God wants Christians to be unified in the Spirit. And to help that to happen, he gave gifts to each believer.
Read Ephesians 4:11-13.
God has given some special people as gifts to the church:
Apostles – These are the original preachers Jesus sent to spread the gospel message.
Prophets – Before the Bible was completed, these people proclaimed God’s truth about the future.
Evangelists – Just like missionaries, these men took the gospel message to other lands.
Pastors-Teachers – Like a shepherd, these men led and taught groups of Christians.
Together, God used these gifted individuals for four reasons: (1) to equip the saints for the work of service, (2) to build up the Body of Christ, (3) so that we would be unified in faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, Jesus, and (4) to help us become mature Christians like Jesus himself. Do you understand why God provided these gifted people for the Church? Without them, we would not understand all that God has done for us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But with their help, leading, and teaching, we can grow as Christians and can become useful for the Lord.
- List the four gifted people God used in the early church:
a. __________________________________________
b. __________________________________________
c. __________________________________________
d. __________________________________________ - Now that we have the Bible, do we need prophets to tell us the future?
- List the four reasons that God gave us the four gifted people:
a. ________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________
d. ________________________________________________________ - Would you be willing to be one of God’s gifted people to help other Christians?
