church membership

⁴For just as, within one body, we have many parts, though all the parts do not have the same role, ⁵so also we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one is a part, the one of the other.

²⁵not deserting our assembly, as some are accustomed to do, but consoling one another, and even more so as you see that the day is approaching.

⁴⁷praising God greatly, and holding favor with all the people. And every day, the Lord increased those who were being saved among them.

²⁸Take care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church of God, which he has purchased by his own blood.

⁴²Now they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.

⁵so also we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one is a part, the one of the other.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and be subject to them. For they watch over you, as if to render an account of your souls. So then, may they do this with joy, and not with grief. Otherwise, it would not be as helpful to you.

¹⁹Now, therefore, you are no longer visitors and new arrivals. Instead, you are citizens among the saints in the household of God, ²⁰having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and of the Prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the preeminent cornerstone. ²¹In him, all that has been built is framed together, rising up into a holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him, you also have been built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit.

¹²for the sake of the perfection of the saints, by the work of the ministry, in the edification of the body of Christ, ¹³until we all meet in the unity of faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as a perfect man, in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴So may we then no longer be little children, disturbed and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, and by the craftiness which deceives unto error. ¹⁵Instead, acting according to truth in charity, we should increase in everything, in him who is the head, Christ himself. ¹⁶For in him, the whole body is joined closely together, by every underlying joint, through the function allotted to each part, bringing improvement to the body, toward its edification in charity.

⁵be also yourselves like living stones, built upon him, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, so as to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

¹²For just as the body is one, and yet has many parts, so all the parts of the body, though they are many, are only one body. So also is Christ. ¹³And indeed, in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether servant or free. And we all drank in the one Spirit. ¹⁴For the body, too, is not one part, but many. ¹⁵If the foot were to say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were the eye, how would it hear? If the whole were hearing, how would it smell?

¹In those days, as the number of disciples was increasing, there occurred a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were treated with disdain in the daily ministration. ²And so the twelve, calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: “It is not fair for us to leave behind the Word of God to serve at tables also. ³Therefore, brothers, search among yourselves for seven men of good testimony, filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, whom we may appoint over this work. ⁴Yet truly, we will be continually in prayer and in the ministry of the Word.” ⁵And the plan pleased the entire multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a new arrival from Antioch. ⁶These they set before the sight of the Apostles, and while praying, they imposed hands on them.

⁵So may the God of patience and solace grant you to be of one mind toward one another, in accord with Jesus Christ, ⁶so that, together with one mouth, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷For this reason, accept one another, just as Christ also has accepted you, in the honor of God.