
of chocolate
to each of her
family members
is not that
each member
would hoard
the box,
but to enjoy
what's in the box
and share it
with the rest
of her family.
The gifts
she gives
tended to share
with everybody else.
The gifts
our risen Christ
gives to each
of us,
we're not to
hoard them,
we're to share them,
we're to put them
in play.
And so what happens
is,
if you were in that
business woman's
family,
you'd be,
oh,
thank you,
and Swiss chocolate
is great.
for us,
it's,
Jesus,
thank you for this
gift you've given
me and given her
and given him.
All glory to your
name.
Which raises the
question,
I'm guessing,
how has God
gifted you?
What is the gift
he's given you?
Well,
let me just give you,
there's a few spots
in your Bibles
in which the
Apostle Paul
or the Apostle Peter
gives us some
lists of gifts.
They're not exhaustive,
but helpful to know.
Let me read you a
couple.
This is Romans 12
verses 4 through
8.
For as in one body
we have many gifts
and the members
do not all have
the same function.
Did I just get
lost?
Is this on now?
Is anything on?
Thank you.
I'm very aware
that there are
certain powers
that don't want
you to hear
what I'm saying.
I'm not kidding.
For as in one body
we have many members
and the members
do not all
have the same function.
So we,
though many,
are one body
in Christ
and individually
members one of another.
Having gifts
that differ
according to the grace
given to us,
let us use them
if prophecy
in proportion
to our faith.
If service
in our serving,
the one who teaches
in his teaching,
the one who exhorts
in his exhortation,
the one who contributes
in generosity,
the one who leads
with zeal,
the one who does
acts of mercy
with cheerfulness.
There's a similar list
in 1 Corinthians 12.
There's a similar list
in 1 Peter 4
verses 10 through,
I believe it's 10 and 11.
I'm not going to read that.
Go there.
Check it out.
The point is
there's a variety
of gifts
that the risen Christ
gives us
for the building up
of the body
and he has given
you one.
How do you figure it out?
I'll ask a couple questions.
Where do you gravitate?
What do you gravitate to
in the church,
in the ministry
of the church
that just,
that gives you juice
that you like doing it?
What is it?
Is it logistics?
Organizing?
Administrating?
Is it sharing the gospel
with non-Christians?
Teaching?
Leading?
Pay attention
to those burdens.
Or,
you can be listening
to what other people
are saying.
Wow,
you are really good
at that.
Man,
when you're
in that zone
serving that way,
I'm encouraged
by that.
That has an effect.
The sweet spot
of your ministry
is when there is
a need in the church
and it intersects
your gift.
That intersection
is the sweet spot
of your ministry
and you want to find it.
Ask God to direct you.
Ask others for help.
The point is
that each one of us
has been given
an individual gift
not to hoard
but to put into play
so that everybody benefits.
Each of us gifted.
The third observation
is each of us speaking.
we see this in verse 15.
Is it enough
to be using your gifts?
Let's say you have
a gift of service.
Is it enough
to serve
or is there more?
Well,
verse 15
seems to be pointing
to more.
Verse 15 says,
rather,
speaking the truth
in love,
we are to grow up
in every way
into Him
who is the head
into Christ.
He's still speaking
to every Christian
in the church.
Here's how I know that.
Look down at verse 25.
Therefore,
having put away falsehood,
let each one of you
speak the truth
with his neighbor.
We were members
one of another.
This is intended
for every member
of the church
that you're to be
speaking the truth
in love
to one another.
So in addition
to using your gift,
you speak the truth
in love
to one another.
The truth
is a reference
to the Bible.
The content
of this book.
The truth
of how God
has revealed Himself
in the person
of Jesus Christ.
And notice,
it's speaking
the truth.
It is communication
of this.
You can text it.
You can put it
on Twitter.
You can use it
on Facebook.
You can call people,
FaceTime people,
but there's no substitute
to speaking
the truth in love
in someone else's presence.
That's where the money,
that's the gold
right there.
Speaking the truth
in love
captures that first P
of how we make disciples.
The proclamation
of God's Word.
That this book
is every word
originated in the mind
of God
and it is profitable.
It equips people
to follow Jesus.
And we're to speak
the truth in love.
Did you see that?
We don't pull the pin
on a truth grenade
and lob it in
and run.
We speak the truth
in love,
which means
we speak truth
to people
for their greatest good.
Now we've got to
ask the question,
what is that greatest good?
Is it for people's comfort?
It's right there
in the text.
Look at verse 15 again.
Rather speaking
the truth in love,
we are to grow up
in every way
into Him
who is the head
into Christ.
We speak the truth
in love to one another
unto Jesus.
Moving people
towards Jesus our head.
That's the goal.
That's how we love people.
So here's what this means.
Whether you're serving
as a King's Kids
teacher or helper,
or a life group leader,
or a life group member,
a vocalist,
an instrumentalist,
a slide tech,
a sound tech,
whether you are
a King's Place mentor,
you're a spouse,
you're a Christian parent,
your gift gives you
an opportunity
to speak the truth
in love,
to move people
towards Jesus.
Imagine two guys
with the gift of service
running cable
in this building
to expand
our Wi-Fi network.
They're laboring
next to each other
and one of them
starts to complain.
One of them
starts to express
frustration
about someone else
in the church.
It's turning to gossip.
So the other brother says,
hey, have you spoken
your frustration
to that person?
Because the other brother
who's asking that question
is wanting to live
in Ephesians 4,
let's just put our
finger on it,
verse 3,
eager to maintain
the unity of the Spirit
and the bond of peace.
Or,
Matthew 18,
15,
where Jesus says
to all of us,
if you have
an issue
with another brother,
you go to him.
Make your offense
known.
Work it out.
That,
here we are,
two guys
using their gift,
but speaking
the truth
in love
to one another.
Do you see
how this is working?
Imagine
King's Place team,
Wednesday afternoon
mentoring program.
I don't have anybody
in particular mind
with this example.
A sister texts
one of the other people
on the team.
I don't want to come,
I'm so discouraged.
That other person
on the team says,
you come.
This sister shows up.
She's very honest.
They've got to be
mentoring these
wonderful children
in just minutes,
right?
This,
this sister
who's so discouraged
said,
I should not be here.
I just yelled
at my seven-year-old
for one minute
straight.
I have no business
being here.
to which her team
then says to her,
well,
if that's
the standard,
none of us
should be here.
Grace freely given,
sister.
You're in the spot
you need to be.
Jesus has forgiven
that too.
We serve
out of fullness
of grace.
So whether that's
on a ministry team,
do you see,
you're going to be
mentoring people,
you're going to be
doing different
ministries with your
gift,
but it affords you
a certain kind
of opportunity
to speak the truth
in love.
Life groups,
dinners together,
in addition to
using your gifts,
we are all
to be speaking
the truth
in love
to one another
unto Jesus.
That's the third
observation.
Here's the fourth.
Each of us
equipped
this raises
an interesting
question.
You might be
saying,
okay,
I buy it.
I'm supposed
to be speaking
the truth
in love,
okay,
but what do I
say?
What do I say
when someone's
freaking out?
I don't want
to mislead them.
Well,
in verses 11
and 12,
we see this
very important
relationship.
He gave the
apostles,
the prophets,
the evangelists,
the shepherds,
and teachers
to equip the
saints for the
work of ministry.
It's a relationship.
God gives
leadership gifts
to equip the
saints for the
works of ministry.
So here's what
this means.
This morning,
I am seeking
to equip you
with God's
Word for
works of
ministry.
How,
you may ask,
well,
I haven't given
you a ministry
skill set.
I'm trying to
form in your
minds a
ministry
mindset.
Equip you
in the way
you think
about yourself.
That you,
Christian,
are a minister
of Jesus Christ
in this church.
And I'm calling
you to believe
it.
Because God
says it.
And to live
that,
you are a
gifted and
called minister
of the
ascended Christ
to make
disciples as
part of this
church.
And my job
is to equip
you to
faithfully
minister out
of that.
This word
equip is
part of a
family of
words in the
New Testament.
And basically
it means to
outfit.
It was used
to describe
outfitting
boats that
in the
first century
would travel
rivers.
You give
everything that
boat team
needs in
order to
survive going
down the
river or
up river.
Equipping
means giving
you what you
need to be
faithful to
Jesus.
So in
light of that,
I just want
to help you
think about
Sunday mornings
for a second.
imagine Sunday
morning as
the flagship
disciple making
event of the
week.
The moment we
all come
together to
worship God,
to hear from
his words,
and to be
spurred on to
follow Jesus and
make disciples of
all nations.
There's a lot of
equipping with
God's word that
happens on a
Sunday morning.
Imagine the
informal conversations
before the service
and after the
service and how
those are ripe
opportunities to
move people towards
Jesus with his
word.
What happens with
King's kids,
right now we
have a bunch of
children being
taught a lesson.
Yes, that is
speaking the truth
in love.
But also, when
those kids get
squirrely, those
teachers and
helpers have an
opportunity to
speak the truth
in love and
help these
children.
Love one
another.
Grow in
self-control.
Of course, our
singing, it's a
kind of speaking
the truth and
love to one
another.
Colossians 3.16
talks about the
word of Christ
dwelling richly
among us through
the hymns and
spiritual songs that
we sing.
It forms us.
It will be in
your mind on
your deathbed
someday.
It equips you.
preaching, it
equips you with
sound doctrine so
you don't go the
way of Ephesians
4.14.
So you're not
tossed to and
fro by the
waves of false
doctrine.
Ministry mindset,
ministry skill set.
I don't have
enough time this
morning, but I
want to invite you
to something
immediately after
the service.
There's this
passage in 1
Thessalonians 5.14.
It is a crash
course in how to
wisely apply God's
word to someone's
life.
Just one verse.
So after the
service we dismiss,
come on down, I'll
give you a crash
course in it.
It'll be five
minutes.
You'll walk away
with a sense of,
oh, that's helpful.
our job as
pastors and
elders is to
equip the saints
for works of
service and to
do that well.
Because each of
you has been
called to be a
minister of the
gospel.
Okay, so called,
gifted, speaking,
equipped, fifth
observation, each
of us positioned.
It's right there
in the text,
verse 16.
From whom the
whole body,
joined and held
together by every
joint with which
it is equipped,
when each part is
working properly,
makes the body
grow so that it
builds itself up
in love.
Have you ever
had a body part
dislocate?
Oh, it's not
fun.
It's painful.
It calls for all
your attention.
You're unable to
do what you
normally do.
Paul is painting
this picture of
the church as a
healthy, functioning
body with all of
its members united
together, working
together.
When someone's
dislocated, it
affects the supply
of grace running
through the body.
That phrase, from
whom the whole body
joined and held
together, with which
it is equipped, every
joint with which it
is equipped, it's a
picture of this
connectivity between
Christians in which
God uses that
connectivity, that
positioning and
proximity to pour out
His grace on
people.
Some scholars think
that's talking about
leaders.
Other scholars think
that's a reference to
all the saints.
Whatever the case may
be, it's about God's
grace flowing through
the body.
And we all need to be
in right position with
one another.
Not disjointed, not
dislocated, but
unified.
What holds together a
body of Christ?
What does that?
In verse 15, we see
it.
Rather, speaking the
truth in love, we're
to grow up in every
way into Him who is
the head.
Look at the end of
verse 16.
Makes the body grow so
that it builds itself
up in love.
That's the whole point
of Ephesians 4, 1
through 6.
United in love unto
Jesus.
Have you ever seen
someone dislocate a
shoulder and then
watched the process of
it being set back in?
It's kind of painful
to watch.
But for that person
who has a
dislocated shoulder,
whatever pain it takes
to get it reset,
the result is
eventual healing and
full function of the
body.
Here's the question.
Are you somehow
disjointed from the
body?
In general, or from
another Christian in
particular, are you
disconnected?
And what needs to
happen for you to be
set back into place
so that the grace of
our Lord Jesus, our
head, flows down
through us to all
body parts?
What is it going to
take?
Maybe it means
re-engaging in our
life together as a
church in person.
Maybe it means getting
involved with a life
group finally.
Maybe it means getting
onto a ministry team.
Maybe it means taking
some steps of faith
and courage and
raising topics with
other brothers and
sisters.
That may not be easy
to talk about.
If you are disjointed
from the body, not
only does it affect
the body, we're
missing God using
your gift grace in
our life.
It's affecting you.
You're lacking God's
grace.
You don't need to
remain disconnected
and distant.
Get connected.
Get close.
It's necessary to
your calling to be
part of building up
this particular body.
That's the fifth
observation.
Here's the sixth, and
this is brief.
All of us growing.
It's the result.
It's the result of
knowing that you're
called.
It's the result of
knowing that you're
gifted.
It's the result of
speaking the truth in
love, of being equipped
to do that.
It's the result of
being rightly, humbly
positioned to one
another in this
church.
The result is the
body builds itself up
in love.
You have a particular
gift, brother and
sister, that Jesus
himself has given
you, and while you
are using that gift
in close proximity to
other Christians, you
get to speak the truth
in love, moving people
towards Jesus.
And when we are
rightly connected to
each other in our
head, Jesus, the grace
falls down.
It fills us with the
fullness of God.
It grows us.
We learn from him.
We live for him.
We become like him
because we love him.
Grace it does.
Grace it does the body
good.
Grace it does.
Grace it does this body
good.
And that includes
moving non-Christians
into our body when they
believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ.
We add members.
It's all about moving
people towards Jesus, our
head.
We grow.
He gets the glory.
So let me conclude.
Who makes disciples,
brothers and sisters?
Every Christian, all of
us, must be making
disciples.
In order for our church
culture to become a
disciple-making church
culture, this biblical
truth that we're talking
about from Ephesians
chapter 4 must be driven
down to the bedrock of
your being.
You must be thoroughly
convinced of this.
And when we are all
convinced of this, the
grace flows in greater
fullness into greater
effect.
You've been called into
ministry, brother and
sister.
You're an essential member
of the Christ the King
Church ministry staff.
And when we act on this
in faith, every member
becomes a disciple-maker.
The body builds itself in
love.
Grace it does the body
good.
Next week, where are
disciples made?
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, we're so
grateful that you would
call each of us out of
the domain of darkness
and transfer us into the
kingdom of light, the
kingdom of the beloved
Son.
You made us alive with
Christ, Father.
You've called us to be
disciples.
God, would you convince us
of what you say to be
true of us so that we
can live in fullness and
that we can see this body
grow and that we do that
together.
Lord, would you bring peace
and unity?
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.