Paul prayed for God to give the Ephesians spiritual knowledge to know the hope of their calling and the riches of their inheritance in the saints. Pastor Mollenkopf guides the saints into the depth of their inheritance in Christ.

Paul transitions from praise of God to prayer to God. His prayer begins with thanks for God’s work in their life and then requests that God give them spiritual illumination to know God more. Specifically, Paul gives three areas in which he wants them to know God more: (1) the hope of their calling, (2) the riches of his glorious inheritance, and (3) the greatness of his power towards those who believe.  This sermon stops with (1) the hope of their calling, and next week we will finish by looking at the last two requests.

Paul rejoices that God’s great promises to Israel have now been enjoyed by the Gentiles in Christ. Believers are both God’s treasured possession, and He also promises to give us treasured possessions. Pastor Mollenkopf explains the wonders of God's work in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

God the Father planned that in Christ the curse of this world, sin, would be removed. Due to Jesus making the payment for sin by His blood, we now have God’s gracious gifts of forgiveness and knowledge of the mystery of His will. Jesus redemption, though, does not just fix individual guilt and sin, but rather it fixes the curse of sin that currently effects the entire universe.

God, before time, by his sovereign and gracious choice, chose to set his love on a people whom Jesus would redeem by His blood and the Spirit would seal. This often causes controversy, but Paul’s goal is not to delve into philosophical speculation. Rather, he talks of these truths to glorify God’s and His grace. Pastor Mollenkopf examines the truth of God's sovereignty and humanities requirement to choose.

Paul exuberantly expounds on God’s works for us in Christ, but what is the purpose of all of these works?  Paul makes clear three times that this is all “for the praise of His glory.” How can this be true and God not be some megalomaniacal entity and us not some slavish creatures? Pastor Mollenkopf explains from God's word.

Today, Jeremy Mollenkopf begins an extensive look into Paul's letter to the Ephesians. He begins the series showing how Paul opens this magnificent letter with words that summarize the whole of the book. God has richly blessed us in Jesus, and now we should live in light of that wealth.

After the extraordinary repentance and forgiveness in Nineveh, we would expect great rejoicing on Jonah's part. We would expect him to return to Israel telling of the glories of what God did to the pagan city. We would expect such things, and we would be wrong. Jonah 4 is one of the most heartbreaking and dark responses to God's lavish grace in all of Scripture. And while it's a mirror into the darkness of our own hearts, it is also a spotlight on the glorious grace of God to his wayward children. Keith Pond explains.

When folks think of Jonah, they think of the big fish. And yes, the first two chapters of Jonah are packed with cinematic action. But the most extraordinary aspect of the book of Jonah takes place in chapter three when an entire city repents and turns to God. Keith Pond unpacks the glory of our salvation and the breathtaking grace of God from the third chapter of Jonah.

A big fish story of epic proportions. Keith Pond explains why Jonah's experience happened in space/time history, and how the lessons of the wayward prophet reach across the millennia to minister to us today.