Letters to the Church

1 Corinthians 14:26 (NLT) - Well, my brothers and sisters, let's summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.

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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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Philippians 2:1-2 (NIV) - Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

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Romans 6:1-3 (NLT) - Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?

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Colossians 3:12 (NIV) - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

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1 Thessalonians 4:1 (NLT) - Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.

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This is something that I know I won't be able to fit in one post, so I'm not going to try to. But for now, there is one point that I would like to make that will hopefully shape how whichever of you decide to will read the next few posts I make.

The point is this: every single time that Paul wrote a letter that didn't have someone's name on it specifically (so, all but Timothy, Titus, and Philemon), Paul was writing to the entire church body.

I'll talk more about this in the coming days, but essentially, Paul is telling us that the only way to live as Christians, is to live as a connected, integrated part of the Body of Christ. Community with the church, with the ecclesia, is more than just something that helps us get by. It is an absolute necessity.

That's all I'll say for now. But God has been shaping some big things in me, through individual time with him and through the community he has placed around me. I believe he has something he wants to say to us, his church, in this season. I look forward to sharing more of it with you, even as I learn it more fully myself.