We can talk about spiritual armour until we are blue in the face but nobody is going to bother putting that armour on until they recognize that we are in the middle of a spiritual fight. Our passage for this morning teaches us that God has not left us without protection. He has equipped us with everything that we need for this battle.

The goal of today's message is to wake you up to the battle that is raging all around us.

The story of the Centurion is a fantastic story because it is prescriptive–it is a story that tells us to look at an example and DO LIKEWISE. In this passage, we find an example of the kind of faith that Jesus delights in.

What does it look like to submit to one another? We've considered what it looks like in our marriages, and then in our parenting. Now, the Apostle Paul shifts his attention to the masters and servants in the church.

Our passage for this morning is not describing some aspirational target that we must strive to achieve, but instead, the Apostle Paul is painting a picture of what our homes will look like as we surrender more completely to Christ.

Today we will be finishing Luke's narration of the Jesus's Sermon on the Plain in which Jesus calls us to deep personal reflection and taking stock of our spiritual walk. Luke 6:43-49

In a world that encourages us to grow in assertiveness, domination and control, Paul tells us that people who are filled with the Spirit will grow in the opposite direction. As the Spirit increases in us, our pride will decrease.

Are you stuck? Maybe there was a season in your life when you were really growing, but now you've slipped into a rut. You know that God has more for you, but you can't seem to motivate yourself to press in. If this is true then this passage is for you.

Bible scholars agree that chapter 4 functions as the hinge of the book of Ephesians. Here, Paul shifts from theology to morality. Paul is going to start laying out some instructions – some commands – for the church.