Read: Ephesians 3:6-11, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 and Revelation 7:9-10
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:4, 7-11)
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”(Revelation 7:9-10)
In 2014, Lifeway Ministries did a study of diversity in the church and found that 85% of churches in the U.S. wanted to be diverse, but only 13% had more than one predominant racial or ethnic group in their church. Why do you think the church struggles to overcome segregation and lack of diversity? How do you think Salem does with this?
In light of the reality that all people have the same Spirit and one day there will be people from every tribe, language, and nation before God’s throne in heaven, do you think a diverse church is necessary?
Is it worth the effort to intentionally seek to be welcoming of all people? Why or why not?
Pastor Rick explained in his message (you can listen here) that the word “manifold” literally means “multi-colored”. How is God’s wisdom “multi-colored”? How does the church demonstrate God’s wisdom?
Paul mentions grace numerous times in Ephesians. Why is grace necessary in our lives? How can we show it to others?
God created all things – diverse people and his plan for a diverse church – what can you, personally, do to spread his grace and welcome people into his body?
Pastor Rick shared that loving our neighbors (and our brothers and sisters at Salem) are ways we can begin to show love and grace in our communities. Think of the people who live closest to you. Do you know their names? Do you know identifying information about them (jobs, marriage status, children, etc.)? Do you know their deeper needs (things you could pray for or ways you could serve them)?
If you can’t answer all those questions, that may be the place to start as we seek to be stewards of God’s grace toward those around us and become the church God intends us to be!