Messages

We live in the middle of a battlefield. It is sometimes easy to forget it when we are doomscrolling Facebook and shopping for avocados. However, Paul makes it clear that spiritual warfare is an ever-present reality in the life of a follower of Jesus. This is his encouragement for us: prepare yourself for battle.

As we see in this text, the truth of the Gospel will impact how children interact with parents, and how parents interact with their kids. The Gospel will impact how we treat those who are below us in our jobs and businesses, as well as those above us. There is no relationship that our faith in Jesus does not influence.

Paul, writing to a local body of believers in Ephesus writes, “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” This command isn’t written just to the women, or even to the wives, it is written to the church. Our general disposition toward one another should be one of submission. With that general understanding in mind, Paul moves specifically to speaking to wives and husbands. What he has to say to those in Ephesus would have been a brand new way of thinking, especially for the men.

In this text, Paul continues his call for the people of God to not only believe something different than the rest of the world, but to live in a way that is different from the rest of the world. Paul says those who are outside of Christ are living in darkness, but those in Christ are living in the light.

We live in a culture where we are surrounded by people tolerating and celebrating sin. That is not acceptable among the people of God. When someone walks among believers, there should be a palpable difference in what they see, hear, and experience. The question this text makes us ask is: does the standard of holiness among us meet the standard God sets for his people?

For most of us, we read texts like this as a checklist of "do’s" and "don’ts." And rightly so! These verses clearly lay out for us in very specific terms how we are to act towards one another. However, we should not see these texts as exhaustive lists of how to act. Instead, they are examples of what it looks like to live out the command of chapter 5 verse 1: following God’s example and walking in love.

When you think about your life, is there a difference between your actions and attitudes before you knew Jesus and after? Not just a change in beliefs, but a change in behaviors?

As Paul is speaking to these gentile Ephesians, he implores them to turn away from the way they used to live. Paul makes it clear that to live like the “Gentiles” is incongruent with following Jesus.

If you are in Christ, you have been given a spiritual gift meant to be used with and for the body of Christ. The big idea of these verses is that the body is made up of many parts, but they are designed to work together. The goal of Paul's exhortation here is that the body would be unified and mature.

In the Western church, we often see church as an event we attend, instead of a body to which we belong. In a body, every part is important. If one part hurts, the whole body is affected. If one part is missing, the body doesn’t function as designed. Do we see the church, and our role in it, with that kind of importance?

As is often the case in Paul's letters, the first half of the letter is a reminder of the gospel. It is a retelling of who we were before Christ, and who we are in Christ. As we enter into chapter 4, the letter now takes a turn. Paul begins to move from theological to practical. He shifts from reminding us of what Christ has done, to what we should do because of what Christ has done.

Today we are taking a look back at 2024 and as well as casting vision for the year to come. Whether you are new to the church, or a regular church attender, we want to be transparent about the ministry that we are doing and plan to do over the next year.