Ephesians 4:1-16 : Tom Ascol
The notes are working a little better this time. These are my notes verbatim (forgive any misspellings or mistakes. Anything in quotes are from Tom that I was able to type out fast enough to make sure I heard right. Everything else are simply my notes and if you ask anyone who knows me, me hearing ain’t always the best. :-)
The Gospel is Good News
It is what God has done for us.
Paul always goes from Creed to Deed
The emphasis in Ephesians has application yes, but its about doctrinal truth
For a church to walk in a way worthy of its calling is to….. (didn’t get the last part)
The Community of Faith (in the Church)
Some churches are very active in being involved with the works of the kingdom, yet when doctrine is spoken of, they glaze over
-like a man with long arms and legs but a tiny head
Then some church over-emphasize Doctrine and have a problem with fleshing out that doctrine
-like a man with a huge head and little tiny arms and little tiny legs
“Both are a perversion.”
Every member is to work on unity in the church
First, a right understanding
-unity can be very easily misunderstood
-unity is NOT mere toleration
-”toleration of gross and fragrant sin is not unity, it is an unholy conspiracy”
-Neither is unity coercion
-individual Christians will be at different levels of maturity
-Uniformity is NOT to be coerced
-Uniformity also is not mere outward
What Unity IS
-essential agreement that Christians share in mind, heart, will, and purpose
-God is the Creature of Unity, who cause is to exist in the life of the local Church
-This is to be maintained through the bond of peace
-He regenerates individuals who are brought into the Church
-what Christ has done on the Cross has crushed the dividing line that we would have had between us
“One significant reason that so many churches do NOT taste this kind [of God-honoring] unity is that so many churches are filled with unregenerate church members”
-this is especially so in the SBC
There can be NO unity between amongst a group of believers and non-believers
-this is a huge reason why so many churches grasp for substitutes for Biblical Unity
How do we promote humility within ourselves?
-be honest with yourself
We should be long-suffering with one another
We are to love one another as God has loved us
-He sent and sacrificed His Son
-God’s love is not dependent upon our performance, but rather on the performance of One who has already done the job!
-this knowledge sets us free to love!
The Church ought to be a community of Love!
Christian Unity is a Fact and a Duty
-When we are saved, we are joined together in Christ with our fellow brothers and sisters
-Yet we also have a responsibility to work on our unity
Jesus prayed for our Unity
-He did this on the Eve of His Death
-Unity is a Biblical Teaching, it’s a Biblical Reality, it’s a Biblical Responsibility
The Church is considered by Paul as being One Body
Christian unity is based upon Jesus Christ
-because we have One Lord, we are to preserve the Unity that the Spirit has provided for the Church
Christ designed Diversity
“Unity is not Uniformity”
“Where there is not Diversity in the Local Church, something is seriously wrong. In fact, it may be the mark of a cult, instead of a mark of the church of Jesus Christ.”
All of God’s People are given gifts to encourage and edify the Body
A balanced Church will have as a stated goal to have every member exercise their God-given gifts
When a body is functioning as it should, in unity, with diversity, what will be the result?
The Church will experience Corporate Growth and Maturity
- Doctrinal Stability
o We are to no longer be Children
- Children are naturally unstable
- “Balanced Churches produce Balanced Christians”
- Loving Devotion
o To Truth and to People
o We are to love Truth yes, but we are to also love People
o One of the blights to us is that too often we are known as loving Truth way more than People
o We are to Love Truth AND People
- Practical Service
o We must recognize our relationship to Christ
o We must recognize our relationship with the Body
o We must recognize our Responsibility as an Individual within the Body
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1599925&w=425&h=350&fv=autoplay%3Dfalse]
Finally, this current economic crisis just might help Christians to focus on another issue — retirement. Where in the Bible are we told to aspire to years and decades of leisure without labor? There is nothing wrong with saving for what the world calls retirement. Indeed, that is just good stewardship. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with workers enjoying the fruit of their labor. But Christians should think of retirement as an opportunity to be redeployed for Kingdom service.
Today’s 
Barring any mishaps, I hope to provide a live-video stream of the upcoming SBFC-SW conference through ustream.tv. The first message is on Thursday at 3:30 PM CT, and I’ll post a link to our ustream.tv page, as well as have an embedded video right here on the blog, for anyone who cannot attend and who would like to watch the messages. I’ll also save the videos after the broadcast, and will make them available to view at a later date.
