A Vision of the Ecclesia

Ephesians 5:18-20 (NIV) -

Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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RECAP:

- Almost all of Paul's letters were addressed to the church as a Body, not to individuals.

- The Christian life can only be truly lived when it is lived as a member of the Body - God's community, the ecclesia.

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In April, I felt like I got swept off my feet spiritually and each time I've tried to get back up since, I've been knocked down again. I couldn't figure out why I was finding it so hard, even though other people had told me and I'd even named the cause myself - the truth just hadn't penetrated any further than my thoughts. But on Sunday night, a combination of books, conversations, reflections, and the still small voice inside culminated in a deep revelation from God: suddenly, I could face reality and see what I was missing.

I'm going to share with you what I wrote on Sunday night, in the hopes that as you read it, God will rekindle in each of you a vision for what the ecclesia, God's community, can look like in its truest expression. Not everything I say here is how it has to look, and I am sure that I've missed plenty of ways it can be expressed, but this is the vision that I have had, and one that I pray we could live in.

"I know exactly what I'm missing - the ecclesia. I am missing the joy of having my brothers and sisters in Christ filling my home every night so that, together, we might praise the One who made us and saved us by his grace.

I am missing the spiritual fervour that comes from spending hours in the living room or wandering around the city, praying over each other and making bold declarations of faith over the people, buildings, power, and principalities of our nation, prayers that will shake the heavens and earth.

I am missing the ecstasy that is lifting songs of praise and thanksgiving to our Father with one loud, unshakeable voice late into the night, not caring in the slightest if we're off-key or if our throats are raw from shouting to him.

I am missing the edification of hearing my brothers and sisters share the testimonies of how God has been moving throughout their day and their week, and being able to join with them in rejoicing for their blessings and sufferings alike.

I am missing the healing balm that is watching God work deeply in someone's heart and spirit, truly revealing to them how much he loves them and how much he's done for them, whether for the first time or for the thousandth, and watching them respond to that call of grace with gratitude, with tears, and with a resounding, 'Yes, Lord!' that echoes throughout heaven, hell, and my own heart in such a way that I cannot help but take up the call for myself as well!

What I am missing is this grace that is second only to the cross - the ecclesia, the true expression of the church and indeed the Christian walk."

May God bless you and lead you into deeper grace today. May he give you a revelation of his love, his grace, and his Body unlike anything you've known before. And may you learn to be still, so that you can watch in awe and wonder as God fights on your behalf the battles that you never could have won yourself.