The sign of the Cross is upon us, that we should be unashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and continue Christ’s faithful soldiers and servants even to the end of our lives. But there’s so much to guard, so much to buttress, so much to combat, day in and day out. Heckled by heresy, grieved by schism, but also uneasy about a thousand things within the Church, I know I cannot but write, but I also cannot see how I can go on. I hope not to sow empty seeds; I hope that the tender hands of those into which I sow will also pour wine upon my dry lips.

Perhaps I have a thorn in my side to keep me from hubris (cf. 2 Cor 12.7–10), but love suffers all the same.

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

I like how this verse tells us to be “on the alert” for prayer requests, essentially. I think we tend to view prayer requests as things that are dealt with a few times when experiences of troubles are volunteered in BCS, and not much more.

The reason why I like this passage is that it encourages us to have a more active role in ministering to others in prayer. It’s not just praying for people who happen to share in BCS or come to prayer meeting, but much more than that. I have a prayer list, and try to update it regularly. I encourage everyone to do the same. Prayer requests and brethren in need are things we should watch for more vigilantly and follow up on them with more perseverance. I will be the first to admit that I’ve taken prayer requests before and forgotten about them or not ended up praying for them for whatever bad excuse, but keeping a prayer list helps guard against this. It serves as a reminder of those requests and people who slip your radar now and then.

There are many practical things we can do to have a more active and effective personal prayer ministry, but keeping a prayer list (and an up to date one!) is a quick and practical way to get some results. So I encourage you all to do so if you do not already.

Check out Ephesians 4:1-6. In 4:1, Paul exhorts us to walk worthy of the calling “to which we have been called”. Hopefully we’ve all been learning about how God has called us out of sin into life (and if not, go re-read the first three chapters of Ephesians and look for this). Ok, great, but what does it mean to walk worthy and how do we do it? Paul lists out a bunch of things in 4:2-3: humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, and unity in the Spirit.

Notice these are all interpersonal things, about how we should act towards one another. And this is a great link to our theme of “one for all and all for One” and the emphasis on what Christian community should look like. These qualities are all things that should be present in our fellowship. So we should check ourselves: how are we doing on each of these categories, and where can we improve? How can we take practical, real steps in building the strength and unity of our community?

Humility: demonstrate it by serving one another, whether in an official role in fellowship, or in a less formal (but still very important!) way. If you just come to fellowship seeking to get your needs met, perhaps you should check yourself for self-centeredness.

Gentleness: as opposed to being hard on one another, especially in restoration for sin (see Galatians 6:1). If someone came to you with a sin to confess or a burden that they need prayer for, how would you respond?

Patience: literally longsuffering. Are we quick to judge people in the fellowship because of a minor fault? Are we willing to forgive people when they wrong us, sacrifice for them and walk with them on the long road of becoming more Christlike?

Tolerance for one another: some of us will have our differences, but they should not be insurmountable with Christ’s help. Do you have conflict with people in the fellowship that you let remain unresolved? Also related to patience, see above.

Unity in the Spirit: note, that’s “in the Spirit”. That’s the only way we get unity. Look down to 4:4-6. Let us be all for One, and that is Christ.

He writes to the Ephesians, saying that they should not be discouraged, just as he is not, at his imprisonment and other things he has suffered. He says not to lose heart because the sufferings he endures are for their behalf and for their glory.

As someone who’s served for several years in Crossroads, there have inevitably been times where I’ve had to make a small sacrifice for the ministry. I’ve had to adjust my schedule, stay up late studying, or cut other things out of my day in order to fulfill my duties at Crossroads. And there have been times where I have resented that. Times when I wished I weren’t serving as much so I could go and do what I wanted to do, or take it easier. But consider Paul. By the time of the writing of this letter, he’d been through so much more than I have been, and probably more than I will ever face. See 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 for a partial list of Paul’s trials throughout his ministry. It’s pretty staggering. And through it all, he was so much more content, so much happier in his situation than I was in my minor inconveniences, because he wasn’t serving just to get check boxes filled and events dead and done with. He was serving for the spiritual growth and salvation of all the Gentiles. Many times, I’ve lost sight of that fact.

There may be times where serving one another may involve inconvenience or sacrifice. But anything we face today will surely pale in comparison to what Paul had to go through. Ask yourself: do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ enough to be able to do this? How much are you willing to sacrifice? Why do you feel the way that you do? It is my hope and prayer that as we continue to think about being one for all and all for One this semester that we will be able to excel in our Christ-like, self-sacrificial love for one another.

But practically, what does this mean? Well, yes, it increases our thanksgiving and love for God when we are reminded of what He has done for us. But how often do we take advantage of this change? One of the biggest ways that we can do this is through prayer. That is our direct line to God, where we do the calling on Him. How many of us go through a day and don’t pray at all? How often do we do that? Prayer should also be an act of worship and thanksgiving, because it is only because of Christ’s death that we have this ability. If you don’t like praying, or don’t think it’s important, I challenge you to think what message that conveys. It’s like saying that even though Christ’s death has brought us to the point where we can pray openly and directly to God at any time, you’d have been just as happy without that happening. Hmm…

Now, I’m not accusing anyone of actively believing that Christ’s death did nothing. I just want to challenge you all who read this to take (perhaps yet another) look at what Christ has done and have that make a change in your lives.

I doubt that this issue will be resolved soon, if ever for me. Having a place in heaven is awesome, coming from my perspective. For me, the “no longer strangers and aliens” part really, really rings true. Before really finding out what Christ’s sacrifice means, I did feel like a wanderer, or at least someone who wasn’t wanted much of anywhere in the world. When Paul talks about the previous state of the Gentiles and them being ostracized and excluded, I think I get a very small picture of what that would have been like by looking at my little identity crisis.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

—Ephesians 5:18-19

Happy Blogging

P.S. Behind on ABCs? Lost those pesky sheets? The past ABCs have been posted for your convenience.