Christ Gives Gifts to Build Up His Church

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Christ Gives Gifts to Build Up His Church

Ephesians 4:11-16

Speaker: Pastor
Series:

What would happen if you only ever worked out one muscle group? You’d be lopsided, awkward, and far from healthy. That’s the image Ken Freire opened with this past Sunday at Community Baptist Church — and it landed hard, because most of us know we’ve done exactly that with our faith. We practice one part, neglect the rest, and wonder why we’re not growing. Ephesians 4:11-16 offers a different way — one that’s messier, harder, and far more powerful than walking your faith out alone.

This sermon is part of CBC’s summer series on relationships, and the central message was clear: Christ has given his church a better way to live — and it runs through community, not around it. The equipping gifts of Ephesians 4 aren’t just a church org chart. They’re God’s design for how broken, gifted, ordinary people build each other up into the fullness of Christ.

Christ Gives Equipping Gifts to His Church

Ephesians 4:11 lists apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers — and Ken was quick to point out that this wasn’t an HR committee’s idea. “This was Christ before the foundations of the earth. He said, ‘I’m going to give them grace. I’m going to serve them.'” These gifts were Christ’s initiative, given to advance, apply, proclaim, guide, and make clear the gospel.

But here’s where many of us get tripped up: we hear this list and immediately disqualify ourselves. Too old. Too quiet. Too ordinary. Too much baggage. Ken pushed back on every one of those lies. “Every saint has grace gifts.” Ephesians 4:7 says grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. If Christ saved you, he gifted you. The five gifts in verse 11 aren’t the whole list — Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Peter 4 describe over twenty gifts. Service, mercy, giving, leadership — these matter just as much to the health of the body.

The Saints Use Their Gifts to Mature the Body

Verse 12 tells us *why* these gifts exist: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body.” Ken dug into the word “equip” — it means repairing what is broken and supplying what is lacking. Notice who gets equipped: not perfect people, but *saints*. That’s your identity in Christ, even in your brokenness.

“Ministry is serving the body of Christ through the gifts of Christ for the glory of Christ.” That definition puts every member in the picture. Look left and right in the room — those are the people you’re called to serve. We cannot mature as a body if only a few people are growing. The whole body has to be working.

Three Marks That Tell You the Body Is Actually Growing

Paul gives us measurable signs in verse 13. Ken walked through all three:

Unity of the faith — holding the truth together around the core doctrines of the Christian faith. Not every preference, but the essentials. Check out the Apostles’ Creed or Nicene Creed if you’re not sure where to start.

Knowledge of the Son — experiencing God more deeply through one another. Ken shared a deeply personal story about a counselor who, rather than lecturing, simply wept with him for 45 minutes over years of guilt and shame. “He showed me the mercy of Christ. He didn’t have to use a lot of language.” Some of your gifts, when used, help people experience Christ in ways words alone never could.

Stature of the fullness of Christ — actually becoming more like Jesus. Are people around you walking in the fruit of the Spirit? That’s the finish line. Don’t use your gifts halfway and hope things work out.

Protection from False Doctrine

Verse 14 warns against being “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.” Ken named two winds he believes are hitting the church hardest right now.

The first is progressive Christianity — where affirmation becomes the highest authority, feelings become the truest guide, and scripture gets reinterpreted whenever it challenges someone’s desires. “God is the one who defines what love is — not the culture at large.”

The second, and Ken suggested the more subtle danger in communities like Spring Hill, is moralistic therapeutic deism — the functional belief that God is distant, religion is about being nice, and heaven goes to good people. A 2025 Ligonier survey found that 64% of American evangelicals believe everyone is born innocent in God’s eyes, and 53% say most people are good by nature. “If I am basically good, Jesus becomes a life coach. But if I am dead in sin, Jesus becomes my Savior.” That difference is everything.

The Body Grows by Speaking Truth in Love

Verse 15 lands the whole passage: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Ken reframed this not just as speaking nicely, but as “truthing” — living it, correcting, comforting, and serving in ways that embody Christ. Truth without love becomes a weapon. Love without truth becomes cowardice. We need both, every time.

When every part of the body is working properly, verse 16 says the whole body builds itself up in love. And Jesus said in John 13:35 that *this* — how we love one another — is what tells the watching world we belong to him.

Scripture References

  • Ephesians 4:11-16 — the equipping gifts and the call to grow up together into Christ
  • Ephesians 4:7-8 — grace and gifts given to every believer
  • John 13:35 — loving one another as the mark of discipleship

Discussion Questions

  1. Ken described the danger of only exercising one spiritual “muscle group.” Which areas of your faith have you been neglecting, and what would it look like to engage them within community?
  2. What gift do you believe God has given you — and what lie have you believed that has kept you from using it for the body?
  3. How have you seen moralistic therapeutic deism show up — in the culture, or honestly, in your own thinking? How does the gospel correct it?

The watching world is looking for people who genuinely love each other — not perfectly, but truly. That kind of love doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when every person in the room decides to show up, use what God gave them, and refuse to go it alone. Today might be a good day to make that call, send that text, or simply sit with someone who needs to know they are not invisible. The body builds itself up in love — and it starts with you.

We hope you enjoyed the sermon and would love to see you in person. Plan your visit to Community Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee today!

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