Seeking the Fullness of Christ

So Christ himself gave  the apostles,  the prophets,  the evangelists,  the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ  may be built up until we all reach unity  in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God  and become mature,  attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13

Ephesians 4:11-13 has been a foundational passage for me as an evangelist, for obvious reasons. As evangelists, we receive our calling from Christ Himself. The definition of an evangelist is one who proclaims. But the calling of the evangelist is not only to proclaim the Good News, but also to equip God’s people for service. That’s a bit more difficult. God wants us, as evangelists, to be involved in the body of Christ, working with, through, and for the local church. Always with a strategic focus on furthering unity.

For the LPA team, that means our festivals are a joint effort, not just me or Dad in front of a crowd sharing about God’s redemptive gift in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We do so through collaborating with local believers in training, serving, equipping, and mobilizing the body of Christ. Collaboration is a core value of NGA, and as you continue in ministry, I pray you see the value not only of collaborating with local believers, but also with fellow NGA members, in order to exponentially increase Gospel impact.

We are called to work together “until we reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God” (Ephesians 4:13). In John 17 we hear the deep and passionate cry of Jesus Himself: “that they would be one as we are one.” And, in Psalm 133 we see “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” For it is there that God will pour out His blessings, “even life ever more.”

It was a blessing to see these promises fulfilled at Fresno CityFest in April, and now as we prepare to take the Good News to Côte d’Ivoire in Africa. It’s also what excites me for what we have in store as a ministry team in the days ahead, and what we pray for you, our NGA family, as you persevere in your evangelistic ministries—proclaiming the Gospel, preparing God’s people, dwelling together, enhancing unity wherever you go, and bringing people to a new and deeper understanding of God’s love for us all.

About the Author Andrew Palau

For more than 24 years Andrew Palau has played a key role in the ministry of the Luis Palau Association. He has been instrumental in building the LPA model for citywide outreach as an evangelist, director, and key team leader. He has guided campaigns, led church relations efforts, trained thousands of believers in friendship evangelism, and proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ in person to hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world through evangelistic campaigns.He and his wife Wendy have three children, Christopher, Jonathan, and Sadie Anne. They live in Portland, Oregon.

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