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The Gift of the Church

Ephesians 3:2-11

• God’s intent was that now

, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.
• God’s wisdom in all its rich variety is

through the church.
• It’s made known to the

and

in the heavenly realms.
• When the church is being

to her

to worship Jesus, advance the kingdom, and represent Him to the world, the manifold wisdom of God is on display.

Ephesians 2:11-22

• Not only is Jesus the new temple of God, but by extension so is

.
• And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which

by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).
• God is still working by the principle of

through His church.
• The church now incarnates the

of Jesus.

Ephesians 1:22-23

• The church is Christ’s

.
• Only the body can express the

of Christ.
• It takes the whole

to do the whole

of Jesus.
• Romans 12:4b (The Message) Each part gets its meaning from the body as a

, not the other way around.

You are called not so much to do great things, as to be a great person–and that person is Jesus Christ. The church of Jesus Christ is the resident presence of Jesus in the world. That’s a foundational principle of incarnational Christianity. Incarnational Christianity doesn’t aim to get people to God; it brings Jesus to them.

As God’s redeemed people, filled with his Spirit, we are people of destiny, purposely placed by God deep inside our culture. We have been strategically deployed into a hungry world to bring the presence of Jesus into the very heart of society. We are his points of incarnational penetration, his strategic presence in the world. —Jerry Cook

• God’s secret plan is His church

the presence of Jesus in our worship and our world.