For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26-28 (NKJV)

The gospel calls us to be Christ and to show Christ to a world that does not know Him. It is through Christ that we are brought close to the Father. It is in Christ that we find out who we are and how we ought to live. It is from Christ that the Holy Spirit empowers us to experience the reality of being united in Him.

The truth of being one in Christ gives us the grace to be one as a church.

A church, according to the gospel, is a gathering of sons and daughters who have one heart and one soul, not a collection of isolated believers who reject community and adopt a highly individualistic view of spirituality (Acts 4:32). As long as we demonstrate our love for one another by sharing and caring, our encounters of community will transform our sorrows and struggles into joy and jubilations.

Everybody has expectations of the church, and they will vary from person to person. In reality, no community will ever be able to meet all of these standards, and from time to time, we may feel down and even disappointed. The most important thing is how each of us learns to grow together as a community, how to resolve conflict amicably, and how to extend forgiveness and grace as God has shown us toward us.

A good healthy community doesn't just happen.

 It involves all of us as we work together and walk together in step with the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) Since Christ has completely united us in Him, we give no room for discord, division, or disunity (1 Corinthians 1:10) to fester in our communal life. We must all speak and act in accordance with the truth in love because we are all a part of Christ's body.