Pastor’s Column 10/5/2025

PASTOR’S COLUMN

19 “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s  family. 20 Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.  22 Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.”

Ephesians 2:19-22,NLT

“Becoming More Than What We Are!”

Jesus came to free us from whatever has entangled us in our past. He has come to transform us into the person we are predestined to become. Through our faith in Jesus as Lord, we are living in a present moment; yet every moment is evolving into something newer and better each day. Although rapidly aging, this was the Apostle Paul’s point when, to fellow Christians, he said: “That is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are renewed every day.” (2 Corintihians4:16, NLT). It is important to know that our life in Christ is one in which we are never quite the same as we continue in obedience and faith. When Paul addressed the Christians in Ephesus and abutting towns in that region, the church was going through a dramatic shift. An increasing number of non-Jewish Christians had come into the church. Persons born outside of  a Jewish heritage were called Gentiles in ancient times. Paul saw this as  the fulfillment of Christ’s mission to have His message shared in the world with  all people groups. The new believers were the necessary change that caused the church and Christ’s mission to be both compelling and visible . One house, or building, of believers united in Christ was/is a powerful symbol of unity and oneness in a fragmented world. This is why the Apostle John boldly said: “Dear friends, we are already  God’s children, but it  hasn’t yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears, but we do know that we will be like Him, for  we will see Him as He really is,” (1 John 3:2, NLT). We all will become more than what we now are!