“…And He (Christ) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints in the work of ministry to build up the Body of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:11-12
Greetings in Christ,
Last evening, during our Midweek Cafe, I shared a summary of last week’s sermon to encourage our life groups in their small group time to follow. In the summary, I told the story of a mission team I led to Brazil to build a church building near San Paulo. The project involved an opportunity I had to lay block for the front wall of the church, some 25 courses high. A friend and I worked diligently on this endeavor (well, as diligent as one could while carrying on conversation). We were close to the completion of our wall when the foreman and the pastor of the church looked at our wall and said something in Portuguese. We smiled and waved as if to say to our observers, “yes, we know the wall looks great.” It was then that the pastor laughed and made a wavy motion with his hand while pointing at the wall. We quickly concluded that our wall was a bit crooked. In fact, after tearing down almost half of the courses we had just built, we soon got the idea: you can’t just plop a block down and call it a building; the block has to be placed strategically. Thankfully, there is now a very straight wall on the front of Igreja Batista Freguesia.
When I read I Peter 2:5, I celebrate that the Holy Scriptures reference the follower of Christ as a living stone in the house of God. Much like the lesson I learned in Brazil, the living stones are not just “plopped” together and called a church; we are called together as a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ. The living church exists because of what Jesus has accomplished in the life of every member of His church.
This Sunday, we will journey from the second chapter of Ephesians (last week’s sermon) to the fourth, and we will discover the deep truths of being equipped as a member and a minister of God’s household. While there are ministry professionals, each member of the church has been strategically placed in the kingdom of Christ as a minister on behalf of Christ in the church and to the world.
Come this Sunday and celebrate being a community of faith. And, if you are reading this and feel disconnected from God or His Church, please join us. You will be surprised at how quickly you will feel connected in the love of Christ.
I look forward to seeing you this Sunday, ~ Pastor Ken