Bible Text: Ephesians 4:11-27 | Preacher: Wadie Gerred | Series: The Body | We are starting a new series called “The Body of Christ” we will
take the next however many weeks to study the Bible to see
what God has said about the many members that make up the
body of Christ.
But right now we are without a lead pastor/elder so until God
shows us who that next man may be… I’m happy to say God has
blessed us with several men here at IBC that can preach God’s
Word. And I’m sorry to say that you did not get one of those
amazing men this morning but you got me. But I will do my best.
Lord willing I will be able to show you some things that God has
shown me in his Word as I prepared and study for this sermon.
My name is Wadie Gerred I am a Deacon here at Immanuel
Baptist Church
Daryn Crawford will be posting on our webpage who will be
preaching each week. So that way you will be in the know!
I’m excited about what we are doing through this rotation
because I enjoy hearing Gods word preached by many different
preachers. I listen to a lot of online sermons. And believe that it is
Gods design in the church to hear Gods word taught by many
different teachers. The Bible says in Prov. 11:14 Where there is
no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
The Bible also says that when we gather with the church we are
to stir up one another to love and good works, encouraging one
another -Hebrews 10:24-25,
-Colossians 3:16 We are to teach and admonish one another,
-1 Thessalonians 5:11We are to build up one another,
And in 1 Peter 2:9 it says “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that

you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light.”
Another reason that I enjoy hearing different men preach
especially here at IBC is because that means we are making
disciples of Jesus Christ that are making disciples of Jesus
Christ and that is what Jesus calls us all to.
Mathew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
I will be honest with you this morning. It is so hard for me to
stand up in front of people and do anything especially to try and
unpack God’s word and teach it. I love the Bible but I don’t like
teaching it for many different reasons. I’ll give you a few of those
reasons now.
This is God’s words to us, what if I get it wrong. Some of You will
and should come show me how according to scripture I’m wrong
and no one likes to be told they’re wrong.
I also know if I get to far off they’re men in this room that will
walk up here and take the mic from me and tell me to sit down.
That’s good but scary.
I also feel that there are men in this church that are more qualified
to stand up here than me and I would love to hear them preach.
But for some reason God keeps putting me in this spot that I’m in
this morning. Do these reasons why I don’t like preaching
disqualify me? I don’t know you tell me. All I know is Jonah did
not want to go to Nineveh but God made him or God was going
to kill him and I love God and want to do what I think he is telling
me to do in spite of me. And I don’t know what it would look like

to get swallowed by a whale in the great state of Oklahoma and I
don’t want to find out.
So, all that to say please be in prayer for these men as they pray
and search Gods word that God will give them the words to say
each week and that God will send more laborers, men and
women in this church to step up and teach God’s word for the
harvest is plentiful the Bible says and the labors are few. I know
that some of you just lost you mind because I mentioned women
teachers. I see in scriptures that women are not to be in
shepherding/elder leading type roles over men or over the
church. That is not my words but that is what I see in God’s
word. Like the Trinity men and women are of equal in value in
God’s eyes but God has different roles for men and women.
And if you are a man sitting out there thinking that you are better
than women let me give you something to chew on and this is my
opinion besides the Holy Spirit that all of Gods people have as a
Helper in this world God created a helper for men but God did
not have to create a helper for women. Evidently men needed
more help and women did not. But women be on guard because
you are not perfect either. Just look at Eve in the garden of Eden.
Here at Immanuel Baptist Church there are many different ways
that women do and should teach. The older men teach the
younger men and the older women teach the younger women.
That is what Gods word says we should do.
Lets get back to the sermon series “The Body of Christ”
But before we can talk about the body we must talk about the
head of the body and that is what todays sermon will be about.

And as we know there is an order to everything that God creates
and commands. He is still overseeing and in control of

everything! For he is not a watchmaker God. He did not create
this world like a watchmaker creates a watch he did not put
gears and springs into this creation like we see in Genesis where
he spoke trees, birds, stars and everything that exist he spoke
into existence. Then He created man and women and then on the
7th day God rested. But He did not walk away!
He did not wind it all up and hit the start button and hand it over
to someone else and then turn his attention to something else.
He is in control of everything past, present and future.
We the church tend to slip away into this type of thinking. We
might not admit it and might not even realize it but sometimes we
tend to think that God has left this all up to us to figure out when
in reality God is such an amazing God he gave us a small window
into which we can look through and into the mind of Christ
through men penning down the words of God in a book called
the Bible. Everything that we need to know this side of heaven
God has given us in this book to fulfill his purpose and his will for
this life and to prepare us for the life to come. And He has given
us His Spirit to help us. But even 2,000 years ago the church
(Gods people) were loosing focus. Paul had to write letters
reminding Gods people not to loose focus on who we all are to
look to. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 10 ‘I appeal to you, brothers, by
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that
there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the
same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported
to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my
brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow
Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow
Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were
you baptized in the name of Paul?
Our focus this morning is and always should be on Christ for He is
the Head of the church and He should be the head of your life.

And then over the next however many weeks we will talk about
The body of Christ
So that is my introduction to the sermon series
“The Body of Christ”
PRAY!!
I have two things that I think God wants me to share with you
today and they go hand in hand. I struggled to separate them.
Mainly because you can’t have one without the other and here
they are
Jesus must be the head of your life and Jesus must be
the head of your church.
You can not be connected to the body without being connected
to the head and you can not be connected to the head without
being connected to the body.
Let me put it another way.
If you are not connected to Jesus then you can not be connected
to his body and if you are not connected to his body then you
can not be connected to Jesus.
If your life is motivated and fueled by anything other than Jesus
Christ whatever that might be… it will be poison to you and you
will be poison to the church.
I want you to know God has been showing me through the
studying of this sermon and I hope he speaks to you as I share
what God has shown me and how I must live in this life. My hope
is that when I’m done today your take away in this sermon will be
Jesus must be the head of your life and Jesus must be the head
of your church.
I’m sorry but I could not separate these into two different points
this morning. Those two things are weaved together all through
this sermon. I will try to point out each one as I go. So here we
go.

In the last few weeks we have been talking about the cross and
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus the only begotten son of God the father, he is God, he is
one of three who has always had and will always have the title
“God” with a capital ‘G’! That is who He is! He is GOD! No one
else or anything has ever had or will have the right to use the title
God with a capital G because all other gods are man made either
in the mind or in material things!
1 Corinthians 8:4-7
……we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there
is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in
heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many
“lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are
all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
However, not all possess this knowledge….
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one.
This is known as the Trinity. They have always been and will
always be! They exist in and outside of time! They have existed
for eternity past, present and future no beginning and no end!
One has no more value than the other. They never disagree they
have different roles for the same purpose. All things exist because
they have always existed and all things exist to bring honor and
glory to their eternal existence. Man was created by God in Gods
image to bring honor and glory to God in a way that nothing else
in this world can. Man was meant to share and to grow in the
knowledge and wisdom and understanding of who God is and to
be in relationship with him.
And this is done correctly and perfectly through the working of a
healthy body called the church of which Christ Jesus is the head
of.
But to start a teaching on “The Body of Christ” to someone who
is lost, who does not have Jesus as the head of their life, who
does not have a relationship with Christ this teaching is
foolishness to him or her! My advice to someone that may be

listening to this message that is lost (and when I say lost I mean
you don’t know what this life is about and what is going to
happen to you when you die) you might be thinking no one can
know this. But I know and many others know, their eyes have
been opened to the truth. And I know I cannot convince you of
this truth. All my life people tried to convince me but it was not
until God opened my eyes that I was convinced. You may not
know what it means to believe and trust in Jesus as Lord and
savior. My advice to you is to pray and ask God the one who
created you to open your eyes and your heart to the truth, the
good news, the gospel! Please Pray that even now because I
cannot open your eyes to the truth only God can. Paul writes in

1 Cor. 3:5-7
5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom
you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos
watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor
he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
Anyone who is a follower of Jesus that has ever preached or
talked to you about the God of the Bible all they can do is give
you seeds and water those seeds in hope that God will grow
those seeds in you into an understanding of who God is and the
purposes He has for you.
Have you ever known someone to create something without a
purpose? Have you ever heard of anyone spending a lot of time
creating something and then throwing it into the trash? If you
have its probable because it did not turn out the way they
wanted it to.
God has created everyone for a purpose. Don’t you want to know
your purpose. Jesus says in
Matt. 7:7-11

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who
asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the
one who knocks it will be opened. 9Or which one of you, if
his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if
he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then,
who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
good things to those who ask him!
What better thing to ask for then, God’s purpose, God’s will and
God’s salvation plan for you in this life that God has given you for
a very short time in comparison to eternity.
I have heard many times from many people “if God is so good
than why do so many bad things happen in this world”
The holocaust, sex trafficking, rape, death, war, coronavirus…
The list goes on.
God has aloud these things as a reminder to us of this broken
creation. Sin was not part of Gods perfect design although He
knew it would happen this is a result of our sin and our
unchecked pride.
God is good! God is loving! God wants you to know your
purpose! God does not wish that you go through this life broken
and at the end be thrown into the trash can called hell. He loves
you so much that
Jesus says in Rev. 3:20
20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him,
and he with me.
Jesus is saying that you can be in a relationship with the God of
the universe he says you can sit down and have lunch with him.
You can be with him all day and all night.

Prov. 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Church we are meant to have this kind of relationship with God!
Lost person you are meant to have this kind of relationship with
God!
And right now Jesus is standing at your door knocking! When a
teacher-preacher or anyone opens Gods Word or speaks from
Gods word…
This is one of many ways that you hear the knocks of Jesus! This
is how seeds are planted and watered!
Look to Christ and pray and ask that He be the head of your life
and your church body!
If you do not have a personal relationship with Christ then all
scripture and teachings on the Bible, will only help you improve
the short life that you have on this earth but after you die you will
take a knee before a holy righteous Judge and you will be on trial
for all your sins and your goodness will not save you for you will
not be on trial for your goodness but on trial for your sins! Our
courts in this world are no different. The level of your punishment
in this world can be adjusted by your good works but you will still
be punished or the judge is not a just judge. But God is a just
judge who must punish all sins with an eternal punishment that is
a prison called Hell and I don’t have time to get into all the thing
that pertain to hell but lets just say its no vacation and I will go as
far to say the best parts of hell are worse than the worse things
that you have ever encountered in this life. Hell is Hell! But there
is good news God loves us so much that he sent us a Savior
Jesus to pay the debt of our sins. And that is what happened on
the cross and we know it worked because 3 days later Jesus
came back to life from death.
He died for all so that all could be saved but there are those who
reject his plain of salvation. But my plea to you this morning is to

surrender your life to Christ! To stop rejecting the love of God and
his plan to save your eternal soul! He has paid the ultimate price
for you so please don’t reject it. Because if you do… the Bible
says you will be paid for your sins and that payment is an eternal
wrath of God. Romans 6:23“For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Without Christ there is no life. In hell you have no relationship
with Christ so therefore you are dead! Your eternity in Hell is for
nothing! It is like a prisoner without parole.
My point in all of this is for you to make Christ the head of your
life!
Church let’s make sure that Christ is the head of our church and
let us dig in Gods word and pray that God helps us understand
the mind of Christ and dig in Gods Word to understand His
purpose and His will for the body (the church). Let us not lean on
our own understanding, let us not lean on what we have been
told our whole lives but lets study Gods word and see what God
wants for his people The Body of Christ!
As we see in Prov.3:5-8 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and
do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7Be not
wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. 8It
will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Last week was a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If
Christ Jesus had not come back from death to life there would be
no church. But He did… and there is! We as followers of Jesus
need to know and understand that there are gatherings of people
that look like churches and they do what looks like good things
but they exist without Christ as the head. Therefore they are not a
church. This is posable but is not helpful this can confuse a
believer and unbeliever. Christ must be the reason for the
gathering of Gods people. Christ must be first in your life! These

other type gatherings might be of some earthly good but not in
Gods eyes. In His eyes it is wasted and will have no inheritance
or gifts or treasures or relationship with God but only eternal
damnation. People who call themselves a church but do not have
Christ as the head of their lives and their church that body is like
a chicken who’s head has been cut off running around aimlessly
until it dies.
I have never seen a chicken’s head cut off but when I was
younger my parents used to take us to a farm near Oklahoma
City and Mr. DeWitt the owner would tell us kids he would give us
a nickel for every guinea that we could catch and I don’t know if
you’ve ever tried to catch a guinea but we did not make much
money! Guineas are very hard to catch I do remember catching
one not sure if it was me or one of my brothers but I will take the
credit because they are not here. We were excited about our
nickel because back then you could buy a piece of bazooka
gum, banana Laffy Taffy or just about whatever your favorite little
piece of candy was you could buy with a nickel.
But I had no idea what was about to happen next. When we
caught one of the guineas and told Mr. DeWitt he gave us all a
nickel and took the guinea and cut its head off and I saw for the
first time and only time in my life a bird run around with no head.
If Jesus is not the head of your life then you are not a part of his
body and if Jesus is not the head of your church then you are not
the body of Christ. You might as well be a headless bird running
around in vain waiting to die.
The Bible gives us other examples and images of this like a
building without a foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:11
‘For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. ‘

John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes
away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,
that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because
of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in
me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides
in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart
from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in
me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the
branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If
you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever
you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is
glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my
disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved
you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments,
you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s
commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I
have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that
your joy may be full. 12“This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love
has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his
friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command
you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant
does not know what his master is doing; but I have called
you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have
made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose
you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit

and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask
the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These
things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Some of the commands that God has given us as followers of
Jesus are hard to live out! But thanks be to God for His grace and
mercy. But do not be deceived Christian God is not mocked. Gods
grace and mercy is not a license to sin.
Galatians 6:7-10
7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one
sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his
own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one
who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season
we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to
those who are of the household of faith.
Jesus is so good that He has sent us a helper, Gods spirit lives
In those who are followers of Him. Church each one of us has
access to the Holy Spirit. We have access to the Spirit of God
living in us let us all tap into the Helper. Learn how to hear the
Spirit of God! But be on guard because there are other spirits
trying to lure you away. We are to test the spirits the bibles says in
1 John 4:1 1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits
to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have
gone out into the world.
How do you test the spirits? With Gods word! So, study the Bible!
Don’t just rely on other people to do that studying for you. What if
they learn it wrong then you will be wrong and you will listen to
other spirits than the one that God has given you. Not good!
1 Corinthians 6:17,19&20
17. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

19. ‘Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
20. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So
glorify God in your body. ‘
As the worship team comes back up
I want to remind you and I!
Remember when you first came to know Christ as the Lord of
your Life you felt the burden of sin lifted off of you Jesus paid the
price for you and you felt the overwhelming joy and peace of God!
Remember how you wanted to glorify Him in your life and you
wanted to share this relationship that you found with all those
around you but let me ask you, has something happened over
time have you started to slip away. Some of you might know the
calling that God has called you too but over time you slipped
away! Turn back to God! Stop wasting your life away with the
things of this world. You and I will be dead soon and I promise
God does not care how successful your business is or how big or
small your house is or how much you know about sports or
anything that you invest more of your time in then you do in your
relationship with God, and his people, and in sharing the gospel
with a lost and dying world!
Church lets put Christ first in everything we do! No matter how big
or small lets do all to the glory of God!
1Cor. 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do
all to the glory of God.
Ephesians 4:11-27
11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherdsc and teachers,d 12to equip the saints for the
work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we
all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to mature manhood,e to the measure of the

stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so 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. 15Rather, speaking the truth
in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the
head, into Christ, 16from 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.
17Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no
longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due
to their hardness of heart. 19They have become callous and
have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice
every kind of impurity. 20But that is not the way you learned
Christ!— 21assuming that you have heard about him and
were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22to put off your
old self,f

which belongs to your former manner of life and is
corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the
spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created
after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of
you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members
one of another. 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun
go down on your anger, 27and give no opportunity to the
devil.