Book of Common Prayer

4 I am a prisoner who belongs to the Lord. I beg you, live the way people should live who have been called by God.

² Do not be proud at all. Be very humble. Love one another and be patient with each other.

³ The Spirit has made you all one. Try to stay like that. May you be at peace with one another.

⁴ There is one body of Christ and one Spirit. When God called you, there was one hope before you in your calling.

⁵ There is one Lord, one way to believe, and one baptism.

⁶ There is one God and Father of us all. He is over all. He works through all. And he is living in us all.

⁷ But each one of us has received a blessing, whatever amount Christ has given to each one.

⁸ So then, the holy writings say, `When Christ went up to heaven he took those he had won with him. And he gave gifts to men.'

⁹ Now, what does `he went up' mean? Does it not mean that he also came down to the earth below?

¹⁰ The one who came down is the same one who went up higher than all the heavens. He did this so that he would be everywhere.

¹¹ The gifts he gave are these: some are to be apostles; some prophets; some evangelists; some pastors and teachers.

¹² These gifts are to make God's people better able to do their work for him and to make the body of Christ become stronger.

¹³ The gifts are given so that we will all believe the one way and all know the Son of God. They are given so that we will be really grown-up Christians, like Christ himself.

¹⁴ The body of Christ must grow so that we will no longer be like children. We are like children when we are pushed this way and that way. We change our minds every time people bring a different teaching. Some teachers teach the lies of men and fool people so that they believe wrong things.

¹⁵ We must say what is true and say it with love. In that way we will grow up in all things to be like Christ, who is the head of this body.

¹⁶ The whole body is joined and held together by every joint that it has. It is from Christ that the whole body grows as each different part does its work. It grows so that it becomes stronger in love.

1 The Word already was, way back before anything began to be. The Word and God were together. The Word was God.

² Before anything began to be, the Word was there with God.

³ God made everything by the Word. Nothing has been made without him.

⁴ Life was in the Word. That life was Light for people.

⁵ The Light shone where it was dark and the darkness did not stop the Light from shining.

⁶ God sent a man named John.

⁷ He came to talk about the Light, so that all people might believe in the Light by what he said.

⁸ He himself was not that Light, but he was sent to talk about the Light.

⁹ The true Light which gives light to every person who comes into the world.

¹⁰ He, the Word, was in the world. Yes, he even made the world. And yet the world did not know him.

¹¹ He came into the world that was his own, but his own people did not receive him.

¹² But there were people who did believe in his name. They did receive him. He gave all those who received him and believed him the right to become children of God.

¹³ They were born into God's family by God. That is, they were not born into his family in the way a person is born into this world. It was not by any person's will.

¹⁴ The Word became man and he lived among us. We saw with our own eyes that he is great. He is great the way God the Father made his only Son great. We saw that he is full of loving kindness and truth.

¹⁵ John talked about him. He called out saying, `Here is the man I told you about. I said that the one who is coming after me is greater than I am, because he lived before I lived.'

¹⁶ He was full of loving kindness, and we have all received so much kindness from him.

¹⁷ Moses gave the law, but Jesus Christ gave this loving kindness and truth.

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But his only Son is very near to his Father's heart. He has told us plainly about God.