Ephesians: The Power Within

Ephesians 3:20-21

One of the greatest tactics of Satan is to try to convince us that we are powerless. He lies to us and tells us that we aren't holy enough, righteous enough, prayerful enough to be effective. He tells us we are still too sinful for our words and actions to make any real difference in people's lives. When we allow ourselves to be duped, the result is discouragement, silence and inaction. The benediction of Paul in these verses is a reminder that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can imagine - through us! We are more powerful than we know! This is a message of encouragement to the child of God to not shrink back in unbelief but speak out for God and keep laboring for the advance of the gospel.

Ephesians: Experiencing God's Love

Ephesians 3:14-19

This message from Ephesians 3 is a prayer for God’s love to be made real in us. When we come to faith we begin to understand the Father’s love in small measure, but this understanding grows more and more through the years. Even after we learn all the Scriptures about love and hear countless teachings about God’s love, even after singing songs for years about God’s love—we still need fresh revelations! The prayer of Paul is, essentially, that we would fully comprehend what we already know, namely, God’s love. Knowing this love is more than head knowledge. God Himself, at times, opens the eyes of our heart and enables us to see it in all of its glory. My prayer for this message is that it would create in us a greater hunger to experience the love of God above all else and that we’d be stirred to seek after it. Nothing is more transformative than experiencing the loving embrace of the Heavenly Father! 

Ephesians: Another Layer of Grace

Ephesians 3

Continuing on with our Ephesians series, we find ourselves at the beginning of chapter 3. In this passage, Paul writes about the Grace of God in a way we don't often think. Looking deeper at this word we reclaim an even fuller meaning of this amazing, unmerited favor of God.

Ephesians: Household of God

Ephesians 2:11-22

As this terrible pandemic is affecting our planet there is another kind of pandemic that has been going on for years and shows no signs of letting up soon. I’m talking about the spiritual pandemic of God’s people being bored, sour, cynical, divided, ungrateful and cold in heart. It’s not surprising that this widespread problem is happening because the prophets, apostles and Jesus himself predicted it would happen in the latter days. The verses in Ephesians 2:11-22 are a medicine for the mind. When we take this “medicine” consistently through the practice of contemplation we will find ourselves full of health and life. This message aims to evoke awe and gratitude. 

Ephesians: Workmanship

Ephesians 2:10

It is a universal belief that we humans are responsible to shape our own lives into something significant. The Christian faith actually teaches the opposite - God Himself is the shaper, the artist, the potter. The implications of this are wonderful! Instead of floundering in our moral inadequacies in the effort to become people of virtue, we trust God Himself to fashion us into the image of His Son. This message is an encouragement to all who struggle to live up to the high standards of the Word of God. We can relax on the Potter’s wheel and allow the Master Potter to do what He does best. 

Ephesians: Amazing Grace

Ephesians 2:4-9 

This was a message born out of much prayer, tears and anguish. It wasn’t merely another Sunday sermon but I felt like the truths in this passage were life to me in helping me to get through a severe trial. God is so good! He always provides what we need. This life can be hard and many are struggling with anxiety and fear during this pandemic. Scripture encourages us amidst the afflictions of life to set our minds on the glory of God and his glorious plan. When we do that it puts everything in perspective and a certain confidence emerges. My prayer for this message is that it would overwhelm hearts with hope! 

Ephesians: Dead in Sin

Ephesians 2:1-3 

In order to appreciate how amazing grace is, we must understand how desperate our condition would be apart from grace. That’s what this message is all about. The first few verses of Ephesians 2 describe who we are apart from grace. It’s not just that we needed a little help or that Jesus made our already good life a little sweeter. The writer of the epistle describes our life apart from grace as spiritually dead. A dead person cannot hear, cannot see, cannot respond. We were hopeless. The Apostle Paul presses us to remember how desperate our condition was in order that the glorious grace of God would be magnified. It is humbling and even painful to consider that apart from Christ we would be enemies of God under His wrath. But the more we understand just how lost we were the more our hearts are moved to gratitude, awe and worship.

Ephesians: Pray Big

Ephesians 1:15-23

This message explores the big prayer of the Apostle Paul for those who are God’s own. The great problem Christians are up against, despite having the Spirit within them, is dullness. Even though we might have had a wonderful encounter with Jesus a few days ago, the things of eternity may not seem real today. This dullness is a constant struggle for the believer. Paul’s prayer strikes at the very root of this problem. He prays that the Spirit would open the eyes of the heart and reveal the knowledge of God. He prays, specifically, that we would know the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance and the immeasurable greatness of His power. This prayer of Paul not only gives us inspiration to pray big but it also gives us permission. 

Ephesians: Intercessory Prayer

Ephesians 1:15-16

Paul said that he did not cease to pray for the believers in Ephesus. This practice of earnest continual prayer marked the early Christians and especially the prophets before them. Many examples from history are given to paint a picture of what intercessory prayer is all about. Scott explains that it’s a different sort of prayer. It’s not the prayer of rest. It’s not merely coffee, contemplation and communion. It’s war. It’s a toil not of human effort but of supernatural power. Paul talked of “struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works within him”. This message is a strong call to be devoted to the serious practice of laboring in prayer for others. It’s a call to return to what the old saints called “travail” and the “burden of the Lord”. It’s this kind of praying alone that has paved the way for mighty moves of God throughout the world. 

Ephesians: Assurance

Ephesians 1:14 

In America, most people believe that heaven awaits them after death. This includes not only Christians and Catholics but Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses and all sorts of other religious folks. Even people who don’t hold to a specific religion have a loose idea that there is a God and that they will be welcomed into heaven after death. Jesus, however, warned that many will be surprised and shocked on judgment day when they find the door is closed. They will hear the words, “I never knew you”. Jesus is famous for his statement in John 3 that “unless we are born again we cannot enter the kingdom of God”. So how do we know we are truly saved? One of the crowning promises in the Bible is that the Christian will receive assurance that after death he or she will forever be with Christ in glory. What are the distinguishing marks of this assurance? How do we know that our assurance is genuine and not mere wishful thinking? This message explores these important questions and offers guidance to those who are uncertain about their standing before God.