Well, we're in the middle of a series on prayer, all kinds of prayer for all kinds of people.
It's the Lord's desire that we pray lots for everyone.
And one of the critical questions that we've been challenged to ask as we do that is,
God, what do you want to do in this situation?
What do you desire?
What do you will for this person?
The Lord wants us to pray according to his will.
We probably, hopefully, all pray for ourselves on a regular basis.
We hopefully pray for our families and the people in our families every day.
But this morning we want to talk about our church, one another.
Father, are you praying for each other here in this room and for those who aren't with us this morning regularly?
We do pray every Sunday like we just did for some of the needs in our church.
But I mean throughout the week.
Are you praying for the people in this church?
And if you are and when you do, what do you ask God to do in their lives?
What are you asking God for, for one another?
That's the question that we're going to be focused on this morning.
What should we be asking God for as we pray for each other here in our church?
God, what do you want to do in our church, in this church, in Davidson?
And our answer comes to us from Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
So if you have your Bibles, please open them up to Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 5.
We're going to pick it up in verse 7.
Paul writes this.
He says,
But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
And drop down to verse 11.
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.
Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.
This whole chapter is full of God's will for our church.
We could go back all the way to right to the beginning of the chapter.
We talked about that last summer a little bit in our One Another series.
God's desire is that we would be a people who love one another.
But we want to bring it in here to verse 7.
Paul sets up a bit of a contrast here.
He's been talking about in verse 4 how there's one body.
There is one people of God in Christ.
And now he sets up a bit of a contrast.
Even though there's one body, there are many parts to this body.
There are many gifts that have been given to the body.
Verse 7.
But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Paul then supports that with going back into the Old Testament.
And then he has a little bit of a tangent and then comes back in verse 11.
To each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers.
There's lots that we could say about each of those different kinds of people or each of those different roles.
But what strikes me is the language that Paul uses.
I expected him to say, so Christ himself gave the gift of apostleship.
The gift of evangelism.
The gift of teaching.
What is the gift that Christ has given to his church?
It's not just the gift of apostleship.
The gift is the people.
So Christ himself gave what?
The apostles.
The prophets.
The evangelists.
The pastors and the teachers.
They are the gift.
They are part of the gift.
And I don't think this list is meant to be all inclusive.
There could have been other things that he mentioned.
Other roles that he has given.
But each of those is a special gift of grace that God has given to his church.
We could talk about each of those, but we probably don't have time to really get into each one.
And so this morning I'm just going to focus on pastors.
Probably the one that we're most familiar with.
The word pastor here, believe it or not, this is the only place in the whole Bible that you find the word pastor.
And that might come as a surprise to some of you because it seems like every church has a pastor almost.
Why does it only show up once in the whole Bible?
The reason is that this word is actually, it comes from the Latin word for shepherd.
The original word that Paul uses here is actually the word shepherd.
Literally.
He gave shepherds.
It kind of goes a little bit against some of the mindset that we typically have towards pastors today.
But essentially, shepherds, as he refers to them here, is that he's talking about the same role as elder or overseer in the church.
1 Peter 5, verse 1.
Peter says there,
When Paul was meeting up with the elders from this very church, the elders of Ephesus, he kind of charged them.
He said,
Keep watch over yourselves and over the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
And so, the word that we so often use, pastor, really traces back to the idea of shepherd.
And it's really synonymous with the position of elder or overseer in the church.
That's the primary work of a pastor.
And in our North American culture, we've maybe kind of come to this place where we have put the pastor up on a pedestal.
He's the paid professional that does the work, the job description that we've given him to do.
And these elders, well, they're important, but they're kind of second rate, you know.
But that's not the teaching of the New Testament.
What the apostles taught and set out as the pattern is that there is to be a plurality of elders or shepherds in the local church.
I appreciate the respect that people intend when they say to me, Pastor Josh.
But I hope that you know that I'm not the only pastor of this church.
Rob Workington, Byron Dahl, Charles Schmidt, and some of you other men have even served in the past as shepherds in this church.
The Lord's desire is that there be a plurality of shepherds, of pastors, of elders.
Why? Why has he given that to the church?
Hmm. I want to give something special to my people.
But I don't really know what to get them.
So I'll just get them a box of chocolates.
No.
It's not a gift like that.
This is a gift that Christ has thought through.
A very thoughtful gift for a very specific purpose.
To meet a very specific need.
What is that need?
Paul goes on to say,
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers
to equip his people for works of service.
Christ himself has given shepherds and those other roles as gifts to the church.
Why?
To equip his people for works of service.
And this is another place where sometimes in our North American culture,
we maybe have it a little bit backwards.
We maybe see the pastor as being the one that we pay to do the works of service for us.
Or the elders are the ones that we have elected so that they can do the work of the church for us.
But actually it's the opposite.
Christ has given shepherds to equip the rest of us to do the work of service.
To serve one another well.
To serve our community.
And in all of these things, to serve God.
And so God's desire is that each person in his church be working, be serving, be using the gifts that he has given them.
Under the equipping and the coordinating and the guidance and the leadership of these roles.
The shepherds.
Those of you who are shepherds.
God's desire is that you not only serve like the rest of us, but that you equip the rest of us as a church to serve.
That you give us the tools to know how do we serve?
How do we work together as a church to reach this community?
That's a heavy mantle.
And so if you're not currently serving as a shepherd, pray for the shepherds in this church, the elders.
That they would have God's leading as they seek to do that.
Amen.
God bless langley.
Amen.
эт decision.
Amen.
same way as a church it is critical that we learn to function together in a coordinated manner so
that we can achieve the miracle of standing and walking and serving and blessing
it's only as we work together under the guidance together under the coordination of the shepherds
that we can achieve this paul goes on from here to paint a bit of a picture of what god desires for
the church generally we've talked a little bit about leaders and how they've been given as a gift
but to what to what end so what we're all serving together they're equipping that's great but what
what's the overall big picture where are we going what is christ's desire for his church
what's his will for us here in davidson paul goes on to spell this out a little bit starting in verse 12
he gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists the pastors and teachers why to equip his people
for works of service so that the body of christ may be built up and then here it is 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 then will we we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth
by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of
people in their deceitful scheming instead speaking the truth in love we will grow to become in every
respect the mature body of him who is the head that is christ from him the whole body joined and held
together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work
there's a lot in there there's a lot of little details in there and rather than going through
every single one i'm just going to try to hit on a couple different themes what does christ desire
for his people his church twice paul uses the phrase built up that they would be built up god is at work
he is building something with and in his people with and in us here in the davidson community bible church
he has already laid the foundation jesus has come the apostles have carried the teaching
of christ and the witness of christ and now he is building something
there is the theme here of growth from infancy to adulthood it's a very interesting way to describe what
what what he longs to see happen
we're kind of like infants he implies in verse 14 then we will no longer be infants we're like
the seed form that has now sprouted the plant that is just now blossomed
but christ's desire is that as a as a body as a people that we would grow to become the full adult mature
body people that he wants for us to be
what does that maturity look like paul gives a number of uh indicators here
a group of people that's characterized by
a group of people that's characterized by speaking the truth to one another
a group of people that is well coordinated and functions well together like it like an adult body does
we're no longer learning how to walk and how to move we work together we're coordinated
maturity the word mature is used a couple of times
fully developed i love this phrase in verse 13 he says
and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of christ
you can just think of the picture of kind of that the little growth chart that we do for our kids on the wall as they grow up
well eventually there's a line and that's that's it they're fully grown fully adult
that's christ's desire for his people that we reach the full maturity as a group
where the fullness of christ we we match up to to the fullness of christ
we come to share in that measure of his glory that he is going to give us
it's a beautiful picture
there's also a theme here of a ship out at sea paul likes to use his metaphors and he likes to use them
one after the other sometimes
you get this picture of a ship out in the sea the waves are coming and the winds blowing and it's just going
all over the place and he uses this as a metaphor to describe how
some christians probably that he's known and seen some churches even
you know a person rolls into town with a new teaching
that takes them away from the teaching of christ and they just kind of get blown along and go with it
the culture says this sure let's do that the pressures of society of the of local local cities whatever
say you go in this direction so we just okay that sounds great
paul's desire is that we not be like that but that we be anchored in the truth
in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of god he says
so that when those things come they just go under the boat we're not moving
this is our original conviction this is the truth
jesus is the way the truth and the life
and it doesn't matter what anybody else says over here or if somebody else teaches something contrary
we're not going with that flow that wind isn't taking us anywhere we're anchored here
in christ that's what he longs to see for us as a church
to summarize i'm just going to quickly read through some of these and just highlight on a few words
what christ wills for his people
is for them to be built up
to reach unity
no divisions
faith filled
knowing the son of god
maturity
steadfastness
ability with to withstand
well coordinated
functioning together
in truthfulness
in love
what a beautiful picture
in a moment we'll
talk about how this should inform our prayers
but before we get there
i just want to say
the thing that hit me the most
this week as i was preparing this message
is simply
isn't it amazing
that
god wants to do this
for us
that he wants to make us part of a people
a body
like this
as undeserving as we are
this whole week i've been without my family
they've been in valley view
enjoying time with
um
jen's parents
and
throughout this whole week i've been thinking
about
how can i be a better husband
how can i be a better father
what can we do together
with them when they come back
i've been tucking away some ideas
making some plans
and then all of a sudden
as i was reading this
it just hit me
the lord
has made some plans
for us
as his
church
and how things are going to be
and he is working to bring us to that
isn't that amazing
that we have a god
who loves us
like that
that he has
come up with this plan
of what we will look like
one day
when we're fully grown
and that he is moving us along towards that
what a gift
what love
that we as sinners
as people who have
shaken our fist against him
rejected him
that he has
desired to save us
and to pull us into this incredible family
of his
to be his people
and so as we pray
for
one another
as a church
of course we pray
for
the typical things
matters of
health
and well-being
but what if we
started to use
this picture
and this isn't the only picture
there's
lots of pictures
throughout
scripture
but what if we started to use
this picture
to inform
how we pray
for one another
I've already mentioned about
how we should pray
for the shepherds
in the church
that they would
equip
and lead well
but we can pray
for one another
that each person
would be valued
by
every other person
in the church
that they would
use their gifts
that they would
serve well
that we would
be a church
characterized
by love
and by truth
pray for our church
that we wouldn't be
tossed
by the storm
but that we would
hold fast
to Christ
pray that you
that each person
in our church
would
understand
how
what kind of
part
they are
what gift
or grace
that God
has given them
and how they
can use that
to serve
because it's only
as each part
does its work
that the body
can be well
coordinated
and well functioning
that's true
of the church
as a whole
and that's true
of our church
here in Davidson
and so
last week
I encouraged you
to
make a bit
of a list
if you need
to
to pray
for your family
this week
I want to
encourage you
to
make a regular
habit
of praying
for one another
in the church
there's a
couple easy
ways to do
that
first of all
we have a new
directory
that's going to
be ready
soon here
that's one
way to do it
you have your list
right there
you can just
work your way
through it
we can do
a few
families each
week
or a family
every day
however you
decide
one of the
things that's
really been
helping me
that I use
I use an app
called
prayer mate
I found this
online
by recommendation
from someone
and you can
just set up
your lists
of different
people in your
life
family
extended family
church
missionaries
and every
time you
open it up
it gives you
a fresh set
of people
drawn from
all of those
lists so that
you can pray
for those
people and
ensure that
you pray
for everyone
and it's
good when
we pray
for everyone
in our
church
by name
that we
take time
to think
about that
person
and what
God wants
for that
person
and so
I encourage
you if
that's
something you
think might
help you
download that
fill it up
with the
names of
the people
in our
church
and as
I have
done this
I found
it to be
very helpful
because it's
easy sometimes
to just get
into the rut
of oh I'm
supposed to be
praying for
so and so
so God
please be
with Charles
and Ellie
bless them
be with them
bless them
and be with
them but
we don't
really get
into thinking
about that
person but
if you set
aside that
I'm praying
for one
family a day
in our church
or something
like that
you begin to
think through
each person
in that
family
have you
been praying
for the
kids in
our church
not just
your kids
but the
other children
there's so
much that
we can
that we can
easily miss
or pass over
and so having
a list
and working
through it
regularly
I'll be
honest
there are days
where I miss
I'm sure we
all do
the day takes
you by surprise
especially when
you have kids
and you
wake up
with them
right there
but
we need to
make this
a habit
God wants
to do amazing
things in our
church
and that
will come
in answer
to our
prayers
when we pray
according to
his will
and so let's
ask God
to do
what he has
shown us
here
he wants
to do
in our
church
for his
glory
amen
for
let's
to
recognize
him
in
and
again
he wants
to
you