Ephesians 4:12,13

The purpose of the ministries is to prepare the church for works of service. As Paul said in 2:10, God prepared works for us to do, now we need to be prepared to do this work. The purpose of the ministries is definitely not self aggrandisement, it is not about "my ministry", it is about the church, about building up the body of Christ.

This work will only finish when we all reach unity in the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God. The goal is that all should know the Son of God. We are all to become mature and attain to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Paul's goals are absolutely amazing, and he cannot be accused of lacking ambition for the church. Too often we are prepared to settle for too low a level for the church, or for individuals in the church, or for ourselves for that matter. Paul clearly thinks it is possible for any of us to attain to the full measure of Christ. That is the goal we should have for ourselves. It is also the goal we should have for members of our family, and any Christians we have pastoral responsibility for. For not only is this the goal that God has for us, He has the power to achieve it. We need to have a big vision.