Sermon Series
Week 4
Ephesians 4:1-16 | Unity in Christ and Gifts Given to Build Up the Body
Preaching Commentary
Discussion Questions
What does it mean to “live a life worthy of the calling” as a community, rather than just as individuals? How does this communal focus challenge our culture's emphasis on personal spirituality or individual success?
Why do you think Paul emphasizes unity before listing…
Sermon Resources
Key Quotes
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Christian community means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. There is no Christian community that is more than this, and none that is less than this.
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Christian disunity is and remains a massive impediment to the gospel itself—the proclamation of which is and should be evangelicalism’s strong suit.
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My goal is to speak the truth in love. There are a lot of people speaking the truth with no love, and there are a lot of people talking about love without much truth.
Key Illustration
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The Puzzle of Polygamy
A classic mission dilemma:
The chief of a village in a remote area, whose people practice a tribal religion, becomes a believer and declares the whole village is now Christian. Most of the leading men in the village, including the chief, have multiple wives and families.
What should be done about the polygamous families?
Confronted with this problem, a growing indigenous African denomination initially decided that no men who practice polygamy can become members of their churches. But this created a problem.
2nd and 3rd wives and their children started to be abandoned and left in severe poverty.
So, they changed their stance. Now men with multiple wives can join the church when they promise to take no more wives, but they are not allowed to be leaders.
The goal isn't to pass judgment on this denomination's choice. Instead, this illustration emphasizes the impact on, and challenge of the Gospel to, a non-Western, community-focused culture.
Liturgical Resources
Opening Prayer or Prayer of Adoration
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In Christ there is no East or West,
In Christ no South or North;
But one great family of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.In Christ shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord
Close-binding humankind.Join hands, then, people of the faith,
whatever your race may be.
All children of the living God
are surely kin to me.In Christ now meet both east and west,
in him meet south and north.
All Christly souls are joined as one
throughout the whole wide earth.from "In Christ There Is No East or West" by John Oxenham (1908).
Call to Worship
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Pastor: There is one Body and one Spirit
People: There is one hope in God’s call to us.
Pastor: One Lord, one faith, one Baptism,
People: one God and Father of us all.
Pastor: As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
People: we too might walk in newness of life.
Prayer of Confession (shorter)
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Gracious God, we desire to follow when you call. We long to live according to the ways of Jesus, yet we find ourselves stumbling. Forgive us for the times we have ignored your call to follow you in the ways of compassion, love, and mercy. As you meet us with your grace and assurance, empower us to move when you call
Prayer of Confession (Longer)
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Everyone: Holy God, we live our lives struggling in our own burdens and failing to trust You with all the things that hold us down.
Leader: Your Scripture says, "Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
Everyone: We chase material things and success that fades. We prioritize our schedules above our faith.
Leader: Your Scripture says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness."
Everyone: We live as if hope doesn't exist. We fail to see the bigger picture of the needs of the world that You have called us to serve.
Leader: Your Scripture says, "He saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done, but because of His own purpose and grace."
Everyone: We carry grudges, avoid conflict, and live in dysfunctional relationships instead of seeking wholeness and reconciliation.
Leader: Your Scripture says, "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."
Everyone: We don't live as if Your promises are true. We don't give You our whole lives and follow You in the gift of Your forgiveness.
Leader: Your Scripture says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life."
Everyone: Help us to daily live in the gift of Your forgiveness. Help us to serve and live holy lives out of that gift. In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
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Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!Bible Translation: Phillips J. B. Phillips New Testament The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of EnglandScripture quotations marked (Phillips) are from the The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.
Benediction
- Adapted from Ephesians 4:1-6View
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.Go in peace.
Adapted for liturgical use.
Bible Translation: ESV English Standard Version Crossway PublishingScripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.