Scripture: Ephesians 2:18-19
We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit. So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household.
Thought for the Day: Today, and for the next couple of days, I will focus on some words from the second chapter of Ephesians. I used these words in our prayer gatherings earlier this week, and I invited the participants to keep these words before them. Most notably for me are the very illustrative words – access and strangers/aliens. Ephesus was a true cosmopolitan city – a port for international goods. For that reason, there was a rich diversity of people who must have felt like strangers and aliens. In Ephesus, there were many temples and religious gatherings, but outside of a few nationalistic Emperor cults, a majority of these were tied to trade or ethnic groups. So you can understand the power of Paul’s words when he said to those who felt like strangers and aliens, “You are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household.” You didn’t need to be a citizen of Rome, a member of a specific trade group or even share a common ethnicity. The message of God’s grace and love stretched well beyond all the divisions used to divide the human family. This gracious and loving act provided full access to God. In our current Post-Flood situation, I believe there are many people who are feeling like strangers and aliens. Maybe it has been decades since they were in church, and though they feel a longing, there is the perception that they won’t be welcomed. Or maybe the flooding has forced a dramatic change in life and life circumstance, and they have been cutoff from their traditional communities of support. Whatever the case, we need to echo Paul’s words. At Cypress Creek Christian Church, we are striving to put love first in all things because of a God who first loved us, and revealed that love in Jesus Christ. In our vision and mission, we are stating that all of us were once strangers and aliens, but by the love seen in Jesus, we all have full access to the household of God.
Prayer: Our humanity finds fullness of life in the experience of belonging. For all who feel as if they are strangers and aliens, provide for us a clear way of communicating your message, O Lord…a message of true welcome and belonging. Amen.
IMPORTANT –
The Women’s Gathering will NOT be meeting
this Saturday, November 18,
because of the Dickens Market.
pastorfrogge 