When I counsel in local churches, I repeatedly hear the concern that “our church seems to be going in a million different directions. “We need a biblical perspective that recognizes the great history of God that is written and our role as his church. a perspective begins when we understand the essence of what it means to be a shepherd and who God’s people are.
In Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul highlights the most powerful and specific biblical statement on the church. This passage provides a description of God’s ministry to church leaders and each member. By extracting the essence of God’s call, Christ’s vision captures our imagination and motivates us to change our mindset in ministry, which in turn changes everything.
10 words describing Christ’s call to all pastors: the essence of what it means to be a shepherd
Most pastoral review committees would be encouraged to read the program of a candidate who has demonstrated his or her ability to preach, advise and administer. The training allowed them to preach, advise and administer. Being able to do the work of the ministry seems to be the ideal goal for all church leaders.
All except Christ. A description of pastoral ministry emphasizes the ability to empower others to do the work of ministry. Does Christ have the right to write a description of our ministry?And you have it 😕 And he gave some for himself, pastors and doctors, wanting to improve the saints, for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12a).
Christ’s great plan for his church is for pastors to focus on empowering believers to do the work of ministry.
In verse 12, Paul uses a small Greek word (para), translated as a word of equal size in Portuguese (?For?), And that has a huge meaning: with a conscious purpose, so that, because of, Look. The word indicates the future and end purpose of an ongoing action. Is this, by definition, a statement of perspective?an affirmation of Christ’s great vision of every pastor/doctor.
What is the perspective of the future, the vision of the future that Christ has sovereignly given to his pastors and doctors?Paul says it succinctly:
?? wanting to improve the saints, for the work of the ministry ?
These ten words must be the reason for the existence of every pastor in the church.
A central word? Improvement? Should you capture the passion of all pastors for the ministry. ?Perfect? It comes from the word for artist, pastor craftsman, his special work, his work, it is people, it is to equip people so that they can make disciples Your work or spiritual gift is to help others find your spiritual gift, identify this area of ministry and allow them to use that gift.
The church is a community of people with gifts, not just a community of people with a pastor who has gifts.
In Paul’s day, people commonly used the word “perfect” as part of an athlete’s training. Pastor, you’re a spiritual conditioning coach. Your job is not to play in all the positions of the team, but to train each player of the team, to strengthen their spiritual condition so that they can do ministry work, this fits perfectly with the way Paul uses the perfect word: to train people to be fully capable and mature enough to exercise his vocation.
The leader’s call is to help God’s people fulfill their call
These were not just words to Paul; I did the work of making disciples the description of his personal ministry (Colossus 1:28-29); equipped others so that they could carry out their personal ministry in practice (Acts 20:13-38). Christ’s great perspective captured Paul’s ministerial mindset so much that at the end of his life he passed Timothy the prospect of empowering those who would be responsible for empowering others (2 Timothy 2. 2). Formation, went from the hands of Christ, into Paul’s hands, into Timothy’s hands, into the hands of those who were going to faithfully make disciples, who were to pass the testimony again.
We’re not releasing the stick. Let us keep alive the great perspective of Christ and go to the future.
5 words describing Christ’s call to every believer: the essence of God’s people
We often lack the vital real-life, practical application of each disciple-making member that Paul lays out in Ephesians 4: 11-16. Exactly what does it mean for pastors to train people for work? Specifically, how do department members do work?
Paul replies, “Do we follow the truth in love? We grow in Christ (Ephesians 4:15). Every word in this passage converges on this remarkable phrase:
“Follow the truth in love. “
These five words must be the reason for the existence of every believer.
Christ’s great plan for his church is for every Christian to make disciples, speaking and living the truth of the gospel with love.
Paul chooses a single Greek word, which we often translate as “following the truth”. We must translate it as “living the truth. ” You can even create the phrase “walk in the truth”. Paul probably had Psalm 15 in mind, where the Psalmist asks, “Who will live in your tabernacle?”He replies: “He who walks sincerely, practices justice, and speaks the truth in his heart?(Psalm 15. 2). Who can serve in the sanctuary of God, the church?The one who keeps the truth in their relationships. “
Paul’s word for Walk in truth means: transparent, faithful, authentic, authentic, trustworthy, and sincere; describes the person who serves with all his heart and the love of Christ, guided by grace; represents the person whose relational mode is transparent and sincere. Prayer and context indicate that the body of Christ must grow continuously, actively, and collectively in truth in love as they walk together in an intimate and fragile bond.
Then walk in truth? It means more than talking, it means less than that. Although it indicates more than purely factual content, it indicates nothing less than the fully applied gospel. Paul uses an identical term in Galatians 4:16. There he claramente. de the preaching, teaching and communication of the gospel truth of Christ’s grace (hi) applied to daily growth in Christ (progressive sanctification).
Compare Galatians 4. 16 with Ephesians 4. 16, taking into account the context of the two, and we find a wonderful description of the gospel-centered ministry, the personal ministry of the Word. Following the truth implies:
Communicate the truth of the Gospel about sanctification in word, thought and action, emphasizing grace, in mutual relations, which implies integrity, truthfulness, authenticity, transparency and reliability, made in love to promote the unity and maturity of the body of Christ. with the ultimate goal of manifesting the glory of Christ’s grace.
The daily goal and priority of every Christian is to make disciples. Christ’s strategy of training to make disciples involves pastors who give each Christian the power to grow in truth in love, through the personal ministry of the Word:the gospel-centered biblical guide.
What happens when pastors centralize their vocation to allow God’s people to make disciples through the personal ministry of the Word, speaking and living the truth with love?Paul shows us in Ephesians 4:16. The body grows with robust health and love is as part of his work.
Truth for life
How can our churches change if they follow Christ’s 10 essential words for pastors?”Wanting the overcoming of the saints, for the work of ministry. “
How can our churches change if they follow Christ’s 5 essential words for God’s people?”Follow the truth in love. “
By: Bob Kellemen. © 2016 Pastor Practice. Facebook; Twittering; Original: Great Vision of Christ for His Church
Translation: Camila Rebeca Almeida. Review: William Teixeira. © 2016 Faithful Ministério. All rights reserved. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br. Original: The essence of what it means to be a pastor.
Authorizations: You are authorized and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that the author, his ministry and translator are no longer no longer modified and not used for commercial purposes.