Sermons

The heart of God is clearly seen in his past faithfulness to His people, the work of Christ on this earth, and the promise of Jesus' return. God has given us the Holy Spirit to remind us that His heart towards us has not changed - He will be our God and we will be His people and this will be accomplished because of his long suffering love for us. Be confident in the fact that God's feeling toward you is not based on anything in you, but rather everything that is in him.

God has shown his love for us by sharing his mind with us. What was previously veiled through shadows and signs has been fully revealed to those whom God has chosen and adopted. Christians have received full access to the plan of the gospel: that God sent his Son to secure redemption and forgive transgressions, and that he will one day unite all things in heaven and earth under the headship of Christ. This should incite the church to worship, persevere thorough trials, and proclaim this good news to everyone God has placed in our paths.

In Ephesians 1, Paul gives us one reason after another to worship God. And yet, these are God's words to his children. He is like a father shouting from the sidelines to his kids, "o I've had you in mind since before time. I chose you just because I love you. It is my desire to give you all that you could ever need – every blessing imaginable. My love for you has no beginning and it has no end. My goal for you is so much more than the vapor of this life. My aim is to be your Father and you my son. I have saved you from something, but I have also given you all that you need to be something – without blemish! The price for which I have bought you back from slavery, the way in which I have forgiven you is according to an bottomless, eternal grace without end. I have met the conditions for your salvation." God's purpose in salvation is to create a new family where He is Father and we are His children.

God has chosen a people for Himself, and this is reason enough for a life of worship.

What does it mean to be "all good"? It is something we all want. It is the desire of the human heart – we want to be in a good place. There are many examples and areas of life that we want to be able to say – "Everything is in order. It's all good." Relationships. Family. Marriage. Job. Children. Retirement. Even when all of these things are "all good" there is always something nagging at us. Because even those who have charmed lives, where everything is all good, there is a deeper need that must be met – because the grave is all bad. This is why, when Paul says, "Blessed be our God and Father in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ," that there is no other response but doxology. Your greatest need this, no matter how good you think things are, is to know that Eternal God has made you all good in Christ – a greater good than any good that could ever be felt or accomplished on this earth in and of ourselves.

There is a spiritual haze in evangelicalism today. Christians in America are living in a post-Christian culture and we don't always have good answers to the cultural narrative. Our response to change and claims to truth is often a fearful one because we don't know how to respond to the new cultural narrative. How can we not only exist but thrive in a post-Christian culture when the narrative seems so hostile? The answer is found in Ephesians when Paul says that God has given us every spiritual blessing - in Christ. Our identity in Christ will shape the way we live, breathe and interact with new culture in which we are living.