by Steve Hale
"And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" ( Ephesians 1 :22-23, NKJV).
His body (the church) is "the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Amazingly, Paul said that the church is the completion of Christ!
But, how is that possible? Christ is God On. 1:1-3, 14) and man ( Philippians 2:5-11)? He is without sin (I Pet. 2:2125), and only His blood could save us ( Revelation 1:5: Matthew 26:26-28)! So, how can the church, in any sense, be the completion of Christ?
The church is the means by which Christ is offered to the world today! Through "earthen vessels" ( 2 Corinthians 4:7), the world is confronted with the gospel message, and given the opportunity to be "...translated into the Kingdom of the Son of His love" ( Colossians 1:13).
As we are about good works, we are the completion of Christ in this present world! In order for us to be true with this awesome opportunity and corresponding responsibility, we must have a strong servant and work ethic!
We had, from the printer, 11,047 mass-mailings for "our upcoming gospel meeting. We wanted to enclose a response card in each of these, which required "stuffing" and "stapling." It would have taken Joey, John, Pat, Dot, and me weeks to have done this. When I asked the congregation to help, over 70 people came, and this monumental task, 11,047 pieces strong, was done in an hour following evening services April 12.
To be frank, I was hoping for maybe 30 or 40. Not only that, but everyone enjoyed it, as visiting and fellowship was shared during this good work. Wonderful!
Only a working church, a church desiring to be the "the fullness of Him," could have done this ( 1 Corinthians 15:58)!
With the upcoming trip to the Ukraine (date of this writing is April 13), I asked the church to give $600 to buy Bibles for the campaign. Even after announcing the $600 had been given, more money kept being contributed! As of now, $1420 has been given, more than double what was requested! Excesses will be used in benevolence, and in purchasing a permanent meeting place. Only an unselfish church, seeking to be the completion of Christ, could have such a wonderful attitude!
It is a privilege to be a part of this working church! The spirit here is co-operative, serving, and beautiful. Thank you for loving Jesus, and for having a servant's heart!