There are ramifications for every decision that we make. If we are honest, in every decision we make we have little knowledge of where they will take us. In this passage Paul tells us that regardless of why we became Christians, when it happened we began to head into a direction with little knowledge of where that decision would take us. Paul wants us to understand that our salvation in Christ has changed everything for us. That decision has had ramifications we will be working out for the remainder of our lives.

The trouble with finding our identity in the things we own or what we accomplish is that its fleeting. We need to understand who we are in Christ in order to have a true grasp of our identity.

How we choose to define ourselves (or let ourselves be defined) has drastic consequences on how we choose to live our lives. The world says that our actions define who we are, but for the Christ follower we know this to be different. As Christians we are defined by what Christ has done through his completed work on the cross, his conquering of satan, sin and death.

All of us were slaves. And not just any slaves, but slaves who offended the master. Like any slave we long for freedom, so we’re constantly trying different “keys” to attain freedom. We are looking for things that will release us from this sense of slavery, but every key leads to less and less satisfaction - less and less freedom. In our pursuit of freedom we find more bondage.

Through Jesus we receive the Father's love and are called “children of God.” What an honor it is that God calls us His children and gives us the assurance that as His children we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). In his Gospel, John also tells us that God gives the right to become children of God to all who in faith have received Christ as Lord and Savior (John 1:12). God extends His love to His Son Jesus Christ and, through Him, to all His adopted children.

At Netcast, we believe that simply being a large body of people, doesn't mean you are a healthy body of people. In the same way, being healthy doesn't always accompany being large. In this sermon, we are introduced to the apostle Paul and his church plant in Ephesus. Starting in the very beginning of this letter, we can already see Paul's desire to see the church at Ephesus become a healthy and faithful community of believers.

Suffering is apart of life. We live in a broken and dying world. Therefore, we will all experience hard times at some point. Hard times that cause great pain and suffering in this world. So when we encounter these hard times, what do we do? What do we do when life hurts so bad that we don’t want to get out of bed? How do we get through it?

So, if the bible is true, and humanity is created in the image of God, to find our satisfaction by walking intimately with God; What happens when we suppress that truth and attempt to be satisfied outside of God?

There’s something written in your heart that knows what honors Him and what doesn’t (v. 15). There are times we will live strong by the power of the Holy Spirit and there will be times where we fail, but we are progressively and slowly being made more and more like Jesus. The father is excited to see his children grow! One of the primary ways we grow is not giving up on meeting together as emphasized by the writer of Hebrews.

When we fast, it should be as much about what we DO as it is about what we DON'T DO. In Isaiah 58, God speaks through his prophet, to his people, about true and false fasting.