How God's Gifts of Grace Unite Us

Our reading today is from Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Starting in verse 1, we read,

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

with all humility and gentleness,

with patience, bearing with one another in love,

eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,

there is one body and one Spirit,

just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,

one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Therefore, it says,

when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives,

and he gave gifts to men.

In saying he ascended,

what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens,

that he might fill all things.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

to equip the saints for the work of ministry,

for building up the body of Christ,

until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,

to mature manhood,

to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves

and carried about by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning,

by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love,

we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head,

into Christ,

from whom the whole body,

joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped,

when each part is working properly,

makes the body grow,

so that it builds itself up in love.

And this is the word of God.

Great. Thank you, Karen.

Let's pray together as we come to this passage

and ask God to speak to us.

Why don't you join me?

Father, this morning as we come to your word,

this really amazing passage,

I pray, God, that you will speak to us, God.

And don't just speak to our minds, but speak to our hearts.

We ask, God, that you pour the Holy Spirit out upon us,

that your word will come alive.

It will take deep root in our heart.

God, won't you both encourage us with the good news of Jesus,

but also challenge us, God,

to become more Christ-like,

to become like you.

God, we want our church,

and we pray for the church in Hong Kong, God,

that we as a citywide church

will become mature,

as this passage calls us to,

that we will grow to the fullness of the stature of Christ,

that we will become more and more like Jesus.

God, I pray, help us to do that.

And so this morning, equip us and show us, God,

and call us to yourself.

God, we know that many of us, God,

are going through tough times, Lord,

discouraged, lost a loved one,

going through difficulty.

God, this morning, won't you come and minister to us,

we pray, Lord.

We want to have the risen Lord,

the ascended Christ,

lift our heads, God,

and to see you,

and to be encouraged and full of hope.

And so, God, we ask you to come and do that,

we pray.

In your wonderful and gracious name,

amen.

I'm not sure if you remember being in high school.

For some of us, that was a long time ago.

Nate, that was just a few years ago.

Come on, you can't shake your head like that.

I remember getting towards the end of high school,

and the big question is,

what do you want to do with your life?

Where are you going to go?

What are you going to study?

What is your calling?

What is your purpose?

How are you not going to waste your life?

You've got these big questions about,

what are your next steps?

What trajectory do you want to go in?

Maybe some of us here are kind of like,

mid-stage through life,

you know, 45, 50,

and you're wondering,

how do I want to spend the second half of my life?

How do I want to not waste my life?

What is my calling and purpose in life?

To have a vision,

or clarity of purpose,

or calling,

is such a clarifying and liberating thing.

You know what you can say yes to,

you know what you can say no to,

it's so clarifying to know your calling in life.

Well, in this passage that we're going to look at today,

Paul gives us,

in this incredibly important passage,

a real sense of purpose and vision

and calling for the church.

He tells us what it is that the church

is called to be and called to do.

In fact, this word calling

is actually the word he uses.

Look at verse 1.

He says,

I, Paul, the prisoner of the Lord,

urge you to walk in a manner

worthy of your calling,

there's our word,

to which you have been called.

He says the same thing in verse 4.

He says,

You were called to the one hope

which belongs to your call.

Okay, so Paul is giving this church,

the Ephesians,

a vision for their calling as a church.

Over the last six weeks

as we've been working through Ephesians,

we've seen that God has this grand cosmic plan

for the entire universe

to unite all things together under Christ,

1 verse 10.

And the church,

he's been alluding to the fact

that the church has some purpose

in this calling.

Today he's going to get really practical

and show us what is the calling of the church

and what role it plays

in this cosmic plan and purpose of God.

And so Paul's big idea is this,

to the church is called

to build one another up

so that together we can be a unified,

united,

and mature body of Christ.

Okay, that's what Paul's going to call us to today.

To build one another up

so that together we can be a mature,

unified body of Christ.

So look at what he says here.

He says,

I urge you to walk with one another

in a manner worthy of the calling

to which you've been called.

So Paul wants us to walk out this calling.

It's not just theory

that you have on your website.

It's actually something we practice.

And he says,

verse 2,

with all humility.

Okay, that's a good thing.

Humility means self-forgetfulness.

Remember C.S. Lewis' famous quote,

to be humble is not to think less of yourself.

It's just to think about yourself

less of the time.

So with humility,

with gentleness,

with patience.

Why do we need patience?

Because sometimes people test our patience.

And he says,

bearing with one another in love.

Another translation says,

making allowances for one another's faults.

Which is such a great description.

That doesn't mean we just turn a blind eye

to one another's sin,

or hypocrisy,

or willful wrongdoing.

We don't just pretend that what is wrong

is not wrong.

What it means is,

we don't need to go and point out

every person's fault all the time.

Somebody does something that bothers you,

and you kind of say,

I can let this one go.

It's alright.

I don't need to go and point out

every person's fault.

So here he's got this amazing description.

Humble, patient, gentle,

bearing with one another in love.

Sign me up for that kind of church, right?

Now, why should we pursue these characteristics?

Well, look at verse 3.

He says,

being eager to maintain

the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

And that makes sense.

As we are humble, patient,

bearing with one another,

it will contribute towards this unity

of the body of Christ.

Christ's body chooses the way of humility,

and patience,

and gentleness,

and graciousness,

because our unity,

our oneness,

is at stake.

What happens when a church is marked

by self-importance,

not humility,

by impatience,

by pointing out everyone's faults?

It's not unity.

It's division, right?

It's not oneness.

It's fighting.

It's friction in the church.

But Paul says,

actually,

behave like this

because your unity,

your oneness,

is at stake.

And notice,

it's not a unity that we create.

It's a unity that's given to us

in the gospel.

Paul says,

maintain the unity

that's been given to you

by the Spirit.

So when a church forms,

let's say,

watermark,

we plant a new church,

let's say,

we don't get the core team together

and say,

how can we foster,

how can we create

a sense of unity?

Actually,

the unity is inherent

in the gospel.

We don't say,

let's go on some team building exercises,

or let's think how we can foster unity.

Actually,

the unity is inherent

in the gospel.

Our unity is established

by the gospel.

Christians are united

by the fact that all of us

have a shared history.

It's the fact that we are sinners

saved by grace.

Ephesians 2 says,

we were once dead in our sins

and now we've been made alive in Christ.

Our shared history of depravity

and our shared oneness

in coming together in Christ by grace

builds and fosters a unity

in and of itself.

Maybe another way of saying this

is an analogy.

Think of a group of people

that were on a boat

out at sea, right?

Tragic situation,

waves come,

tip the boat over,

they don't have life jackets,

they're all going to die,

they're all going to drown.

But miraculously,

a boat comes past,

sees them in peril,

rescues them,

and saves them.

That group of people

don't need to foster

a sense of unity, right?

Forever,

their shared history

is going to bind them together.

There's something

that they've experienced together

that brings them together.

Well, Paul says the same thing.

Our inherent history

fosters a sense of unity.

And yet,

because of our sinful hearts,

we have this tendency

to break the unity,

to undermine this gospel unity.

And so Paul says,

be eager to maintain

the unity of the Spirit

that's been given you

in the gospel.

But here's another reason

that Paul gives.

Look at verse 4 to 6.

He says,

the church should be unified,

united,

one,

because that's who God is

and that's what God

is doing in the world.

Look at how he says

in verse 4 to 6.

It's almost written

like a creed,

an ancient creed.

He says,

there is one body,

one spirit.

Verse 5,

one Lord,

one faith,

one baptism.

We sang about that earlier.

One God and Father of all

who is over all

and through all

and in all.

And Paul's point is,

God is not divided.

God doesn't parcel himself out,

a little bit of the divine being

in there,

a little bit there,

a little bit there.

God is one.

What God is doing

is he's uniting all things

together under Christ.

Because of who God is,

we as the billboard

of God's grace

should also be one.

It doesn't help if we say,

God is this one supreme being,

but we are divided

and fighting.

No, no,

we may be a picture of God,

a billboard of his grace

and the gospel.

Think of this.

I don't know how many of you

have been to

one of those

majestic cathedrals

in Europe.

Europeans know how to build

great cathedrals,

right?

St. John's Cathedral

in Central

kind of does

something of this effect,

but not quite the same effect.

You walk in

and you are

wowed,

astounded

by the grandeur

and the majesty

of it.

Cathedrals are designed

to take your breath away.

You walk in

and you are meant

to be astounded

by the majesty.

And the reason

they are designed

like that

is it is meant

to give us a sense

of the majesty

of God.

The church building

is meant to reflect

who God is,

right?

I am not sure

if you remember

February 2011,

Christchurch,

New Zealand.

An earthquake

rocks Christchurch.

And the grand cathedral

in Christchurch

is left in ruins,

right?

Is a pile of rubble.

And Paul says

that's what happens

when the church

is divided,

when we're fighting.

This church

that's meant to be

a picture of the majesty

and the grandeur

and the oneness of God,

actually the church

as a cathedral

is left in ruins.

Well, think about it

this way.

20 years ago,

my parents were part

of a church.

It was a small church

and the church

there was lots

of fighting

and friction

and animosity

and division

and talking

behind people's backs

and everyone

would come to church

on a Sunday

smiling and all wonderful

but behind the scenes

there was lots

of friction.

And one night

my dad had a dream

and in this dream

he saw a picture

of a bride.

You know,

the Bible describes

the church

as the bride of Christ

but this bride's dress

was in tatters.

It was being torn

apart

and shredded

and he woke up

with such a heavy heart

saying the church

is meant to be

this radiant picture

of the majesty

of God

but all our fighting

and our tearing

each other apart

we've left the picture

of God in tatters,

right?

And that's Paul's

argument here.

He's saying

we've got one Lord,

one gospel,

one God and Father.

That's why the Bible

says unity

and community

and restoring

damaged relationships

is such a big deal

in the Bible.

It's not just

this impossible ideal

that we talk about

but nobody ever

really attains.

It's so important

to God

because it's a picture

of who He is

and what the church is.

Yes,

the Trinity

is Father,

Son,

and Spirit

but there's this

unbelievable unity

and oneness

even within the community

of the Trinity

and the church

is meant to picture that

and so Paul says

therefore let your

relationships put the

beauty and the

oneness of God

on display.

Let the church be

a billboard of His grace,

of His oneness,

of His majesty.

Let it be a cathedral

of gospel grace.

Therefore he says

be eager,

maintain the unity

of the Spirit

that is given to us

in the gospel.

Okay,

does that make sense

so far?

Now,

how do we do that?

How do we maintain

this unity?

I mean,

do we just beat each other

over the head

and say be united?

No,

no,

that's not how we do it.

What should we do?

Should we go to more

team building exercises?

Maybe we should all sign up

for dragon boat racing

because that,

you know,

is really going to

pull us together.

How should we do this?

Well,

Paul in the rest

of this section

gives us a clear answer

and this is his answer.

He says unity

is not something

that you foster

or manufacture

or coerce.

It actually is the fruit

or comes as a result

of spiritual maturity

and that happens

as you speak the gospel

to one another.

Okay,

unity is not something

you can force or coerce.

It's a fruit,

a result

of spiritual maturity

and that happens

as we point one another

to Christ

and speak the gospel

over each other

and that actually makes sense.

I don't know

if any of you

grew up in a family

where you had

rivalry with your siblings,

right?

So I was like that.

My older brother and I,

we fought a lot.

We fought with words

and we fought with fists.

Okay,

we didn't have

a very good relationship

when we were kids

but as we matured

and grew up,

well,

actually,

we put away our fists

and eventually over time

our words got a bit nicer

and actually,

we're now good friends.

We're actually very close.

maturity produces

a kind of unity.

Well,

that's what Paul says.

He says the same thing

in the church.

As we grow in the gospel,

as we mature in the faith,

as we become more like Christ

and Jesus in the gospel

becomes deeper in our hearts

and more real to us,

it affects our relationships.

This maturity will produce

a unity in the body of Christ.

Okay,

well,

how does that happen?

Well,

Paul's going to give us

three things,

okay,

that we need to mature

in the faith

to produce this unity.

And the first thing he says

is we need leaders.

Leaders,

okay,

what Paul calls

gifts of grace.

Look at verse 7.

So,

up until verse 1 and 6,

he talks about this unity

in the church,

may be eager to maintain

the unity of the spirit.

Why?

Because God is one.

Verse 7,

but grace was given

to each one of us

according to the measure

of Christ's gift,

or in other words,

saying that according

to Christ's choosing.

So,

there's unity in the gospel,

but unity doesn't mean

uniformity.

It doesn't mean we're all

just exactly the same.

There's a diversity

of gifts

and calling

within the body of Christ.

And then Paul quotes

Psalm 68.

He talks about God

ascending up on high,

leading a host of captives

in his wake,

giving gifts to men.

Now,

Psalm 68 is a tricky Psalm,

okay,

so let me try

and understand,

explain what's going on here.

Psalm 68

is what John Calvin

called

an ode

to military victory.

It's a Psalm

that describes

God as this

military leader

that is victorious.

Now,

in the ancient world,

every military leader,

when they won a battle,

they conquered their enemy,

they would either

just slaughter them

and kill them,

or they would take

the people

as their captives,

and they would become

slaves

in their kind of

city or town

or army,

right?

But Paul says

God does something

different.

In the gospel,

when God

defeats his enemies,

he actually defeats

them with love.

That's what God did

for all of us,

right?

We were once

God's enemy.

We were sinners

and rebels.

God won us

over to his side,

but he won us

over with love.

He didn't destroy us.

And what does he do?

He now includes us

in his church,

in his family.

And then God

amazingly

takes these people

that he has won

with love,

and he actually

gives them back

to his church

as gifts of grace.

So in the old days,

the military leader

would go and

if they didn't kill

their enemies,

they would bring them,

you know,

they'd walk back

into their city,

Rome or Jerusalem,

whatever it is,

with this host

of captives

trailing behind them,

and all the city folk

would throw tomatoes

at them and

jeer at them

and laugh at them

and scoff at them.

But Paul says

in the gospel,

those that God

wins and defeats

with his love,

they come trailing

behind him,

but rather than

everyone jeering

at them,

he actually now says

these are your

brothers and sisters.

He gives his captives

back to the church

as gifts of grace.

And I think

one of the best

examples of this

is the apostle Paul.

Remember Saul?

That was his name

before.

He's an enemy of God.

He wants to destroy

the church,

destroy Christianity.

He does everything

he can to wipe

out these Christians.

Oh, but the ascended,

risen Christ

meets him,

wins him over

with grace.

And then what does he do?

He gives Paul

back to the church

as a gift of grace.

And what a grace,

what a gift he was,

right?

I mean, he wrote

a whole lot

of the New Testament.

And actually in Ephesians,

Paul's been saying this

the whole time.

We were once enemies,

we were outsiders,

dead in our sins,

under God's wrath.

And God has now

included us,

he's made us insiders.

And now we're part

of God's cosmic plan.

And these sinners,

like you and I,

like Saul and Paul,

now God gives the church

as gifts of grace.

Like Saul.

I think another example,

if I can name

and shame him,

is Dan Tillis.

I don't know if Dan is here.

He's just gone out,

right?

And if you've heard

Dan's story,

we've played it a couple

of times at church.

Man, Dan lived

as if God was dead,

right?

Came to Hong Kong,

lived it up,

had no time for God.

Oh God,

the risen,

ascended Lord,

saved him,

rescued him,

redeemed him.

What a gift of grace

he is to our church,

right?

I think another person

is Henrika,

if I can pick on you.

Henrika came to Hong Kong

eight, nine years ago,

right?

Didn't want to follow Jesus,

living it up,

on her own journey

of trying to find

the divine

and the spirituality.

Oh God saved her.

What a gift of grace

he is to our church.

I could rattle

through tons of names.

I could tip you

someone else

had thought of,

right?

Came to faith

at Watermark

a few years ago.

What a gift of grace.

And that's what

Paul says here.

He says that God

takes these,

he apportions gifts

to his church.

Look at verse 11.

Now he elaborates

on these gifts of grace

and he says,

and he gave

these gifts,

apostles,

prophets,

evangelists,

shepherd teachers.

Okay,

just pause here.

In the New Testament

there are lots

and lots of gifts

that the body has,

right?

There's gifts

of encouragement,

there's gifts

of generosity,

gifts of service,

administration,

hospitality,

lots of different gifts.

But Paul here

mentions four.

Apostles,

prophets,

evangelists,

and pastor teachers.

Why does he just

mention those four?

Well,

one of the things

about those four

is they're all

leadership gifts.

Okay,

they're called

to be leaders

in the church.

But there's something

else particular

about them.

They all speak

God's word

and the gospel

to God's people.

So apostles

were those that

originally wrote

the New Testament.

They took the gospel

to the corners

of the world.

They gave us

the New Testament.

They proclaimed

the word of God

and the gospel.

Prophets aren't those

that foretell

the future.

Prophets aren't

fortune tellers.

To be a prophet

means you speak

God's word

to God's people.

So prophets

speak God's word.

Evangelists

speak the gospel

and God's word

to those that

don't yet know

about Christ.

They bring the gospel

to people.

And pastor teachers

speak God's word

to God's people

week in and week out.

So what characterizes

these four gifts

is that they're

those who speak

the gospel

and bring God's word

to his people.

They're not signs

and wonders gifts.

They're other gifts

that do that.

These are word gifts.

I think of

2 Corinthians 4

where the apostle Paul

says,

For what we proclaim

is not ourselves

but Christ Jesus

as Lord

and we as your servants.

What do pastors

and elders do?

We are just servants

to the church

proclaiming Christ

and God's word

to build up the church.

Okay?

So here Paul says

God gives these gifts

to the church

and he highlights

four word gifts

that speak God's word

and bring the gospel.

So God gives leaders

to the church.

And what are these

leaders meant to do?

Well, look at verse 12.

It's very simple.

They are to

equip the saints,

that means Christians,

for work of ministry

and to build up

the body of Christ.

So God gives leaders

to the church

who speak God's word,

speak the gospel to us,

and they equip the saints,

that's Christians,

to do the work of ministry

which builds up

and matures the church

so that the church

can be a united,

unified,

mature body of Christ.

So,

in this passage,

who does

the work of ministry?

Well,

it's actually not

the pastors and elders.

I mean,

they do some of it.

It's not the apostles

and the prophets.

It's the saints.

It's the community

of God's people.

It's the Christians

and the members

of the church.

Or another way

you could say it is,

it's the lay ministers.

The word lay means

unprofessional

or the non-professional,

those that haven't

necessarily been set apart

as leaders in the church.

It's every one of us.

And so look at what

Paul says here

in verse 13.

We do this,

this work of ministry,

building up the body

of Christ,

until we attain

to unity,

there's our word again,

of the faith

and the knowledge

of the Son of God,

until we attain

to mature manhood,

literally in Greek

it means becoming

a mature man,

to the measure

of the stature

of the fullness

of Christ.

It was one of Paul's

wordy sentences,

okay?

What he means here

is that the church

with all its diversity

of gifts

is meant to minister

to one another

in order that we become

a united,

mature body of Christ

until we each

become more and more

like Jesus.

And he says the same thing

in verse 16.

When each part

working together

makes the body

grow so that it

builds itself up

in love.

Now when Paul says here,

until we attain

mature manhood,

what does that mean?

Until we become

a mature man,

is literally the Greek.

Is Paul saying that

we've all got to become

more masculine,

right?

Ladies,

you've got to become

more like us men.

Is Paul saying

there's no room

for women and femininity

in the church?

No, no,

that's not what

Paul is saying.

Who is the most,

who is the perfect man

in the Bible?

Okay, Jesus.

Jesus is the man

that Paul wants us

to all become like.

And what he's saying

is that as we become

more and more

like Christ

with our diversity,

whether you're male

or female,

whether you're

African,

Chinese,

American,

whether you're young

or old,

that we mature

and become more

like Christ.

So, and what is

Christ like?

Well, we saw it

in verse 2.

He is humble,

gentle,

patient,

bearing with one

another in love.

Okay, so do you

follow the argument

here?

God gives leaders

to his church,

what Paul calls

gifts of grace,

to serve the church

by bringing God's

word,

flooding us with

the gospel,

and then he equips

us as a church

to minister to one

another,

so that we can

become more and

more mature

and united,

which means

becoming more

and more like

Jesus.

Friends, this is

the point of

community,

this is why we

do CGs and

family groups,

so that we can

minister to one

another,

encourage one

another,

build up one

another.

One of the

implications of

this,

and this isn't

aimed at any

camera in the

room in particular,

one of the

implications of

this is that

online church

is not really

a thing,

right?

because when

you're watching

a service

online,

you're not

doing church,

you're watching

other people

do church,

because the

church is the

body that

encourages and

ministers to

one another.

Now, here's a

question, what

happens when

only a few

people in the

church minister

to one another?

Let's say you've

got this superstar

pastor, okay,

not a watermark,

the other church

down the road,

and he's like

unbelievable,

right?

He's an

incredible preacher

and he's an

incredible visionary

leader and he's a

great manager of the

staff team and he's a

brilliant discipler and

he's this great marriage

counselor and one-on-one

counselor and you feel

like you can go to him

and pull out all your

troubles because he

listens so brilliantly,

but he's also gifted at

everything and he's just

unbelievable and he does

everything, okay, that's

not going to be a healthy

body, right?

Or let's say you've got

a church where you've

got 10 or 15 people that

are amazing and they do

everything and the other

200 just coast along are

consumers.

That's not a healthy body.

Have you ever seen

somebody who, they only

like working out one part

of the body, right,

just maybe just the top

off and the other part

doesn't look so good,

okay?

That's not a healthy body.

In the same way, Paul says,

the body, the church, as we

all minister to one

another and encourage one

another, we build each

other up, okay?

Look at verse 14.

Paul says the same thing,

but this time he states it

negatively.

He says the opposite, what we're

not trying to become.

What's the opposite of one

mature man or adult?

The opposite is lots of

children running around

causing chaos, okay?

He says here, verse 14,

every member ministers to one

another so that we may no

longer be immature children.

The word there is plural,

okay?

Tossed to and fro by waves

carried about by every wind

of doctrine and human cunning

and craftiness.

So the role of every member

ministry is to help one

another grow into spiritual

maturity so that we're not

all over the place.

So we don't have one group

of the church going off in

that direction saying, oh,

you know, there's this

celebrity pastor.

He's mainly teaching us that.

And then another group of

the church going off in

that direction, listening

to that thing.

And then one group of the

church saying, oh, I read

this book and this is

wonderful.

Let's go in that direction.

And then another group say,

oh, we just want to do our

own thing over here.

And the church becomes no

unity, no gospel, no picture

of the glory of God.

Actually, as we grow up and

mature and flood one another

with the gospel, we become

united around who Christ is.

That's how we grow.

And so God gives us leaders,

people who we actually know

in real life.

We can know what their lives

are like.

We can know what their

marriage is like.

We can know what their

parenting is like.

It's one of the problems

with just following a

celebrity preacher.

He could be amazing on

stage, but he could be a

dog at home.

God actually wants to give

us leaders that we can

actually know, see what

they're like in real life,

who will bring us God's

words that we as a body

can minister to one another

and help us grow.

So what is Paul's strategy?

God gives us leaders and

he gives us lay ministers,

and there's one last thing

he gives us, which is we

need the gospel.

Paul says here that leaders

speak God's word so that we

can do the work of ministry.

Now what is that work of

ministry?

What does he mean by that?

Well, he gives us two clues

here in the passage.

The one is that word work

is actually in the singular.

It's not plural.

In Ephesians 2, remember he

says, we are God's

workmanship, created in

Christ Jesus for good works.

Okay, that's plural.

But here he says, there is

one work that God has

called us to.

What is that one work?

Well, we find out in verse

14 and 15.

Look at what he says.

He says, we're no longer

children tossed about by

every wind of doctrine and

teaching, verse 15.

Rather, speaking the truth

in love, we grow up in

every way into him who is

the head that is Christ.

So what is this work of

ministry that Christians are

called to?

How do we minister to one

another as a church family?

We speak the truth in love.

Okay, well, what does that

mean, right?

Does that mean we go around

pointing out everybody's

faults and then when they

get offended, we say, hey,

I'm just speaking the truth

in love, right?

No, that's not what it

means.

It means we flood one

another with the truth of

the gospel, which is truth

and love together in the

person of Jesus.

We wash one another with

God's word and the gospel.

We point one another to

Christ.

Say, look to Christ.

Christ, we flood one

another with the gospel.

Speaking the truth in love,

we grow up into Christ who

is the head, into Jesus from

whom the whole body is

joined together.

In Colossians 1, Paul says

this.

I read this this morning in

my devotions.

He says, this is my calling

to make the word of God

fully known, which is Christ

in you, the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim, Jesus,

warning and teaching everyone

that we may present everyone

mature in Christ.

What did Paul the apostle do?

He went and he brought the

word of God, but what was

the word of God?

Christ in you, the hope of

glory.

And so the way we build up

one another is we flood one

another with who Christ is.

We point one another to Jesus.

We encourage one another in

the gospel.

We don't just go around telling

everyone to be better

Christians, do more.

No, we flood and we

encourage them.

We challenge, we encourage

with the gospel.

And so think about this.

Someone in your CG is going

through a tough time.

So what do you do?

You text them, keep calm and

carry on.

No, no, no, you don't do

that, okay?

No, no, you point them to

Jesus.

You walk with them.

You pray with them.

You listen to them.

And you remind them about who

Christ is and to hold on to

Jesus.

Hey, quick disclaimer.

I did this really badly

recently.

I had someone come and speak

to me and say, hey, Kevin,

I was going through a tough

time and I felt like all you

did was told me to do better.

And I was trying in a way to

encourage them to Christ, but I

completely did it badly, right?

So I don't always do this

right.

We don't always get it right.

But that's our goal.

Someone's going through a

tough time.

We don't say, do better, try

harder.

And we go and say, Jesus is so

wonderful.

He's so faithful.

Look to Christ.

Press into Christ.

Or maybe you're concerned that

someone you love and know is

drifting far away from Jesus.

We could just say, well, it's

none of my business.

Or we could go be a family member

with them and say, hey, how are you

doing?

How are your devotions going?

How vivid and real is Jesus to you

at the moment?

Hey, hold on to Christ.

He's so precious.

He's so good.

We sang about it earlier.

When darkness seems to hide his

face, our trust in his unchanging

grace, well, sometimes it's hard

to do that.

Sometimes life is so hard.

You can't even hold on to his

unchanging grace.

You can't say, on Christ the solid

rock I stand, all other ground is

sinking stand.

But a friend can help you do that.

And so when somebody in your CG is

going through a tough time, what do

you do?

You go to them and you encourage

them.

You say, let's stand on Christ.

Christ is faithful.

Christ is enough.

Or maybe someone's struggling at

work and you sit down and you

listen and you pray with them.

Or you do what Oscar did this

week.

He texted in the men's group,

Colossians 3 verse 1.

Colossians 3:1

Set your sights on things above where

Christ is seated.

He is your hope and glory.

And so this is Paul's word to us.

Speaking the gospel truth and love.

Flooding one another with the truth

of who God is.

We grow up in every way into him.

Into Christ who is the head.

From whom the whole body, joined and

held together, is equipped.

Every part doing its work.

Making the body grow.

So that it builds itself up in love.

Friends, this is the church.

This is what it means to be the church.

Church isn't a building.

As wonderful as those cathedrals are.

And if anyone wants to donate us a

cathedral, we'll take it.

Okay?

As wonderful as they are, this is the

church.

The church isn't a service that you

can just watch.

The church is God's people,

encouraging and stirring up one

another.

And what that means is that every

member in the church is called to be

ministers of God's grace.

Speaking the gospel, God's word over

one another.

Friends, maybe you'll never preach on a

Sunday.

That's okay.

Doesn't make you better or worse.

Maybe you won't lead a CG.

That's okay.

But you can be an agent of God's

grace.

You can build up the body.

You can help the church become the

mature stature of Christ through

every member ministry.

This is what Paul wants us to see.

That God has called the church to be a

united body.

One Lord.

One faith.

One baptism.

One church united in the gospel.

And how does he do that?

He gives us leaders who are really

just servants.

Speak God's word and the gospel to us

to equip us as the church.

To speak the truth and love.

The gospel.

To minister to one another.

So that we as a church can grow and

mature to the full stature of the

measure of Christ.

Let's pray together.

And then we'll come to the communion

table.

Oh Father God as we hear your call to be a

cathedral of grace God.

A picture of the majesty of God.

Oh God I pray won't you help us to do

that Lord.

God we confess that our sinful hearts.

God we so easily turn in on ourselves and

look after ourselves.

God won't you help us God.

Won't you make us humble.

Patient.

Gentle.

Bearing with one another in love.

And God won't you help us to grow up and

to mature.

To be the church that you've called us to

be.

Unified around Christ and the gospel.

God won't you make us as a church a

billboard of your grace.

God we pray that for ourselves and we

pray that for the church of Hong Kong.

We pray for every church in Hong Kong.

God the English church, the Chinese

church, the Korean, the Japanese, the

Filipino church.

God every church in Hong Kong.

God I pray won't you unite us and unify

us.

May we be God a picture of heaven on

earth.

God we know that it's one thing to call

us that.

We need a work of grace in our hearts.

God won't you speak to us this morning

Lord.

Where it is hard God.

God sometimes maybe we feel like we've

been bearing with one another in love for

a long time.

Maybe our patience is worn thin.

Oh God by your grace God won't you help

us.

We need you Jesus.

We need you Jesus.

Fathers we come to the communion table

now.

I pray God.

Won't you remind us of our common history.

Our common depravity.

Our common lostness.

And our common hope in Jesus.

And may that God unify us and mature us.

And make us a cathedral of grace.

God I pray this in your wonderful and your

gracious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.