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Our Senior Pastor welcomes you to our weekly Friday Blessings update! In This IssueBuilding in the Name of Christ This Sunday ... VBS Children Singing at 10:15 Community of Joy Service 40th Anniversary Reception for Pastor Reents & Karyl 9-10 AM and 11:15 AM to Noon. Preaching Pastor Elyse is preaching at all services this weekend.
Traditional Services are held in the Sanctuary. All other services are in the Parish Life Center. For More Information St. John's Website |
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BUILDING IN THE NAME OF CHRIST This weekend the New Testament Lesson comes from Ephesians 2:11-22. In verse 14 we read about the removal of the dividing walls of hostility. God comes to us in Christ, and our challenge is always to remain "in Christ." By building up the church in God's way, we literally "dwell in Christ." In verse 19 we read about the walls and divisions that exist. These walls of hostility exist between Jews and Gentiles, within families, between nations, between ethnic and cultural groups, between rival political factions, between the rich and the poor, between races and social classes. In our world today, we don't have to work at creating divisions and separations. They are all around us. But, in Christ, we have the opportunity to see life and the world from a different perspective. We can break down the walls that divide us, when we are "in Christ." The two images that we read in Ephesians 2 are both vivid and impacting. Ephesians reminds us that as Christians, we are "members of the household of God" and we are a "holy temple in the Lord." The image of building and construction is key in understanding the deeper meaning of this letter. I can't
help but reflect on the building that is going on here at St. John's
in our A Church
Alive! project . . . the extensive work on our
newly remodeled Fellowship Hall and preschool area . . . the new
addition of our Junior and Senior High Ministry areas and our new
nursery and classrooms . . . the remodeling of the new adult
education classrooms. I am also reminded about the new school
being built in
PRAYER: O God, powerful and
compassionate, you give us great opportunities for building up your
body, the church. You give us skills at construction and building.
You provide us with resources and strengths to build up one another
in faith. Help us to continue to remove the walls that divide us
from one another and to create community and connection in the name
of Jesus. As we focus on what brings us together, we forget
about the dividing walls of hostility. May we always embody Christ's
spirit in our relationships with others.
The Reverend
Knight Wells
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