The following is a manuscript of the sermon presented by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at our West U Baptist campus. To view the sermon in full, check out the link below.

January 1 was a Monday, this year. On Monday mornings, I layout my week in my planner. I move tasks forward and make sure nothing is dropping off. I prioritize certain disciplines. And I then get a good workout in. It’s my re-load coming off of Sunday and I have learned that it is vital in my rhythm of leading well.

But on Monday, January 1, I found myself wanting to not just think about this past week, but probably like many of you, my entire year. And probably like many of you, I began to write out some goals and plans.

And it wasn’t until I was working on my message on Thursday that I really thought to ask:

“I wonder what God wants for me to accomplish in 2024 versus just what I want to accomplish in 2024.”

Here is what I can tell you that I know that God wants for us all in 2024, as we gather as His church.

What God Wants in 2024

God wants glory in his church, as his church exalts Jesus Christ.

He wants to do more in the body of Christ than we can ask/think/imagine.  That’s what Ephesians 3:20-21 tell us.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

You have heard me say it this way before—There’s Nothing Like It…the local church that is working right.  And there is nothing like it…the local church that isn’t.

What separates the local church that is working right from the church that isn’t?  I believe it is a one word answer.  That answer is UNITY!

Unity is not uniformity, but is something that comes from within and is a spiritual grace.

Today, we are going to look at a Call to Grow…To take the Field, and to Get in the Game. And we will be looking at Ephesians 4:1-16.

Now what is fascinating about this passage is how the Apostle Paul begins by talking about unity in how we walk together, and then he transitions into how that unity can be expressed individually when we use our gifts to serve others and build others up.

Let’s look at Ephesians 4:1-6.

Ephesians 4:1-6

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

As a young college aged disciple, I remember reading these words…

“I therefore…urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…”

This was just a few years removed from some real church pain that led to us moving churches, and feeling a bit orphaned. It wasn’t until someone invited me to a Bible Study that I got plugged back into the church and then began to grow spiritually once again.

As I was growing, this verse hit me right where I was living. It was a call to me to walk in a manner worthy of being the child of God.

You see… as we think about what it looks

God wants us to:

1. Walk Well

If God is to get glory in His church as we exalt Jesus Christ, we must…

I. Walk Well, by walking in Unity and Love

Ephesians 4:1-3

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

I want to ask you a question.  Do you know that you are called?

When we think of one being called, we think about people being called to be missionaries or being called to be a pastor.

And the natural expectation of those who profess to be called to ministry or missions is that they do what it takes to prepare for that calling and then go and live out that calling.

It is a basic expectation, isn’t it, to expect one who proclaims to be called to go live that calling out?

After the Lord called me to ministry, I left the community college and enrolled in Houston Baptist University and I sought a degree in Christianity and Speech Communications.

• After College, I enrolled into the seminary and got my Masters of Divinity Degree.
• While in Seminary, the call to preach came, and my calling in vocational ministry was further clarified.
• After my masters and working here in ministry, when the door opened, I went back and got my doctorate degree.

Why did I do this?  Because of my calling.  For whatever reason, God chose to work in and through my life for the pastoral ministry of leading His church.  And since that was his calling, I got to preparing so that when the time was right, I could walk in it.

Now remember, I asked you, “Did you know that you were called?”  You see, it isn’t just preachers and missionaries that God calls.

• God called you unto salvation.
• And He called you into His church.
• The word church – ecclesia, literally means “called out ones.”

Listen to some definitions of called and calling. 

Called: “An authoritative summons (spoken or written) to participate or be present or take part in something; especially a summons to the hope of salvation in Jesus.”

Calling:  “The condition one enters upon the acceptance of a summons, especially all that is expected of a person who accepts God’s summons to the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.”

You were summoned to Salvation.  You accepted that summons and now there are responsibilities that go along with that summons. This call was to be God’s people. Therefore, the calling takes a practical form that leads to fruit that demonstrates we are God’s people.

Now, it’s vital to understand that as we walk, we are to share Grace with one another.

Let’s look now at verses 2-3.

Ephesians 4:2-3

…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Q: How are we to walk in order to keep the unity of the beautiful bride of Christ?

A: We are to walk in GRACE.  We are to share GRACE.

Warren Wiersbe says,

“If we are going to preserve the ‘unity of the Spirit,’ we must possess the necessary Christian graces, and there are seven of them listed here.”

1. Humility – lowliness.

Do you remember that country song from a long time ago?  “Oh, Lord it’s hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way.”

Let’s be honest. We aren’t naturally humble and other people can be really annoying.   That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to be at work in us so that when we encounter others, we have the grace we need for them.

 May our Lord cultivate humility in our lives!

2. Gentleness/Meekness – This is the second grace. It isn’t weakness.  Meekness is power under control.  In the Greek, this word was used for “soothing medication, a colt that was broken, or a soft wind.”  It is power, but power under control.
3. Patience/long-suffering – this means to be “long-tempered,” which is, “the ability to take a great deal of punishment from evil people or circumstances without losing one’s temper, without becoming irritated and angry, or without taking vengeance.”^[1]

[1] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (p. 1619). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

So when you pray, “Lord, make me patient,” know what you are praying!

Do you have this patience?

4. Forbearance –
   1. ESV, “bearing with one another,”
   2. NAS, “Showing tolerance for one another,”
   3. NLT, “Making allowance for each other”

Complete Def: to bear (endure) — to endure something unpleasant or difficult whether on one’s own behalf or on behalf of someone else.

So Paul is pretty well admitting that there are going to be some unpleasant people that make up the body of Christ.  The Key — Grace in you…grace through you.

5. Love – Agape – Unconditional love that forfeits rights or privileges in another person’s behalf.

When we love someone with this Agape love of God, we see them as God sees them.

6. Eagerness – This is the idea of endeavoring to or being diligent to. It carries with it the sense that I am being very careful.  It is a purposeful, eager grace.
7. Bond of Peace – We are called to peace. It is a bond of peace.
   1. Bond – connection ⇔ bond — a connection based on kinship or marriage or common interest understood as something that fastens various parts together.
   2. Peace — peace — harmonious relations and freedom from disputes.

One writer says, The “gift of peace or reconciliation with God, made available through Christ, places an ethical demand on the Christian; it calls for the exercises of “peace” (as reconciliation between persons) within the church.”^[2]

[2] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (p. 1635). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

A Key to walking in this grace that God would have us give is by having the Holy Spirit at work in you.  God’s work in you, leads to God’s work through you which brings glory in the church.

God’s work in you is done by the Holy Spirit.

Notice that this “unity” is a “Unity of the Spirit.”

A.W.Tozier, in his book, The Pursuit of God, says,

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

1. As we walk well in unity and love, we are to also adhere to the truth

Ephesians 4:4-6

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

I don’t have time to dive deep into this, but these are the core doctrines of the church on the:

• Divinity of Christ
• The Atonement
• The Resurrection
• Our Salvation through repentance and faith
• The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
• The Rule and Reign of Christ

Warren Wiersbe calls this the “Ground of Unity.”

So, as we walk well…we walk in both Grace and Truth. This comes by the work of the Spirit in our life and the revelation of the Spirit as we engage in the word.

Now, remember, we started talking about knowing what God really wants in 2024.

God wants us to:

1. Walk Well
2. Walk in our Gifts to Serve Others

If God is to get glory in His church as we exalt Jesus Christ, we must…

2. Walk in our Gifts to Serve Others

Let’s look at our passage together:  Ephesians 4:7-12

Ephesians 4:7-16

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

⁹ (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,  ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…

Did you know that God gave you gifts to serve in the local church?

There are two statements we are going to see that show us what Jesus gave to the church so that we can walk well, and walk in our Gifts to serve others.

Now, before I show you those two statements, I have a very clear goal for today’s service. My goal is that by the end of this service, we would see SEVEN people avail themselves to serve on our A/V Media Team. We have a need for more volunteers and we are praying that God would lead a # of you to join our team.

Let me say a word about this team. This is a team where you get to serve to bring life-giving messages to our people wherever they are in the world. We have senior adults who can’t attend who watch us each and every week. Your ministry is a life-line to them.

And we have a growing audience on YouTube each week and on our app each week.

If you join this team, you can be trained…and you can help the message reach people all over the world.

Teens/College Students/Men/Women/ Willingness to serve and will be faithful to show up, you help us capture and propel the message!

Now notice the gifts given to us in the church.

Ephesians 4:7

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

1. The first thing that it says Jesus gave to the church is a grace gift for each member of the church. Jesus is the Great Unifier of the Church. And so, when you get to verses 7-10, Paul says that Jesus has given each of us specific gifts. He says that Jesus, who descended to earth, ascended back to heaven, and he gave gifts to mankind.

Now there are a few places in the Scripture where spiritual gifts are mentioned.  Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and then this reference to them in Ephesians 5.  We don’t have time to go into a deep discussion about these today, but dig into these passages and seek us out. We can help you discover your gifts. 

What we see here is that we are to use our gifts in humility because they are gifts of grace given to us upon salvation, not because of any of our own work, to be used for the building up of the kingdom, not ourselves. And the way every person in the body has different gifts, so that all needs can be met, shows the creativity of our God to use everyone’s unique gifting.

But we have to be willing to GET IN THE GAME. We have to be willing to take the field. We have to be willing to Walk Well, and Walk in a Way as to Use our Gifts to Serve Others.

Thus, we have to also use the GIFT of TIME that God has given to us. If your gifts of time aren’t invested here, then you lack, and the body lacks as well. This stunts our growth!

2. The second thing that Jesus has given to the church so that the local body of believers would be built up is the 4 different offices, which one author says relates to the offices of the church that involve in the ministry of God’s proclaimed Word. The offices are to be the leaders, the ones who are helping other learn and implement their gifts. Here they are: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Shepherd-Teachers (same office).

Ephesians 4:11

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

• Apostles – The word means, “One who is sent with a commission; a divinely appointed representative.” The apostle saw the resurrected Christ and was sent by Him to establish the Church by giving witness of the resurrection. There were 12 Apostles and only 12. If a man calls himself an apostle, don’t sit under his teaching. The Apostles laid a foundation upon which we build.
• Prophets – one who spoke for God. The New Testament prophet was one who received knowledge of God by the Holy Spirit. The New Testament Church did not have the New Testament. Now, the prophet is one who proclaims the truth of God’s word.   

• Evangelists – “Bearers of Good news.” These men traveled from place to place to preach the Gospel and win the lost.  Those who are evangelists are gifted by grace to call people to Christ.
  • Now I Preach the gospel and call people to Christ, but the grace gifted evangelist will exponentially win more lost to the Lord.
  • Pastor Rick is our staff evangelist. Part of the reason that we pay him, is not just to lead our Spanish Speaking part of our congregation at Crosspoint.  But he is an evangelist.  We pay him to go out.  So he goes into the prisons, he goes at special invitations, and many are saved at the call he gives.
• Pastor-Teachers – It is one office with two ministries. Pastor means “shepherd,” indicating that the local church is a flock of sheep.  The responsibility of the Pastor-Teacher is to lead and feed the flock.  This is done by the Word of God to feed and nourish the sheep.

Wiersbe states,

“The Word is the food that nourishes the sheep.  The Word is the staff that guides and disciplines the sheep.  The Word of God is the local church’s protection and provision, and no amount of entertainment, good fellowship, or other religious substitutes can take its place.” 

Of these, the primary role we see in the church today is Shepherd-Teacher, which is the Pastor(s) of the church.

So, let’s review real quick. God gave each member of the church a grace gift, of which there are many, and He expects us to use these gifts to SERVE OTHERS.  He also gave certain offices to the church, the primary one today being the Pastor-Teacher.  This is part of his plan to Maintain the Unity of the Spirit .

And as we do that, what happens?

WE WALK TALL!

You see…

God wants us to:

1. Walk in Unity and Love
2. Walk in our Gifts to Serve Others
3. Walk Tall

If God is to get glory in His church as we exalt Jesus Christ, we must…

III. Walk Tall to Maturity

Notice the words here that speak of growth to maturity.

Ephesians 4:12-16

…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ 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.

Do you see the words that speak of growth and maturity?

• Mature manhood
• Measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
• Grow up in Every Way

Here Paul gives a clear job description of the Pastoral team—v.12—

• The job of the Pastoral team is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry…” That word “equip” means “to prepare.” It means that we are to give the people in the church the tools they need to carry out the work of sharing God’s grace to others in the church and to the world. So, equipping has to do with: Teaching, but also overseeing good process.

You see, developing in our faith has to do with both understanding and experience.  I understand through teaching/learning.  I experience through a pathway or process. And that takes GREAT EFFORT and WORK.

The second word we need to look at here is WORK – equip the Saints to do the “work” of ministry.

The word “work” means “deeds.”  It is the work that needs to get done. It is practical and tactical. 

When we have a funeral, we have a bereavement team we call to help us put on a reception if the family wants that.  That involves cookies, fruit and punch.  It is work that needs to get done.

Our deacons come and serve as greeters and ushers.

And we have people who serve on our security team and our hospitality teams.

Now this work is to be “Spirit guided service that is empowered by faith.” But there is just a certain amount of work that has to be done.  Pastors do it, musicians do it, the coffee bar people do it, teachers do it, children’s workers and youth workers do it.

And why do we do it?

Ephesians 4:12-15

…for building up the body of Christ… to mature manhood…so that we may no longer be children… we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…

We are taught and we do the practical and tactical because we are all pulling in the same direction. We are all pulling toward growth and development in our faith. We are growing together, exalting Jesus together and God gets the glory. And there is nothing like it.

Tony Dungy was the championship coach of the Indianapolis Colts when they won Super Bowl 43.  When asked what it takes to win as a team, Coach Dungy replied, “Hard work and togetherness.  They go hand in hand.  You need the hard work because it’s such a tough atmosphere to win week in and week out.  You need togetherness because you don’t always win, and you gotta hang tough together.”

Coach Dungy says the formula for winning is Hard Work and Standing Together. I would concur. Unity accomplishes More in the kingdom when we bring our gifts to the local body, are equipped and trained to do the HARD WORK of MINISTY so that WE CAN BE BUILT UP TOGETHER to Maturity in Christ.

And that is the goal…to Stand Tall…to Walk Tall.

When I was a kid, my older brother, Keith had a best friend named, Del Blom. Del was 6’4” and played basketball at Hastings High School in Alief. He was built and was just a special guy.

I remember that I wanted to be tall like Del. I would go up to him and measure myself against him and say, “I want to be as tall as you some day.” He would laugh, and say, “Maybe you will.”

Well, guess what? Now that I’m fully grown, I don’t go up to Del anymore and say, “I’m going to be as tall as you, someday!”

No, I actually look him in the eye…I’m actually a tad taller than he is.

God wants His church to grow to Maturity…to STAND TALL and WALK TALL.

Ephesians 4:16

…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.

You see, when it is working properly, the body grows.  The same is true with the church. There are more who Discover, Develop, and Deploy when the body is working properly.

• The word translated as “working” here means a super natural energy and functioning in us. It is an inward working of the Holy Spirit that leads to a kingdom heart and mindset.

In the simplest sense, we get an expanded heart and vision for the world.

You see, as we WALK WELL, WALK IN OUR GIFTS TO SERVE OTHERS, AND AS WE WALK TALL, we gain a Heart for God’s Kingdom. Our vision is expanded, and we learn to fully embrace His vision – the Great Commission to Make Disciples.

So, let me ask for two outcomes today.

1. We needs at least SEVEN of you to say, “I will serve on the Media Team – run a camera, be trained…run slides…whatever it takes! – Meet Wes over here right after the service. He will get your contact information and get you trained and deployed, serving.

GREAT CARD

2. Great Card – Begin to Pray about Joining a Group, Starting a Group, or Pairing up with someone else to go through GREAT.
   1. If you are not yet in a Group, I want to challenge you to join a Community Group…you are missing out if you are not in a small group setting in our church.
      1. Sundays…on campus…
      2. During the week off campus…
   2. Start a Group – on campus and off campus
   3. Pair Up – Grab someone and commit to make a disciple.

Simply begin to pray…Lord, what do you want for me in 2024?