Ephesians: Replacing Hate With Love

Ephesians 4:31

Since the first batch of humans were made, there have always been tensions between people. To be human is to experience being hurt, being slighted, being wronged by people. It’s also very natural as humans to respond to certain people with anger. It’s easy for us to become bitter and even malicious. The Christian faith, however, teaches us to do the opposite. The first part of this message shows what each of these words are: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice. Because the verse urges us to put all these away, the last part of the message talks about the importance of continual renewal of the heart and fresh infillings of God’s love. 

Ephesians: Grieving the Spirit

Ephesians 4:30 

I probably say this too frequently but this message is one of the most important to understand. It’s on just one single verse—“do not grieve the Holy Spirit”. Most Christians have heard the verse, and it’s sometimes used to really bang Christians over the head. But the meaning is so much deeper than “hey, you better behave or you’ll tick off the Almighty”. It’s really about love and, specifically, this love relationship we have with God that is the supreme motivation for doing right. We all struggle at times to find within ourselves the motivation to resist sin, to love others, to forgive, to do the right thing. This message will open up a fountain of revelation to put within you a deep and abiding motivation to do what is pleasing to the heart of God.

Ephesians: Power of Words

Ephesians 4:29

This message is intended to help us understand the power of the words we speak. Every single day we speak things to people around us, and our words can be a fountain of life. They can be refreshing and grace-filled. Our words can be Gospel-saturated, Holy Spirit-drenched words. Words aptly spoken, tailor-fit gems that enrich the soul. This message is a reminder that we are representing God with our words everywhere we go. Our whole lives speak. We are, in fact, called “living epistles”, living animated letters speaking important things to the world. Let our words be kind and gracious, wise and compassionate. Let us not speak unhelpful words or words that confuse or words that hurt. May our words heal and build; may they advance the kingdom of God in our generation.

Ephesians: Thieves to Kings

Ephesians 4:28

Chris Waugh shares a message from Ephesians 4:28: Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Ephesians: Taming Anger

Ephesians 4:26-27 

Anger has caused more ruin than perhaps any other thing. It has destroyed marriages, friendships, churches, companies, music groups and entire nations. It is the reason for violence and has led to hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered in battle. Many people are in prison for life because of anger. It’s not a new problem but is as old as Cain and Abel. Learning to tame this “tiger” is essential in order to possess a joyful life. Many people are in despair secretly over the way anger hijacks their heart and drives them to say and do foolish things. Or the way they are plunged into an inward confusion. There’s hope. Even the most angry people can learn from the Master (Jesus) and become meek and lowly in heart. This is the wonder and glory of God’s grace! This message will teach you not only how to control your anger when it surfaces, but teach you how to become the kind of person who is slow to anger by default.

Ephesians: Speak the Truth

Ephesians 4:25

As the nature of truth has become increasingly unclear in our culture, the church is charged to “put away falseness” and “speak the truth” to our neighbors. This message focuses on how the church interacts with the God of truth and how we ought to interact with each other more deeply in truth.

Ephesians: You Must!

Ephesians 4:17-24

As humans we find ourselves being commanded to do a great many things by various people throughout our lives. When we hear a command we immediately begin to process whether we really need to heed the command or not. In other words, we decide how serious we should take the command. That's what this message is about. It's centered around the urgent words of the Apostle to us - "you must". The real punch of the sermon is about the way we have a tendency to desensitize ourselves from God's commands. It's a call to (as Scripture describes) tremble at the Word. This message is for everyone but especially for those who feel a measure of hardness of heart setting in. 

Ephesians: How Truth Transforms

Ephesians 4:15-16

The great aim in the Christian life is to become like Jesus. It is to display the very life of Christ as it grows in and through us to the world. This work of spiritual formation in the church is accomplished when each part is working properly in the practice of speaking the truth in love. In other words, the church equips the church; the church builds the church; the church makes the church grow. As important as pastors are in helping the church to grow spiritually, it is God’s design that the church grows by the interdependence of all the parts working together. Church people minister to church people. This message is an encouragement to each of us to play our part well in speaking and receiving truth in the church community. Practical instructions are given in the last segment of the teaching to help us develop more honest relationships. 

Ephesians: Gifted

Ephesians 4:7-14 

Likely, we’ve all heard someone described as “gifted”. Usually, this word is used to describe a special type of person that possesses unique qualities. It carries the idea that most people—us common folks—cannot and should not be described as gifted. In our church experience we tend to regard orators, music leaders or outgoing winsome personalities who are good at evangelism, as gifted. In honest moments we wonder why others are gifted and we are not. But the Bible does not support these notions at all and, in fact, teaches us that every child of God is gifted by God to contribute to the grand design of God in building the Church of God. 

Ephesians: Unity

Ephesians 4:1-6

We find ourselves living in a world filled with people who we disagree with about a great many matters. As Christians, we also find ourselves in a Church world filled with people we disagree with about a great many matters. Is unity even possible? What can be do to foster unity with others? This talk comes from Ephesians 4:1-6 but also comes from the many experiences I’ve had over three decades of deep involvement in the Church. Unity is not only attainable for God’s people, it is the very prayer of Jesus (John 17). This message is very practical in helping us to work through disagreements with others.