As we come to the end of 2025, we can look back and see God’s wonderful goodness to us at FBC. We are a blessed fellowship, and God has moved in so many ways among us. As we look forward to 2026, I thought about what our prayer should be. What would we ask God to do among us and within us, as disciples and as a body? When I think on this question, I am often brought back to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. In Ephesians 1-3, Paul lays out the doctrinal foundation of gospel truths. He teaches the Ephesians who they are "in Him" and who they are as a body of both Jews and Gentiles, united as the people of God. Then, in chapters 4-6, He teaches them how to live these truths out within the body and out in the world. Sandwiched right between these two sections, at the end of chapter 3, Paul prays that God would empower and strengthen them by the Spirit that they would be able to live out all that he teaches in chapters 4-6. This Sunday, we will study this prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, and make it our prayer as disciples of Jesus and the body at FBC. Paul prays they would be strengthened in their inner being, to know Christ’s unknowable love, and be filled with the fullness of God. Sounds wonderful, but that is much easier said than done. Many of us have set our hearts to live for Christ and been repeatedly disappointed, knowing we cannot be what we desire. Yet, Paul shows us that God is able to fulfill this impossible prayer. It is not striving harder that brings our strengthening about...it is becoming more dependent. 

I. Paul’s Prayer To The Father (14-15) 

II. Strengthened By The Spirit As Christ’s Dwelling (16-17a) 

III. Strengthened To Know Christ’s Love (17b-19) 

IV. Pray Because God Is Able (20-21)

During this Advent season, we’ve paused our study of the Gospel of Mark to reflect on the profound truths of Christ’s coming. Two weeks ago, we explored the hope of resurrection from Mark 12, and last week, we looked at the peace we find in Christ. These are not basic, mundane truths; we benefit when we remember who our God is and rekindle our passion for Christ’s gospel. In Christ, we have perfect reconciliation with God and complete righteousness before the Father. As Christmas approaches, let’s focus on these magnificent realities, resting and rejoicing in our hearts. Joy is our theme this third Sunday of Advent. The angels announced good news of great joy for all people at Jesus’ birth, and we will explore how to cultivate joy as the Spirit’s fruit, mainly from John 15:1-11. We will explain the Christian’s joy, distinguishing it from mere happiness, and see how joy is commanded by God, endures through sorrow, flows from God Himself, and grows as we abide in Christ—trusting in Him. Abiding in Christ nurtures the fruit of joy, because our joy comes from Jesus’ own joy, transforming even our hardships into reasons for rejoicing.

I. Joy & Happiness Overlap But Are Not the Same - (Jeremiah 33:11, Proverbs 23:24-25, Proverbs 27:9) 

II. Joy & Rejoicing Are Commanded By God - (Rom. 12:15; Phil 3:1; 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16)

III. Joy Can Still Be Present In Sorrow - (Habakkuk 3:17-18, 2 Corinthians 6:9-10) 

IV. True Joy Is In God & From God - (John 15:11, Isaiah 42:1)

V. Joy Is A Fruit That Grows As We Cultivate it - (John 15:1-11)

As we enter the Christmas season, we will pause our verse-by-verse study in Mark to focus on the profound wonder of Christ’s birth. In keeping with the Advent season, this Sunday, we’ll explore the peace that Jesus brings, drawing from different passages across Scripture to highlight its various aspects. While we usually follow a consecutive exposition through books of the Bible, this topical approach allows us to step back and appreciate a theme woven throughout God’s Word. (While being careful to take each passage in its context).

The concept of peace is mentioned hundreds of times in Scripture and is what all creation has longed for since sin entered the world. Yet, despite everything we pursue, true peace only comes through Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Christmas isn’t just about a baby in a manger—it’s about the incarnation of the One who brings peace, as foretold in prophecies like Isaiah 9:6. As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior, let’s reflect on how Jesus, the Prince of Peace, secures our eternal hope through His life, death, and resurrection, and let peace reign in our hearts (Col. 3:15).

I. Jesus Brings Peace With God (Rom. 5:1-2)

II. Jesus Gives Peace Within Us (John 14:27; 16:32-33)

III. Jesus Brings Peace With One Another (Eph. 2:14-16)

IV. Jesus Will Bring Peace To All Creation (Luke 2:13-14; Isa. 11:6-9)

On Sunday, we will continue our study in Mark, focusing on chapter 12:18-27. We’ve already seen Jesus in the Temple courts, rebuking the chief priests and scribes by comparing them to wicked tenants in God’s vineyard. We’ve observed Him skillfully outmaneuver the Pharisees and Herodians’ trap regarding paying taxes to Caesar. Now, the scene shifts to another challenge from the religious elite—the Sadducees—who try to discredit Jesus and the idea of resurrection with a crafted riddle about marriage in the afterlife. Although there are several related questions we will attempt to work through, the Sadducees ultimately seek to demonstrate how foolish the idea of a resurrection is. (They did not believe in an afterlife and accepted only Genesis through Deuteronomy as God’s Word.)

As Jesus skillfully outmaneuvers these Sadducees, just as He did with other leaders trying to trap Him with His words, He teaches us about the glorious hope of our resurrection with Him. This hope isn’t mere wishful thinking; it is based on Jesus’ clever response to the Sadducees, which exposes their mistake in denying God’s power and His Word. God’s power to transform His people assures us that He defeats death, sin, and loss, giving us confident hope for eternity. Jesus then directs the Sadducees to Exodus (a part of Scripture they accepted) and shows (based on the tense of a verb!) that resurrection is real. He points to Exodus 3:6, where God says, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" in the present tense, even though they had died long ago. This demonstrates ongoing life and a covenant with God, because He is the God of the living, not the dead. Resurrection is built into God’s Word, even in verb tenses, and reaches its pinnacle in Jesus’ own resurrection as the ultimate proof, giving us comfort in grief and confidence that death does not end our story.

The Theological Trap: Denying Resurrection (vv. 18-22)

Jesus’ Response: Ignorant of God’s Power (vv. 24-25)

Jesus’ Response: Ignorant of God’s Word (vv. 26-27)