Having finally finished preaching through the book of James, our church has just begun a teaching series on Church membership. This morning was spent in Ephesians 2, exploring membership in the church invisible: a membership which can’t be bought or earned, but can only be brought about by grace through our union with Christ.
But membership in the eternal, heavenly church must find local expression – it is incongruous to claim membership in God’s church, while removing ourselves from the church in the world – even if the church may at times frustrate us.
I was challenged this morning to have my intentions for my life and for our church tied ever more tightly to God’s intentions for the church. Pete reminded us of that phenomenal verse in Ephesians 3:10 -
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
God’s intention is to use the church to make his wisdom known to a realm that we are not even aware of, but in which we play an active role with our every thought, word and deed. As his grace finds expression in the lives of individuals in our church, as his Spirit works to change us to be more like Jesus, we declare the wisdom of God to an audience beyond what we can see and touch.
I think it’s going to be a cracker of a series.