Ray Bentley

Why only through him and with the analogy that comes here, actually comes from the Middle East and the patriarchs. Abraham, of course, was a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. And interestingly, when I went to when I went to high school, I was in a district where I was supposed to go to this one high school, but I wanted to transfer because of the sports program that they had and the sport that I was in.

Why only through him and with the analogy that comes here, actually comes from the Middle East and the patriarchs. Abraham, of course, was a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. And interestingly, when I went to when I went to high school, I was in a district where I was supposed to go to this one high school, but I wanted to transfer because of the sports program that they had and the sport that I was in.

So we are our salvation is by a gift. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve it, and it's just given to you. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Even your faith in the Lord is a gift to you. If you believe in trust in Jesus Christ, it's not something that you have created or manufactured.

So let's go back to verses eight through ten. It says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God.So we are.

Our salvation is by a gift. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve it, and it's just given to you. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Even your faith in the Lord is a gift to you. If you believe in trust in Jesus Christ, it's not something that you have created or manufactured.

God knows our needs and meets them. What are the top three things you would like out of life? I want love. I want to love and be loved. I want peace. Peace of mind. Peace of heart. And I want joy. Well, isn't it interesting? The three top things that human beings crave and desire are the very first three fruit of the spirit when we're reconciled to him.

God loves you. He loves you, and he never tires of telling you so. For God to express all the love in his heart toward you is going to take forever. You will never get to the end. He will never get done. He will never finish pulling out of his heart. How he feels about you and all that he has done for you through His Son Jesus Christ spread.

when we turn from our sins and turn to God. When you turn around and you face God, who is love, and God who is light. The number one comforting thing is I'm not alone anymore. Number two, this is a process. The fear that because of the things and the hurts and the wounds is a process of God removing fear and replacing it with his love.

verses 15 through 23 of Ephesians, chapter one, this letter he is writing Paul's circumstances. While he is writing, he is in prison. This is one of the letters that are called the prison letters of the Apostle Paul. You would never know.

You would never dream, from his letter that he was in prison. He doesn't talk about, oh, it's so hard. And I'm struggling and I'm suffering, and they beat me up and and the rations are not enough, and and I'm cold and miserable. Oh, please pray for me. But in reality, we find a very different example. Whereas you would think that the Ephesians loving Paul so much would be worried about Paul.

Paul started the church of Ephesus. It was about the year 53 A.D.. It was on his third and final missionary journey that he came to this area called Ephesus. He stayed in Ephesus for about two years. Now that was very unusual. Most of the time Paul would be a place a few weeks, a few months, get a few believers and essentially start a house church.

Wouldn't it have been a thrill to experience the Garden of Eden creation just the way God intended? Well, one day the earth will return to its former glory. It's part of God's plan for the last days and beyond. And today, pastor Ray takes us to Ephesians and reveals some of those surprising facts. Okay, the title of the message is Unsolved Mysteries.

in him, in Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. That's the best gift that we could receive, as it were forgiven, were washed, and were cleansed from our sins just by simple faith which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.