God’s Eternal Church

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled, God's Eternal Church, was written by Patricia Rabin. Is church over? asked a young mother arriving at our church with two children in tow just as the Sunday service was ending. But a greeter told her that a church nearby offered two Sunday services and the second would start soon. Would she like a ride there? The young mother said yes and seemed grateful to travel the few blocks to the other church. Reflecting later, the greeter came to this conclusion. Is church over?

Never. God's church goes on forever. The church isn't a fragile building. It's the faithful family of God who are members of His household, wrote Paul in Ephesians chapter 2, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. Jesus Himself established His church for eternity. He declared that despite challenges or troubles facing His church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Through this empowering lens, we can see our local churches, all of us, as a part of God's universal church being built in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 14 through 22. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body, to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. Let's pray. Father, thank you for making us a part of your church. Help each of us to look beyond our idea that a church is made from bricks and mortar and see it as the body of Christ that you have assembled for your glory. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.