Local Congregations have a responsibility to be involved in the life of the church body by serving one another in love and by exercising spiritual gifts for the common good. As we are taught and prepared by the pastor/teacher, the call to each of us is to identify the gifts we have been given by God and to use them to build up the body of Christ. In this message from Ephesians 4, Alistair Begg reminds us of this responsibility to press on to the maturity that is found in knowing and growing up into Christ.
Authority in the Church
We live in a culture that displays an increasing contempt for authority of all kinds. Contemporary ideas and attitudes are light years away from what the bible has to say. In these stories we learn that God’s plan for leadership in the church is not that one individual should dominate the next -- autocracy. Nor is it one man, one vote -- democracy. It is certainly not ‘every man for himself’ -- anarchy.
Instead the biblical pattern is ‘servant leadership’ -- a plurality of godly men responsible ‘for’ not ‘to’ the congregation. This is not a matter of marginal importance. The church cannot and does not make progress beyond the spiritual maturity and sensitivity of its leaders.
Swipe left to view more information.