Church Growth: Gods Way

1
Church Growth Gods Way

• Ephesians 217-22
• Ryan Habbena December 31, 2006
• Twin City Fellowship

2
Ephesians Thus Far

• Predestined for glory
• Given insight into the mystery of God
• Prayer for further enlightenment to the hope of
  His calling
• Former enemies of God turned heirs of the Kingdom
• Granted grace and faith through His kindness
• Strangers of the covenants turned co-heirs
  through the Cross

3
The Proclamation of the Gospel

• Ephesians 217 AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO
  YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO
  WERE NEAR
•  18 for through Him we both have our access in
  one Spirit to the Father.

4
The Foundation of the Faith

• 19 So then you are no longer strangers and
  aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the
  saints, and are of God's household,
•  20 having been built on the foundation of the
  apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being
  the corner stone,

5
The Cornerstone Christ

•  Isaiah 2816 So this is what the Sovereign LORD
  says
• "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a
  precious cornerstone for a sure foundation the
  one who trusts will never be dismayed.

6
Apostles and Prophets Further Defined

• Ephesians 34-6 By referring to this, when you
  read you can understand my insight into the
  mystery of Christ, which in other generations was
  not made known to the sons of men, as it has now
  been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets
  in the Spirit to be specific, that the Gentiles
  are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body,
  and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ
  Jesus through the gospel,
• 1Corinthians 1437 If anyone thinks he is a
  prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the
  things which I write to you are the Lord's
  commandment.

7
Church Growth Gods Way

• 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted
  together, is growing into a holy temple in the
  Lord,
•  22 in whom you also are being built together
  into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

8
A Dynamic Contrast

• Through the Law
• There was a dividing wall between Jew and
  Gentile.
• (Ephesians 214-15)

• Through the Gospel
• Jew and Gentile are fitted together through the
  Spirit.
• (Ephesians 221)

9
Passage Summary

• Gods Temple is now His people from all tribes,
  nations, and tongues, who are built on the
  foundation of Christ, His commissioned apostles,
  and Spirit-filled prophets.
• The church, both Jew and Gentile, now grows
  through the Spirit who builds upon this once for
  all laid foundation.

10
Who Speaks for God?

• Deuteronomy 1815 The LORD your God will raise up
  for you a prophet like me from among your own
  brothers. You must listen to him. . . .
• 18 -22 'I will raise up a prophet from among
  their countrymen like you, and I will put My
  words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them
  all that I command him. 'It shall come about that
  whoever will not listen to My words which he
  shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it
  of him. 'But the prophet who speaks a word
  presumptuously in My name which I have not
  commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the
  name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'
• "You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the
  word which the Lord has not spoken? If what a
  prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does
  not take place or come true, that is a message
  the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken
  presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

11
Jesus Christ Speaks for God

• Matthew 171-4 Six days later Jesus took with Him
  Peter and James and John his brother, and led
  them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He
  was transfigured before them and His face shone
  like the sun, and His garments became as white as
  light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to
  them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus,
  "Lord, it is good for us to be here if You wish,
  I will make three tabernacles here, one for You,
  and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

12
Listen To Him!

• Matthew 175-8
• While he was still speaking, a bright cloud
  overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the
  cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I
  am well-pleased listen to Him!" When the
  disciples heard this, they fell face down to the
  ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them
  and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be
  afraid." And lifting up their eyes, they saw no
  one except Jesus Himself alone.

13
Contend for the Faith Delivered Once for All

• Jude 3
• Dear friends, although I was very eager to write
  to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had
  to write and urge you to contend for the faith
  that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

14
Listen to Christ the Cornerstone who Has
Spoken

• Hebrews 11-2a God, after He spoke long ago to
  the fathers in the prophets in many portions and
  in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us
  in His Son.

15
Listen to the Foundation of the Apostles and
Prophets who Have Spoken

•  
• Hebrews 21 For this reason we must pay much
  closer attention to what we have heard, so that
  we do not drift away from it.  For if the word
  spoken through angels proved unalterable, and
  every transgression and disobedience received a
  just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so
  great a salvation? After it was at the first
  spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us
  by those who heard