We’re continuing our study of Ephesians where Paul lays out the vision for a church that is united by the peace of Jesus Christ. It’s a hard word for our divided, angry culture today but a much needed one.

We’re back to Ephesians this week with a look at the first part of Ephesians chapter 2. Paul spends the first chapter talking about the amazing power of God that is at work in the church through Jesus. In chapter 2, he reminds the church what God has done in them with that power. The first ten verses of Ephesians 2 is one of the clearest presentations of the Gospel in the entire New Testament. Let's look at that and celebrate what God is doing in us!

Paul and the early church existed in a world where there was one truly power,ful person the Roman emperor. It didn’t really matter who it was - if he held the title Caesar, then that meant the world revolved around him, or so he thought. But not everybody agreed. The followers of this upstart branch of Judaism called “The Way” didn’t think the world revolved around Caesar or any other political figure. They didn’t challenge Caesar for political authority, but they also refused to declare their ultimate allegiance to him, reserving it instead for Jesus. That power struggle forms the backdrop against which all of Paul’s letters are set. This week, we’re looking at what Paul has to say about power, what the church believed about power in the first century and what we can learn from them.

When the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, the church adds 3,000 people to their number in a single day, and they’re just getting started. The church spreads like wildfire across the Roman Empire. A big reason for that is the Apostle Paul. Paul is uniquely qualified to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. He has amazing success as a missionary, starting churches in cities all across the Ancient Near East, preaching the Gospel, and writing letters that become an important part of our New Testament. 

 

For our next series, we’re going to dig into one of these epistles, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. It’s not long - only six chapters - but it covers a lot of ground. We’re going to go through the whole thing this Summer. In so doing, we’ll touch on a bunch of different aspects of discipleship, we’ll get to know Paul a little better and we’ll discuss how the issues that the church encountered in the first century relate to the issues we encounter today.

This week is Pentecost Sunday, an important week to remember in the life of the church. Jesus promised his disciples that he would send his spirit to help them. He tells them to wait for it in Jerusalem, and they do. Then finally, on the day of Pentecost, the promise is fulfilled and the world is never the same again. The church baptizes 3000 people that day and keeps spreading throughout the world through the power of the Spirit and the infectious message of the Gospel.

This week, we wrap up our 40 day look at the Kingdom of God, the central focus of Jesus’ preaching and ministry. In Mark 4, Jesus shares a parable about a farmer who sows seeds all over but gets mixed results from different places that he sows. Then he explains the parable to his disciples, telling them that the secret of the kingdom has been given to them.

It is God's desire for every person to become a disciple of Jesus and participate in the Kingdom. But even so, some people won't. Some people choose another way, and Jesus is clear that there will be repercussions for the choices we make. Thankfully, we don't have to guess what sort of lives Jesus wants us to live. He tells us. We're going to look at a passage this week in Matthew's gospel where Jesus flat out tells us some of the things that are expected of his disciples in crystal clear language - no parables, no mysteries, no interpretation needed!

The Kingdom is like…” There are quite a few parables in the Gospels that Jesus starts like this. Jesus often uses parables to illustrate qualities of the Kingdom of God that require a little more context than just simple instruction to get the point across. One such passage from Matthew’s gospel is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. Jesus makes a pretty definitive statement about what forgiveness requires of us as his disciples. It’s an important lesson.

After Jesus is resurrected, he spends forty days with his apostles. Luke tells us that he spends those days talking with them about the Kingdom of God. That is not much different than what he had spent the last three years doing with them, but they must have sensed how important it was. According to Jesus, the reason he came was to proclaim the good news about the Kingdom. It’s at the heart of everything he teaches and everything he does. For the next 40ish days leading up to Pentecost, we are going to spend the time after Easter doing what the apostles did, talking about the Kingdom of God. This week, we’ll talk about the “when” of the Kingdom - one of the most confusing questions about it - and we’ll look to The Revelation of John for some insight into that question.

We’ve been studying Luke’s gospel since Advent and still it feels like we’ve flown through it. But the story doesn’t end at the end of Luke, it moves on to something new. We’ll look at that this week. The end of the Gospel of Luke and the beginning of Acts tells the story of the ascension. Jesus comes back from the dead on Easter, but after a few weeks, he leaves again, this time ascending into heaven. God’s work on Earth is not over when he ascends, it’s only just beginning. This week we’ll look at the end of Jesus’ time on Earth and the beginning of the church carrying out it’s mission, a mission we’re still working on today.