SERMON NOTES:
A Community of Spirit-Filled Discerners
Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20
It is easy to say that we all have been called to be active participants in the church. It is a little harder to say what this might looks like or how it is to be expressed in a local church.
What do we know about this from the book of Ephesians? Those in Christ are a part of Christ’s Body, the Church. Those a part of the Church, have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to see 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.” (Eph 4:12,13).
The direction of our passage is that we would be “filled with the spirit” so that the a local church would know how to most faithfully live out their lives in Christ together, even when scripture might not specifically speak to an issue we are facing. The Bible doesn’t address everything a Christian might deal with or face. So, how do we adjust to a situation without a biblical mandate? We have the Holy Spirit AND the collective wisdom and spirit filled-ness of the Church.
Being faithful to the drama of God’s story means that we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Another way to say this, is that we choose to operate under the control of the Holy Spirit. This brings discernment and this discernment will grow and mature as we together grow in Christ.
This is how a church becomes a community of wisdom and discernment: as the church submits to the Holy Spirit and to each other in holy love, a local church will begin to take on the life of Christ.
God’s community looks different because it has different aims than the “world”. This aim is Jesus, his Kingdom and a fully developed people that are shaped by Christ.
So, what does this mean for individuals that make up a local expression of Christ’s body in a local church? As you daily seek to be Spirit led, seek to serve one another and as you lean into your spiritual gifting…
…..”Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the
It is easy to say that we all have been called to be active participants in the church. It is a little harder to say what this might looks like or how it is to be expressed in a local church.
What do we know about this from the book of Ephesians? Those in Christ are a part of Christ’s Body, the Church. Those a part of the Church, have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to see 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.” (Eph 4:12,13).
The direction of our passage is that we would be “filled with the spirit” so that the a local church would know how to most faithfully live out their lives in Christ together, even when scripture might not specifically speak to an issue we are facing. The Bible doesn’t address everything a Christian might deal with or face. So, how do we adjust to a situation without a biblical mandate? We have the Holy Spirit AND the collective wisdom and spirit filled-ness of the Church.
Being faithful to the drama of God’s story means that we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Another way to say this, is that we choose to operate under the control of the Holy Spirit. This brings discernment and this discernment will grow and mature as we together grow in Christ.
This is how a church becomes a community of wisdom and discernment: as the church submits to the Holy Spirit and to each other in holy love, a local church will begin to take on the life of Christ.
God’s community looks different because it has different aims than the “world”. This aim is Jesus, his Kingdom and a fully developed people that are shaped by Christ.
So, what does this mean for individuals that make up a local expression of Christ’s body in a local church? As you daily seek to be Spirit led, seek to serve one another and as you lean into your spiritual gifting…
…..”Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the