Would you please turn your Bibles with me to Ephesians Chapter 4.

Ephesians Chapter 4, verses 7 through 16.

Would you please follow along in your Bibles as I read the text.

But to each one of us, Grace was given,

according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says

when he ascended on high he led captive a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. Now this expression he ascended. What does it mean

except that he also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is himself also he who ascended far above all

the heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the Saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the

unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by the waves, and carried about by every wind of

doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming.

But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him, who is the

head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies,

according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

We're going to spend two weeks at least on this text, including probably next Sunday evening.

We're not gathering here tonight.

We're in our small groups all over the cities.

And by the way, if you have not found your way into a small group at Bethlehem, Daniel Runyon,

who prayed the pastoral prayer as the coordinator for small groups, his number is on the back

of the worship folder and would love to help you find your way into a

group where you feel at home and can be nurtured.

But next Sunday night we do gather and I'm going to let the text spill over probably into that there's just

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