EQUIPPING
SERVANTS
Ephesians 4: 11-13 “And
Christ gave some, apostles; and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: Till we all come
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:”
Acts 13:1-4 “Now
there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and
teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucious of
Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and
Saul. As they ministered to
the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them.
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them,
they sent them away. So they
being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed…”
1.
The equipping
servants are listed in Ephesians 4 as “apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors and teachers.”
2.
The equipping
servants are called by Christ and given by Him as gifts to the Church (ekklesia)
for Kingdom work.
3.
When these
servants are “local” i.e., in their “Antioch” church (ekklesia) of
the city, they are “fellow elders” as Peter and Paul were examples.
4.
When these
servants are “sent out”, they do the work of the Kingdom in whatever
geographical area the Holy Spirit sends them.
5.
A primary focus
of equipping servants is to come together to “minister to the Lord,”
“fast”, “listen for the Holy Spirit to speak” and “obey” the
Lord in whatever Kingdom task He assigns.
6.
A primary
purpose of equipping servants is to teach and train all the saints to do
the work of Kingdom ministry.
7.
A primary
emphasis of equipping servants is to equip other servant leaders for
Kingdom work.
|