Verse of the Day - Ephesians 4:3

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
~ Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)

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Our church has gone through some rather significant changes recently...good changes, but changes nonetheless. And with change comes challenges. Challenges to keep Christ the focus, challenges to remain kind and loving when time and resources get stretched, challenges to "keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Perhaps your church has gone through this, too.

If we're not careful, we can lose that unity.

With three back-to-back services now on a Sunday morning with only 15 minutes in between, there's not a lot of time to transition the stage -- it's unfortunate, but everything revolves around the clock. And if one service runs a few minutes late, that makes things very tight for the next crew to do what they need to do. And it's easy to get in a "zone" and forget to keep the unity of the Spirit. This happened at our church a couple of weeks ago, and it was distressing. Feathers were ruffled, and some grumbling ensued. What I love about the local church body that I'm a part of now is that the issue was recognized and discussed with those that needed to hear. Additionally, those who'd been ruffled were exhorted to be examples of peacekeeping. This past Sunday, when the services transitioned, we kept "the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." There were smiles and conversation, encouragement and hugs. It was a BEAUTIFUL THING!

It's easy to allow grumbling and complaining and bitterness and resentment to enter into our spirits and cause wicked shock waves through a church body. I pray that you can be a torchbearer of peace in your church fellowship, and lovingly help others nip disharmony in the bud. Unity in Christ's body is so glorifying to God, and isn't that our reason for existence? Amen, and amen.

Love,
Joelene