The Equipping Ministry, Module 15 (The Capstone Curriculum)

The ministry of the Word of God lies at the heart of the equipping ministry. Paul tells the Ephesians that God has given the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers in order that they might equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Eph. 4.11-12). There is no precedent for seeing a church as having a single minister: truly, all believers in Christ are ministers of the grace of God, and pastors are assigned to equip them. As believers we hold to the universal priesthood of believers (1 Pet. 2.8-9), in the universal ministry of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12.1-11), and the universal functioning of the members of the body of Christ (Romans 12.3-8).

This module focuses on the role of Christian leaders to equip the saints through the ministry of preaching and teaching. We first consider the ministry of proclamation (kerygma) and then highlight dimensions of the ministry of teaching (didache). In each section, we carefully define the critical distinctiveness of the ministries respectively, noting their differences and similarities in nurturing the body of Christ. We explore both as seen in Jesus€ and the apostles€s work, and examine the elements involved in the call to preach and to teach. We pay careful attention to the role that character plays in both, and highlight the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the equipping ministries together. We close our study by providing a tried method for effective preaching and teaching, i.e., how to plan, deliver, and follow up the Word preached and taught. As communicators of the Word of God, we must first establish contact with hearers, communicate the content of the Word clearly and boldly, and make connections with the truth of the message and the lives of the audience, proclaiming all in dependence on the Holy Spirit.