Pray for Me and I will Pray for You; Ephesians 3:14-19

Main Point: Especially when discouraged, we need the love of Christ and the fullness of God.

Here is a truth I think we Christians need to talk more about: God’s people get discouraged and depressed. We grow faint in heart because we live in a fallen world, sin has consequences, and redemption is self-sacrificial work. Peer pressure from the world to conform, temptations from the devil to just embrace the desire, and longings of the flesh for pleasure are formidable foes in a long fight. Last week, in Ephesians 3:13, we learned that Paul was concerned about Christians in Ephesus losing heart over what he was suffering. To lose heart is to lose motivation (Louw-Nida 25.288). A person who loses heart lacks courage, faints, or gives up. Thinking biblically, we see people struggling. Abraham struggled with God’s time table (Gen 5:2). David had days of depression (Ps 42:5). Elijah gave into fear (1 Kings 19:3). Job hated his life (Job 10:1). Jonah wanted to die (4:3). God’s people are not immune to discouragement or depression.

In a crazy turn of events last week, I had a student faint while I was talking to him about the Trinity. No, I did not put him to sleep like the apostle Paul did to Eutychus (Acts 20:9). The young man drank little to no water the day before and had eaten nothing that day. He had dizzy spells through the morning and finally fainted because his body had no strength; he physically could not go on. Physical factors led to physical fainting just as spiritual factors lead to spiritual fainting. So, what do we do? First, if this is you this morning, if you are close to losing heart, I beg you to tell someone; do not leave this gathering without telling a brother or sister that you are discouraged or depressed or suicidal; we want to help. Preparing for that, how should we help our brothers and sisters who are close to losing heart? In Ephesians 3, Paul models how we are to pray for one another and by so doing, Paul explains the spiritual strength we all need to endure difficult days. There is help for us and it goes like this, I will be there for you, and you will be there for me. I will pray for you, and you will pray for me. There is help because there is love. Let’s read.

Read Ephesians 3:7-21

David asked himself a hard question in Psalm 42. He asked

I. Why are you downcast oh my soul?

Looking at Ephesians 3 we ask

• Why were they close to losing heart?

The simple answer is because Paul was in prison and facing execution. Yes, he is alive and “well” in prison but after a couple of assassination attempts, everyone knows Paul is at the mercy of the Roman courts and those courts weren’t known for being merciful. This means, the one who had introduced them to the incomprehensible wealth of Christ could be executed at any moment. They were near to losing heart because of the thought of losing their beloved apostle and because they realized if Paul was killed for following Jesus, then they too could be killed for following Jesus. Put yourself in their shoes, if your friend is in prison for following Jesus and the authorities know you also follow Jesus it would be tempting to think following Jesus isn’t a good idea. You too could be tempted to lose heart.

Like King David, let’s ask the question, “Why are you downcast O my soul?” (Ps 42:5, 11; 43:5).

• Why are you downcast O my soul?

Give a hard look at where you are right now. Why do you complain all the time? Why are you discouraged, depressed, or close to losing heart? Our answers, because I get there too, include things like, because life is hard or because God isn’t doing what I thought he would do. Or, because marriage and parenting are hard. Or because we are lonely and life is difficult. The issue may be in you or in your spouse or in your parents or in your child or in your work or in this church. Elijah would have said, “Because being faithful is lonely and dangerous.” Job would have said, “Because God’s hand is heavy upon me.” David would have said, “Because King Saul is trying to kill me” or “Because my son Absalom is trying to kill me.” Jonah would have said, “Because God is merciful to my enemies and I’m angry about that.” Judging by the number of complaints and criticisms we hear it is safe to assume most of us are at least discouraged. What should we do for one another?

There are many things I must do when I am discouraged (Ps 42; James 5:13) but that’s not this sermon. This sermon is about what you must do when I am discouraged or what I must do when you are discouraged. When we are tempted to lose heart there is one big thing you must do that takes two forms. The big thing you must do is keep loving us. 1 John 4:12 says, “No one has ever seen God, if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” My love for you brings God’s love to you and your love for me brings God’s love to me. The two things loving Christians do are pray and show up. The first is to pray. We’ll unpack that in a minute from Ephesians 3:16-19. The second thing you must do is show up. When your brothers and sisters are discouraged, depressed, and ready to give up on Jesus you must

• Show up

I can’t linger long here but this biblical truth must not be overlooked precisely because we are tempted to think if we have prayed then we have done all that we should do. We must pray and show up; we must do both. Those who are discouraged, depressed, and close to losing heart need to be refreshed. Paul wrote to the Roman church asking them to pray for him to get to them soon because he wanted to be refreshed by them (Rom 15:32). When discouraged, Paul needed their prayers and their presence (1 Cor 16:18; 2 Tim 1:16; Philemon 1:7, 20). We make the invisible God visible as we show up and love one another. God has willed that you be a source of refreshment for the weary. In Colossians 2:2 the two things that go together are encouraged hearts and hearts knit together in love. Loving each other and encouraging each other go together and happen face to face; you must show up. God has willed for your prayers and your presence to be a source of encouragement in these brothers and sisters that you love. You must show up, pray, struggle, weep, argue, laugh, talk, share a meal, celebrate, and often just sit there.

If you want to know more about what should happen when you show up, do a New Testament search of the phrase “one another” and you will find a powerful list of things to do when you show up. You need to show up and often you must show up uninvited. God has ordered this world such that we need to be in each other’s lives.

You get the point. Our passage at hand is about prayer so let’s talk about prayer.

II. How to pray for those close to losing heart

Knowing that you must get face-to-face with those who are struggling, it is also crucial that you get on your knees and

• Pray desperately

How is Paul praying for these Christians according to Ephesians 3:14? He bows his knees. Praying on your knees is not a magical formula like learning to say a Hogwarts spell with perfect diction and movement. Praying on your knees is an outward display of your inward recognition that God is sovereign over all. When you see your friends or coworkers struggling and complaining do you shrug your shoulders or get on your knees? This is a call to humble and fervent prayer. If you never bow your knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ then you should ask yourself why. We pray on our knees, humbly and desperately, and we

• Pray to God

Sending someone warm thoughts may make you feel better about yourself but sending warm thoughts is not going to encourage the faint hearted. When is the last time a warm thought arrived at your house and encouraged your heart? What are you doing anyway when you send someone a warm thought? It is better to speak the truth in love to the person and pray to God for the person. We want to do something for our discouraged friends and family, so we pray to the God who is there. We pray to the God who created all things (3:9). We pray to the God who is the Father or source of all. Verse 15 tells us all families take their name from God the Father. We pray to a good Father who sees more of the sufferer than we do and loves the sufferer more than we do. The Creator of the heavens and the earth is the Creator of every being in heaven and on earth. We pray to him because God knows us and he can do something. And what can he do? What are we asking God to do in the discouraged? What do they need?

• Pray for strength through the Holy Spirit

They need to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in the inner person. Do you see that in Ephesians 3:16? “That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Let’s do some thinking about verse 16. Is Paul writing to Christians or non-Christians? Is this an evangelistic prayer for the conversion of a person, the regeneration of the soul, and the new covenant gift of the Spirit? No, Paul is praying for those who are faithful in Christ Jesus (1:1); he is praying for discouraged Christians. Here we get into the need for courage and endurance given through love. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). We need these qualities when we want to quit. Christian, there will be seasons in our lives when we lose heart, and we need you to pray for the Spirit to strengthen our faint hearts. We need spiritual energy or motivation to keep going, so we look to the God who overflows. We pray according to the riches of God’s glory, and we ask for power from the Holy Spirit that will give the strength and motivation to keep going.

One place, from which I get the power or strength to keep going, is your prayers for the Spirit to strengthen my inner man. The outer man, the physical man, is wasting away but the inner man, the spiritual man, must be renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16) according to the word and by prayer. And this inner being, inner self, or inner man is not my feelings about me, but it is the part of me in which God has infused his life and is working out deep transformation. The inner being is your soul.

Let’s work to be biblical and compassionate here concerning sexual identity or gender. Though the world tells us the most important thing about us is how we feel about our sexuality, our Creator God and Father tells us the most important thing about us is that we are united to Christ, we are in Christ. In Christ we are given the Holy Spirit and by the Holy Spirit we are strengthened with power in the inner self. And this inner self is fundamental to who we are and what we do. This inner self is deeper than our feelings about our current circumstances, sexual identity, or gender. It is the Spirit’s power that enables us to say no to what is contrary to God’s good will so that we can continue after God’s good will. There are too many stories of Christians losing heart in the fight against sexual sin or gender confusion. We have a role to play as we show up and as we pray for these brothers and sisters to be strengthened with power by the Spirit in the inner being to live out God’s good design of being made male or female. The same can be said for spouses who don’t feel like being married or moms and dads who don’t feel like being parents. We need strength to live out God’s good design according to how he has made us and put our families together. Pray for Holy Spirit power and

• Pray for those who struggle to be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ

Again, looking now at verse 17, we need to make a decision. Is Paul talking to non-Christians with hearts of stone who need hearts of flesh? Is Christ dwelling in your heart a conversion thing or a sanctification thing? Does verse 17 apply to Christians or non-Christians? Should we pray for non-Christians to ask Jesus to come into their hearts or should we pray for Jesus to dwell in the hearts of Christians who are already in Christ? Being consistent because nothing has signaled a change in the text, if verse 16 is addressing Christians, then verse 17 addresses Christians also (see 2 Cor 4:6; 2 Pet 1:19; and Rev 3:20). In Ephesians 3:17, Paul is writing to Christians telling them he prays for Jesus to dwell in their hearts through faith. What is going on here?

We get help on this from Ephesians 4:15. Look over the page to Ephesians 4:15, “Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” So, Christ is our head, and we need to grow up in every way into him. Like Ephesians 4:15, Ephesians 3:17 is a call to grow in the reality of Christ in you. Our goal is not to think occasionally about Jesus but for Jesus to dwell in our hearts, for our constant desire to be to know more of the love of Christ and to make that love known. We must constantly set our minds on the reality of Christ’s infinite love. We must pray for the Spirit to strengthen those who struggle so they can experience the love of Christ and through the love of Christ be filled with the fullness of God. So, it is Christians who need to put down roots and strengthen the foundation. Being rooted and grounded in love is an all-day commitment not a one-time experience. You wake up every morning with one overarching need, the love of Christ. What Jesus said in John 6:56 brings it home. Listen to Jesus, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” Christianity is a perpetual feasting on love. Christians aren’t people who did the Jesus thing that one time back then but are people who do the Jesus thing all day every day. This is why we need to be strengthened with power by the Spirit so that we keep walking with Jesus, keep feasting on Jesus, keep abiding in Jesus and he with us.

The normal Christian life is one marked by the power of the Spirit and the love of Christ so that we don’t give up. The power of the Spirit enables you to be the dwelling place of Christ and being the dwelling place of Christ means being rooted and grounded in his great love. The Spirit is a gardener leading the Christian to put down deep roots into the love of Christ and the Spirit is a general contractor overseeing the laying of the foundation of the love of Christ upon which all of life is lived. So, when they are discouraged and depressed, we must pray for our brothers and sisters to draw their strength from the reality of the love of Christ; deep roots make for strong and fruitful trees. In seasons when we want to quit on Jesus you must pray for us to build every relationship and do every minute of work on the strong foundation of the love of Christ; strong foundations make for stable buildings that stand firm through the years.

Make this prayer your own. Verse 17 calls us to pray for them to put down roots and be grounded in love so that, verse 18, they may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

• Pray for those who struggle to comprehend and experience the love of Christ

Seeing pictures of Niagara Falls is good and helpful but falls short of experiencing the breadth, length, height, and depth of Niagara Falls. You can comprehend it’s wonders from pictures, videos, and water output formulas but there is nothing like experiencing it’s power firsthand. We must pray for one another, talk to one another, sing to one another, and teach one another about the love of Christ. We must devote ourselves to loving one another with the love of Christ. We must make the decision to root ourselves, our thinking, emotions, and identity in the reality of the love of Christ. Each of us needs to daily spend time thinking about the love of Jesus. Who is this Jesus who loves? How does Jesus love? Why does Jesus love? What does Jesus’ love do? Thinking biblically about the love of Jesus roots and grounds us in the reality that we long to experience.

Now, there are two infinitives in verses 18 and 19, two to-be verbs that guide our prayers for sufferers. Rooted and grounded in love, what do those sufferers need? Verse 18, to comprehend the love of Christ, and verse 19, to know the love of Christ. Both descriptions reveal the incomprehensible wealth of Christ. When we are near to losing heart, we need to think so that we understand the unfathomable love of Christ. The breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ are limitless. Does the way you think about the love of Christ, your rooting and grounding, does that thinking lead you into the expansive love of Christ? Does the way you pray for our comprehension of Christ’s love and does the way you talk to us about Christ’s love take us deeper into Christ’s love?

Moving beyond our mind’s comprehension is our experience of the love of Christ. It is not enough to be biblical about the love of Christ. Sound doctrine is not the goal. We strive to be biblical and sound so that we can experience the love of Christ. “Jesus loves me this I know (experience), for the Bible tells me so (doctrine).” Do you feel the love of Christ? Do you know the love of Christ? If not, we need to know so we can pray for you and so we can love you better. Finally,

• Pray for those who struggle to be filled with all the fullness of God (James 1:2-4)

We are reading James in our daily Bible reading and James 1:2-4 helps us with Ephesians 3:19. Paul prays for those who are near to losing heart that they would be filled with all the fullness of God. Listen to James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” In your various trials seek the power of the Spirit, seek steadfastness, so that being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, thinking deeply about the love of Christ, you will experience the love of Christ which propels you toward godliness. It is through these difficulties that the steadfast love of God sustains us and moves us to become more and more like God, perfect and complete, lacking nothing. It is there full of the love of Christ that we are filled with the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:13-19 invites us this morning to own the fact that the people around us are struggling. Christians get discouraged and depressed. If there is someone in your life who is close to losing heart, discouraged for depressed, I urge you to get some space in the aisles or up here, get on your knees, and pray Ephesians 3:14-19 for him or her. If you are struggling today and you want to be prayed for I want you to step out and come forward or go to the back and ask your brothers and sisters to pray Ephesians 3:14-19 for you. I am here for you and you are here for me. I am here to pray for you and you are here to pray for me. This is a call to love. We do this for one another, we love one another, because we know the incomprehensible love of Christ.

Discuss Ephesians 3:14-19

1. How did God comfort, challenge, or correct you through the songs, readings, and prayers today?
2. What is your main takeaway from the sermon?
3. What does it look like for you to be discouraged or depressed?
4. While Ephesians 3:14-19 is about what we do for others when they are tempted to lose heart, thinking about the rest of Scripture, what should you do when you are tempted to lose heart?
5. When has someone shown up and encouraged you when you were discouraged? What do that person say or do that encouraged you? How can you do the same for others?
6. Do a search of the phrase “one another” in the New Testament. Which of those one another commands would be the most helpful for someone close to losing heart?
7. How does posture effect prayer? Particularly, what is significant about praying on your knees?
8. What is it like for the Holy Spirit to strengthen you with power in your inner being?
9. What are we praying for when we pray for our brothers and sisters to be rooted and grounded in love?
10. How do you draw strength from the love of Christ? How would you teach a discouraged brother or sisters to draw strength from the love of Christ?
11. How does the experience of the love of Christ transform you more into the image of God? Think of a sin or temptation you struggle with. How could the love of Christ help you change?

The Riches of Christ; Ephesians 3:7-13

Main Point: Jesus is more than enough.

God’s word for us today comes from Ephesians 3:7-13. I will begin reading in Ephesians 3:1 and go through 3:13 [read it].

Rejoice over this good news

I. God’s grace forgives, changes, and empowers us (7-8)

I have good news for us in our guilt and shame

• All of us and any of us can be forgiven

We know this is the case because of the infinite worth of Christ and because Paul was the least of all the saints. Paul put it this way in 1 Timothy 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Paul understands that he is the chief of sinners, the worst of the worst, and yet wonderfully, fully, and perfectly forgiven. The point that invites us to run to Jesus with our sin is that if the worst of sinners is forgiven than I can be forgiven and so can you.

Paul was the most unlikely of Jews to become a Christian and the most unlikely of saints to become an apostle. When we look at Paul’s conversion from a hater of Christ to a lover of Christ it should stir up our hearts knowing there is grace enough for me and for you. God gave Paul his forgiving, transforming, and empowering grace so that Paul could go and preach Christ to the Gentiles. It was the grace of God that changed Paul from the least of the saints (Eph 3:8) to the hardest working of the apostles (1 Cor 15:10). God’s grace can do that in you too. Think about verses seven and eight like this,

• God’s grace is there to empower you

Verses seven and eight put the forgiving, changing, and empowering grace of God on display. Like in chapter 2, Paul is crystal clear that forgiveness, redemption, and power for ministry come from God and not from our individual merit or effort. None of us are saved by our good works. None of us are given God’s grace because we earn it or deserve it. Like Paul, we are made ministers of the gospel because of the gift of God’s grace. And no, we are not apostles like Paul, but God gives each of us a gift and a ministry that builds up the church. Are you using that gift and doing that ministry?

Look at verse 7, how did the gift of God’s grace come into and transform Paul’s life? God’s grace was given to him by the working of God’s power. God’s power is what we need, God’s power is what we depend on. The God who is creator of all and sovereign over all is working his plan of redemption in and through us. We are always and only dependent on God’s grace. We need more Jesus because it is through him that we are forgiven, changed, and empowered. Celebrate with me

II. Christ is our treasure (8)

The apostle Paul preached the incomprehensible wealth of Christ because he tasted and treasured the incomprehensible wealth of Christ. This is the way of every disciple: treasure Christ and preach Christ.

• Treasure Christ

What word describes the wealth or riches of Christ in verse 8? Our translations use the words unsearchable, unfathomable, boundless, and incalculable. The word means that you can’t understand it even after careful consideration (Louw-Nida 32.23). Getting your mind around the sufficiency and glory of Jesus is outside of your paygrade and capabilities. The collective brainpower of all humanity over the millennia cannot master all that Jesus is, the finite cannot contain the infinite. When we see Jesus, we see one who is incomprehensibly abundant. Jesus is infinitely more than enough in ways that are beyond our abilities to understand. Do you believe this? Do you long for the God who is so much more than you and so much more than us? Salvation is described like this Colossians 1:27, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Salvation is the call to move out of the shallows of humanity and swim in the depths of deity. Christ in me is a wonder such that when I think clearly about what it means to be united to the infinite sovereign creator God, I don’t have the words.

 The best we can say are things like, “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (Phil 3:7-8). The ruling desire of those who have tasted the glory of Christ is to know him more AND to make him known. Paul preached Christ because Paul treasured Christ. Worship is the only proper fuel of missions and evangelism.

So, what do you love about Jesus? Why do you sing about Jesus? Why is he precious to you? The common denominator of all Christians is dependence on and delight in Jesus. For me, I rejoice because of the abundant wealth of Jesus’ grace. That Jesus keeps forgiving me is a mystery, a gift beyond comprehension. One day I am proud and self-reliant and the next day I am discouraged and struggling with unbelief. Like Morgan Wallen, I think Jesus should just move on to someone else because that’s how I treat people. Jesus should kick me to the curb and move on, yet Jesus is there with incomprehensible abundant forgiving grace. Jesus is wonderfully kind to me. What about you? What do you love about Jesus? I’m going to give you an opportunity during the Lord’s Supper to share how you see the glory of God in Jesus so be thinking. Why do you sing about Jesus? Why is he precious to you? Get ready to share; get ready to preach Christ. That’s what we do

• Preach Christ

Look back at Ephesians 3:8, “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.”

Though Paul was the chief of sinners, a blasphemer of Christ, and a murderer of God’s sons and daughters, he was given grace so he could go and preach Christ. There was no redeeming quality in Paul, nothing to commend him to God. All of Paul’s goodness came from knowing Christ. Knowing Christ, Paul was propelled out to preach Christ. Paul’s mission, the mission of every Christian, is to go and build up the church; making disciples is the same thing as building up the church. So, if we are making disconnected disciples or if we are producing Christians who care little for the church then there is something terribly wrong with our ministries. The goal of all our work in the home and in the world must be to build up the church. We do this ministry by preaching Christ.

This collective work of worship and witness is what a loving church does. So, plan to be here for evangelism training starting June 2 during the Sunday School hour. We are going to equip you to treasure Christ and make him known. This is what the church does

III. The church displays the wisdom of God (9-10)

God’s eternal plan realized through Jesus is for his people, from every nation, to be a dwelling place for God. Rest in this

• The creator God is working his plan

Looking at Ephesians 3:9, the reference to God’s work of creation seems out of place. God gave Paul grace to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. When talking about redemption and restoration, why mention creation? Verse 11 helps us. There in verse 11 we have a reference to the eternal purpose of God realized in Christ Jesus. That springboards us back to Ephesians 1:10 and God’s plan to unite all things in Jesus. Sum it all up and put it all together, God’s plan to unite all things in Jesus through judgment and redemption was the eternal plan, the plan built into creation. The plan built into creation is to unite all of creation under the rule of king Jesus.

We think our sin derails God’s plan. We think Satan’s sin derails God’s plan. We think Adam and Eve’s sins derail God’s plan. But listen, the creator God is working his plan sovereignly steering even our sin according to his purposes. God is in fact, Ephesians 1:11, working all things according to the counsel of his will. Now, that reality does not answer the why question especially as we consider the painful suffering caused by sin in the world. God, why did you allow this sin to happen in my life? We don’t get that answer. What we get is the promise that God is moving our sin and our suffering in line with his purposes. The creator God is working his plan so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God is now made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Grab onto this

• The way we do life together displays the wisdom of God to the demons

No beings want to derail the plans of God like the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. We’re thinking about the demons or fallen angels whom we are warring against according to Ephesians 6:12. The demonic spirits want to keep the gospel contained just in you, just in your family, or just in the nation of Israel but God’s plan is the redemption of the nations. The united church, made up of the nations, displays the wisdom of God to the demons. The way we do life together, loving one another in spite of our differences, displays the wisdom of God. The church is God’s big ta-da surprise. The demons thought they wrecked everything when Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they were kicked out of the garden. The demons thought they wrecked everything when they tempted the Jews and they were kicked out of the promised land. The demons thought they wrecked everything when Satan tempted Judas to betray Jesus and the Jewish leaders worked with the Roman authorities to have Jesus killed. The unity of the church, our love for one another, proves that God is wise and winning. Individualism, factions, and divisions are demonic blights on the church.  

Do you understand the mystery of God, the manifold wisdom of God, and the eternal purpose of God? Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ sinners are made saints and outsiders are made sons and daughters of God.  Because of our personal union with Christ, the church is united and displays the manifold wisdom of God. Our deep unity with one another because of Jesus displays the wisdom of God. Our love for Jesus and one another should blow the demons’ minds. Just as Satan and the demons were about derailing creation, so they are just as cruel in derailing the church. So we are told in Ephesians 4:27 to give the devil no opportunities and we are told in Ephesians 6:11 to put on the whole armor of God and wrestle against these rulers and authorities.

Do you want to know how to wrestle against the demonic and proclaim the wisdom of God? Look at Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” Reconciled to God through Jesus, God has given you the ministry of reconciliation. Because of the surpassing worth of God go proclaiming the surpassing worth of God.

If you find anger in your heart that is giving the devil an opportunity to divide you from God or you from God’s people, what should you do? Look at the resurrection of Jesus! Remember, the creator God is working his plan and the gift of God’s grace is ready to work in and through you. This is the way for each one of us.

IV. Depend on Jesus (11-12)

Believe in Jesus, that’s the point! God will win. The formation of God’s united church which declares God’s wisdom to the demons is, verse 11, “according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” The glory of God through the redemption of the church and the defeat of all evil is sure because of the resurrection of Jesus. Let’s be bold knowing

• Boldness comes from Jesus

Where does the least of all the saints and the foremost of all the sinners get off thinking God loves him, wants to hear from him, or will help him? Boldness comes from Jesus. Paul has no rights or merit in himself; his sin has ruined all of that. You and I have no rights or merit in ourselves; our sin has ruined all of that. But we have boldness, the audacity to go into the presence of the very glorious infinite abundant God because we have the righteousness of Christ. God the Son gives us his access to God the Father. The unsearchable riches of Christ are put on display when you and I pray to God and love one another. It is our faith in Jesus that gives us the boldness to pray to God and love one another. Reconciliation with God and one another through Jesus Christ puts the wisdom of God on display. So, where is your boldness? Our boldness in prayer and our boldness as witnesses are directly tied to our perception of the incomprehensible wealth of Christ. Do you have a big view of Christ driving your bold prayers? Do you have a big view of Christ driving your bold love for the brothers and sisters here? Do you hunger and thirst for more of Jesus? Loving him are you beginning to love like him? Let’s get bold with our prayers and with our love knowing

• Access with confidence comes from Jesus

According to verse 12, we have more than boldness, we also have access with confidence through our faith in him. Listen to Hebrews 4:14-16. We read it this week in our daily Bible reading and it is good to rehearse it here, “Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Jesus will help us.

We are all struggling. Some of us are struggling with our ministry and feel unfruitful. Some of us are struggling with the church and feel disconnected, unwanted, or like outsiders. Some of us are struggling with marriage or parenting. Some of us are struggling with greed, some with sexual sin, and some with pride. Some of us are struggling with guilt, regret, and unbelief. Wonderful grace that forgives, transforms, and empowers is available to us in Jesus; believe in him. Jesus loves to give cast out people his access to the Father; believe in him. How did the least of the saints and the greatest of sinners find boldness and access with confidence? He found it through the resurrected Jesus. How will you find boldness and access to God with confidence? You can find it through the resurrected Jesus. My invitation is for you to depend on Jesus who will give you his access to the Father such that God’s powerful grace strengthens you in your suffering. Don’t overlook verse 13,

• God is doing his thing (13)

Sinners are being forgiven, outsiders are being welcomed in, the manifold wisdom of God is being made known to the demons through the church, and Paul is in prison. In light of the powerful working of God’s grace, Paul writes, verse 13, “So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.”

Paul is telling them, “I am in these chains because I have the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Paul’s imprisonment is a wrestling against the demonic by continuing to preach the boundless riches of Christ. So you also, do not be dismayed by suffering because you also have the incomprehensible wealth of Christ. Listen you suffering and defeated saint, God is doing his thing. Do no lost heart over what you are suffering for Jesus’ name. You have access to God in Christ Jesus. Go to Jesus; fly to Jesus. God has made you a minister of his gospel according to the gift of God’s grace. God is working powerfully in you and through you; hold fast to Jesus and hold fast to the church.

You better eat the Lord’s Supper! God wants you to enjoy fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit through the body and blood of Jesus Christ. God wants to display his wisdom through our fellowship with one another around Jesus Christ. Here is grace, strength, and love for you because of Jesus. The Lord’s Supper is for the saints, for forgiven sinners. If you are depending on Jesus for your access to the Father, then you are invited to come remember and celebrate all that Jesus has done. God established baptism as the marker of all those who have started this life of dependence on Jesus. So, if you have been baptized you are invited to come. As we prepare to enjoy our union with Christ and with one another, I invite you to take stock of your life. God commands us to examine ourselves before we eat and drink (1 Corinthians 11:27). Hebrews 10:19-25 will be our prompt today.

Discuss Ephesians 3:7-13

1. How did God comfort, challenge, or correct you today through the readings, songs, and prayers of the church?
2. What was your main takeaway from the sermon?
3. What about the apostle Paul’s conversion or ministry encourages you the most as you think about your sin and the ministry God has called you to do?
4. How are you working to make Christ known to the people around you? Who can you ask to come alongside you and pray for you?
5. Thinking back over how you have grown in your knowledge of Christ, what has surprised you about Jesus?
6. How does treasuring Christ lead you to talk to others about Christ? Explain the connection between worship and witnessing.
7. Why the reference to creation in Ephesians 3:9? How does God the creator help us understand the Father’s eternal plan of redemption through Christ?
8. How does your life as a member of the church declare the wisdom of God to the demons? Are you a properly functioning member of a church (Eph 4:16)?
9. Where do you see division beginning to work in the church? How can you eagerly maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3)?
10. Where do you see Jesus producing boldness in you? How can you help others grow in boldness?
11. Where do you see Jesus opening up a confident access to God for you? How can you help others enjoy the same confident access with God?

Encouragement for Parents

Text: Ephesians 1:1-2; 3:14-15; 4:15-16; 5:20; 6:1-4

Main Point:  Parents need instruction and help. God provides!

We need the grace and peace of God because parenting is good, glorious, and costly work. I have four daughters and our oldest graduates from high school in a few weeks. Right now, they are 17, 16, 15, and 11 years old. There is a lot of parenting, talking, praying, and sinning going on in my house. I want there to be more laughing, helping, encouraging, and repenting. So, I must lead the way and I want to lead my family in such a way that we love Jesus and love one another more. Parenting is a lot.   

Ruth, our youngest, broke her arm over spring break which led her to ask questions about who else has broken a bone. When my wife, Angela, was growing up her older sister cut her leg and had to go to the emergency room for stitches. While she was there in the E.R. Angela lost a who can jump the farthest and grab the monkey bars competition and broke her wrist. The staff sewed up one daughter then x-rayed the next daughter. I guess the best we can say is her parents saved a little gas money that day because some church members brought Angela to them. Her parents didn’t have to leave the hospital.

Maybe you can relate to Angela’s parents, you feel like you are moving constantly from one thing to the next thing with little time to think and even less time to rest. Maybe things are going well for you, and you are moving from one win to the next, but you are feeling the pressure. Maybe things are not going well for you, and you are moving from one gut punch to the next and you are about to break under the strain. Wherever you are today as parents or grandparents I want to give you some encouragement. The good news is that God provides the instruction and help we need.

I’m going to connect four passages in Ephesians today. Follow along with me as I read Ephesians 1:1-2; 3:14-19; 4:15-16; and 6:1-4.

I. Encouragement for parents

As we begin, I want to acknowledge Paul Tripp and his influence on my understanding of parenting.

• God is the architect of families (Eph 3:14-15)

The apostle Paul introduces his prayer for the church with a reference to, look at Ephesians 3:14 and 15, “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” Come back in two weeks and Lord willing I will unpack this powerful prayer for us in our suffering. For today, I want to simply point out how all fatherhood takes its cues from God the Father; God defines father and family. God should define father and family but unfortunately our view of God defines father and family. To sharpen that point, the way you parent is directly connected to the way you understand God is parenting you. If God feels distant, disconnected, and uncaring then you will likely be distant, disconnect, and uncaring in your family. If God is legalistic, caring more about what you do than who you are, then you will be a parent who cares more about what your children do than who they are. If God is holy, loving, present, and parenting you then you will be holy, loving, present, and parenting your children.

God the Father is the reason for fathers and families; therefore, fathers and families take their cues from God the Father. The encouragement here is we have the pattern to follow in God the Father and in the family of God. Fathers and families must look to God to determine how they are to function. An additional encouragement coming from Ephesians 1:1-2 is fathers and families have God-given fuel in order to live out God’s good design; there is grace and peace for us in the work! Men, there is freedom and fuel for us as we seek to love, lead, serve, nourish, cherish, provide for, and protect.

Building on pastor Robert Lewis’s work, here is a good definition of manhood which we must apply to fatherhood. Men reject passivity, accept responsibility, lead courageously, love sacrificially, and seek the greater reward. Because we seek the “well done” coming from Jesus on Judgment Day we submit ourselves to what God tells us in his Word about fathers and families. We want fathers to be fathers and families to be families. We want women to be women, mothers to be mothers, sisters to be sisters, and daughters to be daughters. Too often, men live passively forcing women to do the work of both the man and the woman, the husband and the wife, the mother and the father. Passive parents sinfully expect the church to do the work of the home. Then the pendulum swings too far and men become overly aggressive seeking to do the work of both the man and the woman, the husband and the wife, the mother and the father, the church and the home.

Again, we must take our cues from God. Looking to God we see the goodness of the Trinity where the Father, Son, and Spirit are always in unity as each faithfully fulfills his own role. The Father, Son, and Spirit are not interchangeable, and neither are male and female, husband and wife, father and mother, church and home. The Father, Son, and Spirit are fully God, male and female are both the image of God, but just as the roles of Father, Son, and Spirit differ so do the roles of men and women. We must reject the idea that male and female, husband and wife, father and mother, church and home are interchangeable. God is the architect of families, so we must get our definitions and roles from him. God defines and God assigns.

• Parents, we have work to do (Eph 6:1-4)

Join us, keep coming, and I will preach Ephesians 6:1-4 in detail in the fall. For today, I want you to see that both fathers and mothers have the authority to command their children. What are children told to do in Ephesians 6:1? Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Parents, fathers and mothers, must teach, correct, encourage, and discipline their children according to what God defines as what is good. Ephesians 6:4 calls out fathers commanding fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Fathers are singled out, not because mothers should not bring up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, but because fathers tend to be either absent or passive, not fulfilling the daily intimate work of discipleship in the home, or because fathers tend to be overly aggressive with unrealistic expectations, giving commands without help, or using sinful discipline that provokes children to anger.

Fathers and mothers, parenting is difficult because we understand our roles as so much more than provider and protector. We are also teachers, evangelists, and disciplers. We are families that love God and love one another deeply. In the church and in the home, there should be love, authority, teaching, correction, and discipline. Civil discipline, church discipline, and home discipline take different forms but according to God’s wisdom there should be discipline in each sphere of life. So, when fathers are warned not to provoke their children to anger this does not mean do not correct or do not discipline because telling your child “no” will anger him/her. Parents avoid provoking their children to anger when they bring up those children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Again, the way we feel God is parenting us we will parent our children. Are you abiding in the grace and peace of God so that you are known as a fountain of grace and peace in your home? Do you know who God is? He is the God of grace and peace. That means

• There is grace and peace for us (Eph 1:1-2)

When we read our Bibles we often suffer from amnesia, forgetting what we read the day before, and this causes a lot of trouble, pain, and weakness. When you read Ephesians 3:14-15 and Ephesians 6:1-4 do not forget Ephesians 1:1-2. Look there with me and remember, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Parents, we have a heavenly Father and a strong brother who are full of grace and peace for us because we are weak and often foolish and sinful. Look back on your parenting failures and look back on the cross; Jesus has purchased grace and peace for you. Look at the resurrection of Jesus and believe there is hope for you and your marriage and your family. Our God raises the dead, forgives sin, strengthens the weak, and loves the unlovable. Do you know that God? Are you making him known? Are you at peace because you are daily drawing on the grace of your Father?

Parents working to bring up children, we must depend on the grace and peace of God. The Father, Son, and Spirit are providing the strength you need to keep parenting and the peace you need to keep parenting. Parenting, like singleness, has its own unique temptations regarding weakness and worry. Listen, it is good for me to be a man, a husband, a father, a pastor, a friend, and a neighbor but I am insufficient for the calling. And when I think I am sufficient is when I do the most damage. I need God’s help, God’s grace, and God’s strength. I must start my day with word and prayer because I am weak; I need the promises and reminders that God will provide for me. I do not have what it takes and that worries me. In 45 years of maleness, 22 years of marriage, and 17 years of parenting I have sinned enough to know I cannot be trusted to do this on my own. I see how badly I mess up bringing them up and I see how badly they mess up growing up so I get a little worried when I look at us. If it depends on us, we ain’t gonna make it! With the grace and peace of God pulsing through our lives, we know we can make it.

Men, husbands, fathers, sons, brothers. Women, wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, God has grace that will empower you and peace that will rule your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Let’s get some help on that front. How do we live lives of grace and peace?

II. Helps for parents

• The church

I want to plead with you to join in with our people, ask for help from our pastors, and utilize our programs. When I say “join in with our people” I do not mean show up on Sundays and Wednesdays, I mean Ephesians 4:15 and 16. Turn to Ephesians 4:15-16, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Growing up in every way surely includes growing up as fathers and mothers.

There are a lot of words in Ephesians 4:15 and 16 so pay attention. Start at the end of 16. How is the church supposed to build itself up? In what? We are to build us up in love. That’s our first commitment to one another; in spite of our disagreements and disappointments, we will keep loving one another because that’s how God loves us. Old men are to love younger men. Older women are to love younger women. We are to love one another like Jesus loves us. In fact, the way you love us is meant to make the invisible God visible (1 John 4:12). So, a growing body, a growing church is a loving church. But how do we put that love into play? When something happens, verse 16, it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. What needs to happen? Each part of the body, each member, each of us, needs to be working properly.

Hold it there for a second. Are you working properly? Female, daughter, sister, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother, are you working properly? Male, son, brother, uncle, husband, father, grandfather, are you working properly? Do you even know what God has in mind when he talks about you working properly? Do you know who you are, how the Spirit has gifted you, what you are called to do, and how to live out of the grace and peace of God? If you are not working properly, who are you going to ask to help you? This is what discipleship is all about, teaching one another how to obey all that Jesus commanded, or how to work properly. Instead of cracking the whip and threatening the members to get the body to grow, we commit ourselves to loving deeply (which takes a lot of time together) and working properly (which takes a lot of time together) so that the body grows.

And notice how in Ephesians 4:15 and 16 it’s not just a man or a woman working properly, a husband and wife working properly, or a family working properly. The goal of our lives is for each member to work properly as a part of the body. We need every joint to be a connector that works properly. We need each one of us to be a connector that works properly. Love, connect, and work properly so that we all grow. Connect with people and speak the truth in love so that we grow up in every way into Christ our head. We need everyone of us to be doing that 7 days a week; you celebrate Jesus so we become like Jesus.

We need the people and pastors. Loving people are what make up the body that is connected and working properly. The pastors are members of the body, who according to Ephesians 4:11 are shepherds and teachers who equip the saints for the work of the ministry. We equip you to do the ministry. The elders equip you to do the work. And what is the ministry you do? What is the work according to Ephesians 4:12? Each of us is called and equipped to build up the body of Christ. You and your family are for the church.

You need the people to be doing the work to build you up and you need pastors to be teaching and leading in such a way that the people are better equipped to build you up. You need to be equipped by the pastors to do the work we need you to do to build us up. A question every member needs to be asking the elders is this, “How can you equip me to build up these people?” We need every one of you to be asking, “Pastor, how can you equip me to be a properly working part of the body?” We all need the body of Christ; we need you to keep showing up, keep connecting, keep inviting over, keep praying, keep loving, and keep working in such a way that helps us grow to be more like Jesus. A life devoted to the good of the church is a life of love. So where do we get started? How do we build these connections?

Each of us builds connections with the body by showing up and using our gifts to build up the other members. Now Sundays and Wednesdays are not the extent of the church any more than a date night is the extent of marriage. But the worship and work we do together strengthens relationships. Pastors and teachers are modeling how to read the bible and do good theology so you can go read your bible and do good theology on your own, in your home, evangelistically, and in discipling relationships. The work we do together in Sunday school, at AWANA and youth discipleship, through VBS, at the Teacher Appreciation outreach, through music practice, and on mission trips helps us get to know and trust one another so that deep discipleship is easier. We all need the 7 day a week church.

Now I am going to very quickly give you three final helps so that you are better equipped to be a healthy part of the church. The first resource is our

• Daily Bible reading plan

A healthy member of the body is a person who reads and prays every day. Knowing this, we provide a daily Bible reading plan printed in the bulletin each week. The best way to read the Bible is with someone else and start small, start with the New Testament reading. Read with your spouse and your children. Also, you can get a small group of men or women together and commit to reading the Bible every day and sharing what you are learning through text messages or weekly meetings (that’s the beginning of discipleship). Start reading your Bible every day and we have a plan for you to use; its right there on the back of the bulletin. Next use the

• Family Worship Guide

We want families to worship together. The family worship guide is an email resource Mark and David put out each week. Email David at office@mambrino.org if you want to get the weekly email and it comes out each Monday. The family worship guides uses the Scripture readings, songs, and prayers from Sunday worship and divides them up throughout the following week using a simple read, sing, pray model. Husbands and wives are using this resource together. Families are using this resource together. It’s simple and doable.

Alongside the family worship guide is the Sunday School parent take home pages. Tammy sends these pages out each Saturday so parents are equipped to have spiritual conversations with their children. Use the resources at hand!

And finally, there is

• The discipline of gratitude

This resource is often overlooked in the church and in the home. In Ephesians 5:19-20 the Spirit tells the church to give thanks always and for everything. Children, when is the last time you thanked God for your parents? Youth, when is the last time you thanked God for your parents? Parents, give thanks for your children, husbands, give thanks for your wife, wives, give thanks for your husband. Members, give thanks for your church. The discipline of always giving thanks for everything is the discipline to look for God in every situation. The discipline of gratitude trains us to find God even in the darkness. We need to always give thanks for everything so we’re going to do that now. Diana is coming to play a verse of our next song to give you time to give thanks to God. After that, we will stand and sing. When we stand to sing, I encourage you to go ask an elder for help. Go ask an elder to pray with you and for you. Go and tell an elder that you want to be equipped to build up the church. Go and ask an elder to help you as you lead your family. If you are a woman, go and ask an elder to connect you with an older woman in the church who can help you grow as a wife or as a mother. The resources of the church are available to you because Jesus is building his church. Let’s give thanks then get equipped then go and build up the church.

Discuss Parenting in the Church

1. How did God comfort, challenge, or correct you through the songs, readings, and prayers of the church?
2. What was your main take away from the sermon today?
3. Use God the Father to describe what a faithful father should look like. Pray for the fathers and grandfathers of the church. Give thanks for them and pray for them to grow in godliness.
4. What is your definition of a man?
5. What is your definition of a woman?
6. What are the differences between the roles of a husband and a wife? How do the roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit help us here?
7. Looking at Ephesians 6:1-4, what work should parents give themselves to accomplish? How can you help families in the church more faithfully do these things?
8. Where have you experienced the grace and peace of God in your life this week?
9. What is the role of a church member according to Ephesians 5:15-16? How can you fill this role more joyfully and fruitfully in the church?
10. What is your current practice of daily Bible reading? Who can you invite to join you as you seek God every day?
11. How can you encourage more families to do family worship together? What do you see as the benefits of family worship?
12. Make a list of the things you are thankful for in your church.

The Body of Christ; Ephesians 3:1-6

Main Point: We are members of Christ’s body.

Some of the worst things church members can say go like this, “You don’t belong. You’re not one of us. We’re better than you. You are underneath us, not worthy of us. You’ll never fit in or be welcomed in. You have no place here, no future.” The way we act, keeping people at arm’s length instead of loving, embracing, and welcoming them can send messages like this, “They are just putting up with you because they are nice, they don’t really like you. They say you are family but eventually they will grow tired of you and leave you.” Sadly, we say we love each other but we show we do not.

This was the struggle between the Jews and Gentiles when Jesus started the church. More than an institution, a society, or an organization, the church is a family, a household, and a body. The unity, love, and help enjoyed by a husband and wife should give shape to the church while the unity, love, and help enjoyed by the church should give shape to marriage. We should look at marriages, at the one flesh relationship, and say, “That’s how we’re supposed to do church.” And we should look at the church, at the one body relationship, and say, “That’s how we’re supposed to do marriage.” The unity of the Mambrino family should shape the Duncan family and the unity of the Duncan family should shape the Mambrino family. For better or worse, who we are is shaping you and who you are is shaping us.  

Ephesians 3:1-6 defines who belongs to the church and what it means to belong. The big question for the people of God was do Gentiles have to become Jews to join the church? And if Gentiles do not have to become Jews, does that mean they are full members or is there a junior membership for Gentiles that is good but less than what the Jews receive?

It’s important here that we define our terms. Gentiles is the junk drawer level category for everyone who is not a Jew. Before Jesus rose from the dead and instituted the church, a person was either a law-keeping Jew, and a part of God’s people, or a law-breaking Gentile, and outside of God’s people. A person was either inside the people of God (a Jew) or outside the people of God (a Gentile). And remember, a person is inside the people of God by keeping the law of Moses and a person is outside the people of God because he/she is not keeping the law of Moses. This changed when Jesus came. With the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, we have the fulfilment of the law and the advancing of the covenants such that being true Israel, being a part of the people of God, depends on being united to Christ. Christ Jesus is everything and being united to him is what matters. The apostle Paul, like the other apostles and prophets, was called, equipped, and sent by God to make this message known: salvation is in Christ alone and this salvation creates one new people in him. It doesn’t matter where you came from, who you are, or what you have done. In Jesus, through the gospel, you are a crucial part of the family of God.

Read Ephesians 2:10-3:6.

I. Why we can have hope. Why do we outsiders actually belong?

Look at Ephesians 3:1. Who is Paul a prisoner of Christ for?

• Paul was a prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles (1)

Keep chapter 2 in mind. Gentiles are outside of Christ, outside of God’s people, and strangers to the covenants. When Paul writes that he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of the Gentiles that gives us hope. God has a plan to redeem the Gentiles, unworthy outsiders like you and me, and that plan included the preaching of the apostle Paul.

Think about why Paul is in prison. The actual charge against Paul was that he brought a Gentile into the temple where only Jewish men were allowed to go (Acts 21:27-36). Theologically, Paul was in prison for preaching Christ as the end of the law for righteousness (Rom 10:4). The claim that Christ was the only thing necessary to belong to the people of God was more than the Jews could bear, so they tried to shut Paul down. Paul was a prisoner of Christ because he was preaching salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the Gentiles. Paul was a prisoner because he was a preacher, and he was preaching the good news that people like you and me can be saved in Jesus Christ. We belong to the people of God! Here’s another reason for hope

• Paul’s apostleship was a stewardship of grace for the Gentiles (2)

Paul is assuming his Gentile listeners have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace given to Paul for the Gentiles. A steward is a person who manages the property of another; there are owners and there are stewards. Paul was a steward of God’s grace for the Gentiles. Now don’t think gate-keeper, or bouncer, instead think of delivery service. Flytrex and Doordash are merely the stewards of your dinner; you paid for it, so you are the owner of that hungerbuster with fries. In the same way, the apostle Paul was the delivery mechanism or steward of God’s grace to the Gentiles. God entrusted Paul with the message that brings salvation to the Gentiles. Namely, Paul preached that outsiders like me and you become sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus Christ, not through the law.

We have hope because Paul understood the mission of God is to bring salvation to people like us. And how did Paul get this stewardship? Maybe he made it up. No.

• Paul received the gospel by revelation (3)

The Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus have heard how God made Paul a steward of grace for the salvation of the Gentiles through Jesus Christ and this mystery was made known to Paul by revelation. At Paul’s conversion, Jesus made him the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-9, 15-16; 26:12-18). Before his conversion, Paul hated the idea that Jesus was the Messiah, and he was disgusted by the idea that Gentiles could become a part of the people of God through faith in Jesus. Paul was even a part of the murder of Stephen because Stephen was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 7). So what changed in Paul? God revealed the gospel of Jesus Christ to Paul and made Paul a steward of that gospel for the salvation of the Gentiles. It was at his conversion that Paul understood God’s eternal plan to unite all things in Jesus and make Jesus the head of all things. We have seen these truths briefly in Ephesians 1:9-10 and Ephesians 1:22.

Paul did not brainstorm a plan to build a platform and become an influencer by preaching salvation through Christ crucified. God, for the salvation of the Gentiles, revealed the gospel to Paul, and Paul is making that gospel known. So we have hope, the gospel is God’s redemption plan for the Gentiles. God wants outsiders like you and me in his family. Do you see the glory and goodness in the gospel Paul preached?

• The Gentiles can grasp Paul’s insight into the mystery of Christ (4)

Look again at verse 4, “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ.” When the Gentiles heard Paul’s preaching and read his writings, they came to see that Paul understood the mystery of Christ. What was unknown to Paul and the Gentiles, namely that we can be saved in Jesus along with the Jews, was revealed by God to Paul and then revealed by Paul to us. Paul’s preaching and writing resonate with the truth of salvation through the resurrected Jesus. We outsiders read Paul’s writings and it gives us hope; we can be saved! We are welcomed in.

The Holy Spirit worked in Paul revealing and teaching Christ so that Paul went out preaching and writing about Christ. The Holy Spirit then worked in those hearers and readers so that they understood the message preached by Paul. They heard Paul and said, “This guy understands Jesus.”

And notice it wasn’t just Paul that received this revelation. Paul is not like Muhammad or Joseph Smith. Muhammad founded Islam as a correction to Christianity based on his individual solitary revelation. Joseph Smith founded the Mormons or Latter Day Saints as a correction to Christianity based on his individual solitary revelation. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the covenants of promise was not a solitary matter. Paul was among the prophets and apostles to whom the Holy Spirit also revealed the gospel.

• The Spirit revealed the mystery to the apostles and prophets (5)

Now we are in verse 5, “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”

Remember Ephesians 2:20 and how the one body made up of Jews and Gentiles was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. Even before Paul, which apostle learned early on about the inclusion of the Gentiles in the people of God through faith in Jesus Christ? That was Peter in Acts 10 when he had the vision of unclean animals and God said, “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:15). Immediately after the vision, Peter went to Joppa and preached the gospel to a Gentile named Cornelius and his household.  As Peter was preaching the gospel, the Spirit fell on them, they spoke in tongues like the Jews did at Pentecost, and everyone who believed was baptized (10:46-48). There were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch (13:1). From them came Barnabas who went with Paul to preach Christ to the Gentiles. It was James who heard Peter’s story of the salvation of Cornelius and connected the dots to Amos 9:11-12 and the promise of the salvation of the Gentiles (Acts 15:17). The resurrected Jesus was revealed to the apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit, and they all came to embrace the glorious truth that Gentiles did not have to become Jews to join the people of God.

That is the essence of the mystery. We know from as early as Abraham that God promised to bless the Gentiles, to bless all the families of the earth, in Abraham (Gen 12:3). What no one saw coming was that Jesus would fulfill and supersede the promises made to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and David such that belonging to the people of God no longer depended on keeping the law but on your union with Jesus Christ. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Salvation, redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life are by faith in Jesus and not by works of the law. Jews and Gentiles are equally in need of Christ and equals in Christ.

Paul is writing to those people who convinced themselves they were unwanted outsiders to tell them they have good reason to have hope. God planned to save the Gentiles through faith in Jesus Christ and God is working that plan. Today, it is my joy to tell those of us who know we are outsiders that God wants us; we belong. There is redemption and family and hope for us. The dividing wall has come down. Here is how the wall comes down, In Christ

II. We are one body (6)

Through the gospel, Jesus comes to the broken, the guilty, the outsiders, and the hopeless and says, “I got you. You belong to me” In the gospel, Jesus comes to the unworthy and says, “I got you. You belong to me.” To all those who feel like they don’t belong, Jesus comes and says, “I got you. You belong to me.” Jesus redeems us and makes us family. Jews and Gentiles are both saved the same way with the same result. In Christ Jesus we are one body. Gentiles need Jesus as badly as Jews need Jesus because being a part of the family of God depends on being united to Jesus. There is no other way to be saved.

When our eyes are opened to the riches of the glory of Christ Jesus and to the mystery of God’s plan to unite all things in Christ Jesus it changes the way we look at others. Ephesians 3:6, the mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Jews and Gentiles have the same future because we are in the same body which is the fulfillment of the covenants God made with his people. Paul was entrusted with preaching this mystery: Jews and Gentiles belong to one another because they are each united to Christ as his one body.

I cannot overstate this gospel truth: the defining characteristic of every Christian’s life is personal union with Christ by grace through faith. It doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, your fundamental identity that rules everything else you are and do is your union with Christ. The apostle Paul suffered and died to make this truth known, Ephesians 3:6, all of us share the same hope, a future, and power because of our union with Christ. Let’s take each in turn. First,

• We are fellow heirs in Christ through the gospel

Every good thing promised by God to his people is yours in Christ through the gospel. The Gentiles, that’s you and me, are heirs with the Jews in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Why is this? Why are we heirs with the Jews in Christ Jesus through the gospel? For Jews and Gentiles alike, all the promises of God find their yes and amen in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 1:20). Everything future promised by God will be yours because everything future will be brought about by Jesus, and we are united to him. The glory, beauty, peace, joy, and harmony of the new earth is our inheritance because it is Jesus’ inheritance, and we are together in him.

Has the Spirit opened the eyes of your heart so you see the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints (1:18)? Are you praying for us to stay together and keep following Jesus? We would do very well to think more about the new earth, our glorious inheritance, and how to help one another enter that glory. We say it this way, “Church membership is the commitment to see one another safely through to glory.” We are heirs with the Jews in Christ through the gospel. Are you living in such a way that helps us get our inheritance? We are heirs together and

• We are members of the same body in Christ through the gospel

Members of the same body is just one word in the Greek and it means “body with”. We are heirs with the Jews, and we are body with the Jews in Christ through the gospel. Ephesians 2:19 spells it out like this, “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Personal union with Christ creates one new man in the place of two. In Christ, the old categories of Jew and Gentile no longer hold because Christ is all there is. What matters is if you are united to Christ. This is why we require every member to share their testimony, describe their baptism, and define the gospel. These realities create the church and the way we think about salvation, baptism, and the gospel give shape to the church. All those united to Christ make up his body and are in an eternal family relationship with one another.

Let’s start small. Do you understand that you are united to us because we are all united to Christ? Is Christ in you and Christ in us working like a magnet that draws you to us? Does the way you talk about Jesus at school or work draw Christians to you and unbelievers to Christ? Are you drawn toward other Christians, those who love, celebrate, and depend on Jesus? Are you doing life with us the way your hand is doing life with the rest of your body? Are you living in such a way that causes us to be built up in love (Eph 4:16)? Commit yourself to loving the Jesus you see in each of us. Are you around enough to see Jesus in us? In Christ Jesus we are members of the same body through the gospel and

• We are partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel

Before you and I were joined to Christ we were, Ephesians 2:12, strangers to the covenants of promise. Now, in Christ, we are partners with the Jews in the promises. Since the covenant promises given to the Jews are fulfilled in Christ and we are in Christ then we share in the covenant promises made to Israel. Are your eyes opening to the hope that is yours, the inheritance that is yours, and the power that is yours because you are with us and we are in Christ?

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. None of your past matters. Your family history doesn’t matter. In Christ you are brought near to God and made a member of God’s household such that you receive all that God promises to his people. Namely, God promises to give you himself because you are in His Son. We are his people and he is our Father. He cares for us, and he will care for us, because we are his sons and daughters; we are his family. You are no longer an outsider because you are joined to Christ. You are not second class, unwanted, less important than others, or worthless. Every promise God has made to his people belongs to you because you are a member of his people in Christ Jesus by the gospel. So

• Be united to Christ

If you are not a Christian, I pray today is the day you repent and believe the gospel. God wants to share his promises, his life, and his love with you through Jesus. You can be saved. Do you see the holiness, love, and power of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Do you want to join in the people of God and become a member of his family? You can today. Repent of your sins, believe the gospel, and be baptized. God will join you to Christ; he wants to join you to Christ. God will join you to us; we want you to join us. If that’s you today, if you want to join Christ and join the church, would you come and tell us as we sing? Rest in the trustworthiness of God. He is faithful; he will surely fulfill his promises.

Discuss Ephesians 3:1-6

1. How did God comfort, challenge, or correct you today through the readings, prayers, and songs of the saints?
2. What is your main takeaway from the sermon and how do you want that truth to shape your coming week?
3. What are the differences between a Jew and a Gentile? How does Jesus unite the two in one body?
4. How do you go about looking for, celebrating, and encouraging Christlikeness in your fellow church members? How can you do that more particularly among people who are not like you?
5. How does understanding your unworthiness and you being an outsider shape the way you look at your neighbors and fellow church members?
6. The apostle Paul had a calling and a longing to see Gentiles united to Christ through the gospel. How would you describe the calling God has on your life and who are you longing to see saved?
7. Like Paul, you are a steward of the gospel message for the salvation of others. Read Luke 12:41-48. Do you take your stewardship as seriously as Christ does? What will it look like for you to be a faithful steward?
8. What glories and goodness do you see in the gospel of Jesus Christ?
9. What does it mean to be united to Christ? How do you know that you are united to Christ?
10. What does it mean for us to be one body in Christ? What are you doing to strengthen our unity as a church?
11. How is your union with Christ reshaping who you are and redirecting what you do?
12. What are you looking forward to concerning your inheritance with the Jews in Christ?
13. Being a member of the church is like a member of a human body (think a hand, an eye, or an ear). Does the way you structure each week reflect this level of unity? How can you grow closer, depending on and giving to, the members of the body of Christ?

Resurrection Power at Work; Ephesians 2:1-10

Main Point: The dead are raised with Christ to work.

We have been looking at, celebrating, and I hope growing in our experience of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards those who believe. Last week, on Resurrection Day, we did a deep dive into how all the Father did in raising the Son from the dead and installing him as head over all things demonstrates his great power available to us. We will follow the same pattern today as we remember the immeasurable greatness of God’s power that worked when each of us Christians was born again. The evidence of God’s great power, available to you today for your work, is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and you being born again. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the regeneration of our hearts of stone prove there is power available to us to keep lovingly doing good works. Each of us is meant to think deeply about Jesus’ resurrection and our salvation so we say, “Since God did those things, I know I can trust him as I do these things.” The main point we need to embrace today is the dead are raised with Christ to work.

Read Ephesians 1:15-2:10

Remember this

I. You were dead

Skim over Ephesians 2:1-3 and you find these words: dead, walked, following, lived, and carrying out; the dead walk, follow, live, and do things. If we are doing things, what does it mean to be dead in our trespasses and sins?

• To be dead is to be a slave of sin (1)

Looking at this passage as a whole, to be a slave of sin is to be unable to do good works; a person must be saved in order to do good works. It is union with Christ that enables doing good works; this is why Jesus said apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5). This is why we don’t try harder but seek to depend on Jesus more. Thinking biblically, the reason we are unable to do good works is because we have hearts of stone that do not love God and we have blind eyes that do not see the glory of God (Ezek 11:19; 33:26; 2 Cor 4:1-6). In this natural condition, we refuse to honor God and choose to honor other gods.  

To make that more concrete, it is the love behind the action that makes the action good or not. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 15:8, “This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” What the people were saying about God is good, they were saying the right theological things, but the work is not good because the heart does not agree with the words. They said the right things about God, but they did not love God; therefore it is not good work. If a husband tells his wife he loves her (a good thing), but he doesn’t love his wife,  are his goods words of love truly a good work? No. Likewise, a person can do something good but if the heart is far from God, then the person is serving another god; this is not good. To be dead in our trespasses and sins is to be incapable of doing good works with love.

The resurrection power of God is demonstrated at the level of my heart and yours. We were dead in our trespasses and sins because our hearts were bound up with those trespasses and sins. But when God gave us new hearts, hearts of flesh, what we love began to change so that what we did began to change and why we did it began to change. The freedom Christ gives is the freedom to love and enjoy God. The resurrection power of God is the power to joyfully sacrifice self for the redemption of others. Before we get to the resurrection part, let’s get clear about those other gods.

• You were going along with the world (2)

Look again at Ephesians 2:1-2, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you walked, following the course of this world.” In Romans 12:2 terms, you were conformed to this world, pressed by the world into its mold. You loved what the world loved and did what the world did. Or at a deeper level, you loved the world and so you served the world. The world said, “this is how sexuality should work” and you said, “I’ll do that.” The world said, “This is success” and you said, “I’ll be successful like that.” If you look like the world, laugh like the world, act like the world, dress like the world, and spend like the world, then you are following the world, and be warned the world is passing away (1 Jn 2:17). Your god determines the way you act and what you will receive. So, if you act like the world then the world is your god and you will receive only what the world is capable of giving, shallow short-lived glory and a quick empty ending. We all were once in that state following the world and following the devil.

• You were following Satan’s lead (2)

Each one of us was following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Just as we followed the world’s ways, so we also walked according to the prince of the power of the air. But looking at verse 2, it’s not just that we followed him or walked according to him, but that he was working in us. How does that work?

2 Corinthians 4:4 says the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. 2 Timothy 2:26 talks about those who have been captured by the devil to do his will. Satan led each of us in such a way that we did not see the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the main way Satan blinds our eyes is by accusing God of wrong and convincing us to reject or turn away from God. Satan’s powerful tools are the idea that God isn’t being fair and the problem of suffering; Satan blinds us by throwing shade on God’s character and then promising us what we want. When God withholds something we feel entitled to, we are in a place of temptation, a potential blinding. When God brings suffering we feel we should be exempt from, we are in a place of temptation, a potential blinding (see Mt 4:1-11). Satan works in us by accusing God of wrong and then promising us some good thing. Satan plays on our desires, our reasoning, and the world’s way of doing.

Looking at this condition, we need to understand that we needed more than a peptalk from Jesus. We needed to be liberated from Satan’s rule (Col 1:13). We needed new citizenship, a transformation to the kingdom of God. Have you forgotten what you were? Remember

• We were all doing whatever we wanted (3)

In verse 3 we begin to see how God rescued us from slavery to our appetites and our mere human reason. We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. If it feels good, do it. If it makes sense to you, go for it. A starter list of these works is given in Galatians 5:19, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” The mad-scientist driven by the desires of his mind and the sexual predator driven by the desires of his body are both slaves, and we were numbered among them. We were right there with them. Have you ever done something you regretted or said something you regretted? Why did you do it? I did and said those things because I believed doing and saying them would produce something good, satisfy some pleasure or some sense of revenge. We are surely a messed up people and

• We were born this way (3)

Look at the end of verse 3, “and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Jew and Gentile alike are children of wrath living selfishly following the world, the flesh, and the devil. Let’s think on this reality so we grow in our appreciation of the power of God. The opposite of children of wrath (2:3) is children of light (5:8); a human is either a child of wrath or a child of light. We were born children of wrath and are born again as children of light. We are all born with hearts of stone which must be replaced with hearts of flesh.

Trying to make sense of it all, we received unrighteousness from Adam just as we receive righteousness from Christ. We are born as children of wrath; we are born again as children of light. We were in Adam but now we are in Christ (Rom 5:12-21). We were under condemnation but now in Jesus we are under grace. We were worse off than we want to admit, and we are now better off than we know. We do a 180 in verse four. You were following the world, your flesh, and the devil but God made us alive together with Christ. You were swept up in his resurrection!

II. You have been raised

This is powerful good news and let’s dig into it. First, know this

• God loves messed up people (4)

Looking at what you were, verses 1-3, understand that God loved you even then. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” The only reason the immeasurably great power of God has any effect on you and me is because God loves messed up people. Who loved the sexually immoral, the idolaters, the adulterers, the homosexuals, the thieves, the greedy, the drunkards, the jerks, and the swindlers that made up the church in Corinth (1 Cor 6:9-11)? God did; God loved them, washed them, sanctified them, and justified them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit. Who loves us? God does. God loves messed up people because he is rich in mercy and loves with a great love. God loves you right now in your mess.

God is rich in mercy, grace, and kindness (1:8, 18; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16), therefore, messed up people like me and you can be saved. We are utterly dependent on the depths and riches of God’s love. God loves messed up people like me and you and

• God raises the unworthy dead (5-6)

Look at verse 5, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” God made us alive in Christ when we were dead in our trespasses. Thank God we don’t earn our resurrections, or resurrection would never happen; the dead have nothing to commend them to God. We come alive with Christ because God is merciful and loved us with a great love.

The picture of salvation in Ezekial 16 is helpful here. We were wallowing in our natural filth, tossed out and unwanted, but God came by and said, “live!” God loves us and wants us as his own children. It’s a rough metaphor but it might help. I picture Jesus having all these power lines coming off him, the Father takes those leads and zaps us with resurrection power plugging us into Christ; the dead come to life by connection with Jesus. The unworthy dead come to life by connection with Jesus. That is good news for all of us who think we are too far gone. God loves messed up people, God raises the unworthy dead, and

• Eternity will prove the immeasurable riches of God’s grace (7)

Now God shows the immeasurable riches of his power in our lives. For the rest of eternity, God will show the immeasurable riches of his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. What must God be like if for all of eternity we will never come to the bottom of his kindness? A million years from now we will still be exploring the depths of God’s kindness. And why, why will we know God’s kindness even though we were messed up sinners, the unworthy dead? It is because we are in Christ Jesus. So how do we get into Jesus?

• Salvation is by grace through faith (8)

We will enjoy the kindness of God for all of eternity, verse 8, “for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” Your salvation is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, and you are saved by grace through faith. Only those who have faith in Jesus are saved and only those made alive by God with Jesus have faith. The truth that this is not your own doing puts the initiative for our salvation solely on God, on his mercy and love for those who do not deserve it. God didn’t save you because you are good enough. God saved you because of his grace.

How are slaves set free? How do the dead come to life? How do hearts of stone become hearts of flesh? The gospel is preached with the Holy Spirit’s power, God zaps us with resurrection power, and we repent and believe. You must believe to be saved. You cannot be saved apart from faith. Salvation is by grace through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God. So know this,

• You cannot be good enough to be saved (9)

I had a heartbreaking conversation with a man Thursday evening who is doing good things to help the poor in very difficult places around the world, but he is doing them believing those good works will be his ticket into heaven. Looking at verses 8 and 9, on what grounds will God save any of us? Our salvation is only on the grounds of the gift of God’s grace, it is not the result of works. Why is that? It is because we are saved for good works not saved by good works. Remember, apart from Christ we are not capable of doing good works (John 15:5). Dead people don’t do good works; resurrected people do good works.

God’s goal in saving people by grace and not by works is to remove all grounds for boasting. Do you see that in verse 9, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast? If a person could do enough good works to be saved, then that person would have grounds for boasting before God. But, no person has grounds for claiming, “I deserve this” unless of course we are talking about the wrath of God. Instead of being angry at God because we have not received something we think we deserve, we are to depend on God for the power to do the good works he has called us to do. God has no entitled children, only empowered children. So,

III. Get to work

Get to work knowing

• In Christ, we are new creations

There are two major errors in our thinking that keep us from doing good works. The first error is thinking we are not really dead in our sin, so we do not need Jesus to make us new or empower us for good works. This is the person who just keeps working in his/her own strength. Listen, you need to be remade; you are not capable of doing what God has called you to do. Be born again. The second error is thinking good works are impossible to do. This is the person who just quits because he/she knows the work is too much. One person thinks she doesn’t need Jesus and the other person thinks Jesus is not enough.

Look at the resurrection of Jesus and celebrate the reality of verse 10. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We Christians are God’s doing and this doing happened when we were swept up in the resurrection of Jesus so that we are made capable of loving God and loving others. We Christians, doing good works, are the product of God’s power. Pray Hebrews 13:20 and 21 for us, “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen” (2 Pt 1:3). Pray for us because in Christ

• We are crafted for good works

Salvation is by grace for good works (Titus 2:11-14; 3:1-8, 14). And what are those good works? What should we be doing? This is what Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 are all about. Every Christian should be lovingly doing the work of building up the church. Every Christian should be lovingly exposing darkness to the light for redemption through Jesus Christ. Every Christian should be lovingly submitting to one another to build one another up. Every wife should be lovingly submitting to her husband. Every husband should be lovingly sacrificing himself for his wife. Every child should be lovingly obeying his/her parents. Every father should be lovingly disciplining and instructing his children. Every employee should be working hard from the heart. Every boss should quit threatening. Every Christian should be fighting demonic powers by speaking the truth in love. And that is just Ephesians 4-6!

Consider also Matthew 25. The good works Jesus has in mind are feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty drink, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison (Mt 25:34-46). God calls us to do the good work of loving our neighbors.

Think about good works according to categories. Invest in your family, build up the church, and bring redemption to the world. How does that sound? It sounds overwhelming to me, that is where I am. When I embrace the calling of God to do the good works he has prepared for me it is crushing because I am a proud fool who tries to work in my own strength for my own glory. For a season I may do well at home, or in the church, or at work, or out in the world but all of those all the time is a cross too heavy to bear. Weary and heavy laden I need to depend on Jesus who gives me rest and strength, resurrection strength, immeasurably great strength (Mt 11:28; 2 Cor 12:9). I need to be praying you know Christ’s strength. I need you to be praying that I know Christ’s strength.

This is a call to be sober-minded because the work is too big, and we are too weak. With sober minds let’s remember who we are; we are the redeemed. And how were we redeemed? We are redeemed through the blood of the Lamb; we have been swept up in his resurrection. God, according to his riches of mercy and kindness, according to the immeasurable greatness of his power through which he raised Christ, raised us, and now empowers us to live lives of redemption everywhere we go. Lift up your heads and set your mind on the resurrected Jesus. Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; seek out resurrection power. We are not the living dead; we are those who have been raised with Christ in power. There is power for us to do good works for the glory of God and the good of others; there is power to love others joyfully. Christ’s resurrection proves God’s power. Our salvation proves God’s power. We are redeemed. Let’s proclaim it and then get to work.

Discuss Ephesians 2:1-10

1. How did God comfort, challenge, or correct you today through the readings, prayers, and songs of the church?
2. What is your main take away from the sermon?
3. How were you influenced by the world, the flesh, and the devil before God saved you? Describe what it was like for you to be dead in your trespasses and sin.
4. Where do you see your love for God growing? How is this increasing love for God changing the way you speak and act?
5. Does Christ and his way have the greatest influence on the way you talk, dress, and act or does the world and its way have the greatest influence on the way you talk, dress, and act?
6. Remember a season in life when you were tempted to turn away from God because God did not give you what you felt your deserved or God gave you suffering you felt like you did not deserve. What kept you walking with God or what brought you back to walking with God?
7. How can you help others in the church who are struggling now like you did?
8. Are humans born good or born children of wrath? Do we sin and then die or do we sin because we are dead? See Psalm 51:5 and Romans 5:12-21 for more on this.
9. How does the reality that God loved you even when you were dead in your trespasses and sin encourage you to trust God with your suffering today?
10. Why is it encouraging to know salvation is by grace through faith and not of works? Why is it humbling that salvation must be by grace through faith and cannot be by works?
11. Read Titus 2:11-14; 3:1-8, 14. What are we saved for?
12. Where are you feeling the overwhelming weight of God’s call? Is it your work in your family, in your church, or in the world? What does resting in Christ for strength and boasting in your weaknesses look like (2 Cor 12:9)?
13. Pray Hebrews 13:20 and 21 for your family and your church family.