Moving Toward Maturity - September 20th, 2026

Paul frames Ephesians 4 around a simple but deep question: What does it look like for a church to grow up? The church can become overwhelmed by programs, events, and all the rabbit trails, but worship, connect, and serve give a clear pathway for moving toward Jesus. Worship gathers the body around Christ. Connection forms meaningful, Christ-centered community. Service puts the grace Christ has given each person into action.

Paul’s image of an immature church is strange but memorable: an infant in a boat, tossed back and forth by stormy waves. Immaturity chases shiny objects. Like a child choosing a heavy bowl of sparkly coins over a hundred-dollar bill, an ungrounded church can mistake distraction for substance. Every wind of teaching, every fad, and every manipulative voice can pull it off course. When the body becomes all about “me, me, me,” it becomes an ugly parody of community.

Christ forms a mature church differently. The mature body speaks the truth in love, stays grounded in God’s Word, and keeps its attention on Jesus rather than chasing every cultural trend. Jesus is not merely one interest among many. Jesus is the head of the body, the source from whom life flows, and the direction toward whom the whole body moves. The goal is not more people moving toward a church, a pastor, or a certain kind of Presbyterian identity. The goal is more people moving toward Jesus.

Paul’s unity is not uniformity. One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God do not turn Christians into cyborgs with the same personality, background, preferences, or coffee order. Jesus creates unity across languages, nations, families, and cultures because belonging under his name runs deeper than every other identity. The church does not gather to become like each other. The church gathers to become like Christ.

Christ also gives diversity through grace. Paul calls the gifts given to every member “grace,” not merely ministry, because every person has received something from Jesus to encourage others toward him. Ministry is not a pyramid with professionals at the top or a bus with everyone else riding along. Every part has work to do. The body cannot become mature without each member sharing the grace Christ has given.

The beach baptisms pictured this reality. Baptism belongs to the covenant community, and the gathered church celebrates as people come out of the water because Christ joins them to his family. The call is simple: worship regularly, connect deeply, and use the grace Christ has given so that more and more people move toward Jesus.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Maturity refuses to chase shiny objects. Paul’s infant-in-a-boat image warns against a church that is constantly blown around by whatever is loud, new, or emotionally explosive. Distraction often looks substantial because it shines, multiplies, and demands attention. Christ grounds his people in truth so they can recognize what actually has weight. [08:56]
• 2. Jesus is unity’s source and direction. The church’s unity does not rest on shared politics, culture, class, language, or personality. Jesus brings the body together, and Jesus is also the one toward whom the body moves. Unity becomes shallow when people merely circle around one another rather than fixing their attention on Christ. [15:50]
• 3. Unity does not require uniformity. One body does not mean one personality type, one background, or one approved way of looking spiritual. Christ does not call his people to resemble a group of cyborg Christians. Christ calls every member to become more like him while remaining a distinct and necessary part of the body. [12:47]
• 4. Every believer receives grace for others. Paul’s use of “grace” means that gifts for service are not private possessions or professional qualifications. Christ gives each person something that can strengthen, encourage, and direct another person toward him. A church matures only as those graces are recognized, offered, and received. [18:27]
• 5. Baptism belongs to the whole community. The gathered celebration at the beach showed that baptism is never merely an individual moment. Christ welcomes people into a covenant family, and that family bears witness, rejoices, and helps them take their next steps toward him. The body becomes visible when people carry one another’s faith with gladness.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:02] - Finding the Map for the Journey
• [02:33] - Worship, Connect, and Serve
• [04:21] - Reading Ephesians 4
• [06:06] - Immature and Mature Churches
• [07:52] - Infants Tossed by the Waves
• [10:40] - A Jesus-Chasing Church
• [12:47] - Unity Is Not Uniformity
• [17:12] - Grace and Diverse Gifts
• [19:05] - Every Member Is a Minister
• [23:44] - Maturity Needs the Whole Body
• [26:15] - Beach Baptisms and Covenant Community
• [29:11] - Taking the Next Step

1. “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” [04:29]
2. “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” [04:36]
3. “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” [04:42]
4. “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—” [04:47]
5. “one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” [04:53]
6. “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” [04:53]
7. “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.” [05:02]
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,” [05:08]
12. “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” [05:13]
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,” [05:16]
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.” [05:29]
15. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” [05:42]
16. “from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped,” [05:51]
17. “when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” [05:57]

1. “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—” [17:02]
2. “one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” [17:05]
3. “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” [17:05]

1. “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.” [18:16]
2. “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” [18:27]

1. What attitudes does Paul name in verses 1–3 that help Christians “maintain the unity of the Spirit,” and how are those attitudes connected to bearing with one another in love?
2. What repeated word appears throughout verses 4–6, and what does Paul say the church has in common? [17:02]
3. In verses 11–13, who is equipped for works of ministry, and what is the stated goal of that work? [23:35]
4. What contrast does Paul make between children tossed by waves in verse 14 and a body growing into Christ in verses 15–16? [07:52]

1. Paul describes an immature church as being carried around by every wind of teaching and deceitful schemes. What might this look like in a church that is more attracted to whatever is loud, new, or emotionally explosive than to God’s Word? [09:52]
2. Paul says that Christ is both the head of the body and the one into whom the body grows. How does this shape the church’s goal beyond simply growing attendance, protecting traditions, or following a leader? [12:02]
3. Verses 4–6 emphasize the church’s unity, while verse 7 says grace has been given to each person. How do these verses show that Christian unity does not require everyone to have the same personality, background, preferences, or role? [12:47]
4. Paul says church leaders equip “the saints” for ministry rather than doing all ministry themselves. What problems can develop when a church sees ministry as the work of professionals while everyone else simply watches or receives? [19:54]

1. What are some “shiny objects” that can pull your attention away from Jesus—such as news cycles, social media conflict, cultural trends, fears, or personal preferences? What could help you become more grounded in God’s Word this week? [08:36]
2. When have you seen a disagreement in a church or Christian relationship become more about “me” than about Christ? What would it look like to bring humility, gentleness, patience, and truth spoken in love into a similar situation? [10:28]
3. Jesus is the source of the church’s unity and the direction of its growth. Are there identities or preferences—politics, generation, culture, education, worship style, or personality—that you are tempted to make more central than Jesus? [14:04]
4. What is one grace, strength, experience, or burden that Christ may have given you to encourage another person toward him? Where might you begin sharing it: in this group, at church, at home, at work, or in the community? [18:36]
5. Is there a way you have been treating church like a bus—expecting a few people to drive while you ride along? What is one small and realistic step you could take toward serving as a needed part of Christ’s body? [20:15]
6. Baptism visibly welcomes people into the covenant family of God. How can you help newer believers or people taking fresh steps of faith know that they are not walking alone? [28:01]