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Joel Wood 10/28/23 Joel Wood 10/28/23

We Fight Together

Joel Wood

One of the storylines we can find traced throughout the Bible is that there is a cosmic, unseen, spiritual war that is happening throughout history. It is not simply a war of good vs. evil or of two equally competing powers. Rather it is a war between God and Satan. It is a war that Satan started when he attempted to take God’s place and yet it was a war that was futile from the start. God has decisively won this war at the cross through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We know because of Jesus the war ends with Satan’s defeat. But until that final ending there are still battles that rage on. As a result, we find ourselves in the middle of this war. We find ourselves engaged with an enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy our faith and the life we have in Christ. And yet we find ourselves with resources that far outweigh our enemy’s ability to harm us. We are meant to fight together by exercising the weapons God has given us as we rely on him till the day when the war is finally over.

Ephesians 6:10-24

Kyle Kauffman 10/21/23 Kyle Kauffman 10/21/23

Gospel-Shaped Relationships

Kyle Kauffman

Our relationships with other people can simultaneously be one of the greatest gifts we experience in this life and one of the greatest challenges we face in this life. This is especially true in our closest of relationships with the people that we live with, work with, and see every day. The gospel is the good news of how we can enter back into a relationship with God. But it is also the good news that shapes all of our relationships with other people as well. Paul demonstrates this by bringing the gospel to bear on some of our closest relationships in Ephesians 5:22-6:9. While there is much that can be learned about each one of these relationships, there is also certain gospel principles that we can find in these verses that can impact and shape all of our relationships.

Ephesians 5:21-6:9

Kyle Kauffman 10/14/23 Kyle Kauffman 10/14/23

Imitating God Together

Kyle Kauffman

One of God’s resounding commands that travels across the pages of the Bible and across time and history for his people is this: “Be holy for I am holy.” We find in Ephesians that one of the very purposes why God chose to save us and why and why Jesus died on the cross for us is to make us holy. It’s really easy for us to downplay holiness, emphasize love at the expense of holiness, or view holiness as an optional add-on to the Christian life. But it’s clear that if we belong to God, and therefore belong to the church, we are called to imitate God as his children. This will include living a life of holiness in a world where holiness may make us stick out and may be mocked, offensive, or even hated. Yet the ultimate purpose of seeking to live holy lives is not to show how great we are or to shame other people. Rather, in living holy lives we show how satisfying God is and invite others to find satisfaction in him alone.

Ephesians 5:1-21

Kyle Kauffman 10/8/23 Kyle Kauffman 10/8/23

The Gap In Our Gospel

Kyle Kauffman

We often spend so much time thinking about what the gospel means for our past and what it means for our future that we can miss that the gospel is also good news for our present. There tends to be a gap in our gospel where we sometimes struggle to know or understand what difference it should make for the present. In Ephesians 4:17-32 Paul seeks to show the gospel is not just good news for the past or future, but it’s also good news for the present and how we are meant to live today.

Ephesians 4:17-32

Kyle Kauffman 9/24/23 Kyle Kauffman 9/24/23

Growing Together

Kyle Kauffman

If we want to grow and change in some area of our lives, we likely come up with a plan of how we will try to grow in that area. We come up with a strategy, set goals, and hope to see change. God’s goal for all Christians is that that we grow into maturity in Christ. And God’s plan and strategy for how he will accomplish this involves the church. The Church is necessary for us to grow and mature as Christians. And if we don’t prioritize gathering, worshipping, and serving with the church then our growth will be stagnated and we will likely find our faith beginning to shrink. God never meant for us to grow in Christian maturity alone. Rather he has designed and called us to grow together as one.

Ephesians 4:1-16

Brandon Fisher 9/17/23 Brandon Fisher 9/17/23

Church: It’s Better Than You Can Imagine

Brandon Fisher

Our view of the church is so often small and inadequate. We have misconceptions of the church or we misunderstand the true nature of the church. Sometimes we think church is just place we go listen to some music and hear a sermon. Sometimes we see all the flaws of the church and are left wondering if being a part of a church is really worth it. Sometimes we approach church as more of a hobby than anything else. And sometimes we can only see the church from our own vantage point and fail to see it from God’s vantage point. Ephesians 3 tells us the church is at the center of God’s plan for the world and for all of history. It tells us there is so much more going on with the church than meets the eye. And it invites us to see and understand the church from God’s perspective so that our own understanding of the church is greatly elevated.

Ephesians 3:1-15

Joel Wood 9/9/23 Joel Wood 9/9/23

We’re All (Not) So Different

Joel Wood

The church is designed to be full of people that are different. The church is not meant to be built on the ground that we look the same, talk the same, vote the same, enjoy the same hobbies, have the same culture, or even speak the same language. Rather the church is meant to be built on the ground that we are all united together in Christ. It is our common identity in Christ that is meant to supersede all other identities and preferences we may have. It is Jesus who has torn down all the walls that may have separated us. And because of Jesus we are meant to welcome one another and seek to tear down or remove any walls that may separate us today. The more centered our lives are around Jesus, the more united the church will be with Jesus as the bond that holds us together. And the more the world will see a testimony to how great Jesus is.

Ephesians 2:11-22

Kyle Kauffman 9/3/23 Kyle Kauffman 9/3/23

Y(our) Spiritual Biography

Kyle Kauffman

Although every single Christian has a unique and individual story to their life, we also have an identical and collective story to our lives. The details of how we came to faith in Christ may be different, but the true story that lies behind every one of our conversions is the exact same. As we understand our collective story, we better understand who we were, what God did to save us, and who we are called to be now. We find that God’s grace is the power that saved each of us and it is the engine that now drives our lives forward. As we understand our collective story it also helps us to see each other in the church in the right way. We are led to look at each other and see a miracle of God’s grace rather than looking at each other and seeing all the flaws and imperfections. And we are led to see those outside the church as those who are in need of God’s grace, just as we are.

Ephesians 2:1-10

Kyle Kauffman 8/27/23 Kyle Kauffman 8/27/23

The Reason We Exist

Kyle Kauffman

In the longest sentence of the Bible, we find some of the most incredible truths of the Bible! We see what God has done and will do for us and why he has and will do it. And as we see this, we discover more of who we are in Christ and what God has done in saving us. We discover that the church is ultimately not a group of people that is formed by our personal choice and brought together by our efforts. But rather it is a people that is formed by God’s choice and brought together by his work. We also discover that the greatest blessings we can hope for are not found in this material world but rather are given to us now spiritually and are fully enjoyed in the world that is to come. The more we cherish and hold onto these blessings the better we will glorify God with our lives which is the very reason for the church’s existence.

Ephesians 1:3-14

Kyle Kauffman 8/20/23 Kyle Kauffman 8/20/23

Orientation

Kyle Kauffman

This week will begin our series on Ephesians by orienting ourselves to the people and time this book was originally written to and by understanding the main message of the book. We will look at some of the relevant Biblical and cultural background on Ephesus and the church in Ephesus in order to understand who Paul was originally writing. As we do this we will seek to bridge the gap between us and them by making the connections between our life today and their life in Ephesus. We’ll also look at some the structure of Ephesians especially diving into how Ephesians is split up neatly into three chapters of gospel doctrine (1-3) and three chapters of gospel living (4-6). While we will weave these two together throughout the series, it’s helpful to see how Paul always puts gospel indicatives before imperatives. In many ways, Paul’s message is, “This is who you are. Now live like that’s true.” And in this way the Christian life is meant to be an entire orientation around who we are in Christ.

Ephesians 1:1-2