No Longer Strangers

Written By Donna Schultz
Featured
Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart
No Longer Strangers
Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart
No Longer Strangers

The journey of faith calls for us to be intentional about our time and how we live. The writer of Ephesians emphasizes realization of this kind of focus through regular worship, thanksgiving celebrated at the Lord’s Table, prayer, study, and service to our neighbors. The challenges of this time are the many other voices clamoring for our attention while promising easy solutions. It is easy to feel off-balance and like we are stumbling. But being in sync with God aids us in getting back on the path of love that God shows us in Jesus.

No Longer Strangers
Be Reconciled
No Longer Strangers
Be Reconciled
No Longer Strangers

In our baptism, we are reconciled to God. We are claimed, adopted, and adored as a child of God. This moment is one of dying to the old ways of living and rising in resurrection to a new way of life. This dying is a letting go of all that stands in our way of imitating God’s love. This change is difficult though because our culture and society teach us that the purpose of life is not to let go but to obtain. When we can begin to distinguish between these two competing paths, then we can decide which we will follow.

No Longer Strangers
All Tied Together
No Longer Strangers
All Tied Together
No Longer Strangers

Whether it is between partners, parents and children, friends, or neighbors, we don’t like difficult conversations. Sometimes, though, we do have to have difficult conversations with those we love and for whom we care. Such moments should always be marked by love - seeking the whole wellbeing of others. The writer of Ephesians emphasizes this point particularly around the topic of unity and describes embracing unity as a mark of having a mature faith. With our emphasis on the individual and individual desires and rights, we struggle to talk about what it means to be a part of something larger than us; and, not just as an individual component of the larger thing but as an integral element of the whole. The author’s use of the one body image with Christ as the head works to make this clear and offer us a more wholistic understanding of this unity.

No Longer Strangers
The Power of God's Love
No Longer Strangers
The Power of God's Love
No Longer Strangers

We hear Ephesian writer’s prayer for the congregation. The prayer is for inner strength through the gift of the Holy Spirit, that Christ may dwell in our community so that love will be tangible in people’s lives, for understanding of the nature of God’s love so that it may be shared and tangible, and that the community would continue to grow towards Christ. It is challenging to take this path at times though because it means our routines and practices will change living with Christ. The prayer is answered in God’s ongoing activity of love that God has intended from before time and beyond time.

No Longer Strangers
Crossing Boundaries
No Longer Strangers
Crossing Boundaries
No Longer Strangers

God is building us into the household of God through Jesus Christ. The early church struggled with the ways in which people were divided into different groups. The Letter to the Ephesians pushes past these divisions and reminds us that in Jesus Christ God crosses these boundaries to build what God intends. We are divided in many ways today. We argue about who can be included and who cannot. God continues to cross those boundaries and move towards what God intends.

No Longer Strangers
Welcome to the Family
No Longer Strangers
Welcome to the Family
No Longer Strangers

God destines us to be loved. This divine destiny frees you to love others tenderly and generously. Our understanding of divine destiny sometimes gets in the way of understanding what God is doing. Believing we are fated for pain and hardship, feeling unworthy of any love, and imagining that these are God’s intentions, these block our ability to recognize the divine love for each and all of us. God’s intentions is for us to always know that we are loved. What would it look like if we practiced loving in this tender and generous way?

No Longer Strangers
Donna Schultz
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