5th
Why church?
Church is a wonderful thing. Last Sunday we began a series from Ephesians, by looking at chapter 1. The great point that came through to me was the fact that the church is not some sort of by-product to come out of salvation, but rather something that God had always planned for His people.
Paul tells the Ephesians that he prays for them to be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He wants them to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to have a deep and growing understanding of what it means for them to be a saved community of believers. And he also wants them to experience the real power of God. He does this by first setting up what it means for them to be Christian, that God has chosen them to be a people who can freely glorify Him, saving them from their sinfulness through the gospel of Jesus.
The situation has not changed for us today. We, the church, have had “made known to us the mystery of his will.” We are to be a community that brings glory to God, a loving family that cares for one another, as we reach out to the world, calling all people to come and give to God the glory that he deserves. We should never relax back in our pews, but should be leaning forward, expecting the Holy Spirit to work amongst us, as part of “his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
