Together With All Those Everywhere

1 Corinthians 1:1-3

¹ This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.

² I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

³ May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul begins his letter by addressing the church of God in Corinth, but then also includes the line “together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours”. It is the inclusivity of this opening statement that really stood out to me as I read this.

When I was a young adult, I had the privilege of being involved in an international Christian missions organisation called Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for about 5 years.  As part of my time with YWAM I had the opportunity to visit various countries such as Mexico, Belize, Japan and Australia, ultimately settling here in Sydney over 40 years ago.

In addition to meeting Christians in these various nations, I also had the wonderful experience of having friends from all over the world come to the USA to be part of the YWAM training schools that I was involved with. I remember being amazed at the sense of kinship that I had with these believers from all over the world, even though our cultures were often vastly different in many ways.

Reading this passage today reminded me of the wonderful privilege it is to be part of God’s world-wide family. As Christians we, together will all those everywhere, share our common faith in Jesus and love of the Bible which makes us brothers and sisters in Christ.

I love seeing the many different nationalities that make up our church here at C3 Carlingford & Wentworthville too. There is a bond that goes beyond culture and makes us citizens of God’s kingdom first and foremost, giving us unity in Christ.

What a gift it is to be part of God’s family together with those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Written by Shelley Witt

You may find this Bible Project overview of 1 Corinthians helpful.