S: Ephesians ch1 v1-2 (KJV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ
O: I love that we are all part of this greeting, from that original congregation at Ephesus down through the ages to us - a group of ladies spread across the globe and united under one Father and that Paul sets off from the outset to state that he is writing to them with a message from God.
A: I used to attend the brethren church/gospel hall and I loved how when someone visited a congregation (whilst on holiday in the area) they came with a letter of introduction from their congregation - it always began to the saints at . . . and continued in the vein of we commend our brother and sister to you in the name of the Lord . . .the ideology behind it was alas to ensure they were welcomed to the Lord's table at the hall they visited but I always loved how they used the pattern of the New Testament letters to welcome each other in God's name.
The closest I've come to this sort of thing is signing off an email or letter with "yours in Christ" but the application I'm taking away is that we should always consider ourselves one church, one body under our uniting Father God and that we should not be afraid to claim our spiritual heritage as Paul does. We're unlikely to greet new people with a "Hi, I'm G, a disciple of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you in God's name" but we should claim our Father and Saviour and let it be known that we are part of their family - with words or otherwise
P: Lord - help me to claim my stand, strong in my faith today and witness for you in all my words and actions, showing You as Lord and being bold in my spiritual heritage. Amen
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