“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6

American Christianity is personal and private. It’s about me and Jesus! That’s not what we find in God’s Word. The teaching of Scripture places a great emphasis on the “corporate” nature of the Christian faith. Now that is not a corporation, meaning a business environment, but that the Church is the body of Christ (corporate comes from the word corpse, meaning body). In his letter to the Church at Ephesus, St. Paul writes that God “made us alive together with Christ.” Jesus’ resurrection from the dead means that all who believe in Him are truly alive together with Jesus.

The emphasis we find in Ephesians on Christ’s saving work being for all of us is a good reminder in understanding what it means to be the Church. God’s design is for Christians is to gather together to receive God’s gifts as a community of faith. The Christian faith is not lived out in isolation (in terms of our receiving God’s gifts or even in our response). Though we were once sinners, God’s rich mercy meant that we were made alive through Christ and has given us the certain hope of the resurrection from the dead.

The assembly of believers is an acknowledgement and celebration of what Christ has done for us all. We all come in our sin and shame to receive God’s mercy, love and grace through the person and work of Jesus. Those gifts are not for you as an individual, but blessings that we share and celebrate. My prayer is that our members would see the blessing it is that we share in these gifts, but also that our congregations would actually see that they share in those same gifts with their sister congregations. What a great blessing it is when we can give thanks to God that we are saved by God’s grace and that He has made us alive together with Christ.

Prayer – Almighty God, our heavenly Father, once we were dead in our trespasses, but now we are alive together with Christ. Through Your Spirit’s work through Word and Sacrament, gather and enlighten us to be a people united in Christ Jesus. In His name. Amen.

Fraternally in Christ,
President Lee Hagan