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The 268 Declaration

Passion Equip

5 Days

Love for the Local Expression of His Church

Day 2

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For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:18-22

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As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high,

he took many captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:1-13

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Ephesians 5:25-27

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They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:41-47

The church has never been a building; it has always been a people. Saints and sinners, foreigners and strangers, grafted into the fellowship of the citizenry. We are God's people. The church has been built on truth, the revelation of a mystery, handed down to us by the apostles with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. In and through Jesus, we make up the dwelling place of God here on Earth by His Spirit living within us. The Church has never been a building; it has always been a people.

And yet…

In today's world, there is a push to forego this gift from God, to leave behind the Apostles and prophets, the evangelists, pastors, and teachers that Paul lists as gifts to the body given by Christ so that the Church could be built up for the works of service He set before us. Jesus so loves the church that she is often referred to as His Bride, the one he gave himself up for in order to make her Holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the Word. The Scriptures are full of the early Church's love for her, of their drawing together under her banner instead of drifting apart over momentary differences. Followers of Jesus sold off property and possessions in order to take care of the least among them. They met daily, breaking bread together with glad and sincere hearts, all the while praising God for His gift of the Church as thousands of new believers flocked to join the great assembly.

The Church is a gift from God, established to bring Him Glory, and it is made up of us. We, the men and women who carry the Spirit of God within us, will never be perfect, we will stumble, and we will fall; but we will always get back up, trusting that the God who called us is faithful to see us through. We will need to extend and receive grace time and time again, and through it all, the Church will endure, bringing Glory to God as we live out our lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel.

Prayer

God, give me a greater love for your Church, the Body of Christ.

Scripture References

20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

2Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

3And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the

Lord

Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the

Lord

Almighty.”

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

11As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,

13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

15And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

13for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

14Do everything without grumbling or arguing,

15so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

16as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him,

“See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

15The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

23This is what the

Lord

says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

24but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the

Lord

, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”

declares the

Lord

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

7But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

2I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory.

3Because your love is better than life,

my lips will glorify you.

4I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands.

5I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

25Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

27Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign

Lord

my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

7everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,

20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

5one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

8This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high,

he took many captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

9(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?

10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

11So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

12to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

44All the believers were together and had everything in common.

45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

I have made you

known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

The Church and Its Leaders

1Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

18Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”21So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

3Glorify the

Lord

with me;

let us exalt his name together.

12Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

13keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from telling lies.

14Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

1How good and pleasant it is

when God’s people live together in unity!

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

16Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Psalm 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

1May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face shine on us—

2so that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

3May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

4May the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you rule the peoples with equity

and guide the nations of the earth.

5May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

6The land yields its harvest;

God, our God, blesses us.

7May God bless us still,

so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

9All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

6he says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant

to restore the tribes of Jacob

and bring back those of Israel I have kept.

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

9And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased for God

persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.”

11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

12In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

and honor and glory and praise!”

13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”

14The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

18Then Jesus came to them and said,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

8Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

9Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

17Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

Passion Equip

Born from 20+ years of ministry, Passion Equip exists to empower a generation to live out their eternal purpose in the midst of everyday life, keeping the name and renown of Jesus as the desire of our souls.