Passage: Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 2:4-5

The Big Idea

The church is a family where everyone has equal value, a real role, and a place to serve. Peter says we’re living stones being built into God’s spiritual house. Paul describes five roles Christ gives His church (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) to equip every believer and build up the whole body. These aren’t just titles for a few leaders. They’re five ways every gathering of believers can work together: seeing the big picture, listening to Jesus, mobilizing for the lost, loving one another, and learning from the Word.

What the Church Is, and Isn’t

Church isn’t an event we attend or a building we enter. It’s a family.

The church was never designed to be a place of entertainment. Or a place to be controlled or dominated. Or a place to be invisible or isolated. It isn’t a concert or a comedy show. It isn’t segregated or demeaning. It isn’t fake. It isn’t a factory where everyone says and does the same things. It isn’t a building we visit on Sundays (and Wednesdays if you’re super holy).

Get that image out of your head forever!

So what is the church?

A family where everyone shares equal value, and everyone is loved, transformed and served. Where everyone serves the family’s purpose, which flows from the Head, Jesus, to every member.
A family you’re born into. You were born into your first family; you’re born again into your forever family.
A family where the life of Jesus, the Head, is pressed out through His body.
A family where every member has a gift, a role, a place and value.

Remember the three relationships Jesus lived in:

Abiding with God.
Connecting with disciples (family).
Sharing the Word.

That’s what we’ll look like if His life is being pressed out through us!

We’ve seen the “one another” responsibilities in God’s family, and why being in His family matters so much: we need others to grow in intimacy with God, to walk through life’s ups and downs, and to fulfill God’s plan in the world.

Now let’s look at how each of us plays a role.

Living Stones (1 Peter 2:4-5)

Peter says to come to Jesus, the living Stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to Him. And you also, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

What role will I play in God’s family, the church, the body of Christ?
I’m part of His new temple on earth. I’m being built into the very place where God lives and connects with the people of earth!
We’re all part of this building project.
We aren’t dead stones like the ones that built the old temple. We’re living stones!
Jesus is the living Stone, the source of all life, the One who made everything that has ever lived.
And now His whole family is His spiritual house, His temple.
The temple was always the place God established to dwell with the people He loves.
Now He uses a living building called the church, His body, His temple on earth (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:19-22).

Every disciple can be used to build His temple in some way. So what role am I supposed to play?

Five Roles (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Paul says Christ Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and grow to maturity, to the full measure of Christ.

Look at verse 12 first. What do these roles do?

They work together to build up the church as a whole. God’s kingdom work is done by all the people who make up this one body.

It’s like the different parts of a body all working together to do the will of the head. We each have a part to play so that Jesus can do everything He desires in this world.

The result is unity: unity of faith and of knowing Jesus. One living body, which is how humanity was originally designed to function: perfectly loving and serving God, perfectly providing for each part.

The five roles:

Apostles
Prophets
Evangelists
Pastors
Teachers

These aren’t exactly the same as the spiritual gifts listed elsewhere, though there’s some overlap. They’re roles God has woven into His grand design for the church, the family, the body.

Paul says we’re no longer strangers and outsiders but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, and we’re being built together into a dwelling place for God by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

God can use you in these roles. Here’s how they show up when believers gather.

Apostle: big picture together

Seeing the big picture of God’s kingdom work together.
Answering the question, “Why are we doing this?”
This person carries a burden to keep us aligned with God’s purpose for His family.
“Let’s get together! What’s God’s plan for us? What’s His vision?”
We need this so we don’t get distracted.

Prophet: listen to Jesus together

Encountering the presence of Christ together.
This brings encouragement, exhortation and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3).
This person is sensitive to the Spirit’s leading: “What is Jesus saying to us?”
When we gather, this person leads others into Christ’s presence through songs, words, prayers, thanksgiving, conversation, silence or Scripture.
Their aim is always to build up.

Evangelist: mobilize together

Sharing the good news of Jesus!
This person thinks about the lost and carries a burden for them: “Who needs to hear the good news?”
When we gather, this person is ready to share the gospel with anyone and motivates us to pray and plan to reach people who haven’t heard.
They want everyone to know the wonderful things Jesus has done!

Pastor: love together

Pastoral ministry means knowing where people are, caring for them, and helping them align with God’s purpose.
“How are you really doing?”
This isn’t just the senior pastor. It’s anyone who wants to love people and point them to Jesus.
When we gather, this person wants to hear your thoughts, struggles, trials and doubts, and to help you surrender to God’s will in them.
After talking with them, you feel heard, loved, and guided to the throne of grace.

Teacher: learn together

Letting God’s Word shape us into the image of His Son.
“Here is Jesus.”
This isn’t just the pastor or leader either. Paul says to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing with gratitude to God (Colossians 3:16).
When we gather, this person sees Jesus in the Word and shares that truth, through a Bible study, something from their morning devotions, or a memorized verse.
Not to show off, but to humbly serve the Lord.
We can actually teach one another. It’s not just one guy.

What It Could Look Like

When we gather, these five roles can work together to please God by building up the church He loves. Here’s one way to try it in about seventy minutes:

Time	Focus	Role
5 minutes	Big picture together. Start with purpose. Realign with God’s vision for us by discussing a verse about the purpose of the body of Christ.	Apostle
15 minutes	Listen together. Encounter Christ’s presence through worship, thanksgiving, praise, reading Scripture aloud, or quiet reflection.	Prophet
15 minutes	Love together. Share honestly about life. Ask real questions and listen. Encourage each other to see and surrender to God’s will in trials and blessings.	Pastor
20 minutes	Learn together. Open the Bible and learn, or share what the Spirit has shown you in your own time with Jesus this week.	Teacher
15 minutes	Mobilize together. Share the gospel with anyone new, make a plan to share with someone this week, and pray for people who need Jesus.	Evangelist

What’s Your Role?

Jesus has a role for you in His family. What is it?

Get alone with the Lord and ask Him to make it clear. It will give you so much purpose when we gather. You’ll naturally be equipped to serve the body in one of these ways.

There are no lone rangers in the church. You’ve been placed here to bond with and serve the body of Christ.

“That’s not what I had planned for my life.” Well, maybe you have a conversation coming with the Lord! Is this your life or His? Did He purchase it? Did you give your life to Him?

Jesus wants us to have abundant life through surrender to His will, through Him (John 10:10). There’s a reason He created this thing called the church. It’s for your good, to make your life deeper, richer and fuller.

His family is designed and equipped to be a life-giving family. Are you excited about it?

The High Five of Fellowship

Here’s a way to remember the five roles, using your hand:

Thumb: the big picture (apostle).
Pointer finger: “Shh, listen to God” (prophet).
Middle finger: reaches out the farthest (evangelist).
Ring finger: love and commitment (pastor).
Pinky: remember what the Word says (teacher).

Put them all together and you’ve got a high five of fellowship!

Grace Takeaway

You’re a living stone in the house God is building, and He has given you a real part to play. Some of us see the big picture, some listen for His voice, some reach the lost, some love and shepherd, some open the Word. None of us does it alone, and none of us does it in our own strength. As Christ’s life flows through each member, His family is built up into the fullness of Jesus.

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A Divine Community, Part 2: Five Expressions of Community