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God’s purpose is to build his kingdom
by joining messy people
to become unified around glorifying God
which is far greater than anything in this world

Ephesians: 2 19-22 (ESV)
so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)
and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, with each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

God’s purpose is to build his kingdom.

We don’t go to church…. We are the church.

Ephesians 2:20a(ESV)
built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets

Ephesians 2:20b (ESV)
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone

God’s Kingdom is built by joining together Christians who belong, who are citizens, who are members of a family and this Kingdom has a strong foundation in truth and it has a cornerstone in Jesus Christ.

God’s purpose is to build his kingdom
by joining messy people

Ephesians 2:21 (ESV)
in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 4:16 (ESV)
from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

James 4:7 (ESV)
submit yourselves therefore to God.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith– that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

God’s purpose is to build his kingdom
by joining messy people
to become unified around glorifying God

Ephesians 1:10 (ESV)
as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 4:3-6, 13a (NIV)
Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, One faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Romans 15:5-6 (NIV)
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 17: 20-21 (ESV)
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

When we as Christ followers are united,
when we stand together in unity of mission,
WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE , empowered by the Spirit of God.
But when we are divided, we quickly become weak and ineffective and
often even overlooked by the world.

Spirit-rooted, Christ-manifesting, truth-cherishing, humble-loving Unity is designed by God to have at least two aims: a witness to the world, and an acclamation of the glory of God… John Piper

God’s purpose is to build his kingdom
by joining messy people
to become unified around glorifying God
which is far greater than anything in this world

Ephesians 3:19b (NIV)
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 4:13b (NIV)
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

God’s purpose is to build his kingdom
by joining messy people
to become unified around glorifying God
which is far greater than anything in this world