Joint Impact by Pastor Abidan Shah

JOINT IMPACT by Pastor Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson

Introduction: Back in the summer, several of the men in the church asked me if they could come by and help me with my yard. I was ecstatic! I’m not much of a yard guy. I can mow the grass but that’s about it. One Saturday morning, a bunch of them and even a couple of ladies descended on our house and took down trees, dug up roots, trimmed the hedges, hauled away all the limbs, spread out the mulch, cleaned the gutters, and more. It seemed as if everyone who came had a different talent and ability. They did in 4 hours what I could not have done in 4 years! It was unbelievable! I’m hoping they’ll come back next year! The point is that it was a joint impact. So also, when people in the church come together, they can make a joint impact which is far greater than anything we can do on our own. In fact, that’s how God has designed the church. It brings glory to God when we work together through Christ in worship, nurture, and witness.

Ephesians 4    11“And He Himself gave someto beapostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. . . 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Question:What is your role in this church body? What gift has God given to you? Are you saved? If so, what’s holding you back from jumping in?

Context: This is again one of those messages that we prayerfully decided should be preached in the first few weekends in this new sanctuary. One of the foundational beliefs at Clearview is that God has given each of us in this church body a particular gift through Christ that is meant to help us grow together in Christ and win the world to Christ. Until each of us actively seeks, recognizes, and uses the gift as God has intended it to be used, we will never live to our full potential as a church. The passage we just read comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Let me say something that will help you understand this passage better. Scholars have long argued over what is the true purpose behind Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Is it to clarify some misunderstood doctrine? Is it to confront a particular sin? Is it to bring unity between the Jewish and Gentile believers? Is it to warn against evil powers in the heavenlies? In some sense, all of those things but none of them in particular. His purpose was to call the Ephesians to come together as a body with Christ as the head and work together in ministry and so bring glory to God and make a joint impact in worship, nurture, and witness. In this passage, Paul does this by reminding them of:

I. OUR COMMON BOND – We stand upon a 7-layered foundation:

1. “There is one body…” We belong to One Universal Church but this could be applied to a local church as well.
2. “…and one Spirit…” The same OneHoly Spiritindwells you who indwells me.
3. “…just as you were called in one hope of your calling…” We have One Expectationthat God will work out his plan for us and this world and Christ will ultimately come for us (the blessed hope and glorious appearing).
4. “one Lord…” We have One Master, the same second person of the godhead who became man and died for us and rose again on the third day. He alone is our Master and King.
5. “…one faith…” There is One Faith, one settled body of truth which Judecalls 3“…faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” For us, they are the foundational doctrines coming from the Word of God. Read our Statement of Faith.
6. “…one baptism…” This refers to the One Baptism Paul talks about in Romans 6 where we “were baptized into His death,”“buried with Him through baptism into death” and raised with him to “walk in newness of life.” The water baptism is the demonstration of this inward spiritual baptism.
7. “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Through Christ we have One God and Father and we belong to the same family. The Lord’s Prayer is not “my father” but “our father.”

If you are willing to stand on this 7-layered foundation, we can work out any other disagreements we may have. If we step off any of these layers, no amount of pretend niceness is going to hold us together whether as a universal church or a local church.

Application: Are you part of a local body? Do you appreciate other local bodies?

II. OUR INDIVIDUAL GIFTS – We each have received a particular gift/gifts from Christ. Don’t confuse gifts with talents. Gifts are supernaturally given by the Holy Spirit but talents are natural through genetics, experience, and training. God may use your talents but there will be an extra element of his grace that will bring him glory. In Ephesians the gifts are also the office but there are many other gifts. See Romans 12and I Corinthians 12. Also, there is no comprehensive list. Ephesians 4 7“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift…11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, (established churches along with signs and wonders and miracles. Today we don’t have this gift but we do have missionaries) some prophets, (communicated the divine revelation of God. Today we don’t have this gift because we have the New Testament but we do have revivalists) some evangelists, (preach and explain the good news of salvation like Philip the evangelist to the Ethiopian eunuch but today Billy Graham) and some pastors and teachers 12 for the equipping (katartismos = “mending” restoring, putting things right) of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 

Each of us has a gift. What is your gift? Unless you seek that gift from the Lord, recognize it through His Word, and start using it, we as a church will only move along on a donut tire. We will move but it won’t be fast, far, efficient, or safe. Unfortunately, many churches are content with moving along on a donut tire. In fact, they feel that if they get the donut replaced with the right tire, it may go too fast, get farther than they want it to go, and actually reach the destination! If I could subtitle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it would be “How the church can get its donut fixed.”

Application:What gift has God given you? Are you using it in the body?

III. OUR JOINT IMPACT

13till 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; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

To summarize, our joint impacted is reflected in our Joint Worship, our Joint Nurture, and our Joint Witness. Our candle lights together are far brighter than our individual candle lights. Are you part of the body? Are you saved? Are you serving?