Aboard the HMS Challenger, a team of 237, including naval officers and scientists, undertook what would become the world’s first global oceanographic expedition. The year was 1835, and they hoped to measure the depth of the ocean’s darkest abysses. The ship’s crew rigged a simple sounding line and lowered it over the ship. Each time, and within just under an hour, the lead weight slipped through the water until it struck the bottom, sometimes several miles below the surface.
On the 23rd of March 1875 – after a longer wait – the lead weight finally hit the bottom; they recorded “8,184 metres” in the logbook: this was the deepest known point on earth, later named Challenger Deep.
Whilst the number is striking, over 5 miles deep, the most impressive thing to me is how something so vast and hidden was revealed by patient and communal effort. It took shipmates hauling ropes, mathematicians calculating corrections, and mapmakers piecing together information from ocean to ocean. Through their shared labour, they began to map the ocean floor.
The full reality of Christ’s love unfolds in the church community.
Ephesians 3:18 invites us into a similar discovery: “that you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” HMS Challenger didn’t have one crew member; it had 237. In a similar way, we’re not meant to explore God’s love in isolation. His affection for us spans continents and centuries. Christ’s love is wide enough to encompass all those who trust in him. It’s long enough to span generations. It’s high enough to overcome our sin, and it’s deep enough to root us in his redeeming grace.
We discover a love so immense by journeying together:
Wide: In small groups and fellowship dinners, strangers become family, expanding the circle of belonging.
Long: Through mentoring and prayer partnerships, wisdom flows from seasoned believers to seekers.
High: In worship gatherings and shared victories over trials, we see God’s faithfulness that lifts our eyes heavenward.
Deep: In corporate confession, forgiveness, and comforting those in sorrow, we see the depths of Christ’s mercy.
The HMS Challenger’s maps revealed hidden trenches because explorers worked side by side. The full reality of Christ’s love unfolds in the church community. When we pray, worship, serve, or simply walk alongside a brother or sister in Christ, we see more clearly God’s divine purposes. Christian faith is not a solitary expedition but rather a corporate mission.
