The Light of the World, Part 2Sample

Q: What is the church?

A: The church is a family of believers united in Christ and expressed in many local congregations.

Many of us hear the word “church” and immediately think of a building. But the church isn’t a place. It’s a people: the people of God.

Throughout biblical history, the nation of Israel was God’s special people through whom he chose to work out his salvation plan in the world. They were to be “set apart” from the other nations – but that “otherness” sometimes led to hostility between them and other ethnic groups. The New Testament refers to these non-Jewish ethnic groups as “Gentiles.” Jews and Gentiles clashed over differences in culture, beliefs, and practice. But in this passage, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus to say something revolutionary: Christ, through his death, broke down the wall dividing Jews from Gentiles and brought them together into the united family of God.

The church is this family: a multigenerational, multiethnic family united in all our beautiful diversity around the Good News of Jesus. In a world where people are often divided by race, ethnicity, and nationality, the church lives as a witness to the peace Christ promised to bring to the earth.

Read: Ephesians 2:14-22

Reflection Questions:

1. Think about the divisions we see in our culture regarding race, class, politics, and more. In what ways does God call the church to be different? Have you experienced this at your church? Why or why not?
2. In what ways can you jump in and be part of your church family? Pray about how God might want to use you to serve and love others in your local church. Ask God to use you and your church to show the world what life with Jesus can be like.