One of the many questions that non-Christians often ask is “why are there so many different Churches?” There are a number of reasons for this. There are different Churches around partly because different Churches appeal to different people. Another important reason why there are different Churches is that we believe the others to be not completely Biblical. Now we know that no Church is perfect, but unless one is on the right track Biblically you have no chance of even coming close to perfection. Yet the Bible calls us as individuals and as a group of God’s people to be perfect as God is perfect. How can you and I do this? Also the Bible calls for us to maintain unity, but how? In this passage Paul tells us that You are to be united through maturity in Christ.

The first thing that you can read in this passage is that Christ has given gifts. Jesus Christ has given gifts to you and I (v8). One of the reasons why you and I have gathered here this morning is because of these gifts that Jesus has given. You see no individual Christian has all the gifts of the Spirit. This is deliberate. Just as God is both three and yet one, so the Church is to be one though it is made up of many people. The old saying that, “no man is an island” is especially true of Christians. If you are a Christian today then you are to be aware that no Christian can grow to maturity on his or her own. God has so made us that you and I need to be in a community. It is as you gather and work in the community of believers, that you will be strengthened and grow in spiritual maturity. Jesus has given gifts to you and I so that the Church will be built up and strengthened. He has not given me the gift of teaching so that I can please myself. No, I am to use my gifts for your benefit. Likewise you are to use your gift or gifts to build up other Christians in the faith. In this passage Paul lists only a few of the gifts (v11). In Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 Paul tells us of other gifts that Christ has given to His Church. Paul mentions here about Apostles and Prophets. Now these gifts are no longer with us. They are part of the foundation of the Church. They set the Church on its chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ. They wrote the New Testament for us so that we now have all that God wants us to know about Him and about salvation. We do still have evangelists. These are people who have a special ability to make known the good news. People like Billy Graham or John Wesley or George Whitefield. Unfortunately it appears that we do not have such a person in our Church at the moment. However, while we may not have a gifted evangelist in our Church, God does expect each and everyone of us to do the work of an evangelist. That is you and I have a responsibility to testify to the work of Jesus Christ in your life. You and I are to encourage each other to share the wondrous gift of eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ with everyone you know. The gifts of pastor and teacher go together. This refers to the task that the elders and I have. The idea is that I am to be a shepherd to you the flock of God. Peter calls us the under-shepherd. Jesus is the Great Shepherd of His sheep and it is my privilege to be His deputy in this task. Elders also are expected to teach. This does not mean that they are expected to preach. But they are to be able to come into your home and open up the Scriptures to you. They are to show you how the Bible affects your life. This is one method that Jesus uses to build you up in the faith. Paul reminds us that Jesus dwelt here on earth. Not only does He know us because He made us, but He also lived with us, or at least people like us. He knows our needs and our short comings. He knows that without the help of others, you and I could not grow to full maturity as He demands. This is why if you are a Christian then you must belong to a local Church, the body of believers. It is within the group of believers that you will be given the encouragement, and the help you need to become mature in Christ.

Why are these gifts given? So that God’s people may be prepared for works of service (v12). This is a very important point to grasp. I am not THE MINISTER of this Church. I do have a ministry but I am not the only one. I have been called to minister in the Word of God and in the Sacraments. Each member of this Church has been given gifts by our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has given you these gifts because He expects you to use your gifts to minister to others. According to this passage, my major task as your pastor is to prepare you for works of service. Have you ever thought that the Church should do something, like hospital visitation or run a kid’s club? If you have thought like this then guess what, God is probably prompting you to start one up. There are thousands of ministries that we as a Church could start up. However, there is a maxim that goes, “Never start a Ministry without a Minister!” I am not talking here about the “ordained minister”. Rather I am talking about those who are gifted to run such a ministry. In other words unless there is somebody to run the ministry, then the Church is better off without it. Too often Churches have planned ministries only to find that they have to emotionally blackmail their people into taking part in it. No, it is much better for you as individuals to come to the elders with a suggestion of a ministry that you would like to be involved in. Then the elders would have to decide if they thought that you had the gifts that are required for that ministry. If you are a Christian then God expects you to use the gifts He has given to help build up the Church. This is a major reason why I refuse to be called The Minister. Yes I do minister, but I am not the only one in the Church. Every Christian is called to minister. This is important for you to grasp. You might be tempted to think, “well I can stay home from Church today no-one will miss me.” If you have thought like that then you are wrong! More than that, if you have thought like that then you have been selfish! If you have wilfully stayed away from Church then you have deprived the rest of us the gift that God has given you to build us up. In God’s Church there is no room for passengers. You have been given gifts and talents that are to be used. It is like batteries in a torch that you haven’t used in a long while. Eventually they corrode and usually wreck the torch. So it is with the spiritual gifts that Jesus gives, if you don’t use them then you will lose them. The proper place to use your gifts is in ministries of the local Church like this one.

All of this is so that we all can reach unity in the faith and be built up into maturity, having the whole measure of fullness in Christ. That is the big picture. Why do you come to Church? To be built up into the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. How is this to be achieved? By each one of us, that is you and I ministering to each other according to gifts that you have been given. Now this may be as simple as making an effort to talk to someone new or someone whom you don’t know very well. As we minister to each other in the truth, we build a church that is unified in faith and knowledge of the Son of God. This is not a man made unity, it is a unity on God’s perfect terms not man's perverted terms. The more mature you and I are, the greater will our unity be.

Jesus unites His Church. He has given gifts for the building up of the Church and for fostering unity. Are you exercising your gifts?