Apostolic Perspectives #1 - What it Means to be Apostolic

What it Means to be Apostolic: A Summary of Sunday's Message on the Apostolic Worldview

“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.” (Ephesians 4:8)

You have ascended on high,

You have led captivity captive;

You have received gifts among men,

Even from the rebellious,

That the LORD God might dwell there. (Psalms 68:18)

Hello everyone,

Following from Sunday’s message, let’s continue to reflect on a few key points about what it means to be Apostolic:

I want us to understand that I am not talking now about "an" apostolic church but "The" Apostolic church. The Church is an apostolic entity. To the extent that The Church is not apostolic is to the extent that it is misaligned or out of order.

Therefore, understanding and walking in the Apostolic is a key issue for the church today and something that all of us in the KFIC community must truly grasp as we move forward.

There are four major things that stand out in the scripture above:

1. When Christ ascended, it provided freedom to those who are held captive. This is a clear reference to those who are held captive by Satanic powers.

2. As Christ ascended, he actually gave gifts to men, these gifts represent aspects of Himself which he gave to humanity… for a purpose!

3. The gifts come "even from among the rebellious". In a nutshell, the gifts are not specifically given to Christians…but even to those who actively reject Christ by their lifestyle and those who have not been born again…. HOWEVER… It is ONLY Salvation that brings those gifts into accurate use and purpose.

4. The Ascension created a unique context for God to dwell among humans.

CHRIST Gave Us Five Critical Resources:

Leadership is represented by the five resources that God has given to mature the church (Eph. 4:11): Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists

The purpose of the five leadership resources is to mature us in Christ so that our gifts can be used as ministry to present Christ to the World… in every aspect of life that we find ourselves.

Christ IS the desire of all nations and a fully mature Body will cause the fullness of Christ to be revealed to the world. The real key to effectively transforming the world and all nations lie in the maturing of the saints, including every member of KFIC.

This is an apostolic worldview. It is a worldview that sees the church as an apostolic entity which in its mature state automatically represents Christ to the world.

Maturity then is of prime importance in the Body of Christ and it’s where our community is being called to in this season.

What does maturity look like? We will tackle this question in my next post.