“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” Ephesians 2:19-21

St. Paul describes the Church to the Ephesians as a building, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. The people of God are “joined together” by God and grow together through and in Christ. God’s design for His people is that we are in relationship with others. Like marriage, the joining together of people is God’s action, not our own. Jesus Christ is the source of our reconciliation with the Father and our unity with one another.

Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. While those words are spoken by our Lord in the context of marriage, they are also beneficial for our consideration for our life together as the people of God. We live in a conflicted culture where people are divided on so many fronts and those divisions are flaunted on so-called social media. God’s design is for Christians to be a people who are united in Christ and part of a community of believers. Our prayer is that in our life together we celebrate that unity within our congregations and between our congregations.

Since Christ is our cornerstone and since our congregations hold to the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the unity that we have is a great blessing. May we be preserved from error and from division by conflict and remain faithful to God’s Word so that we may not be a people separated, but joined together by God in our congregations, in our circuits, in our district and Synod!

Prayer – Almighty God, by Your Holy Spirit, You have joined us together in Christ. Continue to preserve the unity that we share and keep us from all error; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Fraternally in Christ,
President Lee Hagan