The five fold ministry: a short bible study of 5 sessions. Ephesians 4: 1 16

Transcription

1 The five fold ministry: a short bible study of 5 sessions. Ephesians 4: 1 16 Kings Church Uckfield 2015

2 The five fold ministry: a short bible study of 5 sessions. When I first attended church as a child, I based my whole experience of Christianity on a small number of stories, told by well meaning 'Sunday school' teachers. As a consequence, I knew the story of Jonah and that big fish, Samson and the lack of hair and a little man who Jesus saw in a tree! What I didn't appreciate was the bigger story that ran throughout the Bible. When, at the age of 36, I became a Christian, I was suddenly aware of so much more - but it has taken a further 20 years to start to get up to speed with the many areas of the Bible that are key to our understanding of the way the church could operate, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, to have the life and expectancy of the early Christian Church. This short series is intended to help us look into one vital aspect of the church, if we are to develop in our walk with God, appreciate the mission that we are called to and to fully grasp how we, as a community of believers, can progress and take the message of the Bible - the Good news - to others. This series will explore how the combination of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, working closely with the church, can equip and disciple us as Christians. The key scripture for this series: Ephesians 4: 1-16 (NIV) Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ 4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. 9 (What does he ascended mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here

3 and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

4 Session 1 As a community group, please watch the following video which can be found on the internet (approximately 60minutes and you will need to scroll down the screen to find Terry's talk). This will introduce the series by way of a teaching from Terry Virgo on this important topic. There are then some questions for you to discuss as a group. Introduction - what is the role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors-andteachers? Actions: 1. Read the scripture (Ephesians 4: 1-16) together now that you have watched the video. 2. Share your thoughts on the five fold ministry. You may like to make some notes of some of the points: How does King s Church Uckfield measure up against Paul s teaching on a five fold ministry? Where as a church are we strong, where are we less strong? If you have time, please have a prayer time for the church as it moves into a new phase of its life to strongly impact the town and surrounding villages with the Gospel.

5 Session 2 The church through an Apostle s eyes. What is an apostle? The Greek word for an apostle has its roots in the verb to send, so an apostle is a sent one. Over the past 2000 years, the importance of a church having apostolic cover has been misunderstood and diminished to the point that many organised Christian groups do not recognise a specific ministry. And yet, the Bible clearly teaches that apostles are as necessary and relevant today as they were at the time of the early church. So what does the Bible teach about who was an apostle? Read the following scripture passages and write down those mentioned in the Bible as apostles: Hebrews 3:1... Revelation 21: Acts 14:14... What was different about the two apostles mentioned in Acts 14:14?... Are apostles needed today? Read Ephesians 4: What is the significance of the word until?

6 One of the most distinctive features of an apostle is that they are master builders and lay the foundations of a church. Read Pauls comment in 1 Corinthians 3:10. What advantages to a church are provided by apostles? In Philippians 4:1, Paul writes to the church in Philippi Therefore my brothers, you whom I. and.., my. and.... What does this reveal about the way an apostle looks at the members of a church that he oversees?... Summary Write a sentence that expresses how an apostle sees a church that he supports....

7 Session 3 The church through a Prophet s eyes. Last session, we started to look at the ministry of an apostle and how important this role was to the development of a church as it gives foundational features to a church. Ephesians 2: 19 and 20 expands this theme Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. This can be understood in two ways. Firstly, the apostles and prophets laid stable foundations at the beginning of the church age and therefore we continue to benefit from these early endeavours but importantly, there is a second truth that stems from this. This is that every local church needs to make sure that it is also built on an apostolic and prophetic foundation that is relevant and fresh for that church today. As we move towards a new phase in the life of the church and look to a meeting place that will expand our ability to reach out to the community, show God s love to the people of Uckfield and the surrounding villages and allow people to hear the Gospel message, what is the role of the Prophetic to enable this to happen? Read Ephesians 4: What do you think is the difference between a prophet, in the sense of an Ephesians 4 ministry (Ephesians 4:11) and prophetic words that are brought on a Sunday morning? 2. Read the following scriptures and discus how the prophetic is a catalyst for change within the church: A prophet brings direction and exhortation (Haggai 1:3-11) A prophet motivates action (Haggai 1: 12) A prophet brings comfort, encouragement and fortifies (Habakkuk 1:5) A prophet brings solutions (Acts 13: 1-3) 3. A prophet brings vision There have been a number of prophetic words that have been spoken over the church in recent years. Can you recall some of them? How are we motivated by them? 4. Many of the members within the church have received prophetic words at various times which have influenced them. Share some of these in the group to encourage and support each other.

8 Summary Write a sentence that expresses how a prophet is seen in our church

9 Session 4 The church through an Evangelist s eyes. As we look at the role of an evangelist in this session, divide into pairs and take a few minutes to chat about what you understand this role to be. Can you write a short sentence between you to define what an evangelist does?... For those who haven t looked ahead in the notes, let s see what a definition could look like as well as seeing what the Bible says! You may have come up with the following definition: An evangelist is someone who proclaims good news; in other words, a preacher of the gospel. A person with the gift of evangelism is often someone who travels from place to place to preach the gospel and calls for repentance. The Bible teaches three expressions of an evangelist A specific ministry, as we have seen in Ephesians 4:11 A Spiritual gift 2 Timothy 4/5 that equips a leader A call on all disciples Read Mark 16: 15 The ministry of an evangelist is a specific empowerment, given by the Holy Spirit to evangelise. 1. What would some of the indications be that a person was operating strongly under the office of evangelist?......

10 Evangelists have the ability to communicate the plan of salvation clearly and with conviction and often have creative ways to present their message based on the age and lifestyle of the audience. They seek to build relationships within a community and regularly challenge people to faith in Christ everywhere they go! Not only do they share the Gospel at every opportunity, but, a marker of their office is that because they are anointed by the Holy Spirit, they are often favoured with success. When an evangelist preaches, they always include an invitation to receive Christ and are burdened with the lost. 2. Can you name a few evangelists that you are aware of? As was mentioned earlier (Mark 16:15), we have a call on our lives to be evangelists and lead people into an understanding of Christ. Remind each other of the steps to lead a person to Christ and pray for each other to receive, by the Holy Spirit, boldness and opportunities to witness for Christ. You may like to write the steps down as a reminder:... Summary Write a short sentence on how an evangelist, visiting the church, would see our outreach ministry in terms of telling people the Good News about Christ....

11 Session 5 The church through the eyes of Pastors and Teachers The spiritual gifts of pastor and teacher are separate but often interchangeable roles as many elders who have responsibility for overseeing a church, also provide the main focus of teaching though small group work or preaching on a Sunday. For this short series, it is expected that most members of the church will have a sound working knowledge of these two ministries, as embodied in our eldership team, and so each will be addressed briefly. Pastors/Teachers The Greek word for pastor is poimen, and can be translated as shepherd or overseer. In the Old Testament, where we can site David as a helpful example, a shepherds responsibilities would have included keeping a lookout for predators and therefore protecting the sheep from attack, caring for weaker sheep or supporting wounded or sick, rescuing those who were lost, guiding the sheet to places of nourishment and rest. It follows that pastors are called shepherds as they use their gifts to care for the people in the church in much the same way. The Bible sets out many examples of how a pastor should operate in his gifting. The main example, as is always the case, comes primarily from Jesus. 1. Read John 10: What lessons does Jesus teach us about being a shepherd in this passage? Write down the three points that have spoken to you strongly from this passage: All jobs in the business world have a Personal Specification or PS. The Biblical setting for the PS is set out in the following scripture: 1 Timothy 3: 1-7. As you read the scripture, list the attributes that are mentioned, and which should be evident is pastor/teachers:

12 . The ministry of a pastor/teacher, along with the other ministries of apostle, prophet and evangelist has a defined outcome which is found in the final verses of the passage that we have followed in this series, Ephesians 4: to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 3. As we come to the conclusion of this mini series, why not break into small groups to pray for our Elders to be filled with the Holy Spirit in their leading of the church and to also pray specifically for those who oversee us so faithfully in roles of apostolic, prophetic and evangelistic ministries. Summary At the end of this series, can you write a final sentence that sums up the benefits to the church of the five fold ministry?...