Would you turn to Ephesians chapter 4? Ephesians chapter 4. I decided to preach a special message for our anniversary Sunday and in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 to 13 will be the scripture text. If you'll follow along in your Bible while I read from mine. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Would you join me in prayer? Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer asking you, Lord, to help us to fully grasp the meaning of this scripture. And Lord, not just to understand it, but to apply it to our lives and to apply it to the life of our church. Lord, I pray that this message will have impact upon us as your Holy Spirit speaks to us through your word. I pray Lord that you'll help me as I seek to deliver this message and I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now don't answer out loud, but who can name the ministers of Swift Creek Baptist Church? Would you say Steve Felker, Drew Cheatham? Perhaps you're even aware of a couple of other ordained ministers of the church that we have, Bob Minor, and we have a retired man that's not living in the area anymore, Jack Moody. But you know, if you only were to name those two to four ministers, you would be incorrect. Because, biblically speaking, all of us are to be ministers for the Lord. Just as God originally had planned for all of Israel to be a priesthood unto God, and only later was Aaron, in his line, chosen to be priest, even so, all are to be ministers for the Lord. And on this anniversary Sunday, I want to challenge us to take to heart the message of this passage of Scripture, which does indeed show that all of God's people are to be equipped and trained to minister. Now, not all of us are called to preach, not all of us are called to lead worship, but all of us are called to minister in some way. And I want to challenge you to accept your own responsibility to become a minister of the Lord. I want to give a little background to this passage that I've just read to you, beginning in verse 7. Paul talks about the gifts of our ascended Lord. And because He ascended on high, He gave gifts unto men. He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit. He gave spiritual gifts. But He also gave gifted leaders. that we're going to read about this morning. And we're going to see the function of those gifted leaders and we're going to see how we are to equip you to minister for the Lord through the local church. And so I want to share with you first of all this morning the gifted leaders that are to equip the saints according to this passage of Scripture. I'm going to first focus on those God-called, God-enabled leaders of the church and what those roles are, the roles of the pastor. And the first thing I want you to see, though, from verse 11 is the list of the gifted leaders that we see here. Notice these offices that are mentioned. Each were called of God. Each are enabled of God. He mentions, for example, apostles. Of course, we know who the apostles were. They were specially called men who were witnesses of the resurrection, and then sent forth into the world to proclaim the gospel, establish churches, be missionaries for the Lord. I do not believe that the office of apostleship is still with us because it was a unique office of the first century. Only those who witnessed the resurrection could even be apostles. But then notice that prophets were also raised up in the early church. These are those who received revelation directly from God and proclaimed that revelation to His people. You see, they didn't have the New Testament. And so they relied upon prophets to preach and teach the New Testament doctrine that the early church needed. And again, in that sense, I don't believe that we have prophets today. We have the scriptures, we have the writing of the apostles, and it's not necessary today. But as you see also in verse 11 that God has raised up evangelists. for his church. Evangelists have a special ability, a special gift to proclaim the gospel and to draw people to Christ, to believe in Christ. Evangelists, I believe also, based on this scripture, also help teach and equip God's people to be witnesses for Him. You know I think it's quite unfortunate that churches have got away from using evangelists. So what happened? Did God quit calling evangelists? Is that why we don't have evangelists and hardly have revivals anymore? I believe God still is raising up evangelists and the church needs to use those who are called into evangelism. But then he mentions pastors and teachers. Actually, according to a rule of the Greek language, they are one and the same. Pastors, teachers. One of the qualifications of a pastor is that he be able to teach. And so, the office of pastor, teacher is also mentioned in verse 11. Pastors are to lead the flock and feed the flock. Pastors are to shepherd and care for the flock. and they are to teach God's Word to the flock. But we're going to see another function of pastors as we get further into the message. And so God has given gifted leaders to His church and we are thankful over the centuries God has raised up some wonderfully gifted preachers and teachers evangelists like Billy Graham and pastor teachers. We should recognize this gift and this office within the church and we should pray for our leaders, we should honor our leaders, we should support our leaders. They are very important to the life and ministry of the church. But notice the work of these gifted leaders in verse 12. Paul says that they were given for the equipping of the saints for ministry. That word translated equipping is used of mending nets. In other words, it refers to making something useful to carry out its function. And so, I am to help you carry out your God-ordained function to minister for Him as we're going to talk about this morning. The word is also used of a student learning from his teacher and learning to become like his teacher. And so pastors and other leaders have a responsibility to equip the saints for ministry. I like a quote from Transformational Church that says, leadership is the stewardship to help others exercise their gifts, not just an opportunity for me to exercise my gifts. And so leaders should be helping others in the church exercise their gifts for the Lord. But notice something else that we see in this text of Scripture, and that is the tool of gifted leaders. It's really implied. If you look at verse 11, what is it that all of them have in common? What do they all have in common? One thing they have in common is they all preach and teach the Word of God. And the point I want to make is that one of the most important tools we have for equipping the saints is to teach and preach the Word of God. Our equipping should be biblically based. as we see here. In fact, if you look at the screen, you see 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, which says that the Word of God is profitable for teaching and for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for doing good work. The Word of God will equip you to minister and to do good works. And so those of us who are called into this equipping and training ministry must teach and share the Word of God. For example, if we were to have witness training That would mean that we would share from God's Word what the gospel is, help you make sure you know the gospel, and then from the Word of God share principles and stories about being a witness for the Lord. We should hold any kind of training and equipping suspect that does not fully use the Word of God as part of that training. And so we see the work of gifted leaders. They are to equip the saints. But secondly this morning we see that saints are to minister for the Lord. Now who are the saints? Well if you look back in chapter 1 and verse 1 this letter was written to the saints who are in Ephesus. And he's writing to all the people of God there in Ephesus. Paul uses the word saints 37 times in his epistles. And he's not talking about a special class of Christians. He's talking about all Christians. And so when it says the equipping of the saints He's talking about that all the people of God are to be equipped for ministry. So when you see the word saints, just put yourself right there. I'm Saint Stephen, okay? You know, that's biblical, okay? Saint Landis. Have you ever heard of Saint Landis before? You may have now. You know, there's, every one of you can put your name with the title Saint because that's what God says you are. You have been set apart from sin unto the service of God. All of us are saints and all of us are to be equipped for ministry. And notice it says in verse 12, for the work of ministry. Yes, you are called to work for the Lord. You're not called just to sit, you're called to work. You're not called just to be a spectator, you are called to work for the Lord. Now there is certainly a place for coming and being ministered to. those who preach, and those who sing, and those who minister in various ways. But that's not the only thing you're to do. You are also called to work and to serve, as we see there in verse 12. It's unfortunate that in the average church, you know, 20% of the people do the vast majority of the ministry and work in a church. And as you look at verses 11 and 12 and 13, that's certainly not God's intention. All of us are to be involved in ministry. Now, if all of us are going to minister for the Lord, first of all, we need to identify what your talents and gifts are. In verse 7, he talks about the fact that to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gifts. And then he talks about certain types of gifts, especially among leaders, but all of us, according to the Word of God, have been given a gift to serve. If you look at 1 Corinthians 12, verses 7 to 11, Paul lists some of the gifts of the Spirit. And in verse 11, he says that these gifts are given to each one as God wills. We don't choose our gift. God choose the gift for us. Spiritual gifts are divine enablements to help you serve effectively for the Lord. And there are two basic types of spiritual gifts. First of all, 1 Peter 4.10 says, As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Now he's talking to all believers. He says, All has received a gift, and you are to minister using your gift as good stewards of the grace of God. Your gift is given by grace. You have a stewardship responsibility. Don't take what God has given you and not use it. You're responsible to use it. And then there are two types of gifts. If anyone speaks, let them speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let them do it as with the ability which God supplies. Now some people have a speaking gift whether it's preaching whether it's teaching whether it's counseling whether it's leading you know lead leadership involves being able to speak and lead and and and the gifts of knowledge and sharing knowledge and so some of you have some kind of a speaking gift and you are to use that gift of the Lord. But honestly probably most believers have a ministry gift. You have the gift of just providing support services and helping. And I've observed Bill and Peggy Dick have the gift of service. They're just all about serving. And there's others of you that have the gift of service. And you are to use that gift with the ability that God supplies. You know, I believe the gift of mercy is one of the service gifts where you just have a merciful heart and you want to help people that are struggling, that are down and out. And so some of you have speaking gifts. Some of you have serving gifts. You need to identify what your gift is. That's kind of the first step. And if you look at Romans chapter 12 and 1 Corinthians chapter 12, you'll see some examples of spiritual gifts. Identify your gifts. But you know, I believe we should also serve the Lord with our talents. Now, a talent is an ability that you have from the moment of conception. It's in your DNA passed down from your ancestors. I have some musical talent back in my ancestry and so it was very easy for me coming along. And use your talents for the Lord. You need to first of all identify your talents and gifts and then you need to be equipped for ministry. Again, pastors and teachers are to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Now we can do our part but you have to do your part. You know, I believe that ministry takes place, first of all, this equipping ministry takes place in Sunday school and in the worship services. In fact, Stetser and Rayner said worship services, worship serves to connect us with Christ and equip us for ministry. And so the first step is simply to attend and actively engage in the Sunday school lessons and in the preaching and teaching of God's Word. That will be kind of a first step in becoming equipped to minister. Again, the Word of God is given to equip us for every good work. And so your responsibility is first to do that, to attend Sunday school and worship services as a first step. But you know, we also need to be equipped in training classes. From time to time we'll offer training classes and our church health team is talking about we need to do more of this. We need to offer more training. If we're all to minister, we all need to be equipped to minister. And I know I've offered in the past Sunday school training, workers training. I've offered witness training. I've offered committee chairman training. I've offered deacon training and other training classes as well. Drew's interested in offering more discipleship and training classes. Well hey, if we offer these training and you don't come and actively participate then you're not doing your part. if it's a training that you need to be equipped in. And so, each of us need to be equipped for ministry. But you know, there's other ways that we get equipped for ministry. One is by mentoring. In fact, I believe mentoring is one of the best ways to equip. Being an apprentice. you know, where you come along someone who is good and effective in a particular ministry and you learn from them and you serve with them and they teach you and they train you on a more personal level. You know, if God has called you to teach and you're not actively teaching, you need to get with one of the good teachers of our church and say, I'll be your substitute teacher. I'll be your assistant teacher. And, you know, the best way to learn is to do, you know, to do it, to practice it, put it into practice. And so mentoring is so very important. But, you know, We also learn from watching and hearing other people engaged in ministry. And so one thing that we've talked about in the church health team that we want to do more of is incorporate more testimonies, ministry testimonies. in our worship services and we ought to do the same thing in our Sunday school classes and other small groups. In fact, Paul said in Philippians 3.17, Brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. And so, as we look at examples of how to do ministry and hear examples, that is part of the equipping process that is so very important. And then finally, to be equipped to minister, you need to get involved in a ministry. It doesn't say for the equipping of the saints for a work of ministry with the implication that all we do is equip. No, it's for a work of ministry or service. And so, the final step is to actually get involved in a ministry of some kind. It may be the music and worship ministry. It may be the teaching ministry. It may be the visitation ministry. It may be the prayer ministry of the church. It may be the nursery ministry, the children's ministry, the youth ministry, the senior adult ministry. It may be the women's ministry. We have all these ministries in the church, the special ed ministry. It may be serving on one of our committees. They minister in the church. We could use more ushers. We need more involved in the ushering ministry. Those who are qualified need to serve in the deacon ministry. We just barely have enough deacons to function in this church. We need more deacons involved in ministry. And I'm thankful for those who have agreed to be involved in the police officer dinner, the outreach ministry of the church. You need to get involved in a ministry. You know, we've just lost our full-time music and worship leader. And it may be two or three months before we find a suitable interim for our church. And in the meantime, we need all of those who have some talent and ability and music and worship to step up and say, you know, I'll take part of what Derek was doing as my responsibility to help us have a thriving music and worship ministry. And I'm thankful for at least four individuals who have stepped up and said, I'll do my part to help out with the music and worship ministry of this church. You know, I honestly believe. that staff members should not be the first choice necessarily, but out of necessity. I believe God's perfect will is for the saints of God to do the work of ministry. And we need to be involved in the ministry of music and worship if you have that talent and that ability. And then finally, we should all work toward common goals. Imagine all of us equipped for ministry, and we're going all different directions. In fact, look at verse 13. It says, "'Til we all come or that can be translated arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ Paul indicates in verse 13 what our destination should be what our goal for ministry should be he outlines it right there in verse 13 No, but if we have different goals and different destinations in mind, we're not going to be together and we're not going to accomplish much. We all need to know what our ultimate goal and objective and mission is as we are equipped for ministry and as we carry out our ministry. And there are four goals I want to present to you that we all should focus on. with laser focus. The first is we should build up the body of Christ. It says in the last of verse 12 that this equipping and all this ministry is for the edifying of the body of Christ. We are to build up and edify the body of Christ. The body of Christ, of course, is His church. And we are to do everything we can to use our gifts for the purpose of doing my part to build up this body. The Lord wants His body built up. And there's two aspects of the building up of the body of Christ. One is numerical growth. Typically, I believe it's God's will for churches to grow. That for God's kingdom to expand. Folks, in the United States of America, as a percentage of the population, churches are shrinking, not expanding. And that's not the way it ought to be. We ought to be about building up and helping the body of Christ to grow. But not only should there be numerical growth, but there should be spiritual growth. And actually where spiritual growth takes place, I believe there will be numerical growth. And so we're to be about helping this church grow spiritually and grow numerically as well. And we are to do nothing, nothing. If we're to be about building up the body of Christ, we should do nothing that will tear down the body of Christ. Nothing whatsoever. I tell you what, I'd rather be shot than to do something to hurt a church, to tear down a church, to divide a church. We should build up the body of Christ. You know, the word edify, again, literally means to build up. And, you know, I think of, in fact, the word oikos, or house, is in the word. It literally means to build a house. And you know, when you build a house, you have carpenters, you may have bricklayers, you will have electricians, and you will have plumbers, and you will have roofers, and you will have all these different talents and abilities that all work together with the same purpose to build up the house. And what a blessing it is to have a house, amen? I mean it's nice to have a house to live in and my dog likes my house too by the way. We all like to have a home and we all need a church home and we are to be using our different talents and abilities to build up his church. We're to be about building up the church. Will you do your part to build up the church? That's our purpose, that's our goal. But we should also strive for the unity of the faith. You see that? Heading the list of verse 13. Till we all arrive to the unity of the faith. The unity of the faith. having fusses and squabbles and divisions. According to 1 Corinthians, that's childish and immature. But as we mature in our faith, we're able to achieve unity. And notice again the fundamental basis of our unity, though. It is the faith. It has the definite article. It's not talking about our personal faith. It's talking about the Christian faith. And if you look back in verses 2 to 4, particularly verses 3 and 4, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body and one Spirit and you are called by one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is above all and through all and in you all. You see, the basis of our unity, first and foremost, is our common faith that we all believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. We all believe in the one triune God. We believe in one baptism. We believe in one church. You know, our unity, you know, we may disagree on preferences and disagree on some methodologies and things like that, but we should never let those disagreements overshadow the fact that we are unified over what is really the most important. And so we should all arrive at the unity of the faith, as it says there. We are brothers and sisters in Christ under a common Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is our goal, unity. That should always be our goal. But then we should all be working toward the same goal of attaining the full knowledge of the Son of God as it says there in verse 13. I translate it full knowledge because that's exactly what the original means, a full knowledge. But it's also an experiential knowledge. Our knowledge of Jesus should not just be head knowledge. Our knowledge of Jesus should be experiential, that you personally know Jesus. that you personally walk with Jesus, that you personally get to know him on a deeper level each and every day. How well do you know Christ? Ephesians 3, 8 talks about the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is so much about Christ that we can and should know. And our goal is to get to know Jesus better and better and better. And as we get to know Jesus, we'll reach this last objective, and that is that we will become like Jesus. You see that? Last of verse 13, to a perfect or mature man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Romans 8.29 indicates that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. Our goal is to help you become more and more like Jesus. Not like the world, not like some Hollywood star, not like the president or any other leading figure in secular life, but to become like Jesus. That should be our goal. Remember when you were a child? I know for some of us that's a long time ago, but you remember being a child and looking up to mom and dad and, you know, my mom was like 5'4", and I remember when I finally got as tall as my mom. I had arrived, but my dad was 6'2", never made it, never got to his stature. But, you know, we see our parents and as kids we just want to become full grown like them. And it's so exciting to become full grown and mature. And our goal should be to become like Jesus. Are you anything like Jesus in His love? Are you anything like Jesus in His compassion for the hurting? Are you anything like Jesus in His ability to resist temptation? Are you like Jesus in His knowledge of the scriptures? Oh listen, our goals should become more and more like Jesus in our daily lives. And so this is our objective, to become like Jesus. We are to be about building up the body of Christ. We're to be striving for unity. We're to attain the full knowledge of the Son of God. We are to become more and more like Jesus. Will you do your part? Taking the gifts and talents that God has given you to get involved in ministry, in building up this church, will you do your part? You know, in baseball, it's baseball season right now. How many are out there in the field at one time? There are nine, right? Nine. You know, the pitcher has a very important role. But if a pitcher tries to do everything himself, tries to strike out every batter, he's gonna wear himself out and he's really not gonna be effective. There's eight other guys in the field that can help get those guys out. And he needs to rely upon those other guys as well, all working together, all doing what they're good at to win the game. And even so, we as believers, we all have a responsibility. I can't be, you know, the pitcher that tries to strike everybody else. My job is not to do all the work of ministry, but to equip you to work and to serve and to do the work of the ministry. Are you doing your part? Are you a spectator or a participant? Are you a worker or a watcher? Are you a contributor or a complainer? Every member of this church needs to do his or her part to help this church and to build up this church. What's that scripture? He himself, Christ, gave some to be pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying or building up of the body of Christ as we give the invitation. Perhaps you would say, you know, I'm not as active of participating in the ministry of this church as I should be and I'm willing to commit myself to being equipped and trained and get involved in ministry of this church and help build up this church so that the next 39 years or even greater than our first 39 years. Will you make that commitment this morning? Perhaps someone needs to be saved. You've got to become a member of the body of Christ in order to serve and to have a spiritual gift. Or if you are not a member and God is leading you to unite with this church body and help and serve here, we invite you to come. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word that guides us into how we are to live as Christians and how we are to function as a church. And I pray, Lord, that you would bless the message, and I pray they don't have impact upon our individual lives and as a church body. And I pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.