Today is September 5.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you.  
 
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”   
 
Today’s reading is from the book of Ephesians, chapter 4.  
 

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, 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. 
 

Paul’s writing to the Ephesians paints a picture of a collection of Jesus-followers who are interconnected, who each know their giftings, and who hold together in their collective journey toward unity, maturity, and love. As you come to prayer today, take some time to think about how connected you are right now to the whole body of Christ?  
  
The early church was clear that corporate followership of Jesus – not individualistic spirituality – was a marker of maturity. Paul is writing to a group of people in Ephesus… not just individual Christians. Our culture is highly individualized, and more and more… a sense of belonging to the church is diminishing in the world around us. Listen to Paul’s words again, paying special attention to the fact that he wrote them to the corporate body of believers…that we are each meant to be in meaningful connection to.  
  
Here is Paul’s vision of the church: that the whole body grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. As we end our time of prayer today, what part of this statement might God be inviting you to consider more deeply in your life? Is it how you engage with ‘the whole body’? Might it have to do with how you ‘build up in love’? Or about how every part is meant to ‘do its work’? Talk to God about your relationship to His church, and listen to where He draws your attention. 
 
Music: Make Us One - Vineyard Worship: Make Us One (feat. Mike O'Brien) (Live)