Is church essential? We’re going to deal with that question.

The passage today addresses directly the word to the Ephesian elders and so it directly addresses the pastors and elders in the church today.

We’ll see that the elders are to watch over the church as shepherds in such a way that the church is built up until the return of Christ.

Church leaders will be challenged with the importance of their calling and the importance of their work.

We will all be challenged to see the church rightly and place proper value on the church—the value God places on it.

It’s ironic that those who are the church—the people, not the building; the church is the people of God—struggle to properly value the thing we are a part of.

~~~