The immature church remains vulnerable to the deceitfulness and destruction caused by false teaching. In contrast, Paul lays out God’s good blueprint for the church in Ephesians 4:11-16 to mature in unity and Christlikeness as each member speaks the truth in love and serves one another with their spiritual gifts. In this week’s message, Tyler Briggs calls each of us to be contributors to the building up of Christ’s body for our own good and for the good of the lost.

Tyler’s Main Points

• The church matures when each member speaks the truth in love.
• The church matures when each member uses their gift to serve one another in love.
• The maturing church grows in becoming like Jesus.
  
  

Key Takeaways

• Apart from carrying out Christ’s blueprint for body life, the church will be immature and have form without function.
  
  
• Tyler’s definition of body life: “Each member serves the body in love with its gift from Jesus.” Tyler’s definition of body growth: “The body becomes more like Jesus.”
  
  
• Every spiritual gift is from Jesus for the good of the body.
  
  
• Too often, churches in America are guilty of “cutting the deal”—pastors give positive, self-help messages without calling the church out of sin and into fellowship with God. In exchange, congregation are expected to show up, shut up, and pay up.

• Speaking the truth in love does not stop at confronting sin, but includes reminding one another of the truths of the Gospel. We need to share the contents of Ephesians chapters 1-3 with the attitude of Ephesians 4:2-3.

• Our church must adopt a “battleship” mindset, rather than a “cruise ship” mentality. The outcome of a church functioning like a cruise ship (consumers, focused on comforts and preferences) is immaturity. The outcome of a church functioning like a battleship (soldiers, high value on training, deploying gifts on serving the great good) is maturity and stability.

• The application of our gifts starts with appreciation of the giver of our gifts.

• Deploying our gifts for the good of the church and the glory of God is an act of worship.

To discover your spiritual gifts:

1) Study the Scriptures.
2) Pray for God to guide you in your discovery.
3) Make a sober assessment of yourself.
4) Ask other Christians to share their honest observations.
5) Serve—both organizationally and organically!

• Tyler highlights 4 marks of the maturing church:

1. Growing in knowledge + faith
2. Growing in character, Christlikeness
3. Unity
4. Missional Focus

• Mission is the outworking of the mature church.
  
  
• Following Jesus’ arrest, Peter betrays Jesus three times. Following Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus pursues Peter and enlists him as an apostle to lay the foundation of the early church. On our own, we are similarly unworthy for service, yet Jesus calls us, equips us, and empowers us.

Discussion Questions/Application

Personal application:

• Is your service to the church characterized by compulsion or compelled by Christ’s love? Reread Ephesians 1-3 and remind yourself of the riches of grace you’ve received in Christ.
  
  
• How will you lovingly build up someone in the church with the truth of the Gospel this week?
  
  

Discuss with your community group:

• Have you discovered your spiritual gifts? If so, how are you deploying your gifts? How can you help one another discover, develop, and deploy these gifts?
  
  
• Assess and discuss your own maturity and the maturity of your group when it comes to the 4 marks of the mature church:

1. Growing in Knowledge + Faith
2. Growing in Character, Christlikeness
3. Unity
4. Missional Focus

Passages Referenced for Further Study
Ephesians 4:7-16; Proverbs 27:17, Ephesians 4:2-3; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Peter 4:7-11; Luke 19:10; John 18:15-18, 25-27; John 21:15-25.