NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN: John 5-7
SCRIPTURE READING
Eph 4:11-13 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,
This text is the Magna Carta of church ministry. It is a description of how the body of Christ
must work in order to fulfill its God-ordained purpose. In verse 8 Paul says that when Christ
ascended, he gave gifts to men. Then verse 11 describes people - church leaders who
have been given the gifts of apostleship, prophetic, evangelistic, shepherding (pastoring)
and teaching. Paul tells us that the purpose for this is to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ. God gives spiritual leaders to the church whose
role is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Some say that these roles were only
to establish the New Testament church, but verse 13 tells us that this will occur until we
all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. Can we honestly say
that the church is at full maturity, to the measure of the fullness of Christ? No, of course
not! Then we can thank God for the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds
and the teachers that God has given to us as a gift so that each one of us can be equipped
for the work of the ministry (vs. 12). How often do we set aside a chunk of time to thank
God for the church leaders that He has given to us as a gift? Let’s commit to holding our
leaders up in prayer on a more regular basis and commit to being more thankful for them.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Spend some time thanking Jesus for the many well-equipped leaders in our Church.
Pray that God will continue to work through them and that every member of the church will
be equipped for ministry.
2. Are you presently involved in ministry? Ministry is for all believers, although our roles
may be different, one thing is the same, we are all called to be ministers. Spend some time
praying about your ministry fit. If you presently serve in the church, ask God if this is where
you are to remain. If you don’t presently serve, pray about what possible ministry areas
you can begin to serve in.
