Ephesians
Shift your prayer life
Oct/16/2011 07:26 AM
For this morning’s message in Ephesians, we’re looking at how Paul the apostle prayed for the church. I thought it would be helpful to link back to an older message on the basics of prayer, so here it is!
SHIFT: Prayer
SHIFT: Prayer
Blessings Delivered in Christ!
Oct/08/2011 11:50 AM
Isn’t it great to know that God has already delivered to us EVERY spiritual blessing?? IN CHRIST, we have been given ALL that we ever will need.
Ephesians 1 describes these blessings very nicely… Among them, we are chosen, graced, redeemed, reconciled, destined, and sealed! I love the fact that in HIM, we have been given all we need, and in Him, we lack nothing.
It’s not like we have to hope or wish or pray or somehow earn every spiritual blessing. We HAVE BEEN GIVEN them ALL! Many Christians think that growing in Christ means earning more and more of these blessings over the course of their life. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Maturing as a Christian means GROWING INTO the blessings that I ALREADY HAVE in CHRIST!
Colossians 1:11-14 tells us that I have already been qualified, already been delivered, already been transferred, already been redeemed, and I’ve already been forgiven!
God doesn’t withhold his blessings for us. ALL are delivered freely in Christ.
Ephesians 1 describes these blessings very nicely… Among them, we are chosen, graced, redeemed, reconciled, destined, and sealed! I love the fact that in HIM, we have been given all we need, and in Him, we lack nothing.
It’s not like we have to hope or wish or pray or somehow earn every spiritual blessing. We HAVE BEEN GIVEN them ALL! Many Christians think that growing in Christ means earning more and more of these blessings over the course of their life. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Maturing as a Christian means GROWING INTO the blessings that I ALREADY HAVE in CHRIST!
Colossians 1:11-14 tells us that I have already been qualified, already been delivered, already been transferred, already been redeemed, and I’ve already been forgiven!
God doesn’t withhold his blessings for us. ALL are delivered freely in Christ.
Reading Ahead
Sep/21/2011 10:18 AM
If you’re reading ahead for this weekend’s service, we’re covering Ephesians 1:3-14. There is a LOT of information there… Some really deep theology. BUT don’t let that scare you. We’ll spend the next few weeks looking at this passage and we’ll look carefully at what God says to us there.
One of the things that strikes me about this next section is verse 13… “And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”
The words here literally say that “he put his seal on you” by giving you the Holy Spirit. I love the image here! A seal signified the ownership of the king. Anything bearing the king’s seal would carry all of the power and authority of the king himself. Also, anything bearing that seal would come under the full protection of all of the king’s resources. Whoever bore this seal was acting as the king’s representative on behalf of the king himself.
Verse 14 goes on to say that this same Holy Spirit that seals you and me promises that “he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.” We can rest assured that we are “marked…” We are “sealed” by God in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit! That seal forever binds US to HIM!
One of the things that strikes me about this next section is verse 13… “And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”
The words here literally say that “he put his seal on you” by giving you the Holy Spirit. I love the image here! A seal signified the ownership of the king. Anything bearing the king’s seal would carry all of the power and authority of the king himself. Also, anything bearing that seal would come under the full protection of all of the king’s resources. Whoever bore this seal was acting as the king’s representative on behalf of the king himself.
Verse 14 goes on to say that this same Holy Spirit that seals you and me promises that “he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.” We can rest assured that we are “marked…” We are “sealed” by God in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit! That seal forever binds US to HIM!
Study Week Continues
Jul/13/2011 02:33 PM
My study week got off to a great start on Monday... I spent the afternoon making notes on Ephesians 1-3... I now have a bunch of these big pages covering my living room walls! I am really excited about this study, which will begin in September, right after Labor Day.
Here are some of the resources I am using to study with this week:
Logos Bible Study Software
Indispensable! I literally have nearly a THOUSAND resource books on my hard drive, cross-referenced, and instantly accessible. It contains original language study material, commentaries, theological resources, and tons of other stuff... HOURS of work completed with a few mouse clicks!
An Exposition of Ephesians
This awesome 7-book commentary by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is just amazing. It is actually one of my Logos resources, and I’m finding it to be invaluable.
New Testament Commentary
William Hindriksen
This is one of my favorite old standbys from college days. You can’t get a digital copy, but thank God for Amazon.com! I bought some of this commentary series for $30-50 back in the day. Now you can pick them up for under $5 used!
Blue Letter Bible
This is a great free resource for anyone to use... Has commentaries, articles, charts, maps, and links to all kinds of other cool stuff.
Youversion.com
This is QUICKLY becoming one of my favorite resources... I’m amazed at how many people are using their FREE mobile app to study God’s Word, to formulate reading plans, to take notes in church, and to even have the Bible read to them! It is really very cool... I had to drive from Ellijay to Blairsville today, and I listened to the entire book of Ephesians each way!