In the fourth of our series on the book of Ephesians, Pastor Steve Reilly unpacks Paul’s teaching regarding what it means to live a life which reveals God to the world in which we live. Pastor Steve highlights the two foundational truths on which Paul builds - that we are to live a life of love, and to live as children of the light. This is a high calling, and only possible by living in partnership with the Holy Spirit who empowers and energises this life. Hence Paul’s exhortation to us to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Pastor Steve encourages us to pray daily: “Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit today!”

Paul then takes into some very challenging practical areas of Christian living. He talks about “putting off” our old way of life and “putting on” a lifestyle consistent wth our new identities as children of light. We notice how Paul takes a negative - to put off - and replaces it with the positive we are to put on. Pastor Steve reminds us that a holy life is a positive and beautiful life, whereas a sinful life is ugly. Pastor Steve picks out three specifics from our passage today.

i).Put off falsehood - put on truth. Biblical truth is as true for the world as it is for the church. Relationships established on trust, founded on honesty, are strong and can stand the test of time, whereas falsehood breeds suspicion and mistrust. Pastor Steve reminds us that the longevity of our influence will be far more down to character than gifting.

ii).Don’t let anger lead you into sin, but keep it under control. It’s not wrong to be angry, especially with regards to injustice. But we need to put boundaries on our anger so that it does’t leave the devil a foothold from which he can influence us towards bitterness or resentment. Unresolved anger is a route to unforgiveness - the past unhelpfully influencing our present and future. Pastor Steve explains how the journey of forgiveness is our road to freedom and recommends Dr Amy Orr Ewing’s book Forgiveness - Reclaiming Its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear. To be truly children of our heavenly Father, Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, prayer for our persecutors, and seek reconciliation where possible.

iii).Silence unwholesome talk - invest in speech that builds up. Our speech can be fuel to the fire, or the water that cools and extinguishes it. Pastor Steve reminds us of Scriptures that speak of the power of our speech and encourages us to let our conversation lead to peace not strife, to life and not death.

Finally, Pastor Steve reminds us that whatever negatives have been spoken over us in the past, these do not define us. What defines us is our identity as children of God, blessed with His lavish love.

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In the fourth of our series on the book of Ephesians, Pastor Steve Reilly takes into the early verses of Ephesians chapter 4. As we have seen from the earlier talks, chapters 1-3 focus on our wealth - all that Christ has given us through His saving grace. The focus in chapters 4-6 shifts to our walk - what a mature Christian life looks like in the practical realities of the day to day. We will see what this looks like in the church, in the world, in the home, and in the battle.

Today Pastor Steve looks at a life worthy of our calling as it shows up in the church. In this passage Paul re-emphasises what he has said in chapter 2 about the importance of unity. As Pastor Steve reminds us: “We will work at unity..because..we are the evidence that Jesus makes a difference.” Pastor Steve shares a number of verses about unity, and a worked example from Philippians chapter 4 as Paul exhorts two of the members of the church to “be of the same mind.” Inevitably, Christians will from time to time fall out. The challenge is to address these episodes as people of the light, and not default back to the approaches of people who walk in darkness. 

Pastor Steve asks us to keep three ideas in mind as we practically address Paul’s plea for unity - Christian character, the common good, and a common goal. 

We are far more likely to be united as we develop Christian character and invest in the virtues that Paul highlights here. “Be completely humble” Paul says. Humility never looks down or belittles another. Pastor Steve reminds us that humility attracts the favour of God. As 1 Peter 5:5 says: “Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because God opposes the proud, but shows favour to the humble.”

Paul goes on to call us to gentleness, which is strength under control to the service of others. He calls us to “bear with” one another - to choose to overlook minor issues of little consequence in the interests of the wider goal of promoting the power of unity.

None of this removes the need we sometimes have for “brave conversations” with each other or, as Paul puts it, “speaking the truth in love.” To do this we need first to examine out own hearts in prayer and, as far as we can, to desire the best for the person we are speaking to. Pastor Steve shares a personal example to illustrate the need to focus not on changing other people but, by the grace of grace, desire to see ourselves changed more into Christ’s likeness.

Pastor Steve points us to the common ground we all share with all believers. In verse 4 we read of seven ways in which we are made ”one" - body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God and Father of all. This is the theological basis of our unity, our identity in Christ, far more important than any drivers for division based on tribe or social class. Pastor Steve reminds us, pointing us back to Paul’s teaching earlier in the letter, that when we promote unity we oppose the powers that seek to spoil God’s good creation.

With that unity we also enjoy diversity, including a diversity of gifts. We all have gifts given us by Christ, given for us to steward faithfully for the blessing and good of others. Our gifts contribute both to our common good, and to the common goal of building a united community in which God’s goodness flows through and to each of us. 

In conclusion, Pastor Steve encourages to pray for each other, to cheer each other on and encourage one another, and through our unity to display the manifold wisdom of God.

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Continuing our series on the book of Ephesians, Pastor Steve Reilly leads us from Chapter 2:11 to Paul’s prayer in Chapter 3:14-20.

Pastor Steve expounds the passage through the heads of peace, prayer, and praise. The word “peace” appears four times in this week’s passage - focussing not on peace with God, but peace between different groups of people who, outside of Christ, disdained each other. Jews considered others - gentiles - as unclean and idolators. Paul talks about taking down a wall that divided them. He would have had in mind a literal wall, built in the temple in Jerusalem, which divided the outer court - where gentiles were permitted to come - from the inner courts from which they were forbidden. The dividing wall between the outer and inner courts bore this inscription: "No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and the partition around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” In Christ all that this wall represents is torn down. Those who are “far away” (gentiles) and those who are “near” (Jews) are united in one. Even more than this, the curtain that sealed off the most holy place at the heart of the temple, and which separated God’s presence from all but the high priest, has also been removed. In Christ there is no barrier between anyone and the Father.

We live in a world riven by division, fuelled by dark powers seeking to ruin God’s good creation. Bringing together Jews and Gentiles into a single people in Christ demonstrates God’s wisdom and lordship to these powers. The unity of the church is a witness to the world and evidence that, as NT Wright puts it: “Jesus is Lord, and they are not.” In working hard to promote unity in the church we proclaim God’s wisdom and Christ’s victory.

Moving to prayer, Paul prays for strength in the inner being of Jesus’s followers - strength which comes through the Holy Spirit. Pastor Steve reminds us of a number of verses throughout the Bible which speak of the strength which God gives us, and what that strength enables us to accomplish. Pastor Steve encourages us to take time daily to ask the Spirit to renew us in His strength. 

Pastor Steve explains what Paul means when prays that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” The word for “dwell” refers to a permanent habitation rather than a visit. Pastor Steve asks what our relationship with the Lord is like. Is he a permanent resident with access to, and Lordship over, every “room” or area of our lives, or more like a lodger with access to some areas and not others?

We read Paul’s prayer that our own lives will be grasped by the incomparable and immeasurable love of God, and that will overflow with this love as we celebrate and discover our multi-faceted diversity in Jesus.

Praise God for His incomparable love and grace!

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We are all familiar with before and after stories. Programmes like Garden Rescue and Ground Force tell their own stories of transformations. But the greatest ever story of transformation is found in the gospel, and re-told here by Paul in Ephesians. Pastor Steve Reilly reminds us again of the wonder of our salvation - a wonder that’s the heart of our worship and changes for ever how we see ourselves and the world we live in.

Pastor Steve reminds us that salvation is more than about what happens to us after we die - salvation transforms our lives now. Ephesians 2:1-10 spells this out through a series of contrasts. We were dead in transgressions and sins, and now are alive in Christ. We lived in disobedience, and now we live to do good works. We once followed the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Now we are in Christ and seated with Him in heavenly realms.

Pastor Steve summaries the story of our salvation in three headings.

We have the problem that sin separates us from God and from His life. Sin is a barrier we can neither cross nor overcome. Pastor Steve unpacks what it means for us to be objects of God’s “wrath.” As Paul says in Romans, God’s wrath is against wickedness - a righteous anger which seeks the reformation of people rather than their destruction. Sin creates consequences - it’s like a moral law of cause and effect - as Paul says in Romans 1:24, 1:26, and 1:28. Because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin, or allow it to corrupt the redeemed world that He will establish when Jesus’s rule is complete. There is a future dimension to God’s wrath, through which we can exclude ourselves forever from His loving presence.

But God, in His love, desires everyone to come to know Him. For this He has made provision through love, mercy and grace, which we can experience through repentance. 

This leads us into God’s purpose - that from the new life we live by the grace of God we are enabled to do the good works which He has prepared for us. As Pastor Steve puts it “We are saved to grow in the character of Christ’s likeness.” The person you are becoming, is as important as what you do.

Pastor Steve highlights two practical ways in which we can work this out - engaging with the mission of God and living a life of worship. Through living out a life impacted by grace we make a difference in our world, and as we let the deep truths of what we have been saved from - and saved for - to take a hold of us, we live a life of gratitude for His gracious provision.

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Welcome to our seven week series on Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Pastor Steve Rilley begins by reminding us that Ephesians is unlike many of Paul's other letters which were written to address specific challenges and issues. Ephesians is a letter for every church - a letter for us. Chapters 1-3 focus on who were are in Christ and on all He has done for us, interspersed with prayer and praise. Chapters 4-6 focus on how we should live out of who we are. Commentator Warren Wiersbe puts it like this - we are to walk (Chs 4-6) out of our wealth (Chs 1-3).

In the original Greek of today's passage - Chapter 1:3-14 - we see a single unpunctuated sentence, a breathless outpouring of praise, adoration and wonder. Look out for the Paul using the words chosen, adoption, forgiven, blessed, lavished, redemption and guaranteed inheritance. A key idea - repeated 11 times - is Paul talking about us being "in Christ" or "in Him." Jesus is the focus and source of all these blessings and of our new life and we are called to walk in a way that brings glory to His name.

Pastor Steve picks out a number of "reasons to be thankful" - truths that define our identity. Before God even began His work of creation we were chosen in order to be holy and blameless. God, in His foreknowledge saw where we would be born, where we would live and what we would do. Pastor Steve invites us to marvel that the God who foresaw all our sin and rebellion still chose to pursue us so that we could be adopted as His children. All this is done in love the motivation for all He does towards us.

Paul goes on to say we are redeemed and forgiven as Jesus has paid the price of our freedom. And we are sealed by the Holy Spirit the guarantee of our inheritance. By the same power of the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead - to ascend above every name, power and dominion in creation - we too are given complete assurance that the grave is not the end of our story. As Pastor Steve reminds us "God's guarantee is as certain as His word is true."

As we will go on to see next week, Paul moves from praise to prayer, praying that these truths will really get hold of us and that, through His wisdom and revelation, we will come to know Him more and more, confident that our future (our inheritance) will far surpass any and all of our present circumstances.

Pastor Steve asks us to reflect on what we are drawn to in the passage and for which great truths are we most thankful.

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What does God look for in us as we grow spiritually? Pastor Bawa Leo reminds us of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13.11 "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Pastor Bawa uses the analogy of our human growth to cause us to reflect on our own stage of spiritual development, and what priorities we need to focus on, consistent with that phase of life.

From Luke Chapter 2, Pastor Bawa explores what it meant for Jesus to "increase in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men." Pastor Bawa notes how Jesus followed customs of His society that supported the work of redemption, and how Jesus grew in obedience to His parents. We see, as Jesus holds discussions with teachers in the temple, that He is discovering His own life's priorities. Mental growth, Pastor Bawa reminds us, enables us to set Godly priorities and to make good decisions. Jesus combined this with physical growth - developing the strength he needed to work in Joseph's carpentry business, to train His speaking voice for public ministry, and to develop His stamina both for the journeys he would make around Israel, and for the long days of preaching and teaching. Jesus gives us a wise example that we too need to follow to make the most of the life God has gifted us.

Jesus also grew socially - in favour with God and man - which enabled Him to cross barriers of generations (welcoming little children) of race (relating to Samaritans and Gentiles as well as Jews) and of gender (interacting appropriately with women).

Finally, Pastor Bawa warns of the dangers of not growing spiritually. We may become un-taught - it is only the fully trained disciple who becomes like his master. We may be un-tested, failing to learn from the tests Jesus sets us as He did with Philip before He miraculously fed the 5000. We may be un-tried and miss the growth we experience when our faith is tried in the circumstances of life. And we may become unstable, as Peter reminds us (2 Peter 3.16) distorting, to our own harm, the Scriptures and godly teaching.

Pastor Bawa encourages us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."

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What does being a follower of Jesus look like? Pastor Jacqui Redmond explains how the transforming work of the Holy Spirit is expressed through His nine fruit as we walk by the Spirit, keeping in step with Him as we follow Jesus.

To help us both remember the nine fruit, and how they can be grown in our experience, Pastor Jacqui speaks about them under three headings.

1.The Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out. 

Everything flows from love the new commandment Jesus gives us in John 13. Love is our distinctive characteristic as believers, expressed most powerfully in forgiveness. Pastor Jacqui shares a moving and powerful story of forgiveness from the life of holocaust survivor and missionary, Corrie ten Boom, as she came face to face with one of her former prison guards. Whilst forgiveness is a challenge, God walks with us in our forgiveness journey. We are also transformed by joy which we can find even in the midst of trials. Happiness depends on circumstances, but joy is a heavenly gift. Peace, says Jesus in John 14, is given to us and left with us. As nineteenth century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon reminds us “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.” Growing the fruit of peace is the Spirit’s answer to the anxieties of life.

2. The fruit is our witness to others.

Jesus’ love in us, is shown through our own love to others, and this comes out most powerfully when we are put under pressure. Patience is a powerful witness in an impatient world. Pastor Jacqui reminds us that “God is working when we are waiting.” Kindness expresses love in a way that genuinely benefits others and not just ourselves. The great example of kindness in Jesus’ parables is the Good Samaritan. We hear Jesus’ exhortation to us: “Go and do likewise.” Goodness is the quality of moral uprightness, or integrity, revealing the character of God in us.

3. God is developing in us a lasting character.

God is faithful, and faithfulness is our response to Him - staying true to God. Pastor Jacqui shares an example of how a small act of kindness was part of evangelist DL Moody’s journey to faith in Jesus. We are encouraged never to underestimate small acts of kindness. Gentleness is not weakness, but rather controlled strength. We are encouraged, in particular to remain gentle when we speak truth to one another. Finally, Pastor Jacqui reminds us that self control is like a wall that protects our souls. As Proverbs 25.28 reminds us “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” 

Pastor Jacqui invites us to reflect on this - what kind of fruit is your life producing? She encourages us with this: “Fruit is not produced by striving harder. Fruit is produced by staying close to Jesus - and the Holy Spirit will shape us and mould us.”

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From Peter's first letter, Pastor Steve explores what it means for us to be living stones in God's spiritual house. Jesus was the rejected stone who is now the cornerstone and capstone. If we ever feel rejected, abandoned or excluded, we know that we are now chosen, not discarded by Jesus. We are people with a threefold hope. For the past, our sin is wiped out, in the present Jesus is with us, and we have the future hope that death is defeated.

1 Peter chapter 2 speaks to the core of our identify in Christ, and pastor Steve draws out four dimensions.

• We are accepted - God's special possession. As Pastor Steve reminds us: "People may have written you off. Jesus has written you in."
• We are chosen. God originally chose Israel to reveal Himself to the world. Now we are also chosen to share in the same vocation - chosen not on the basis of merit, but because of His great love for us.
• We are a holy nation - set aside and marked out for God's special purpose. As holy people we live to please and honour God through lives of love.
• We are a royal priesthood. In the Old Testament the priesthood was limited to men - and only men from a certain tribe and of a particular age range. Now we all get to share the privilege of being part of God's ministry team.
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Our priestly privileges and responsibilities flow upwards in prayer and praise, inward towards each other as we share the gifts God gives us to promote the common good, and and outwards and priests and mediators between God and people.

"You will be at your most fruitful when you take up your place as a royal priest and intentionally minister in, and minister out." Reject rejection, and take your place as a member of God's royal family!

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What does the Bible mean when it talks about the faithfulness of God? What does this look like? How is the faithfulness of God experienced? And how do we, in our own day to day experience, grow in our own journey of faithfulness with God?

Pastor Jacqui Redmond draws richly on powerful verses of Scripture from the Old and New Testaments to explore the following truths:

• God is always faithful - even in the darkest times and seasons.
• God is faithful to all His promises.
• Trust and worship is our response to our faithful God.

Jacqui inspires us with illustrations from great teachers in Christian history and memorable quotes from people who have demonstrated God's faithfulness through their own experience. As Corrie ten Boom said: "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."

Whether you are in a period of life where you are feeling tired, challenged, waiting, or worried, the Lord's invitation to us today is to trust again in God' faithfulness.

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In this wide-ranging message Pastor Bawa reminds us of why, and how, we maintain our Jesus focus. Jesus is the supreme and sinless Son of God, and to live our lives as God intended we need to keep Him in steady focus as the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. From Mark's Gospel and chapter 8, Pastor Bawa reflects on how Jesus healed the blind man at Bethsaida - how the man's vision was restored first partially, then perfectly, and then permanently. Pastor Bawa shows how the man's environment affected his vision and his faith and draws out attention to the wisdom Jesus gave him to ensure that he maintained the clarity of his restored vision.

Teaching on what can blur or distort our vision of Jesus, Pastor Bawa reminds us all of the central vows of marriage, and the long-term nature of this commitment. Central to a clear vision of Jesus is a secure and Godly home life.

Pastor Bawa asks us where our vision of Jesus has become dimmed, in particular in allowing other priorities to take precedence over our home lives.

Allow this message to enable you to restore - perfectly and permanently - a clear vision of Jesus and His priorities for your life.

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