The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:11-16 (day two) 

for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; v. 12

As I consider worship planning each week, this verse serves as a guiding principle. Worship leaders have a responsibility to the gathered body of believers they are called to shepherd. One of the great tasks in worship is to edify the saints. To build you up for the coming task you are being sent to accomplish through the work of the Spirit. Each prayer, scripture, song, and text is designed to focus the collective to one purpose. After glorifying God, building up the saints is next on the list.

This may seem surprising to some, but I believe this is what we are called to do in gathered worship. Don’t get me wrong, I feel strongly about evangelism, but I also feel that if the gathered body of believers honor the Lord with their worship, and are edified through the service it serves as a clarion call to the lost to be a part of this sweet aroma of praise. My constant prayer for you is that you leave each service equipped to go and tell.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:11-16 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Ephesians 4:11-16 in our Fall Re:Verse Series: “Ephesians: Life Together in Christ.”

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day seven)

walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. vs 1b

You, Christian, have been called by God. Isn’t that a cool thought? The Creator of the universe has called you to follow Him. He created you. He knows you by name. He knows your every thought. This God loves and calls you! He doesn’t need you to do to be obedient before He loves you, nor does He love you because of your obedience. He loves you into obedience.

Lets flesh this out. If you have answered the call, you know how good this God must be to call you out of your messy life to follow Him. When you recognize this goodness, you will walk with Him and be obedient to Him. This obedience is not out of desire to earn more credit from Him, but simply out of gratitude for what He has done for you. That is what love is. That is what love does. Love is obedient!

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day six)

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. Ephesians 4:4-6

What God was doing in the Church was revolutionary. Nowhere else on the planet could men, women, children, slaves, Jews, and Gentiles come together as equals. God created a new multi-ethnic family not defined by social class, gender, ethnicity, or even age but by Jesus.

No one had seen anything like it. Ever. Not only was the diversity of this assembly revolutionary, but more so was how they related to one another. Pride and power were exchanged for humility and gentleness. Division and control were exchanged for unity and patience. There was belonging instead of fear and autonomy. They began to live together at the speed of Jesus.

Now, that’s a revolution.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day five)  

There’s no doubt that this section of Paul’s letter is about unity. What strikes me as I have read this text, is that unity is already there. We don’t (and can’t) create it or improve it. God has called us into an already existing unity (see vs 4-6). Our task and privilege is to “keep” or “preserve” it. One of the reasons we preserve fruit is so that it will taste the same whenever it is eaten instead of spoiling or rotting. Left unattended and ignored, fruit will eventually lose its fresh flavor. Same with unity. Left unattended, unity will not look or feel fresh and Holy. The process for preserving unity requires energy and intentionality (some versions say “make every effort”). Unity is one of God’s great gifts that we are called into and entrusted to keep and preserve.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day four)

Paul asks us to be diligent in preserving unity in the church. Other translations say “…make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Unity isn’t just something we hope for or proclaim as a value. Paul says that unity is something we work for, not halfheartedly, but making every effort to keep the church unified in one Spirit, one hope, one Lord.

To be honest, I don’t know that I have made every effort to live in the unity of the Spirit with others. Not genuine unity, at least. Genuine unity doesn’t sweep tough conversations under the rug or ignore each other’s differences.  Genuine unity doesn’t settle for surface-level relationships in order to avoid disagreements. Genuine unity recognizes that while there are many things that contribute to our identity, one stands above them all – our relationship with Christ.

Your relationship with Christ is the most important thing about you. If you and another believer vote differently, live differently, speak differently and look differently, but you both proclaim Jesus as your savior, then you have the most important thing in common. While the differences between us may be significant and need to be addressed, Jesus is the firm foundation on which a unified church can be built.

As we head into an election season, and continue to live in a changing and challenging world, this Scripture must be the banner that we raise. We must make every effort to live in genuine unity in the Spirit.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day three)

“…one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Peter once asked. His experience was that he had found the one he had been looking for all his life. Here he was, and he wasn’t leaving. Now Paul scales up this devotion to encompass not only Christ, but the entire body of Christ – the church. Where else will you go if not with the church? Paul asks, in effect. Who else will you grow with, confess to, sing with, mourn with, pray with, hope with, rejoice with, live and die with if not the church?

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day two) 

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, vs. 1

Each of us has a high, holy calling. We are reminded throughout scripture of our inheritance, of our royal priesthood, and our adoption as sons and daughters of the king. This, however, is not a call to haughtiness, or exclusion. The world might expect you to assume an air of superiority as you accede to a royal position. Paul reminds us that with our new title comes the expectation of humility, mercy, and grace. The same formula that was shown to us by Jesus is the one he will use to measure us. May we never forget the state in which Jesus found us, and may that forever inform how we love and serve others.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:14-21 (day seven)

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. 

Paul is a master at language. He created a phrase here that is not found anywhere else: “exceedingly abundantly.” Even when we are filled with the fullness of God, He is at work around us in ways our brain cannot even comprehend. It goes beyond abundance! We may think our prayers are grand, but God is grander. We may think we have a good plan, but God’s plan is greater. Yet, here is the kicker, we have that exceeding abundant power at work within us! When we allow the Holy Spirit to teach our mind and mold our heart, we too will be able to do far more than we ever dreamed possible.

to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.