And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Yes, the "five-fold ministry" is one of the foundations of the promulgation of the faith, but when we restrict our thinking to those areas, we do our ministry serious damage.1 Peter 2:9 indicates that we are all in this together; each of us is to participate in the process of attaining to the measure of the stature of fullness of Christ. This is what JI Packer often refers to in his writings as the every-man ministry. Each one is to be part of the building up of the body of Christ.
Interestingly, we can't do this as a loner Christian. The obedient saint, rolls his shirtsleeves up and asks the Spirit to assign his chores for the day.
Today's readings in the Psalms:
Morning: Psalm 132
Mid-day: 119:1-8
Evening: Psalm 67
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Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at theFellowship Of Ailbe bookstore. A weekly edition, formatted as a bi-fold insert and suitable for distribution can be downloaded at https://www.ailbe.org/resources/item/5828-2015-voices-together-weekly-devotionals. The next edition is available by Thursday of the prior week.
