This is part four of Ken’s summer teaching series on “Church and Vision; Celebrating the Next,” from Ephesians 4:11-12.
[ Here is the video introduction used this week ]
Ken told about his recent trip to DC and not getting a ticket into the best attractions at the Smithsonian, until a security guard tapped him on his shoulder and asked him to following him. The family was taken in under the authority of the guard, and his all-access pass.
They were no longer outsiders looking in but had access due to a hand of grace. Should “church” not be a similar place? A place where the hand of grace in us taps others on the shoulder to invite them into what God is doing here, turning people from spectators into participants.
While we are sinners saved by grace, our label has changed to saint. We are made holy by Christ. Ken mentioned his testimony in one verse (1 Corinthians 6:11). Because of our testimony, we have a task…
- To minister and serve others (Galatians 6:1) – Ergon is not a product but something to which we have been called.
- To restore and establish relationships (1 Peter 5:10)
- To equip others for lifelong service in the kingdom (Ephesians 4:11-12)
The end goal is the fullness of Christ, meaning salvation – Christ is glorified, we are all living lives of obedience, whereby God has turned our brokenness into beauty.
Here are questions for further study of this passage: Ephesians 4:1-16