Colossians 4:17 “And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.””

Every Born-Again Believer has a ministry. It may not be one of the ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4, but every believer has been given a God-given gift, and it is needed! In order for the Church to fulfil its assignment, every member of the Body needs to be in their place and bring their supply.

The apostle Paul encouraged Archippus to “take heed to the ministry that he received.” Fulfilling God's assignment in our lives doesn’t happen automatically; it requires a dedicated and committed decision to find, follow, and fulfill God’s call in your life.

Ephesians 4:11-13, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...”

These gifts that Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter four are what the church calls ministry gifts.  These gifts are Christ’s provision for His Church to build up, edify, and mature the saints.

People don’t call or appoint themselves with these gifts; they are given by God as He chooses. Notice that these are gifts that God has given to His Church.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Many people have different views of the church due to their experiences, but regardless of what people’s opinions or experiences have been, the way God views the Church is what matters.

To Him, the Church represents His glory and the Bible says in Ephesians chapter five that Jesus is coming back for His glorious Church.

To Jesus, the Church is His Bride and she has His heart. Even though the church can be messy, in the end, she will be beautiful, without spot or wrinkle.

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul says that the Church is a representation of the glory of God.

How does one even begin to understand and describe God’s glory?

John‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Everything changed when Jesus came to the earth. He is the only mediator between us and God. Under the Old Covenant, people defined themselves by how “good” they were. They worshipped God based on their performance. But when Jesus came, He showed us the true heart of the Father, and that was that the Father is seeking those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. Our own efforts never impressed God, what He wanted was hearts that loved Him and believed in Him. When Jesus said “in spirit and in truth”, He created the new basis on which the Church was to come to God.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that qualifies us to worship God. It’s not because we have been so good that we can come into His presence, it's because He made us worthy and changed our very nature from a sinner to a Born Again believer, made righteous.

Acts 2:3-4, “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

In order for the Church, the Body of Christ, to function, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. God knew that we couldn’t fulfill the Great Commission on our own; we would need divine help and strength. That is why, before the disciples could go off and start proclaiming the Gospel to the world, Jesus told them to wait for the promise of the Father. (Acts 1:4-5)

When the day came and the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples who were gathered together in that upper room, everything changed. The Church was mobilised, empowered and equipped to carry out the most important assignment that ever existed; preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.

It is important for us to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church so we know how to yield to Him. Last week we talked about the purpose of the Church through the Modal, the Mission and the Mobilisation. We saw that Jesus is the model which the Church follows. The mission of the Church is to carry the Gospel to the world. The mobilisation is the command to “Go!”

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be[c]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

In the first chapter of Acts, we begin the unfolding of the plan of God for His Church. Luke, the writer of this letter, starts with “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach…”

Notice how he says all that Jesus began to do.

What Jesus started in His ministry, we as His Church are to continue. Understanding the purpose of the Church is vital when it comes to us receiving clear direction. When we look at the life of Jesus, He modelled how we as followers of Christ are to act. We are “In Christ,” and Christ is in us. That means everywhere we go, we carry His presence with us. How Jesus lived on the earth is how we live. How He responded to situations is how we respond. How He talked is how we talk. How He acted is how we act.

Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬ ‭‬‬ “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Before we were Born Again, we were in this world with no hope, without God, and with no place to belong. But now that we’re in Christ, we have been brought near and we belong in Gods family. We’re now in the “Love family.”’

In this family, love is the way we function and operate. Our Heavenly Father is love, He doesn’t just have love, He is love. Therefore, we, as His children, carry His love in our spirits.

We have the God-given ability to love like He does. We can see people the way God does. We can forgive the way God forgives. We can give the way God gives.

The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, warned us that in the last days, people will no longer endure sound doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:3 says, "For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their owndesires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear."

Paul finishes his letter to the church in Rome warning the believers to note those who cause divisions and bring offences. He knew that there would be people who would try to come in and cause division through false doctrine.

This warning is just as important for us to heed as it was for the church in Rome.

Every Christian needs to know for themselves what God's Word says. This is how we will not fall prey to wrong doctrine and false teaching.

Every person desires to belong.

The need for connection and love is within every person. God put that desire in us because that is also His desire and we are made in His image. The Church is God’s family and He has uniquely designed it so every person has a place, purpose and belongs.

The Church is united through the common belief that Jesus is the Christ. It is upon this rock, that the revelation that Jesus is the Christ is the rock that Jesus is building His Church. (Matthew 16:18) We are saved into community, strengthened through fellowship, and called to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Romans 16:1-2, "I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also."

Paul finishes his letter to the church similar to how he starts it, with the longing to see his fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord.

In Romans chapter 16, Paul mentions people by name, including households and home churches. We can see from this chapter the value that Paul placed on these divine connections that he had. The way he spoke of them was with kindness, honour and cherishment.

We can learn a lot from the apostle Paul and how he viewed the relationships that God gave him.