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?
On sunny and rainy days, it is good, necessary and right to consider the goodness of God. Please join us this Sunday as we unite in song, prayer and God’s Word to meditate on several blessings which God has given to all who love Jesus. This week’s message will be the first in a new series through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
How shall we respond when life doesn’t go according to our plan? While on earth Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit in ways that were often unexpected. The Spirit led Jesus to be tempted by Satan in the wilderness and into Jerusalem to be crucified. The disciples were often confused by the mysterious steps the Spirit led Jesus to take. Now that Jesus has ascended and fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit into His followers, we can also expect to be led in ways that are unexpected, unplanned, and confusing. In this message, we will be encouraged and guided to walk faithfully when seasons of mystery arise.
Do you feel successful in life? Do you feel that you’ve accomplished everything you’ve set out to do? Today we often measure our success in having a spouse, kids, property, money, recognition, or fame. Yet, Jesus didn’t have any of these things – and still said at the end of his life that said he accomplished everything He set out to do. Join us this Sunday in our Walking with God series as we look at how we can define our success by bringing glory to God – just like Jesus did.
Is there a recipe for walking closely with God in today’s world? Jesus mastered walking with His Father and He seeks to teach His disciples to do the same. What He taught was relatively simple: You stay close when you obey and do what Jesus, Our King, commands. Jesus has and will command many things, but specifically He repeats the command that we “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). So, we walk closely with God when we obey Jesus Christ’s example and command to love each other as he loved us.
God created us to walk with Him. Yet, who would do so if we think God is angry or against us? In this message we discover what the 1st followers of Jesus sought to know; how can we most accurately get to know this God who invites us to live with Him in all of life? In Christ, God is revealing Himself to us as One who loves us, is for us, forgives us and wants us (and all who don’t yet rightly know Him) to live all of life in the conscious awareness of His kind presence and purpose.
As Jesus walked with God and with people, God instructed Him in what to say to people so that they would be illuminated to the realities of God’s nature and God’s plan for saving the world. As we walk with God, let us, like Jesus, receive and radiate God’s light so that truth is illuminated and believed, people are saved, and our triune God is glorified.
Have you ever searched and searched for something and then you discovered that it was right in front of you all the time? In the book of John, many religious people had “searched the scriptures” but totally missed that the words they studied were pointing to Jesus as the Christ and Messiah. Many of us do the same. We seek to learn and grow, but when Jesus arrives in our everyday lives we don’t recognize Him at all.
When was the last time you were surprised? What does it take to astonish you? To marvel is to live with surprise, wonder and amazed curiosity. God made you to live with an ever-expanding amazed curiosity and in this message, Jesus will show you how to do so.