Stone's Hill Community Church
Our series is called "Letters from Prison" - which is a study of Paul's prison epistles or letters. We've covered Philippians and Philemon. Now, we look at Ephesians!
Even though Paul is chained up in prison (Ephesians 6:20), he feels incredibly blessed—and he wants his Christian readers, then and now, to realize how incredibly privileged we are as well. This letter to the Ephesians is really nothing more than a description of the riches that we have in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul emphasized these riches a great deal: Ephesians 1:7 talks about the riches of His grace, at the end of the verse. Chapter 3:8 talks about the unsearchable riches of Christ. Chapter 3:16—the riches of His glory. So you have the riches of His grace, the riches of His glory and the riches of His Son. In other words, God is unloading all of His riches in the book of Ephesians. The vault is open! The word grace is used 12 times in this book. There are enough resources in heaven to… cover all past debts, present liabilities and future needs and still not diminish your account. That’s God’s plan.
This letter is about that... and it's about us...Welcome to "Ephesians". And welcome to Stones Hill Community Church and Online Notes!
Welcome!
We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!
A typical Stone's Hill service has music (feel free to sing out); some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of); a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word); and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your life.)
So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!
Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV
Letters from Prison - Ephesians 2:1-10
So, a basic outline for today's message:
What We Were – (v.1-3)
Are we really this bad?
What We Are – (v.4-6)
Is God really this good?
What We Shall Be – (v.7-10)
Is our future together really this bright?
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Kathy Koch has observed in her book Five to Thrive that we’ll never unlock who we were meant to be until we connect with the One who made us. She asserts that we need five key questions answered. It occurred to me this week that Paul answers all five of these questions in Ephesians 2:1-10.
Who can I trust? That’s a security question.
Who am I? That’s an identity question.
Who wants me? That’s a belonging question.
Why am I alive? That’s a purpose question.
What do I do well? That’s a competence question.
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First, have you been made alive with Christ? Has God put his new principle of life within you? Do you sense a new spiritual disposition in what you do? Are you born again?
Second, have you been raised with Christ so that your orientation is now heavenly, rather than being only earthbound?
Finally, have you been seated with God in Christ in the heavenly realms? That is, have you made your true, blessed, and intimate home with God?