Ephesians 4

BIBLE EXPLORE / NEW TESTAMENT / EPHESIANS

Book of Ephesians

One Body in Christ (Ephesians 4:1-32)

In Ephesians 4:11, Paul describes 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. And while we all have different spiritual giftings, we are one united body.

Spiritual Gifts

"The gifts given are people-gifts, people who have been set free by Christ." - Kate Dyer. Kate's helpful research project (linked below) has provided some helpful information on these gifts, which are given to everyone:

Apostles - a representative, messenger or envoy who was sent by a person in authority and given permission to act on behalf of the sender. It comes form the word apostello, which means 'to be sent out'
Prophets - Prophets in the Old testament were well known, and they acted as God’s mouthpiece and called the people back to covenantal faithfulness. Praying to his Father, Jesus said “I gave them the words you gave me” (John 17:8).
Evangelists - The one who brings good news. Jesus was the ultimate evangelist, saying in Luke 4:43: "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent"
Pastors - Jesus is called the great shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) and the shepherd and overseer (1 Peter 2:25)
Teachers - The teacher’s role is to teach people God’s truth and to help them to live it out in their lives. Jesus was often called Rabbi, a title for a teacher.

Discover your spiritual gifts in this Five Fold Ministry survey. If you are interested in having a discussion with children about how they fit into these five spiritual gifts, we have completed this survey with 10-13yr olds. An adult can help them fill in the questions together, and it has been interesting to discuss and affirm the giftings they have when they see the results. (Note: This does not need to become a tool to keep them from experiencing and growing into other gifts, it may just be a snapshot of history, but can be a helpful discussion exercise. Use it lightly with kids, and encourage them to redo the test when they are older)

Further Reading
Anglicanism and the Ephesians 4 Gifts: Towards a Leadership Model that Disciples and Equips the Church for Mission - Research project by Kate Dyer

Like a body

Ephesians 4:15 talks about how the church is like a body, with Christ at the head. See also 1 Corinthians 12:12–14

Resources

Salvation Army children's ministry resources on the Body of Christ
Sunday School lesson plan

Live a life of Love (Ephesians 4:25-32, 5:1-2)

'No put downs'

It can be easy to fall into the trap of using this bible passage to teach a lesson on behaviour modification, but perhaps there is more in the passage than a list of behavioural changes.

Ephesians 5:1-2 has a beautiful summary of these words: "Live a life filled with love". Think about how your words can build up someone as you live a life filled with love, and how this can be an overflow of a heart for Jesus. Check out the link above for great ideas of how to do this.

Love looks like this

"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God" Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT)

After a long list of instructions, Paul sums up this passage by reminding us what love looks like. Love looks like Jesus, offering his life for us. Love looks like sacrifice, acceptance, grace, humility and faithfulness.

Intergenerational Worship

Intergen Australia have a great collection of resources for exploring this topic, written and compiled by Rev Beth Nicholls.