We are continuing our series through the book of Ephesians. The apostle wants to hit home the fact that God does not value us based on our performance for Him. Our hope, value and power come from who we are in Christ.

Have you have ever had a moment where you came to grips with the fact that your life was a mess? No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t fix it. In Christ, your story doesn't stop there. We have hope. By the power of the gospel and the promise of the Holy Spirit, there are better days ahead. This is who we are.

The book of Ephesians serves as a mirror for us to see the reality of WHO we are in Christ and HOW we live in light of that reality. Our first look in the mirror is a foundational truth: we are chosen by God. That gives us incredible assurance and we can stop looking in all the wrong mirrors. And best of all, God gets all the glory!

In sports, half-time is used to assess the first half and look forward to a strong finish in the second half. The theme for church this year has been in the form a prayer, "God, work." This Sunday we took a look at how God has already been answering this prayer and how we are going to continue to seek God's will for our church in 2017.