Readings for May 15, 2011

This week I'm going to be preaching on Ephesians 1:22-23 in which Paul explains that Christ is the head of the church which is, in turn, the fullness of him who fills all in all.  It is one of those breathtakingly grandiose claims that only an Apostle could get away with.  It's a hard claim to take seriously on the face of it.  We have a hard enough time filling a small church building for two hours one day a week.  And when we're spread apart we're spread so thin.  At least that's how it feels.

And if this claim that the church is the fullness of a Christ who mysteriously fills all things gets a skeptical response from us, how must the world hear it?

But what if it's true?  What if the Christ who holds the molecules together and gives all words their meaning is pleased to be full not of angelic hosts or the power of a million blazing suns, but full of the likes of you and me?  But it's true.  It boggles my mind that the fullness of Christ would be composed of the sort of people whose minds would be boggled by the fact that they compose the fullness of Christ.

But He knows what He's doing.  And if He knows what He's doing, we know what we need to do.

Call to Repentance

Acts 17:30-31  (page 1703)

Call to Worship

Psalm 16  (page 853)

OT Reading

Psalm 79  (page 918)

NT Reading

Colossians 1:15-23  (page 1832)

Message

Fullness or Full of It

Ephesians 1:22-23  (page 1818)