This week, Mike Johnston walks through the first verses of 1 John 3 where John speaks of the love that God has for His children. It is in this love that His children hope, purifying themselves according to the pure nature of their heavenly Father, awaiting the day they will see Him face-to-face.

Continuing in his section on home life, Paul here speaks of the relationship between master and servant, following the same authority and submission theme from the two prior pericopes. Paul's concern is that both master and servant obey the Lord and so treat one another accordingly, not as people-pleasers or authority-abusers, but understanding that they both have an even greater master, namely, Jesus Christ.

Continuing in commandments related to the home, Paul begins chapter six of Ephesians by telling children to obey their parents, and telling father's to not provoke their children but to raise them in godliness. Paul's concern is that children learn to obey God by obeying their parents, which thereby blesses them. In light of this, fathers are to train their children in such a way that guides them toward this obedience.

Commonly known as the saddest psalm in the entire Psalter, Psalm 88 is a song of utter lament. Lost in sorrow and suffering, Heman cries out to God, asking why the Lord has abandoned him in his time of need, yet all the while knowing that Yahweh is indeed the God of his salvation.

In directly applying the call to walk wisely and to submit to one another, Paul begins to speak of the home with its authority and submission structures. First, he commands that wives submit to their own husbands, and that husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church.

As Paul continues offering practical exhortations for the Ephesians, he ends this section by calling them to be wise and filled with the Spirit rather than foolish and filled with wine. Conducting themselves in this way, they are to sing songs to one another, to constantly give thanks to God for all He has done for them in Jesus, and to submit to one another in an orderly fashion out of reverence for Christ.

This week, pastor Mike Johnston takes us through Mark 7 where a Gentile woman begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Upon persistently making her request, the woman recognizes her lowly state and proves her faith in Jesus.

Rather than become partakers in the works of darkness, Paul commands the Ephesian church to walk as children of light and to expose the darkness among them. Being now found in Christ, the Christian is light in the Lord, and their works should reflect this reality, at all times attempting to discern what is pleasing to the Lord—all that is good, and righteous, and true.