A Church Like the One Paul Planted

Thank You
A big thank you to Nathan Schaffer for his message yesterday - it was phenomenal.  But then I expected no less. I love learning from others, and I learned a lot from Nathan's formulation and illustrations!

Love, Humility, and Unity
Nathan spoke about three necessities for a church to both remain alive and to thrive: Love, Humility, and Unity.  

This week I found myself spending a lot of time thinking about what kind of church the Apostle Paul was actually trying to build. It was certainly not the kind with a denominational branding, a marketing strategy, or even a permanent building—but the kind born in living rooms, formed under pressure, and held together by something much deeper than preference.

Now, we might think that kind of church is easy to bring together.  It is not. And this explains why Paul writes letter after letter to all the churches he planted - to encourage them and redirect them - or, in the case of Ephesians, to give all of us a guidebook of sorts for how to conduct ourselves.

It’s easy to romanticize the early church, but we have to remember something important: when Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus, he talked about a “mystery” that had finally been revealed. So what was that "mystery "?  

He tells us in Ephesians 3:6 - that through the gospel, Gentiles are “heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

What strikes me every time I read that verse is how many times he uses the word “together.” Heirs together. Members together. Sharers together.

That might not sound radical to us at first glance, but (and as Nathan said) in Paul’s world it was shocking. Jews and Gentiles did not mix easily. They had different histories, different customs, and long-standing suspicion toward one another. There were cultural, religious, and personal walls.

Paul says that in Christ, those walls have come down. They are no more!

Not because everyone suddenly became the same, but because Jesus created one new family.

And doesn't that vision still challenge us today?

It’s surprisingly easy for churches to form around shared tastes, shared backgrounds, or shared opinions. Don't we gravitate toward people who think as we do and worship as we do? We can begin to confuse comfort as unity.

But over time, this kind of thinking ultimately leads to reduction through exclusion.  This is when a church stops growing and begins to shrink (due to death or relocation). It is fair to say the "unity" became just "uni" - meaning one way to think, worship, or see the world. But when unity becomes “uni,” the body of Christ starts to shrink instead of stretch.

Biblical unity is deeper than comfort. It is rooted in grace.

Later in chapter three, Paul describes God’s wisdom as “manifold,” which literally means many-colored or richly varied. I love that image. God’s wisdom is not flat or monochrome; it’s layered and textured. The beauty of the church is not that everyone looks identical, but that very different people are held together by Christ.

(Wow - for some reason my mind just flashed with Joseph's many-colored coat - hmm was that foreshadowing by God?)

Back to the word "Manifold"....  Where “uni” narrows things down to one lane, “manifold” opens it up and multiplies the beauty.

And that only works if we truly understand grace.

None of us earned a place at the table. None of us showed up with a perfect record or flawless theology. We are here because God, in His mercy, invited us in. Paul reminds us that through Christ we can approach God “with freedom and confidence.”

That means no one in the room is second-class. No one has a smaller portion of grace. We all stand on the same ground at the foot of the cross.

When that truth sinks in, it changes how we treat one another. It softens our tone. It widens our welcome. It reminds us that the church does not belong to a personality or a preference—it belongs to Jesus.

Paul ends this section with that beautiful doxology we all love: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”

I don’t think that was sentimental language. I think he meant it. He knows God can do far more than this small, struggling, diverse group of believers could ever envision for themselves.

And maybe that’s the encouragement we need as well. The strength of a church has never been in its size, its polish, or its cultural influence. It has always been in the Spirit of God working within ordinary people who are willing to sit at the same table and call one another family.

So perhaps the question for us this week isn’t complicated. Are we living like one family in Christ? Are we making room at the table? Are we choosing unity even when it stretches us?

If the answer is yes—even imperfectly—then I believe God is not finished with us yet. In fact, He may be preparing to do more than we can currently see or imagine.

That’s the kind of church Paul planted. And by God’s grace, that’s the kind of church we can continue becoming.

Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for inviting us into one family through Jesus.
Teach us to love deeply, to welcome generously, and to live in unity that reflects Your heart.
Continue Your work in us and through us, and do more than we could ever imagine.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.