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“And He Himself gave the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists and pastors and teachers, for bringing the saints to completion, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all should attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to the complete man, to the measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed to and fro by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the trickery of men, in craftiness with deceitful scheming which leads into error, but, being truthful in love, that we might grow up in all things into Him who is the Head, Christ, from whom the whole body, being jointed and knit together through every ligament with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16
As we begin a new calendar year, we look forward to the good works the Lord has prepared in advance for His Church to do as His witness in the world. As a part of Christ’s worldwide Church here in western New York, we, as Holy Cross Lutheran Church, look forward to our own participation in God’s plan of salvation. We know the end goal of the Body of Christ — to “attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.” We advance this by looking to our Head, the Son of God, our Savior Jesus Christ, first and always, for His teachings in the Holy Scriptures, which we apply to ourselves and each other in love. We build each other up in love when we first humble ourselves (and our own agendas and opinions) for the sake of being faithful to the Word of God in the unity of faith. This is a blessed challenge. Each of us has an active role to play. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless Holy Cross and “each single part” in 2016 as we grow toward the building up of Christ’s Body in love.
~Pastor Nickel
