『Ephesians Part 3: All for One』のカバーアート

Ephesians Part 3: All for One

Ephesians Part 3: All for One

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Continuing our series on the book of Ephesians, Pastor Steve Reilly leads us from Chapter 2:11 to Paul’s prayer in Chapter 3:14-20.Pastor Steve expounds the passage through the heads of peace, prayer, and praise. The word “peace” appears four times in this week’s passage - focussing not on peace with God, but peace between different groups of people who, outside of Christ, disdained each other. Jews considered others - gentiles - as unclean and idolators. Paul talks about taking down a wall that divided them. He would have had in mind a literal wall, built in the temple in Jerusalem, which divided the outer court - where gentiles were permitted to come - from the inner courts from which they were forbidden. The dividing wall between the outer and inner courts bore this inscription: "No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and the partition around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” In Christ all that this wall represents is torn down. Those who are “far away” (gentiles) and those who are “near” (Jews) are united in one. Even more than this, the curtain that sealed off the most holy place at the heart of the temple, and which separated God’s presence from all but the high priest, has also been removed. In Christ there is no barrier between anyone and the Father.We live in a world riven by division, fuelled by dark powers seeking to ruin God’s good creation. Bringing together Jews and Gentiles into a single people in Christ demonstrates God’s wisdom and lordship to these powers. The unity of the church is a witness to the world and evidence that, as NT Wright puts it: “Jesus is Lord, and they are not.” In working hard to promote unity in the church we proclaim God’s wisdom and Christ’s victory.Moving to prayer, Paul prays for strength in the inner being of Jesus’s followers - strength which comes through the Holy Spirit. Pastor Steve reminds us of a number of verses throughout the Bible which speak of the strength which God gives us, and what that strength enables us to accomplish. Pastor Steve encourages us to take time daily to ask the Spirit to renew us in His strength. Pastor Steve explains what Paul means when prays that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” The word for “dwell” refers to a permanent habitation rather than a visit. Pastor Steve asks what our relationship with the Lord is like. Is he a permanent resident with access to, and Lordship over, every “room” or area of our lives, or more like a lodger with access to some areas and not others?We read Paul’s prayer that our own lives will be grasped by the incomparable and immeasurable love of God, and that will overflow with this love as we celebrate and discover our multi-faceted diversity in Jesus.Praise God for His incomparable love and grace!We welcome you to Bridge Community Church, Leeds!We invite you to join our online community!Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsFacebookJoin our Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/BCCOnlineCommunityGroupFollow us on Instagram: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsInstagramFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsTwitterVisit our Website: https://www.bccleeds.org/If you would like to give to further our work. You can use the link below:https://bit.ly/GivingtoBCC#EveryoneWelcome #ChurchOnline #Leeds #Burmantofts #LincolnGreen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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