Wasn't making faces or anything. Even though it's Youth-Led Sunday. Always a great opportunity to recognize our graduates and pray for them as they go out. And when I was thinking about what to speak on today, had the graduates in mind. Because as they go out, they're going to encounter the real world. And everything that comes with it, which a title that has come to be affectionately known as adulting. Welcome to the real world. You get to be an adult now. And working with the young adults, the young adult community here at CCC, you get to hear this term tossed around from time to time, especially when somebody's proud of themselves for paying off a bill or making it work on time or whatever. You know, what we call life. And so I thought I would take advantage of this and use this in some kind of emergency, right? Adulting in the Kingdom. And when we talk about adulting in the Kingdom, we're going to use a lot of the same language that these young adults are using for adjusting to adult life for us as believers. And from the passage that we're going to read today, we're going to see that we're continually encouraged throughout Scripture not to just stay as babies in Christ, but to actually grow into maturity. And when I think back to my time graduating high school, I was floundering. I was definitely a walking train wreck of sorts. Just had no direction after graduating high school. And even in my own spiritual walk, I was just completely lost. And it was only after my first year of college that I came to know the Lord. in an intimate way, in a personal walk with Him. And after that time, I came to the Lord and I just said, well, Lord, what do I do now? I believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Where do I go from here? Because at that time, I was just a baby in Christ. I didn't know, really, what I didn't know. and praise the Lord, had a mentor come along, but then also just a passion for reading God's Word. And that's exactly what we're going to do today, is go into God's Word and look at what it takes to grow in Christ. So if you will, stand with me, please, as we read God's Word. And as we read through this, we're going to unpack what it means to just be adulting in the Kingdom of God. So Ephesians 4, verses 11-16, And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects, and to Him who is the head, even Christ. from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." You may be seated. So just a little bit of background to Ephesians. It was written around 60 to 62 AD during Paul's first imprisonment. It was written to encourage unity among the Jewish and Gentile believers who were coming into the faith. And Paul also is encouraging maturity and active participation whenever the believers meet together. And from the verses we just read, we see three things that Paul specifically outlines as being important for not only individual growth, but also growth as a community. And I think that's something you're going to see throughout the message today, is that as you grow and to grow individually, it's congruent with how the community grows and your investment into it. So in what three areas? They pertain to roles, what we do, doctrine, what we believe, and how we basically how we do things, their motivation, which is love. So let's go ahead and we're going to jump into Ephesians 4, 11 and 12, break down these verses, and we're going to look and see how that applies to us as believers today. Verse 11, And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. So number one, and I know in your sermon notes, didn't make it real easy for the fill in the blank. Going to make you work for it this morning. So you're going to have to take the notes that I think apply. Adulting in the kingdom involves knowing your role in gifting. And so just as we have young adults here graduating high school, and they're met with so many different decisions. Do I go right into the workforce? Do I pick up a trade? Do I go to school? As I saw, do I travel around the United States for a year? That's pretty awesome. And relationships. All of a sudden, you're in a dating relationship or whatever during high school. Well, out of high school, all of a sudden, those take a new seriousness. Because all of a sudden, marriage is on the radar. Uh oh, in any relationship you get it. And so when we look at this and responsibilities of paying bills, paying for your own gas and insurance and things like that, where's my next meal gonna come from? All those things hit you as a graduate, just coming out of this, coming out of high school. So too as Christians, we have a responsibility in working for the Lord. that we've been saved, not just to wait out our life and to come to the judgment and just get a pass. We have been saved by the grace of God to serve Him. Actually, this last Thursday we were talking about salvation in the young adult gathering. And one of the things that we were talking about, we're going into the Hebrew and the Greek of the word, the background and the context to it. And salvation isn't just this one-time thing at the very end, just to save you from hell. No, the whole idea, it's very present, progressive, where you are continually being saved. As we obey the Lord, He's saving us, really, from hell on earth. from all the poor decisions that could be made, and going down a road of sin. That's the whole idea, that God has a plan for each and every one of us, and he is calling us to join him in this, because his work is so much bigger than what we could imagine. It's a work of actually touching other people's lives with a message of salvation. and this is what we're calling to it, is responsibilities in working for the Lord, whether it's in looking after orphans or widows in distress. James 1, verse 27, giving to the hungry, the naked, visiting those in prison, Matthew 25, verse 35-36, and serving in the workplace, Colossians 3, verse 22. So the question is, for what role has God designed you to help build and further His kingdom? And I hope you're seeing that this isn't just a message for high school graduates. This is for everybody. This is for everyone. If you are in Christ, this is the calling and responsibility that each of us have in our lives. And maybe this is something that you're 20 years in to a profession. If you've been walking for the Lord for a period of time, this should continually be a part of your mindset. is why does God have me here? Who is it that He is calling me to reach? Then another question is how has God gifted you in fulfilling this role? So just as we were looking at Ephesians 11 and 12, verses 11 and 12 of chapter 4, He gave some as apostles and some as prophets, some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers. Now you might read through that list and you might think, I'm none of those things. Maybe a teacher, but not an apostle, not a prophet, not an evangelist, and I don't want the role of pastor. I could do teacher, maybe. But no, there's so much more than that. Look at the next verse. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, Why? To the building up of the body of Christ. There are so many different roles, there are so many different opportunities in the fellowship to build one another up. And it's not just in this building, it's not just in the programs that we offer, it's not just in the ministries. This goes far beyond these walls. Wherever we're at, God is calling us to be sensitive to His purpose for having us there. At what point could we be an encouragement to other believers who may be struggling? Somebody who at one time was following Christ and then just went down a road of sin. Might be in your workplace. Might be somebody that grew up in the church. But then life happened, and they've been doing their own thing for many years. Having that one conversation, that one spiritual, that one faith conversation, could just make the difference in that person's life, and maybe eternity. And that's the responsibility that we have as believers, is to do that, to reach out, to speak truth into other believers' lives, and the world around us. Because it's all for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. So just going over the gifts, Romans 12 includes prophesying and serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership and mercy. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 4 through 11 includes the word of wisdom. The word of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12, 28 includes healings and helps and governments and diversities of tongues. And so administration's in there as well. And so there's all kinds of gifts. And I don't think that's an exhaustive list. I think God equips each of us in the roles that we're at, wherever we're at, God is equipping us to minister in His name. And so how do we apply this? As Christians, furthering God's kingdom is our number one priority. It has to be. As Paul's talking about this, it's so exciting, as Paul's talking about this, this is that first part, that we, to mature in Christ, we have to be completely sold out for this. It's not this and. This is it. Okay, so Jesus is everything. His sacrifice atones for your sin that you can have eternal life with the Father. Amen? That's huge. That is a big deal. And that is something that in the scope of eternity, us devoting the next 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years to is nothing. And that's exactly what God is calling us to do. It's to sacrifice. all the things of the world that really don't matter anyways that we've been kind of fooled into thinking that they do, to reach out and to talk to people and to share with them what God has done in our life. And I hope that you have given that much to actually see and experience God working in your life, because He wants to. He wants to, but a lot of times we build up those walls and we keep God out of certain areas of our life. This is the first step in maturing in Christ is giving everything over. If we can't do that, the rest of this isn't going to make sense. And building up of the rest of the body isn't even going to be a concern. We have to give everything to the Lord and follow Him. Tangent. So we look for opportunities here in the church. We look for opportunities in the community to share Christ, even on the phone. And so we pray about what roles God is leading us into and how He is preparing us. for service. So as these high school graduates go out, as you're graduating college, you don't know that you're just going to come right back here. We'd love that. But wherever you go in the world, and as adults, I don't know if anybody saw this on Facebook about a week and a half ago, there was some village in Italy that was selling houses, or actually they were The government there was providing $3,000 in rent, so you could live there for three years free. And my wife and I were just joking, we're like, you know what, we're adults, we could do this. We could just sell everything and go, you know, and just live there for a little bit. But I think a lot of times as adults, we forget the power that we have. That like, we could absolutely change the scope and trajectory of our lives. How sold out are we for Christ? If He was calling us into missions, if He put that burden on our hearts to go and do that, to change jobs, because maybe this is what I've always wanted. Do we have faith that God will provide? God is wanting to use each and every one of us in building up His kingdom. Every one of us. There is no one in here that is an exception. Isn't that exciting? That every single one of us has a part to play in this bigger picture of building up God's kingdom. It's been going on for 2,000 years, and God wants to see it go on for another 2,000 more if the Lord should tarry. That's exciting, that we all have a piece in this. All right, quickly running out of time, Ephesians chapter four, verse 13 and 14. And I'm going to read verse 12. For the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until, verse 13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we're no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming." Man, Paul had an axe to grind. Number two, adulting in the kingdom involves knowing the truth and sticking to it. How do we translate that? Graduates. just completed 12, maybe 13, counting kindergarten, preschool, 13 years of school. For what? To be a productive citizen, to get a job, whatever. That's a lot of investment for 20, 30 years of work for retirement. But how much investment are we putting into our faith? Something of an eternal magnitude. God has been working and redeeming throughout human history. We have a record of it in Scripture. How excited are we about that? How excited are we about getting to know the God that saves us? And the record of how He saved so many others in so many and just amazing ways. Can we get excited about that? Can we get educated in our faith? Oh, I would love to take a show of hands and see how many people have read through the whole Bible. Just because. And we read the statistics. Biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high. We have Bibles on our phones. We have Bibles wherever we go. We can even listen to it. Really, for the last 20, 30 years, for the first time in history, we can have somebody read the Bible to us, endlessly. Do we take advantage of this? We have multiple translations. You can read it in your own language, whatever language you want to read it in. It's amazing. Do we take advantage of this? Do we get into God's Word? And this was such a priority. And we see that from what Paul is saying. One, we do this for unity in the faith. For the knowledge of the Son of God. To be a mature man. To measure the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. We are no longer to be children. And what does he connect with this? Being tossed here and there by waves. And carried about by every wind of doctrine. That's right, didn't have to wait 2,000 years for a whole bunch of other doctrine to come up and new things. At that time, there was all kinds of stuff that Paul had to educate the churches against. It was a big deal then, it is now. And as globalization and mass information just here and there, I mean, everything is right there on your phone, everything is right there on your computer. We have to be educated in the Word of God or we will be led astray. You can encounter every worldly philosophy, every world religion, even in subtleties. It just takes a little bit to get off course. It doesn't start out right away, but how far out do you end up? It's important that we stay grounded in the Word of God. Paul also writes to Timothy because this wasn't just in Ephesus. He's writing to Timothy as Timothy is ministering. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Keep as the pattern of sound teaching. Guard the good deposit. This is serious. 2 Timothy 3 verses 14-17, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from emphasy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful. for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Read Scripture to be equipped. Hebrews 6, verses 1-3, Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, There we go. That's why I had a bookmark. Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about Christ, let us press on to maturity. So here we have this measuring stick. Paul is going to lay out, here's the elementary stuff. I can't wait to get past this to move on to the other stuff. Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. How's everybody's theology on those topics? The things that Paul identifies as elementary. Kind of raising that bar a little bit. Because I think a lot of times, and we've taken so many unfair shots at a generation over the last ten years, and making fun of them for not adulting or struggling with adulting. But how long has the church tolerated the same thing? How much has God tolerated? Among His people. of not maturing in faith in the Son of God, in His Son. That is, God is calling us to mature in the faith. Not to just stay where we are, but to grow and go. So how do we apply this? Read the Bible. Read the Word of God like your life depended on it. Every day, be in the Word. Get a group of people. Read together. There's so many commentaries and there's so much wisdom that has been applied, the Spirit speaking to people and how this applies to life. Just read. the Bible. Pray for discernment. Pray for the graduates as they go out. They are going to be tested. They are going to be tried by professors, by social pressures. In every way, they are going to be tested. Pray for them. Just as all of us know how we get tested day to day from time to time. Last point, Ephesians chapter 4 verses 15-16. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causing the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Number three. Adulting in the kingdom involves loving. So we've talked about knowing roles and responsibilities, roles and gifts. Talked about knowing doctrine. Both, marks of maturity. And now, love. Such a simple principle, but one that you just can't even plumb the depths of. Because it's love that has saved us. Because God first loved us. And we can never get away from that. And the moment we do, we become Pharisees. Maturity in Christ involves loving. And loving beyond how you've ever loved before. For these graduates, as you go out of the safety of parents' home, you're going to meet a world that is cynical, that is hard, and unforgiving. A world that can leave you bitter, and just struggling with the relevance of your faith. That is, if you leave this one principle of love, This is what sets us as believers apart from anyone else and anything else in this world, is loving unconditionally. As God has first loved us, we reflect this to the world around us. And that is what we build that testimony on. That is the good news of the gospel that God first loved us and loved us enough to save us and redeem us through the cross and through the resurrection because this goes into eternity. Loving God, loving our neighbor, the two greatest commandments. That's what we hold on to. Love the Lord your God, love your neighbor. We have to continually meditate on this and be anchored in that love. I've read a quote the other day, pastor and author Carlos Rodriguez, we don't love people so they believe in Christ, we love people because that's what Christ would do. This is where it goes into the motivation of why we do things. We do this because God first loved us. If He first loved us, then we can share this with everyone else. We're not trying to make a quick sell by, hey, pray this prayer. No, we're there for the long haul. We are there to love our co-workers, however unlovable they might be. We love them into the kingdom. And sometimes that involves speaking truth into their lives, truth they might not like. That's what we have to be committed to. So, adulting in the kingdom involves accepting the roles and responsibilities God has created us to fulfill, along with being in His Word, knowing what we believe, and forming good, sound doctrine, and then loving unconditionally, just as God has loved us. I hope you take those three. Those three principles, and really just dive into those. Look at your own life. How have you matured in Christ in the years that you have been walking with Him? Maybe you're not walking with Him, maybe you're just laying down. It's time to get up and go. Let us pray. Lord God, I thank You for the opportunity to get into Your Word. I thank You for the words that You've given the Apostle Paul to write to this church in Ephesus, and that those words still ring true today. And Father, I pray that You impress upon everyone's hearts in here that the importance of maturing, of growing, and their dedication to You and their love for You to reflect really what You have already just showered upon us. We're so good, Lord. We thank You for Your patience. We thank You for how You work in our lives. And I pray that the words spoken here today, that Your Holy Spirit would bring all of us into a deeper walk with You, and a deeper walk with each other as well. We love you, Father, and we thank you, and we pray all of this for your glory, in Jesus's name, amen.