God’s Dwelling Place
Dear Friends,
This week I want to reflect on our congregational study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. I hope many of you are finding the devotional guide helpful as you read and pray your way through this powerful letter. Printed copies are still available at the church, and a digital version can be found on our website—just click the link on the front page.
My hope is not only that we are reading Ephesians individually, but that we are engaging it together in community. I am grateful for the many Bible study groups already meeting throughout our congregation. If you are not currently part of a group, you are warmly invited to join one of the three groups that meet on Thursdays.
For early risers, a group gathers at 6:30 a.m. at Coffee Daze, just east of Hillside on Douglas. There is also an online group that meets from noon to 1:00 p.m.; the Zoom link is included in our Friday e-news. In the evening, a group meets at 7:00 p.m. in the parlor at the church. Wherever and however you join, you are welcome.
In the second chapter of Ephesians, Paul proclaims that God’s rich mercy and boundless love have “made us alive together with Christ.” In one of our study groups, someone asked a wonderful question: does this mean we are alive together, or alive with Christ? I believe the answer is both.
Paul echoes Jesus’ assurance that new life is found in Christ, a promise repeated throughout his letters. Yet being made alive together also points to something more. It points to our experience of Christ in community. Jesus promises that where two or three are gathered in Christ’s name, Christ is present among them. Paul goes even further, claiming that the church, with Christ as its cornerstone, is being built into a holy dwelling place for God.
This was an audacious claim for a small, diverse community living in the shadow of the great Temple of Artemis. Yet Paul insists that God does not dwell in stone, but in people. God is alive in our midst when we live together as one—when we care and share, forgive and show grace, and practice compassion, mercy, and justice. We are nurtured by the Spirit who has broken down the dividing walls between us.
My prayer for you, and for our church, is that we may continue to serve as that holy dwelling place. As we work and play, as we sing and pray, may we experience God’s living presence among us—and bear witness to that presence in a world that longs for unity and hope.
See you in church!
Grace and peace,
Kevin
