The nameless people of Pentecost
 Anonymous saints, never named in history books but
named in the Lamb’s Book of Life
“…devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:42
 All played their part in the mission of Jesus’ church
LEADERS ARE JESUS’ GIFT
TO HIS CHURCH
Not abilities given to people,
but people given to the church
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ
apportioned it. This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.’ …It was he
who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare
God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may
be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-13
 Given to facilitate growth in all its forms
Prepare God’s people
for works of service
Greek : καταρτισμος katartismos
“properly equipped or fitted for the moment”
Ephesians 4:12
Involves…
 Training for tackling the task
 Equipped by the Holy Spirit’s anointing
Growing people’s unity in the faith
Not merely unity, but unity in the faith
 Body of doctrine, not faith as ‘trust’
“…be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort
to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”
“…there is one body and one Spirit.”
Ephesians 4:2-4
 Intentional effort required
Growing people’s unity in the faith
Benefits of unity
 Powerful evangelistic witness
 Improves effectiveness in accomplishing tasks
 Creates ‘safe’ context for growing in the Spirit
Growing people’s unity in the faith
Satan works to disrupt / destroy unity
 Undermines testimony & diminishes effectiveness
 Distracts people away from the Holy Spirit
 Perverts teaching about the Spirit
- ignorance, misinformation & caricature
- promoting division, with Spiritual gifts as ‘the issue’
Growing people’s unity in the faith
 This is a spiritual battleground strewn with propaganda
and landmines by the “father of lies” (John 8:44)
 Leaders must navigate through it with pastoral grace,
gentle wisdom and careful teaching of the truth.
Growing people’s knowledge of the
Son of God
A Christ-centered religious community
“To the Son of God alone faith ought to look;
on him it relies; in him it rests and terminates.
If it proceeds farther, it will disappear, and will
no longer be faith, but a delusion. Let us
remember that true faith confines its view so
entirely to Christ that it neither knows, nor
desires to know, anything else.”
John Calvin Commentary on Ephesians
John Calvin
Growing people’s knowledge of the
Son of God
We need to know…
 Who Jesus is – the Son of God, and the only Way to
the Father
 What Jesus did – the record of the Gospels
 Jesus himself – through personal encounter, made
real today through the Holy Spirit
Growing people in the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ
This certainly includes…
 Being born again – Incorporation
 Fruit of the Spirit – Transformation
 Unity in the faith & knowledge of the Son of God –
Information
 Baptism with the Spirit – Empowerment
WE ARE NOT CALLED TO
PARTIAL GROWTH !
Growing people in the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ
Therefore it is incumbent upon us in our leadership
role to address the question :
 How can we helpfully introduce people to the person
and work of the Holy Spirit?