The Christian life is one of tremendous spiritual blessings according to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. But what about when suffering and difficulties come upon the believer? Is the Christian faith worth its salt? What about when facing open hostility and opposition? The apostle's answer in Ephesians 3 is an emphatic YES because the value of Christianity isn't found in the believer but in the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ which are the beginning and the end of the Christian faith.

Contrary to the popular misperception, Christianity isn't primarily about making us happy, healthy, and wealthy. It's about making us holy, spiritually mature and rich in Christ. The Apostle Paul was the textbook example of this as we find in the opening words of Ephesians 3, 'For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you..."

Unity is one of the distinguishing marks of the Christian Church. Yet many seem confused as to where that unity comes from or how it is maintained. The Apostle Paul makes it clear that such unity is a consequence of Christ being our peace which gives us a new identity as kingdom citizens, a new community of God's family, and a new power of the Holy Spirit building us up into a holy dwelling place as God's final temple.

As we sit nearly 2,000 years removed from that first Easter morning, the resurrection of Jesus Christ continues to stand above all history as the only hope of peace for sinners with a holy God and with one another. In the tumult of 2021, the message that Christ is our peace could not be more relevant or timely.

With all the different religions and worldviews, it can be easy to think that they are all basically the same. Ephesians 2:1-10 clears up that confusion once and for all with the message that the Triune God saves sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and for the glory of God alone. No other religion or worldview comes remotely close to the good news of the gospel that is from beginning to end, ALL of grace on God's part. Soli Deo Gloria!

The overall theme of the first two chapters of Ephesians is the greatness of God's power towards His people in raising them from spiritual death and uniting them to Christ freeing them from their spiritual depravity. Here in Ephesians 2:4-5 we see how it starts with those astounding words "BUT GOD." Rather than leaving all sinners to their utter destruction, the God who is rich in mercy and great in love, graciously moves toward them to save all who will believe in His Son.

How often do we say or think that if we could only have a "mountaintop experience" of the presence of God we'd be much more faithful as Christians. Paul's prayer in Eph. 1:15-23 tells us that experience lies not in the mountaintops, but in the work of the Spirit giving us deeper knowledge in our relationship with God the Father.

In Ephesians 1:3-14 we see the incredible Trinitarian artistry and symmetry in the masterpiece of salvation that the God of the Bible and of history has accomplished. Amazingly, God the Father uses the preaching of the Good News about God the Son to seal believers by God the Holy Spirit marking them as His own possession and inheritance that will be fully realized at the end of the age in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

As human beings we love stories of redemption where the character who has been down and out is able to redeem himself through great difficulty and perseverance, but these stories pale in comparison to the biblical story of redemption where Jesus does what no one else can, He redeems us from the clutches of Satan, sin, and death and He grants us new life by virtue of His resurrection. In this sermon we focus on the part God the Son plays in redeeming, uniting, and predestinating us for an eternal inheritance.

Ephesians 1:3-14 is arguably the most profound sentence in human history as it contains the absolutely beautiful symmetry of the plan of salvation accomplished by the Triune God of the Bible. In this sermon we start with where our salvation began in eternity past with God the Father choosing, predestinating, and adopting believers to be part of His redeemed family.