In our Lenten Series, Right and Wrong, we talk about how criticism of other people does not lead to the community that Jesus calls us to. Last time we looked at Romans 14 where Paul tells the church to be careful that they are not measuring up people by their own perspective. This week we look at Luke 6:37-49 where Jesus addresses the issue of judging. Not judging like in court or holding one accountable to Biblical truth, but the judging that comes from weighing others based on our own interests or position. When we worry more about the people around us than we worry about our position in Christ, our sinful nature often slips back into control. As Christians, we define ourselves by a new standard in everything we do and when we realize what Christ did for us on the cross, we want to show that same amount of grace to others. We must establish our character on who Jesus Christ is, being led by His example, authority and teachings, so that we will reflect the image of Christ to the world around us in all that we do.

Pastor Dennis Ellzey from the Arkansas State Wesley Foundation joins us this week to share with us the message of hope. Hope is meaningless if it is not given a body through the acts of God's people. When Jesus heals the paralytic man, the faithfulness, love and compassion of his four friends made his hope become a reality. As God's people, we carry the reality of hope that other people desperately need. We must be willing to go to the extremes in order to take the message of hope and the redemption that comes from Jesus Christ to the world!

In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul tells the church that community is an essential part of the life of faith. Community is something that God had in the plans from the very beginning and it is something that each of us need in order to grow and maintain a strong faith. But sometimes our natural self gets in the way. Paul warns the church in his letter to be careful that they do not measure people's worth in the family of faith based on their own perspective or what level they feel the other person has reached in their faith. Like a fruit tree needs another tree close by to pollinate, every Christian needs another Christian near to help them grow and produce the fruit of God in our lives. Its important that they are close enough that our roots can intertwine and support each other through the storms, but we must have our own space or else one will choke the other out. A fruit tree will never work to produce fruit on another tree, it can't! In the same way, one Christian cannot produce fruit in the life of another Christian. Only God can do that. When we encounter another person's faith, we must make sure we act as an encourager and not an enforcer! We lead through serving!

Paul writes his letter to the Ephesian church from the viewpoint of someone who has personally experienced grace and what it means to be found in Jesus Christ. Long before we even knew it, God had a plan through Jesus to redeem us through sin. When we come to faith in Jesus, our desire for repentance allows Jesus to reclaim us from sin's hold and brings us into the family of God. But thats not all. As a part of God's family, we are given access to all the things that God has available to us to withstand the attempts of Satan to pull us back into our sinful ways. By putting on the armor of God we are able to stand strong and discern the right things of God, living our lives in our new identity for His glory. 

LeRoy Lawson once stated, "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what it and what is not right. We ask ourselves, Have we been justly or unjustly treated? and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of cross-bearing."  This week we continue in Paul's letter to the Ephesian church as we discover that what is always right, is not always all we are called to do. As Christians, covered under grace, we must be willing to go beyond seeking "right" knowing that our goal is to give God the absolute best we can! Because we have been made new, simply being right is not our task.

Faith begins and ends with the realization of what God has done in us through Jesus Christ. It is not about character development or the ability to change our actions, it is about understanding the call to abandon ourselves in order that our lives proclaim the salvation given through Jesus Christ. Salvation is not a right or privilege for a righteous person, it is completely a gift for the guilty. When we misunderstand what salvation is, we live a wrong type of faith, one that still depends on us for change. Everything has already been done in Christ.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells the church to, "Be better in your faith!" In a time and culture where it was very easy to let the ways of the world influence your faith practices, Paul tells the church to be diligent in growing and to not settle for being a person of empty devotion. Satan loves to make a Christian think they are being devout in their faith while in reality they are being devout in their image. It is up to the entire body of believers to hold one another accountable, teach younger generations and disciple people who are new to the faith. Paul's hope for the Ephesian church, and the hope for our church today, is that all believers would realize the call of faith to become mature, growing in understanding, devotion and gifting in order to build up the church and carry the message of Christ. This can only be done when believers are built on a solid foundation that is not tossed around by the winds of change and new ideas. 

The law of God reveals the power of sin in individuals. Through the blood of Christ we have been reconciled to God and have been called to unity among the body of believers. Ephesians 4:1-10 reveals that we often miss this aspect of salvation because we stay caught up in worldly priorities. When we fail to give control of our faith to Jesus, we miss out on the strength and support that He offers to us. When we seek to be united in peace with other believers for the purpose of God's Kingdom, God is able to use people from all different backgrounds and cultures to bring glory to Himself in the redemption of other people. Christ tells us that we must operate from the only source of power and control, that is God's, if we are to truly experience a life of His peace which will lead us to unity with other believers. 

It is through faith that we are able to live through all the tribulations of this life. When we join together with Jesus Christ in faith, it unites us with Him to where His peace dwells within us. Being brought near to God through the blood of Christ, we have been reconciled to Him. Because of this, we live in repentance as we seek to know God through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This week we look at Ephesians 2:11-18.

All that we have in regard to our faith is from God, as a result of His great love for us. Our natural self is inclined to sin and selfishness and unable to recognize or accept the things of God apart from His working in our lives. As we walk through the book of Ephesians we will see the way that faith is where our salvation begins, and it is where our being transformed into a new creation starts. Faith is the evidence of God working in our lives to undo what sin has inflicted.