{"id":26535,"date":"2023-05-30T22:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ephesians-4_1-6-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T15:14:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T22:14:01","slug":"ephesians-4_7-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ephesians-4_7-16\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Keys to Deeper, Stronger Relationships in the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ephesians\u00a0 4:7-16\u00a0\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ephesians 4:7-16.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ephesians 4:7-8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a07-8: \u00a0Even though God has called all of us to the same hope, the same body, the same Saviour in Jesus, the same faith, the same baptism and the same God (v6), each of us has also been given different and unique gifts, “as Christ apportioned it” (v7).\u00a0 There is both unity and diversity in the body of Christ.\u00a0 To support this idea of Christ giving different gifts to His people, Paul does something puzzling.\u00a0 He seems to be quoting or paraphrasing Psalm 68:18, although when you read Psalm 68:18 and compare it to Ephesians 4:8, there are obvious differences.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 We don\u2019t know for sure.<\/p>\n

Ephesians\u00a04:9-10 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-10: \u00a0We often say that we are the reason Jesus came down to earth and then ascended back to heaven.\u00a0 That is, he descended to earth to die for our sins, and then he rose again and ascended to heaven to show us that he is no ordinary man, that he is God.\u00a0 All of that is true.\u00a0 But verse 10 tells us that there is another, not so me-centered reason why Jesus descended and ascended: it was so that he would \u201cfill the whole universe” (v10).\u00a0 In other words, God’s plan in sending Jesus Christ to earth, raising Him from the dead and having Him ascend to God’s right hand was so that in everything Jesus Christ may have supremacy (Colossians 1:18).\u00a0\u00a0The reason Jesus descended and ascended was for Jesus’ glory as much as it was for our salvation.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0It was so that in this universe no name would be lifted higher, and no name would have conquered more, than the name of Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If that is God’s goal with the entire universe, that is also God’s goal with our own individual lives.\u00a0 God wants Jesus’ name to be lifted higher than any other name in your life, that in every aspect of your life, Jesus Christ would have the supremacy.\u00a0 Is there an area of your life where you have held Jesus down rather than lifting Jesus up?\u00a0 Is there area where you need to give Jesus the throne rather than sitting in it yourself?\u00a0 Maybe it’s in the area of your thoughts, your finances, your time, your goals, your relationships.\u00a0 When Jesus Christ is lifted up high above all other things in your life, that is when God’s will for your life is being done and that’s when God is most glorified.<\/p>\n

So if you have gone through a descent in some way, if you’ve hit rock bottom and been humbled, know that God is not finished with you yet.\u00a0 By God’s power, after the descent comes the ascent.\u00a0 If you hang on to Jesus, He will cause you to ascend once again — this time for His glory more than for your own.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 4:11-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0until 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.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then 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 men in their deceitful scheming.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-14: \u00a0What does it take to have deeper, stronger relationships, especially in a church family?\u00a0\u00a0In verses 11-16, we learn 3 keys to having deeper, stronger relationships in the church.\u00a0 The first key is leadership.<\/strong>\u00a0 Here Paul explains that Jesus Christ Himself gave different types of leaders to His church: apostles (those who plant and establish church communities), prophets (those who communicate God’s heart to people), evangelists (those who have a special gift of leading others to saving faith in Jesus Christ), pastors (those who shepherd God’s people) and teachers (those who teach God\u2019s people the Word of God).
\nHe gave such leaders to His church for the following reasons:<\/p>\n

– To keep His church united in “one body…one Spirit…one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father of all” (v4-6)<\/p>\n

– To equip the people for works of service which God made them to do (v12)<\/p>\n

– To build up the church (\u201cso that the body of Christ may be built up\u201d \u2013 v13) so that the people can be united in the same faith and understanding of who Jesus is and “become mature, attaining to the full measure of the fullness of Christ” (v13)<\/p>\n

– To protect Christians against false teaching (v14)<\/p>\n

From this we learn that following, respecting and submitting to our church leaders is crucial if we want to grow into the people and church God made us to be.<\/p>\n

Ephesians<\/strong>\u00a04<\/strong>:15\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 15: \u00a0\u00a0The second key to deeper, stronger relationships is speaking the truth in love.<\/strong>\u00a0 Paul says that we will grow as we speak the truth in love.\u00a0 What does it mean to speak the truth in love?\u00a0 It means to confront each other with the truth in a loving way.\u00a0 For any relationship to go deeper, it is necessary from time to time to speak the truth in love.\u00a0 How do you speak the truth in love, especially when the truth is not easy to hear?\u00a0 Here are 3 basic tips (I call them the ABC’s of speaking the truth in love):<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0A<\/u><\/strong>sk the Right Questions: \u00a0Ask yourself, “Do I understand the situation fully?\u00a0 Have I made any wrong assumptions?\u00a0 Am I missing anything?\u00a0 Am I the appropriate person to bring this up?” \u00a0As James\u00a01:19\u00a0says, before we can speak the truth in love, we must be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0B<\/u><\/strong>elieve in the Person: \u00a0Affirm the person you are speaking to.\u00a0 Acknowledge the positives first.\u00a0 That way the listener knows that you are on their side.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0C<\/u><\/strong>hallenge the person: \u00a0Gently and lovingly let the listener know how they can help improve the situation in a practical way.<\/p>\n

We talk about speaking the truth in love in more detail as part of Thrive Discipleship School Level 2.<\/p>\n

Ephesians<\/strong>\u00a04<\/strong>:16\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>From\u00a0him\u00a0the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 16: \u00a0\u00a0The third key to deeper, stronger relationships in the church is for each part of the family to take responsibility and be committed to one another.<\/strong>\u00a0 I like that phrase “as each part does its work”.\u00a0 It shows that it’s not just the leaders of the church that are in charge of the church’s growth and health.\u00a0 It’s every member’s responsibility to help grow and build the church in love.<\/p>\n

Also, when verse 16 talks about “supporting ligaments”, I think about small groups.\u00a0 According to medical dictionaries, a ligament is a connective tissue that joins one bone to another.\u00a0 A ligament serves to hold different parts of the body together and keep them stable.\u00a0 Small groups are the same way.\u00a0 They keep us connected to one another.\u00a0 That’s why, as a member of Christ’s body, if you’re not yet part of a small group, it’s time to join one!<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, help me to honour and follow my God-given leaders, to speak the truth in love, and to do my part as a member of Christ’s body, so that all of us in the church can grow into the strong, healthy, loving, mature body You made us\u00a0to be.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ephesians 4:7-16.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ephesians 4:7-8 (NIV)
\n7\u00a0\u00a0But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
\n8\u00a0\u00a0This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a07-8: \u00a0Even though God has called all of us to the same hope, the same body, the same Saviour in Jesus, the same faith, the same baptism and the same God (v6), each of us has also been given different and unique gifts, “as Christ apportioned it” (v7).\u00a0 There is both unity and diversity in the body of Christ.\u00a0 To support this idea of Christ giving different gifts to His people, Paul does something puzzling.\u00a0 He seems to be quoting or paraphrasing Psalm 68:18, although when you read Psalm 68:18 and compare it to Ephesians 4:8, there are obvious differences.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 We don\u2019t know for sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26538,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535\/revisions\/26538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}