Ephesians 4:7-14

(Audio: English)

SUMMARY: The speaker welcomes new visitors to the church and encourages them to see their attendance as a missionary investment in the Kingdom of God. He then shares the vision for the church, emphasizing qualities such as being a spiritual, balanced, excellent, socially impactful, evangelistic, holy, Bible-founded, diverse, worshipful, transformational, and radically committed community. The speaker encourages people to expect transformation and healing in all dimensions of life and to be radical in their commitment to the Kingdom of God.

The speaker is talking about radical Christianity and the importance of being radically committed to the Kingdom of God. He emphasizes the need for Christians to be rooted in their faith and to be sworn enemies of anything that goes against the abundant life that Jesus Christ has come to declare.

The speaker then goes on to talk about a passage from Ephesians chapter 4, which talks about the unity of the body of Christ and the importance of service. He emphasizes that each person has been given a gift by Christ and that it is our duty to use that gift to serve the Kingdom of God.

The speaker believes that passive, comfortable Christians are an abomination before the Lord and that the only way to grow and experience the abundant life of the Kingdom of God is by serving the Lord and giving ourselves to others. He encourages Christians to use their gifts to bless others and to be powerful apologists for the Kingdom of God.

The gifts that we receive from God are not for personal gain or fame. They are meant to be used for the Kingdom of God and to bless others. We should use our gifts to influence our environment positively and to manifest the values of the Kingdom of God. Each person has been given grace or gifts according to what is required for them to carry out their role in the Christian economy. We must flow in our gifting and use it for the Kingdom of God. Conservatism leads to stagnation, and we must start moving and giving to the Kingdom of God. As we give, we will receive more, and our lives will be revolutionized. The secret to a fulfilled, abundant life in the Kingdom of God is to forget about ourselves and give to others. God will take care of our needs as we dedicate ourselves to serving Him.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of radical service in the Christian faith. He encourages believers to dedicate themselves fully to serving God, trusting that God will take care of their needs. He reminds them that God has gifted them and empowers them to serve, promising to bless them as they do so. The speaker prays that this value of radical service will be a distinctive quality of his congregation for generations to come.

Welcome to our service tonight, it’s good to see you and some new visitors who are coming. That’s wonderful. We’re so happy to have you here tonight and we bless you and we are rejoiced to see some additional new elements coming into the church and kind of coming and blessing us with your continued attendance for as long as the Lord would have be in fellowship with us. That’s wonderful.

I tell people many times, come as a missionary endeavor. Come as an investment in the Kingdom of God, to help this vision for this congregation to become grounded and established in a, how should I say, in a tenable sort of way, that could continue. You know, like little children when they’re very young and they’re in the their infancy, they need a lot of care and they need a lot of vigilance because, you know, they’re very fragile. Now, as they get older and become more self sufficient, then you kind of let go and so on. And so those first few months are so key, both in the just the maintenance of life as a whole, but also in the formation of the identity of that baby. Those first influences are so powerful in later life. And it’s like that with a congregation as well.