This is the last week this program will air on Sirius/XM. After 10.5 years on the “Family Talk Channel”, the decision was made to end this phase of the ministry. The program will continue to air on WFCJ- FM 93.7 in Dayton, Ohio. (It will have the new name, “Heritage” radio on the Dayton station.) We’re simply using the very next message in the series in Ephesians. It’s a message on one word, the word submission. That is a very unpopular word in our culture today, but if you’re brave enough to listen, you actually may look at the word differently!

We begin with an announcement that our program will not be heard after December 31 on the “Family Talk Channel” on Sirius/XM. It will continue on WFCJ 93.7 FM, in Dayton, Ohio. We will say more each day over the next two weeks on CrossHope. We have been on the “Family Talk Channel” on Sirius/XM for 10.5 years! It has been a great relationship. We will miss the daily contact with you!

This we look at one of the most “unpopular” scriptures in the entire Bible! It is particularly unpopular in a culture that says that today in 2020, “there is no such thing as sexual sin or impurity”. We have grown up and beyond that kind of thing. We are “free” to do whatever we please. It begins with a command to pattern our lives after the Lord Himself: “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children”. Who is your model in life?

Figuratively speaking, coming to Christ according to the Apostle Paul, was coming into a “total wardrobe change”. Everything was changed because of the new relationship with the Lord. The change begins with our minds, moves onto speech and behavior. Most of all, the greatest change of all is to be a person who can forgive for one vital reason: in Christ, we have been forgiven!

Any group can be united if they work at it! Even a group that believes little or nothing can be united. The Apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus that they were to be united for a reason: to build up the body of Christ, and to “prepare God’s people for works of service”. He goes on to say that the primary task of “pastors and teachers” is to share Christ, and what He has done for us all on the Cross!

We read out loud six verses from Ephesians. One of these verses is so powerful; we made the claim that if we practiced this verse, it could do dramatic things in a marriage, a family, and in a career! When you hear the passage read, try to guess which verse it is! It’s a passage about unity in the body of Christ. Unity is something that is not just “nice”; it’s absolutely vital to the church of Jesus Christ! We are under orders to be unified.

There’s a connection between gratitude and memory. If you forget what someone has done for you, you’re not real grateful to that person. That’s true in a marriage, a family, and in your relationship with the Living God! But the word “forget” means more than just “ceasing to remember”. It actually has a frightening definition that we discuss this week. It’s a fitting passage for Thanksgiving week.

Does humility play a part in your life? In many people’s lives, humility takes a back seat. In some lives, it rides in the trunk. This week we look at why humility is not a suggestion, but a strong admonition to you and me! The Apostle Paul gives us all a lesson in humility, the why of humility, and the result of not being humble! Someone reading this needs to listen to this.

Occasionally, we discover another meaning to a word we use commonly. Perhaps it will happen to you this week on CrossHope with these two words we use often, peace and hostility. They are the two operative words in our text today in Ephesians. The Apostle Paul reminds new Christians who were Gentiles or non-Jewish believers of what they were before coming to Christ. Before becoming Christians, they were “without hope and without God in the world.” But now, they have been “bought near to God through the very blood of Jesus Christ!”

People can take pride in just about everything! That’s true in our physical lives, but also in our spiritual lives, if we are honest. The Apostle Paul compliments the people of Ephesus about their faith in Christ and their love for others. His compliment was sincerely given, but not meant as a source of pride and bragging on their part. Pride can be spiritual, but it’s still pride! Don’t ever forget that!