Building Unity and Maturity in the Church

Experience the transformative power of the APEST culture and discover how it can advance Jesus' mission in your community. Join us as we celebrate 10 years in Madison with a vibrant gathering on Sunday, September 8th, and embark on part five of our series "Rediscovering Our Forgotten Ways." We revisit essential elements such as declaring Jesus as Lord, disciple making, and community, before introducing the roles of Apostles, Prophets, Shepherds, Evangelists, and Teachers. Find out how these gifts, based on Ephesians 4:7-11, are crucial for every believer, not just church leaders, as we aim to build a mission-driven community.

Embark on a journey through the pioneering spirit of apostles and the profound insights of prophets. Drawing inspiration from biblical figures like Paul, we explore how apostles bring visionary leadership to new ministries and ideas, and how prophets, defined as "the ones who hear," play a crucial role in guiding the community. Through detailed planning and collaboration, we show how these roles can prevent isolation and foster unity. Hear the inspiring story of a young couple at Madison Church who launched a middle school ministry, pushing the boundaries of faith into new territories.

Finally, we spotlight the vital contributions of evangelists and shepherds in nurturing spiritual growth and community building. With a personal story about challenging song lyrics to ensure the true message of Jesus is conveyed, the episode highlights how evangelists connect with non-believers and make the gospel relevant. Meanwhile, shepherds care for the spiritual and emotional well-being of the community, fostering a supportive and engaged environment. Reflecting on teachings from Ephesians, we emphasize the importance of embodying the five APEST gifts to achieve unity, growth, and maturity within the church, aiming to create a vibrant, mission-driven community at Madison Church.

Chapters

• 0:01 Rediscovering Our Forgotten Ways
• 8:37 Navigating Apostles and Prophets
• 21:10 Nurturing Spiritual Growth and Teaching
• 34:41 Fulfilling the Five Apest Gifts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Madison Church Online. I'm Stephen Feith, lead pastor here, and I'm so glad that you are joining us. I want to extend an invitation to you to join us on Sunday, september 8th, as we celebrate 10 years in Madison. At the 11 o'clock gathering, we'll have our kind of normal hour worth of content and stuff, and then at noon we'll transition to a celebration which will include balloon twisting, face painting. Noon we'll transition to a celebration which will include balloon twisting, face painting, different games, movie for the kids and a potluck-style lunch with all sorts of appetizers, and so it'd be a great Sunday to join us. Whether you're joining us for the first time or it's been a while since you've been at Madison Church, we'd love to reconnect with you then. As for today and right now, we are in part five of a series that we've been calling Rediscovering Our Forgotten Ways, and before we move on to the new content, I want to recap a little bit about what we've talked about so far that has gotten us to the point in which we are today.

Speaker 1: 0:57

First off, the series has been all about rediscovering the core elements that make up a vibrant missional church movement. I mean one that truly reflects the love of Jesus. We began with that foundation that Jesus is Lord, and this wasn't just a statement, a declaration of something that we believe, but rather it is about declaring a commitment to how we're going to live our lives. It's about submitting every aspect of our lives our minds, bodies and spirits to Jesus's lordship, and this really is the starting point for everything that follows From there. We moved into the second essential aspect, and that is disciple making. If we're submitting every part of our lives to Jesus, then we have to address the fact that he calls us to not just follow him and be a disciple, but also to make disciples, and so this means investing in others, teaching them and others how to follow Jesus and helping them grow in their faith. Next, we discussed the missional, incarnational impulse, which were a lot of really big words that we broke down in the third week of this series. Just as Jesus was sent into our world to seek and save those far from him, we too, you and me, we are also sent to our communities, our workplaces and neighborhoods to embody the love and mission of God. And then last week we talked about community and how the church isn't just a collection of individuals, but really a community of believers who are called to live life together. If we're going to do all of the things that God has intended for us to do, we will need each other to help us along, to support us during the highs and lows of life, and this involves sharing our lives with one another, supporting one another through the good times and the bad, and being visible, a visible demonstration of the love of Christ.

Speaker 1: 2:56

Now, as we enter into part five, here today, we turn our attention to what we call the A-Pest culture, and at the beginning of this series I was making note of. Here are some things I think we do well at Madison Church and here are some things I don't think we do well, and what we're talking about today is one of those areas the value that I think is pretty much non-existent at Madison Church. And as we approach 10 years in Madison, I really want us to begin to think about, not just as a leadership team, not just those who have volunteer roles, but all of us in community together at Madison Church, to think about how APES will play a role over the next 10 years. Now you're probably wondering what does APES mean? And that's what we're going to talk about today. First off. Apes is an acronym and it stands for Apostles, prophets, shepherds, evangelists and Teachers. These are the roles and functions that Jesus has given to the church to equip and build it.

Speaker 1: 3:55

The church's mission was never meant to be carried by a few professionals. It was intended to be shared by the whole body, and so what we're talking about today is really how, if we're going to have this missional church movement in Madison, led by a Madison church, going first and going into all of the neighborhoods and different areas, it's going to take all of us. It can't just be me as the pastor, and if we and as we hire more pastors, it can't just be them, it can't just be our boards, it can't just be those who are paid to do this. We are all called to make disciples and to be missional and to live in community and, as we're going to talk about today, we're all gifted in a certain way to help advance the Jesus mission where we find ourselves this particular time and space. And a thing to mention before we get going too far, we must keep in mind that this isn't about titles or positions, so I tend to score really high on what we're going to talk about as the apostle aspect of this, and I don't want to be called Apostle Stephen. As many of you know, I'm not even terribly comfortable being called Pastor Stephen. But the point is is because we're all followers of Jesus, we've all been gifted in different ways, and so it's not about titles, it's not about positions, it isn't reserved for the professionals. It's about every single one of us stepping up and into the areas God has not just called us to but planned and prepared for us to get to work, using those gifts and tools he has given us to contribute to his mission.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Where does APES come from? It does come from the Bible. In the New Testament, paul, when writing to the church in Ephesus, in chapter 4, verse 7, he says he, referring to God, has given each of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. These are the gifts Christ gave to the church the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete. So I think it's noteworthy at this time to break down the different aspects of what Paul is saying here, and really you can back out and do all of chapter 4, because it kind of leads to this pinnacle moment in which Paul says these are the gifts, the five gifts that Jesus has given the church.

Speaker 1: 6:26

But I want to begin with verse 7, in which Paul says that God has given each of us and this phrase it does emphasize that every believer is included, no matter your background, where you came from, whether you're from a small town or big city or small family or big family, whether you have a PhD or you barely finished high school, no matter where you're from or what's been said about you by someone else, we all have something to contribute to the mission of God. Before you ever took your first breath, before you took your first steps, god wired you in a certain way to do a certain task. So, regardless of where you go to work tomorrow, or if you stay at home and work from home, whatever it is, you also have a function, not just within Madison Church, but the Big C Church, the Christian Church. Whether you live in Madison or you move somewhere else, you have a function and a gifting, a calling to serve God's big C church. We have all been gifted and called to contribute in a unique way. And then Paul says these are those gifts and it's a pest, these five functions.

Speaker 1: 7:38

They're not just random roles, but specific gifts of grace that Jesus gives the church to support our health, growth and, most importantly, I think, god's mission. These roles are the essential elements needed for a missional church movement, as each function represents a vital aspect of the church's calling and purpose. We work together to equip the body of Christ, and we'll look at all of those now, breaking each function down, and as we do, I want you to just kind of maybe ask and reflect does this resonate with you, does this sound like you? And if it does, this might be your function, your gifting, where God has wired you. Now there's five of them, and I don't suspect that all five of them are going to resonate with you, and so even those ones that don't resonate with you, I don't want you to check out, because within each of these gifts is a crucial and essential, fundamental aspect of just being a follower of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 8:37

And so you may not, like me, be a gifted shepherd, but that doesn't mean you don't have to love other Christians. We're all called to do that. But what it does mean, if we're not quite gifted at being a shepherd, is that we should lean into the giftings that we have, that God has given to us. Does that mean we don't focus on our weaknesses? That God has given to us? Does that mean we don't focus on our weaknesses? No, because each of our gifts, each of our strengths, has what I would call a weakness or a shadow side, and so as we lean into our gift things, naturally we're going to have to confront some of the weaknesses and the shadow areas of our lives as we try to become a holistic and fully functioning follower of Jesus within his church.

Speaker 1: 9:20

So the first one we're going to talk about are the apostles, and they are the sent, the one who is sent out. Apostles are visionary and pioneering. They're constantly pushing our faith, christianity and the church into new territory these people are often gifted innovators into new territory. These people are often gifted innovators. They create effective ways to advance God's kingdom and ensure that the church continuously moves forward. And a core question for those of you who might be an apostle or considering if you're an apostle, a core question is are we leading the people of God to their destiny? And that is a question that keeps me up at night. In the best way possible, it is the question that drove me to start Madison Church was just this discontentment of the speed in which Christianity wasn't moving. In my opinion, and for the apostles, if that's you, we're never going to be content with the speed. We always want to go further and we want to go faster, and that is the apostle's heart.

Speaker 1: 10:19

Paul is an example of a prominent apostle in the New Testament. Although he wasn't one of the first 12 disciples, he was converted to Christianity after a dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Jesus called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles, called him to be a sent one to the Gentiles everyone who wasn't Jewish, and this led Paul to spread the gospel, this message of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, across the entire Roman Empire. As such, paul established numerous churches, he mentored emerging leaders and he wrote many of the letters that have formed a significant portion of the New Testament today. In the early church, apostles like Paul were essential for expanding what they were doing. They planted new communities, new churches, they maintained doctrinal integrity and they laid the foundation for global Christianity. That movement that went from 120 to a couple hundred to thousands. Because of the apostles that movement was on a trajectory to, after a few hundred years, have tens of millions of followers of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 11:25

As for today, 2,000 years later, how does the gift of apostleship show itself in modern times? The gift of apostleship is evident in those who are called to pioneer new initiatives within the church and beyond. Modern apostles often start new churches or ministries within the churches, new organizations. They bring about innovative ideas that keep structures relevant. They're forward-thinking leaders who challenged the status quo, pushing the church into new areas of influence and ensuring it remains mission focused. When I think recently of an apostolic movement here at Madison Church, I think of a areas of influence and ensuring it remains mission-focused.

Speaker 1: 12:02

When I think recently of an apostolic movement here at Madison Church, I think of a few years ago when a young couple was coming to our church and one of them. They wanted to be involved but they weren't sure where to get involved and so, as we were talking and planning and praying and thinking where could you be involved and contribute? They came to me one day and said I have a heart for middle schoolers, which not only surprised me. I considered it a miracle, because if you've ever hung out with middle schoolers, they are a very trying population. They're some of the most difficult personalities that we have at Madison Church. And so I said well, what do you have in mind? And this person, I believe leaning into an apostolic gifting, said what if we started a middle school ministry? Because as of three years ago, we didn't have one? And I said sure, let's try it, let's give it a go. We have two middle schoolers now, let's do it From there. That person we sought out curriculum, we implemented the curriculum, we started to build relationships, and that group went from two middle schoolers to there's about a dozen that are engaged with our middle school ministry now, and eight of them just came back, or 10 of them just came back from a mission trip to Niagara Falls. And so that is how that ministry grew from somebody having a vision, an apostolic idea and it being born, into just getting started and going.

Speaker 1: 13:15

Now I mentioned one thing that we all have something to do, basically as Christians and for those of us who aren't apostles, we are still called. The basic, fundamental part of this as being a Christian would be that we are to carry our faith with us into new areas. You don't have to be a gifted apostle to do that. A new area may be your neighborhood, your neighbor, it might be your workplace, but where are you carrying the gospel that doesn't already exist? I also mentioned that each gifting has a shadow side, and for the apostle I know this from my experience is that we tend to have this vision and this enthusiasm and then we don't quite come up with a full plan. I mean, to the apostle, we think we came up with a plan and then experience shows us that everyone else is freaking out because it really wasn't a plan. We just kind of had a general direction, and so a shadow side for us is to remember that we have to slow down and bring people with us, otherwise we're going to find ourselves pioneering a new area all alone, and so that's kind of the shadow side of that. And so there are the apostles.

Speaker 1: 14:18

The next one we're going to transition to are the prophets, and in the Greek that stood for the one who hears and listens to God. Prophets can often stand back from the circumstances to clearly understand what's going on around them, and this allows those who are prophetically gifted to see creative solutions and develop a vision for situations that others may overlook. Prophets deeply understand the times and can discern what people should do in response to God's leading. And so, if you're wondering, am I prophetically gifted? A core question is are the people of God hearing his voice and responding appropriately?

Speaker 1: 14:58

In the New Testament, john the Baptist was a prominent prophetic figure in the New Testament. He is known for preparing the way for Jesus by calling people to repentance and baptizing them. His ministry was marked by the boldness he was speaking God's truth. He could hear from God. He knew Jesus was coming and preparing the way, even when it was unpopular and dangerous. John's ability to hear from God and declare God's message made him a critical, prophetic voice. And prophets like John guided early Christian communities, that early church, offering God's perspective, navigating challenges and ensuring the church remained faithful to its calling.

Speaker 1: 15:37

So, whereas the prophet or the apostles are going and pioneering new land, the prophets are going with them and reminding the apostles and everyone else there. Why? Why are we doing this? Are we hearing from God? Are we doing what God wants us to do? The prophet constantly points us back to God and says what is God saying to us and what are we going to do about it? The prophet is very action-oriented For today, the skip, the prophecy is evident in those with a solid spiritual discernment, who can communicate God's heart to the church. Modern prophets perceive what God is saying in a particular season and guide the church in responding appropriately.

Speaker 1: 16:21

I think back to 2020 and the death of George Floyd and all of the different riots and things that were going on around issues of race and equity, and the prophetic voice within Christianity was hey, there's a problem, something is wrong, this is not God's will, this does not look like God's kingdom, and they call it out. They do so unapologetically and confrontationally most times and say this is not right, and a note about that is that often that's met with not a great response right? So if you are somebody who's prophetically gifted, I do have bad news for you, and that is that, historically speaking, prophets are not really appreciated until they're dead. It's just the truth. When you look at all the prophets of the Old Testament and someone like John the Baptist in the New Testament, prophets are usually considered annoying by everyone else in Christianity because you point out what's wrong.

Speaker 1: 17:22

But that's a gift that we need. We need to know when we're getting off track, and we need someone with the boldness and the courage to say hey, what's happening within the church, our response to issues of race and inequity and all of these other things. It's not right, and so I want to encourage you, if you're a prophetic person and that's your function within the church to keep speaking out Now about your shadow side, though. If you are a prophetic gift, you might be pessimistic, you may be downright negative all the time, and so an area for you to work on, as you're focusing on your gift and you're hearing from God, is to remember that God is the God of hope. God is the God of tomorrow. God doesn't give up on his people, he doesn't give up on his mission, and so for you, while you may look around at the world and say it's so broken and there's so many things not going right and the Christians won't even listen to what I'm saying, remember that there's so many things not going right and the Christians won't even listen to what I'm saying. Remember that God is the God of hope, and he calls us to persevere with one another. You may not be prophetically gifted, so what does that mean for you today. Well, for any Christian, whether you're prophetically gifted or not, we are all supposed to hear and listen to God. We're supposed to hear from God and to listen to Him, and so in our daily lives, what that looks like might be reading the Bible or praying, but it's hearing from God and responding to that.

Speaker 1: 18:49

When I think of how the prophetic gift is here at Madison Church, I think of those who help connect people with God, to hear his voice. They lead our small groups and if they're board members, they say what is God saying? So when we talk about spiritual direction of the church, well, wait a second. I know we got these strategies and these plans, but is this really what God wants for us? The prophet will sit in a leadership meeting and say I think we're leaving this group of people behind unintentionally, but we are and we need a plan to get them back involved. Next are the evangelists, and in Greek, that's the one who brings good news and shares the message readily.

Speaker 1: 19:29

Evangelists are passionate about sharing the gospel and making the message of Jesus relevant. Okay, so they're not just passionate about our faith and telling people about it, but they're about making it relevant. Okay, so they're not just passionate about our faith and telling people about it, but they're about making it relevant, and oftentimes, when we're talking about evangelists, I think that that's the part that gets lost. The evangelist is not always the one who is standing on the soapbox off of State Street telling people to turn or burn. Actually, I would make the argument that those who are gifted evangelists wouldn't do that, because the evangelists will say well, how is this relevant to people who are far from God? What do they hear? And a good evangelist knows that standing on a soapbox on State Street telling people to turn or burn is ineffective and so they would not be doing it. Evangelists are often drawn to spending time with non-Christians doing it. Evangelists are often drawn to spending time with non-Christians, and they have a heart for reminding the rest of the church that many people in the world still need to hear about Jesus.

Speaker 1: 20:25

A core question for the evangelist is are new people entering into the kingdom of God? That is what the evangelist is asking. Philip is explicitly called an evangelist in Acts 21, and he played a crucial role in spreading the gospel, particularly in Samaria, where his preaching, healing and signs led many to faith. And evangelists just like Philip were central in the New Testament as they ventured into new territories. Right, the apostles are pushing us in the new territories. The prophets are saying let's keep our eyes on God while we're doing this, and the evangelist says we'll make sure somebody shows up. We'll make sure somebody's here, because that's the point is new people finding and following Jesus.

Speaker 1: 21:10

Today, the gift of evangelism is seen in those who have a natural ability to share their faith and connect with non-believers. Evangelists thrive and outreach ministries, missions and contexts in which the gospel needs to be communicated. They make Jesus' message relevant and compelling. They make it understandable to those today who are far from God or don't believe or sort of believe, or are deconstructing around them. I was thinking of an example of an evangelist at our church and I was thinking about those in our band and for those in our band who are gifted evangelists, one of the questions that they may ask is are the songs being received by those far from God? Are those far from God receiving our songs? Well, when we sing these words, is it all insider language? Are we conscious of those on the outside who are coming into our church?

Speaker 1: 22:03

I score pretty high on evangelism and I remember one Sunday at Madison Church and it's the only time I've ever interjected myself on the music. But one of the lines in the song and it was a very popular song at the time said and you will bring me the head of my enemy. And I thought, no, we can't sing this, because the Jesus that we follow isn't about bringing me the head of my enemy. Rather, the Jesus I follow is the Jesus who dies for his enemy, including me. Jesus didn't bring my head to the table. Instead, he brought me to the table. And so the evangelist gifting in me said whoa, whoa, whoa. What if there are new people here and they're hearing this, and isn't this confusing and distorting their view of God? And so, after church that day, I went to our band leader and I said we can never play that song again. And, as I mentioned, that's the only time I've ever gotten involved with the music selection at Madison Church.

Speaker 1: 22:57

If you're not an evangelist today, the whole idea of sharing your faith terrifies you. That's okay. But there is an aspect of evangelism within all of us. You see, we're all called to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Now, you might not be great at it, but you're still called to do it. And whereas the evangelist may do this several times in a year of making friends with people far from God and leading them to faith. You may only do it once or twice over your life, but for those one or two people you do it with, that's critically important. The shadow side for the evangelist is that sometimes, in our enthusiasm to help someone find Jesus, we ditch them once they do. You found Jesus. Our work is done here off to the next person. For the evangelist, who's looking to mature in their functioning, we have to continue to be friends with people who, even after they've found Jesus, we continue to walk with them and to develop them. And who knows, they may also be an evangelist who will benefit from rubbing shoulders with us.

Speaker 1: 23:58

Next are the shepherds. These are the ones who shepherds God's people who care for others with a tender heart and one who sees needs, provides comfort and encourages others. Shepherds spend most of their time with other Christians and they're nurturing people. They help guide believers through difficult periods of life. They're characterized by their empathy, their patience and their deep concern for the well-being of those in their care. The core question for shepherds is are the people of God caring for and showing compassion for people?

Speaker 1: 24:38

Timothy was a close companion of Paul. He exemplified the role of shepherd and pastor in the early church. He was entrusted with the care of the churches in Ephesus and Timothy was responsible for teaching, guiding and nurturing his congregation with love and patience and a gentle spirit. And in the New Testament, shepherds like Timothy were essential for maintaining the spiritual and emotional well-being of the Christian community. Let's go back to this idea. We've been pushing that the apostles go and forge new territory, the prophets keep us on track. This is what God's saying. The evangelists say we'll bring people far from God here. The shepherds came and said well, now that we're doing community and life together, we have to help each other, nurture one another. Because we've done all this other work, let's keep it together. They're really good friends and relationship builders.

Speaker 1: 25:28

Today the gift of shepherding is evident in those who care for the spiritual, emotional and relational needs of others. Within the church. Shepherds are often involved in pastoral care, counseling, small group leadership. They create environments where people feel safe and supported and encouraged and they make sure that Madison Church and the church at large is a place of teaching and worship in a community where individuals are nurtured in their faith. When I look practically at how the gift of shepherding plays out at Madison Church. I think of those who have most recently came to Madison Church who are very gifted shepherds and they're inviting people out for dinner. Nobody puts them up to this, but they invite people into their homes and they build relationships and they're asking people to get connected with one another and get connected to small groups. They're sending text messages on Wednesday about a doctor's appointment you mentioned to them three weeks ago and they remember they're involved in your life, not because they're snoopy or nosy but because they care for you.

Speaker 1: 26:23

And how that contributes to our culture at Madison Church, I firmly believe, is that it gets the church away just from Stephen's personality and me as the only shepherd. When we have seen Madison Church grow numerically the quantity of people who have been engaged in our community, it's because of some really healthy shepherds who are making connections with other people, forming new circles, and that is healthy and that is great, because Madison Church isn't supposed to be driven by my personality or my giftings, but really it's about the community and the mission of God, and for that community to get developed we desperately, desperately need shepherds Now. A struggle for shepherds might be when we have new Christians coming to faith that the evangelist brings in and we don't know what to do with them because they may not want to be nurtured and they may not want to quite grow in their faith as fast as the shepherd thinks that they should. The shepherd may also say I've already got enough friends, I can't possibly care for anyone else. And those are all areas that you can lean into. As far as your shadow side and I mentioned earlier that you may not be a gifted shepherd, but we're all still called to love other believers. When we die and go to heaven together, there will only be other Christians there with us, and so we can get some good practice now, even those of us who aren't good shepherds at loving one another. Right here on earth, there are the teachers, and this is the final function. So if nothing has resonated with you so far, this one might be it. And those are.

Speaker 1: 27:56

Teachers are those who hold forth the truth and are excited about it. They are passionate about discovering and understanding and explaining the truth found in Scripture. They look for ways to enlighten others, helping them grasp and apply biblical teachings to their everyday lives, whereas the evangelist wants to make sure that the gospel can be heard in relevant ways for those far from God. The teacher is concerned about those who are already Christians and their deepness and connection with God through Scripture Are the people of God immersing themselves in Scripture and living it out. Apollos, described as an eloquent man competent in the Scriptures, was a teacher who accurately taught about Jesus. Apollos' zeal for scripture and his ability to communicate its truths made him a critical teacher of the early church and in the New Testament. Teachers, just like Apollos, played a vital role in educating Christian community, explaining complex theological concepts, grounding the church in sound doctrine and equipping believers to live their faith faithfully. Today, the gift of teaching is evident in those with a deep love for scripture and a passion for helping other people understand and apply it.

Speaker 1: 29:12

Teachers lead Bible studies, they teach in various ministries and they develop resources that keep the church rooted in biblical truth, ensuring that believers can live out their faith practically. I think of how important teachers are here at Madison Church, whether they're working in the middle school ministry or leading a small group throughout the week, or they teach the Kidman. But teachers play a critical role in helping people understand Jesus, understand God's calling in their life. And so when people whether they're the kids or adults you have questions about what does God say about this? What's God's will, how do I know what God's saying, the teacher comes in and throws a major assist. They say here's how you can know, and they develop and they help people be better and live more fully into what God is calling them to do.

Speaker 1: 30:03

A shadow side for a teacher may be that we cut ourselves off from other people. The teacher may want to just study all the time or just write all the time and show that work to other people and then let them figure it out. But you have to be connected to other people in Christian community. Jesus calls us to that. The other thing is that sometimes we can get caught in this we're saved by knowledge, or that our spiritual maturity should be judged by how much we know, and a good teacher knows. That's not true. But while knowledge is important, we have to remember that we are saved by grace and what we are trying to help other people do is not just understand that but to live it out fully. And for those of us who aren't gifted as teachers and that's not our function within the church we're still called to immerse ourselves in the scriptures and to learn and hear from God and to conform to his will. And so that is the five functions, and I know I went on there for a little bit, but there's actually entire books written on this subject, and so it really is still a very high 30, 40,000 foot view of this.

Speaker 1: 31:11

You may be wondering what do you do with all of this newfound information, and I have a challenge for you. I think that we must all mature in our APES functions, especially again as I think of our next decade as Madison Church. We have to identify not just our gifts and our functions but to learn how to grow into it and to step into it. And so for you today, you might not have ever heard of APES or these giftings, and so the challenge for you today is just to start learning about it. We're going to post five different blogs on these different functions and you can read and dive further into it, and there are different podcasts and books you can read to learn more about your unique function within the church.

Speaker 1: 31:52

For those of you who you're kind of familiar with it but maybe not living it out, it's time to start living it out and start to fulfill those basic skills, to develop those functional skills to operate effectively within Madison Church and your giftings. So you practice your gifting in a supportive environment. Whether you're an apostolic gifted person and you start practicing and working out how we're going to pioneer a new ministry at Madison Church, or you're a teacher and you're figuring out how you can begin teaching here, it's stepping up and saying, hey, I'm here, I'm able and I'm willing. The next step for those of you who have heard of APEST you're already kind of putting these things into practice. It's time to start leading. You have to take on, and you should take on, a leadership role within your function. That's what Paul was saying that God has given us all five of these gifts for the church and if any of them is lacking, us as a community is lacking, and so all of us need to step up within our function and guiding others and helping shape the ministry of Madison Church. And finally, a step would be to lead and equip others. So if you're an apostle, we find other apostles in Madison Church and we invest in friendships, or we support them, or we mentor them and we help bring them along. We help work through the shadow side and work through those weaknesses and the immaturities, and so we can all grow in, not just our faith, but to mature in our giftings and functions. We step into leadership roles, and I think that that's key as any follower of Jesus, that we begin to learn and we put into practice.

Speaker 1: 33:29

But what so many of us get stuck at is we don't lead others, and I think that that's when our faith gets stagnant or when it gets stuck. And for a lot of people, they think what I need is perhaps new teaching, a new church, a new pastor, a new this or new that when in reality is Christianity is about learning and basic skills, but it's also about leading and helping other people step into their callings. And so if you're listening right now and you find yourself maybe in a place where, spiritually, you feel stuck or stagnant, you're not sure what's next, I would ask you to take an honest look at your life, your relationships, and ask am I leading others, am I helping others step into their gifting? And if not, I would propose that that's the solution to the problem that you feel. And so let's wrap this up as we explored each of us, every person watching or listening, we have a unique role to play in the body of Christ through a pest. Whether you're an apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd or teacher, these gifts are not just titles or concepts, but they're you and they're me, living dynamic callings that require our active participation.

Speaker 1: 34:41

And as we close, I want to go back to that passage in Ephesians for a brief moment, because Paul tells us what happens when these gifts are all lived out in a healthy way.

Speaker 1: 34:52

Paul says the church will be united, there will be continuous growth and there will be maturity. And so, as we look around the United States in 2024, and specifically the church, I don't think we can say that we're super united. I don't know if we're growing very well and there's definitely a lot of immaturity, which would be an indication that we're not living out these five apes gifts well within Christian community. And so, for those of us who ache and yearn for unity and growth and maturity, this is where we start. We start with Apest because, as Paul said, once all these guys and gals are going and living out their callings and gifts, those are the fruit unity, growth and maturity. Let's be a church, at Madison Church, that fully embodies the apes functions, leading people to Jesus, nurturing them in their faith and equipping them to do the same for others. Together, we can contribute to the missional church movement that not just survives but thrives in Madison, and we can have a ministry that impacts the city that we call home in all of the best ways possible.