Messages

After Paul's doxology, he turns his attention to the church. He is overwhelmed with gratitude for them and offers one of the highest and richest prayers in all of scripture for them.

This week our study of the church of Ephesus moves us into the book of Ephesians. This letter was likely written around 60 AD. Paul left his ministry in Ephesus around 56 AD. He went to Jerusalem and was arrested and eventually was taken to Rome. From his Roman detention, Paul writes this letter back to the people he spent over two years doing ministry with. The letter to the Ephesians begins with a reminder of all that comes with being “In Christ”. This term is used in some fashion nine times in the first fourteen verses.

After the riot (Acts 19), Paul leaves Ephesus. A year later he makes his way back to the area but doesn’t have time to stay. So he calls for the Elders to meet him in Miletus, as he has a message for them as they lead the church in Ephesus. This week's sermon should be directed at the QuadCity Elders and the church should overhear what is expected of them.

Imagine a church so influential that it changed a city's economy, that is what happened in Ephesus. The idol makers were running out of customers and because of this a riot broke out and engulfed the city. Instead of being afraid, Paul is excited to share the gospel in a stadium of 24,000 people.

There are times when Gospel work is miraculous, when God chooses to work in a way that falls outside of the laws of physics. Paul experienced this many times in his ministry in Ephesus.

We often think of the ministry of the Apostles as always being adventurous and excited, filled with feats of bravery and miraculous events. Yet while that is usually true, there is more to the story. In Acts chapter 19 we find Paul fulfilling his promise to return to Ephesus. He meets some disciples there, who, like Apollos, didn’t quite get the baptism piece right, so Paul corrects them. Then he did what he always did, he started preaching in the synagogue sharing about Jesus and he did this for 3 months. And when he wore out his welcome, he rented a local classroom and preached and taught every day for two years. Two years of faithful gospel proclamation. And what came of it? The gospel was spread all over Asia Minor. It was this faithful ministry of Paul in Ephesus that became the launchpad for the seven churches of Revelation.

Acts 18 records the first gospel seeds being planted in the city of Ephesus. Paul, with his companions from Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila, come to Ephesus, enter the Synagogue, and share the gospel. Paul soon leaves, and another evangelist, named Apollos, arrives to pick up where Paul leaves off.

No one stands before their friends and family in a white dress or black suit and dreams of the day when their marriage will be over. Unfortunately, it happens to millions of people every year. So what do we do when the relationship we once cultivated has been relegated to the wood pile?

What do you do when your marriage is dying?

Just a tree needs to be watered and pruned and fertilized, even the best of marriages need to be regularly maintained.