Envisioning GracePoint:
Life-Long Equipping
Ephesians 4:1-16
Introduction
We are on week five, and our last week, of our sermon series exploring
together our new Vision Statement. Each week we have explored one
of the seven Biblical purposes of why we exist as a local
congregation. Our new vision statement, as well as our new elder
structure and new elder ministry teams are all built around these seven
purposes as well.
We covered four of these Biblical purposes over the last four
weeks. We coverer the topic of “Persevering Prayer”
in its own separate series throughout January, and we covered the topic
of Life-long Stewardship in its own separate series in late August and
early September. If you missed any of these three series, please
get a copy of the CD's or read the manuscripts online.
This morning we will explore what does it mean for us to be a people who engage in “Life-Long Equipping.” Listen closely to our Bible passage for today as to what all is involved in being an Equipping church.
Now as I stated when I started this series, these vision sermons are
teaching sermons, which makes them more academic in content that how I
usually like to preach, but it’s so critical that we all have a
solid grasp of the Biblical theology that under girds our new vision
statement. So while these sermons may not help you in your
day-to-day struggles, they will be immensely helpful in your life as a
member of this congregation.
Let us pray… Scripture reading…
A Biblical Definition of Equipping
So, what does it mean to be an equipping church? When the Bible
speaks about “equipping,” as in our Bible study passage
today, it is the Greek word, “Katartizo.”
Now when you do a word study from the Bible, and I hope you all do so
often in your ongoing study of the Bible, there are two main ways to do
so.
Just as you look up the definition of a word in a dictionary, there are
dictionaries of the words from the Bible called
“lexicons.” You can find very easy to use lexicons
online such as on: studylight.org. When you look up the word “equipping” or its Greek version of “Katartizo” you discover the New Testament understanding of equipping includes all these ideas:
• to render fit, sound, prepared, or complete
• to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair
• to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust, prepare for use
• to strengthen, perfect, complete, make one what one ought to be
So to “equip” includes a broad range of activity in making
something or someone whole, healed, complete, and ready for service.
The other method you want to use when you do a Biblical word study, is
to use a concordance and look up all the different ways the Bible
authors use the same word. It’s best to do this with many
different Bible versions as the same Greek word is often translated
into different English words.
When we do this process with the word “Equipping” and with all its many forms, here is what we discover:
• Matthew 4:21: This word refers to the disciples “mending” their fishing nets
• Luke 6:40: Equipping is what makes a follower of Christ “fully trained” to be like their master teacher Jesus
• 1 Corinthians 1:10: equipping fosters unity of belief and purpose among God’s people
The next four Bible passages that include the word
“Equipping” or “Equip,” I want us to explore
more in depth:
• Hebrews 13:20-21: “Now
the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our
Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that
which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the
glory forever and ever. Amen.”
What we discover here is that equipping, like everything else in the
Christian life, begins with God, is made possible all along by God, and
is done for God’s purposes and glory!
• 1 Peter 5:6-11:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he
may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know
that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of
sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will
himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To
him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
In this passage, and in our next passage from Galatians, the word
“equip” is translated “restore.”
It’s from these passages that we get our vision statement phrase
“restoring the wounded.” In this passage from Peter,
we discover that a comprehensive equipping ministry, such as we are
going to pursue, must include the components of spiritual warfare and
suffering.
Spiritual warfare and suffering are both required for us to become
increasingly more like Christ in the bearing ever more of the fruit and
gifts of the Holy Spirit as we live a life of faith, hope, and love.
Such spiritual growth continues all the days of our life, at all ages
and stages of life, and no doubt will even continue throughout
eternity, which is why we are using the phrase in our vision statement
“Life-long Equipping.”
• Galatians 6:1:
“Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any kind of sin,
sorrow, or struggle, you who are more spiritually mature, must restore
such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so
that you too will not be tempted.”
Here again, the word “equip” is translated
“restore.” An effective, fruitful, Biblical equipping
ministry must include more than just the teaching ministries. To
equip people to live missional lives, we must also address the deeply
rooted barriers in their heart and life that impede them from serving
Christ in freedom and wholeness.
These barriers include the categories of:
• demonic access points
• deep woundedness of heart and soul
• strongholds that fuel destructive life-controlling behaviors or attitudes
Our last Bible passage to explore is the passage we read as our main
passage from Ephesians 4. Instead of reading this entire passage
again, we’ll just explore the main points it reveals about
equipping.
In Eph 4:1-16, we discover that equipping involves:
• Developing
Christian Character: Equipping empowers us to “lead a life worthy
of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making
every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.”
• Strong Leadership: An effective equipping
ministry requires every called and empowered leader in each local
congregation, using their God-given gifts to their full capacity.
“But each of us was given grace according to the measure of
Christ's gift….The gifts he gave were that some would be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
teachers….”
• Every Member Serving as a Missionary:
Equipping empowers every member to live missional lives (saving the
unsaved, discipling the saved, and serving the needy) within the walls
of the church, but mostly outside these walls in your community, home,
school or workplace. “….to equip the saints for the work
of ministry for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”
• Embodying and Proclaiming God’s
Word: Equipping must include learning how to live lives saturated
in God’s Word with every aspect of our life shaped by who God is
and who we are as God’s adopted children. “We must no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of
doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful
scheming.”
• Every Member Serving as a Minister:
Being an equipping church requires every member of a local congregation
all serving in their full potential according to their God-given
gifts. “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole
body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is
equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth
in building itself up in love.”
This is how we pull all this together in our Vision Statement:
Life-long EQUIPPING, empowering people of all ages to live missionally (Heb 13:21 )
God’s purpose for the Church is
to make passionate, devoted Christ-followers who live and love like
Jesus. We engage in discipleship that is comprehensive from
conversion to maturity, and encourages and equips believers to live as
those called to participate in the mission of God.
Living Into Our Vision of Life-Changing Fellowship
Then, to live into this vision, here are the specific kinds of ministry we envision offering:
• We will engage
in discipleship as envisioned in Eph 4:11-16 that fosters ongoing
empowerment of the Holy Spirit; physical, emotional, spiritual, and
relational restoration; a Biblical worldview and lifestyle; and
redeploys the saints into gift-based ministry in the church and
community.
• Equipping will include discipleship classes
addressing each stage of spiritual formation, mentoring, spiritual
direction, inner healing prayer, support groups, and engagement in
mission.
• We will develop and implement a comprehensive
Leadership Development model to equip all our leaders and to raise up
new leaders.
• We will develop youth and children’s
ministry that fulfills our calling in its emphasis on prayer,
leadership development, comprehensive discipleship, and missional
outreach, and so raise up Christians who are strong and confident in
their faith in an increasingly secular culture.
Since this is the last sermon in this “Envisioning GracePoint” series, let us review the one-page summary of our new Vision Statement:
GracePoint
will be a fellowship of people in brokenness (a perpetual posture of
personal repentance and dependence on God’s grace and Spirit)
embraced by God’s extravagant grace, and sent into mission to
• reclaim the captive (ministries of evangelism and serving needs),
• restore the wounded (healing of body, soul, spirit, and relationships),
• and redeploy the equipped (leadership development and comprehensive discipleship).
As we live and share the gospel of grace, seekers and believers of all ages will become devoted Christ-followers who engage in
• Proclaiming and Embodying GOD’S WORD, shaping who we are and how we live Jn 1:14
• Persevering PRAYER, partnering with God to manifest God’s kingdom Col 4:2
• Passionate WORSHIP, ushering people into God’s glorious presence Jn 4:23
• Life-changing FELLOWSHIP, offering a safe place to belong, believe, and be real 1 Jn 1:3
• Life-long EQUIPPING, empowering people of all ages to live missionally Heb 13:21
• Life-encompassing STEWARDSHIP, declaring Christ as Lord over all our life Lk16:10-12
• Life-giving MISSIONAL OUTREACH, reclaiming God’s people and world Mt 28:18-20
We will be a people of prayer, a place of grace, and a partner with God