6.22.2025 | Are You Equipped?
Are You Equipped?
Gifts are movements of God’s grace!
Gifts of the Father: Motivational gifts (Romans 12)
Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Freely available to flow through all believers (1 Corinthians 12)
Gifts of the Son: People are the gift (Ephesians 4)
Fruit of the Spirit: Character, takes time to grow fruit (Galatians)
Gifts are through us, but fruit is in us! -Rich Wilkerson Jr.
EQUIPPING: The 5-fold is to restore effectiveness, to make whole
1. The word that is used when a broken bone is setting.
2. The realignment of a displaced or out of joint limb (placing an arm back in the socket, something out of alignment).
3, Mending a net. This is about restoring the capacity to do things. (Restoring the nets to be effective to catch fish.)
1. FIND YOUR FIVE!
Eph. 4:7-16 ( NLT) However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”
Notice that it says, “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
2. HONOR THE GIFT
Apostle
Concerned about building a place/people for the presence.
“Ultimately, their goal is to construct a habitation where God’s Spirit can live permanently.” - Rick Renner
Prophets
Concerned about what God is saying, in the context of His heart.
Evangelist
Concerned about lost getting saved.
Pastors
Concerned about people (caring for believers).
Teachers
Concerned about the truth (right doctrine) being understood.
3. GO LOW AND GROW
Eph 4:2-3 (NLT) Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
Eph. 4:15-17 (NLT) Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
FIND YOUR FIVE!
Questions for discussion/reflection:
1. How do you think about the meaning of equipping in the context of Eph. 4?
2. Where do you need equipping (making whole, restored effectiveness) in your life?
3. Share a time where you experienced equipping in your life through part of the body of Christ.
4. Talk about finding your five? Do you have all of these perspectives speaking into your life?
5. What needs to change in your life to be “healthy and growing and full of love”?