Our Calling
- 1st minute of the Bible Project video on Ephesians
- Want to begin by focusing on the “therefore” verse
- “As a prisoner for the Lord, therefore, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
- For the Ephesians – God called them out of darkness into light, reconciled Jew and Gentile through the cross of Jesus Christ, in order to live for the praise of God’s glory.
- That’s true for us too
- For us, we’re a part of a worldwide movement of the Holy Spirit – ecumenical, charismatic communities. The Sword of the Spirit (also including Amy Coney Barrett’s community, the People of Praise + many others)
- We believe we’ve received a calling to form communities of disciples on mission
- To witness to the power of the Spirit
- To model Christian unity
- To help build and serve the church (which in the West is facing a very powerful culture increasingly opposed to Jesus)
- Who are we? We are a community of disciples on mission to witness to the power of the Spirit, model Christian unity, and serve the church.
- We can’t form a cohesive, strong community without a common way of life, expressed in our covenant (not going to go into detail but broad strokes…)
- We believe we’ve received a calling to form communities of disciples on mission
Our Covenant
- Upward dimension
- Eph 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
- Christ dwelling in our hearts through prayer, Scripture, seeking the gifts, coming to prayer meeting
- Note the communal description: together with all the Lord’s holy people
- Inward dimension
- Eph 3:15 Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
- Growing in maturity, repenting, loving one another
- Again, note the body imagery
- Outward dimension
- Eph 3:8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
- Manifesting God’s wisdom to the world
- Created to do good works (Eph 2:10) (evangelism, serving the poor)
Our Clarity
- What was Jesus’ new command?
- As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
- What’s an adjective that can describe how Jesus loves us?
- Joyfully (Julian of Norwich)
- Jesus gave himself to us (Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her)
- CS Lewis said “Nothing you have not given away will ever really be yours”
- As disciples, we know that to be true don’t we?
- Let’s give ourselves away, first to Jesus, and to each other.
- CS Lewis said “Nothing you have not given away will ever really be yours”
- This is the clarity of community life. Giving ourselves to God and to one another. I think that manifests God’s wisdom to the world.
- I encourage you to seek God about the clarity of your calling to this community.