Ours is a culture that values speed. How do we interpret a God who loves us, has power to help us, but the answer we desire doesn't come? We are disappointed when we need God the most and he seems to be absent or delay the answer. The issue of faith puts God between us and our circumstances and enables us to persevere in the face of impossibilities.
Ours is a culture that values speed. How do we interpret a God who loves us, has power to help us, but the answer we desire doesn't come? We are disappointed when we need God the most and he seems to be absent or delay the answer. The issue of faith puts God between us and our circumstances and enables us to persevere in the face of impossibilities.
To learn the piano, you must start with middle C. To learn the orbit of the planets, you have to first understand the sun. To understand your life, you have to start with God. Paul starts his great letter to the Ephesians reminding us in a worshipful manner who God is and what He has done for us. And then He tells us that everything in this life and in heaven flows like a river right to Jesus. That the point of history and our lives is all about Jesus.
The world's wisdom says we need good circumstances in order to live a good life. True wisdom from the Bible tells us joy and peace come not from our circumstances but from knowing God. In the second half of Ephesians chapter 1, Paul's prayer for us is that we would have a revelation of who God is. This message attempts to explain that our greatest need is that we need God and not stuff.
At the end of Chapter 1, Paul has given us a glimpse of the resurrected Jesus taking His seat on the throne as the conquering King. But what does that mean for us? Chapter 2 shows us what happens when the King gets involved in our lives. We are made alive together with Him, we ascend into heaven with Him, and we sit down to rule with Him. Brought from death to life, we are joined with Jesus, and His grace empowers us to live a new life today and into eternity.
There was an age when the living quarters of God moved from place to place (a garden, a mountain, a temple, etc). When Jesus came on the scene, He ushered in a new era where the dwelling place of God would now be in a people. Paul writes in the second part of Ephesians 2 that it's God's desire to build His people into a spiritual house where He dwells. This message attempts to explain this transition and unpack the implications of this phenomenal reality that God lives in people.
Jubilee Church is a Newfrontiers church with locations in St. Louis, MO, Washington, MO, and Wentzville, MO. For sermons go to vimeo.com/channels/jcsermons
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