Truthing in Love…#GetDeep
By Ps Vernon Quek
We have reached the point in our Ephesians series which has the most potential to shape us as a church family. The Apostle Paul has given us the key to being a glorious, healthy church in Ephesians 4:11-16: Every saint, every member of the Zion Bishan family, needs to be equipped to do the work of ministry – which is to ‘Truth in Love’ to one another (4:15).
God’s Word is so rich that we can only scratch the surface of what He has to say in our 30-minute-long sermons each week, so here are some further thoughts for us to #GetDeep into, that will enable us to do the ministry that you and I are both called to
do (4:1 & 12).
In all the years that I have taught Ephesians, I’ve always looked at the ‘in love’ part of ‘Truthing in love’ as the manner in which we should speak and live out the Truth to one another. So that meant communicating Truth in a loving way – doing it gently, nicely, with patience etc. While this is undoubtedly true, I’m beginning to see through preaching the book again this year that the Apostle meant more than this.
In the previous chapter, Paul prays for the Ephesians…
‘…to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…’ (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Paul is not just telling the Ephesians that they are to communicate the Truth which is in Jesus (4:20-21) in a loving way. He’s telling them that Jesus and the knowledge of His love is the very basis, the motivation, the foundation of their ministry towards one another. That’s why he prays that they will be rooted and grounded [in the love of Jesus] first before he prays for their corporate ministry of comprehending with all the saints. Our vision for every member to #GetDeep into God’s written Word in order to learn Christ reflects this principal in Paul’s prayer.
As we enter into the Next Lap, much prayer is needed for the equipping and teaching ministry of Zion Bishan. Would you please join alongside in prayer for the Shepherds, the Pastors and Elders, as we get on with teaching Jesus to the saints, that each and every one of us will be rooted and grounded in Jesus’ love. And if Jesus and the kind of love He has shown us is the bedrock of our ministry, then of course the manner in which we walk will show Him as we put aside our own self-preferences, and sacrificially give ourselves for our fellow members of the Body.
May all the saints of Zion Bishan grow and mature in learning Christ and living out the Truth that is in Him together.
