NEW TESTAMENT READING
Ephesians 4:1-16
1 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility
and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making
every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace: 4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the
one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God
and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s
gift. 8 Therefore it is said,
“When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people.”
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also
descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the
same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill
all things.) 11 He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers 12 to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of
Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown
about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness
in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up
in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is
equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth
in building itself up in love.
Reader: Word of God. Word of life.
All: Thanks be to God!