How do you know what is true? In the “information age”, where we have constant immediate access to the media, it can be difficult to untangle the objective reality from our limited knowledge and personal experience. In his concluding message to the Ephesians, Paul calls all believers to armor themselves against the lies and confusion of their day. He warns the only way to stand firm against spiritual attack is to bind our faith together with the fundamentally important belt of truth.
Kids are to obey parents, students are to obey teachers, employees are to obey employers and citizens are to obey governments. God wants us to obey all whom He puts in authority, assuming they allow us to obey Him, our greatest authority, and He wants us to do it in a Christ-like way because obeying them is ultimately obeying Him. Similarly, God wants parents, teachers, employers, and governing authorities to use their authority in a Christ-like way so that both our obedience and our authority imitate Christ and unite us in Christ.
God loves children and so do the people of Hope. Since the kids will be with us throughout this 4th Sunday service, Pastor Dean will bring a shorter and kid-relevant message entitled, “Kids, God is For You!” from Ephesians 6:1-4. Parents, this message will encourage your children to abide in Jesus in various ways, including through obedience and honor toward you so if you are in town, join us as God’s family unites to worship and receive His wisdom for our everyday lives.
Sometimes we disagree with people we love. This difficulty can cause sleepless nights, stomach aches, avoidance, anger and sometimes even slander. Last week we learned from Ephesians 4:1-16 that God’s vision for the church is unity, not uniformity. In this coming message, from Ephesians 4:17-32, we will begin to discover God’s guidance on how to be faithful to our convictions and kind toward others, especially when we disagree.
Imagine a deeply unified people. What would it look like for people with legitimate differences to eagerly maintain unity in a community of peace? Christ envisions His followers to be this unique group and in this message, we will learn how He summons us to think and live together that it may be so!
Why pray if God is sovereign over all? Why pray when time is limited and there is so much work to be done? Why pray if God already knows everything including what I will converse with Him about? After writing to the church in Ephesus about the awe-inspiring and freshly revealed gospel of Jesus, the Apostle Paul shares the reason why he bows his knee before the Father. In so doing, he has inspired generations of people like you and me to do the same. Join us for this message and service to worship God and discover a potentially new and compelling reason to pray!
When something happens in life that we simply can’t explain – how does this affect our faith in Jesus? This week, we read Paul’s important reminder that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a beautiful and wondrous mystery, revealed to us in the present age, and worthy to be shared with the entire world. Even when we can’t explain everything – we can rest assured in His love for us and in our hope for the future.
Jesus is available for all. Everyone who gets acquainted with and then accompanies Jesus becomes united in realities that surpass the divisions among us. This week’s message celebrates some of these realities and then includes an insightful conversation with Seth Slay, Hope and Bloom’s Worship Leader about the people of God uniting as a community of praise.
Many people pray. Who we pray to and what we pray for makes all of the difference. As Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he expresses his thanks to God for them following Christ and then he shares with them what he prays for them. What he prays is not for their safety or their prosperity, but for their full experiential knowledge of what they have in Christ – Hope and His Great Power! What would change in our lives if we received this type of prayer and prayed it for each other?
Many people pray. Who we pray to and what we pray for makes all of the difference. As Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he expresses his thanks to God for them following Christ and then he shares with them what he prays for them. What he prays is not for their safety or their prosperity, but for their full experiential knowledge of what they have in Christ – Hope and His Great Power! What would change in our lives if we received this type of prayer and prayed it for each other?