Ephesians 2:11-22

Paul seeks to remind the Ephesian church of their past apart from God and how hopeless it was. This is not an attempt to bring despair, but to highlight the glorious current reality of the peace we now have with God. He seeks to spotlight this reality to spur them on to unity and peace with one another.

Ephesians 2:1-10

The crowning jewel of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians – and possibly all of Scripture – was well summarized by the hymn-writer John Newton in 1779: “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch; like me!” Jesus Christ makes us right with God ... makes us alive when we were dead in in our trespasses ... by His work of grace through faith. That is truly amazing! What a gift!

Ephesians 2:1-10 is thee single clearest, most beautiful Scripture passage concerning the grace of God. God’s grace is an undeserved gift that rescues us from death and saves us from our sin to new life in Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-10

What does God’s love look like? As Paul is praying for the church he begins to show them the incredible depths of God’s love for us. For when we were dead in our sin, he loved us so greatly that he sent Jesus to forgive our sins that we might be saved. We are his workmanship prepared for good works to display his glory.

Ephesians 2:1-10

You would be hard-pressed to find a more glorious passage of Scripture than this one in the entire Bible. The Apostle Paul painstakingly contrasts our helpless state apart from Christ (dead in our sins) with His intervening salvation (making us alive together with Christ) and doing so by grace through faith as a gift.

Ephesians 1:15-23

What do you pray for?  Paul as he is praying for the church in Ephesus prays that God would open their hearts to see their hope in Jesus, the riches of their inheritance and the greatness of his power.  We are called to pray in the same way that we might live for His glory.

Ephesians 1:15-23

Theology didn’t used to be boring. That’s because theology is about knowing God. Knowing God is a matter of the mind, the heart, and of all our lives. But how can we know God more? And why does knowing God matter for our day-to-day lives? In Ephesians 1:15-23, the apostle Paul teaches moves through these questions and more, with this conviction at the centre of his thought: that what we need more than anything else is to know God.

Ephesians 1:15-23

Do you ever wonder if there's more to the Christian life than just knowing the facts of Christianity and believing them?  Is it possible to go deeper into your faith as you get to know God better and experience His power at work in your life?  The Apostle Paul seems to thing there is more - and that's what he'll be talking to us about this in this message!

Ephesians 1:15-23

Do you have a non-existent or stale prayer life? Do your prayers consist primarily of the same handful of rehearsed, self-focused requests? In Ephesians 1:15-23 we are given a window in to how to pray like an Apostle; hopefully the richness of Paul’s example serves as a challenge and guide for you in prayer, especially in praying for others and Christ’s Church.

Ephesians 1:11-14

In our section today we see the Apostle Paul continue in his celebration of God's blessings in the life of a believer.  That our lives are "in Christ"...that we have a great inheritance...that the Holy Spirit is our "guarantee" of what God has promised us - these are indeed realities which we can rejoice over!