“Be careful, then, how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” In other words, don’t be stupid! For Paul, this is quite black and white - there are dumb ways to live and a wise way to live.In a world that is often very subjective, what does it look like to live as wise people?

“Let there be light… The people walking in darkness have seen a great light… I will make you a light to the nations… In him was life and that life was the light of humanity… They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.”Throughout the Bible story, light is a huge theme. Paul picks up on this in Ephesians 5. And having this built this whole picture of our new identity in Jesus, he says something quite surprising:“You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”What does it mean that we are light? How do we walk as children of light?

Paul's whole driver in Ephesians is "This is who you now are in Christ!"Now if this is true, your whole direction of travel is going to be different. You've got a new way to walk, a way that shows the world what God is like.And since God is love, what does walking in love look like?

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit"This phrase can be a real source of misunderstanding, and can cause us to get so many wrong ideas about God.The bottom line, though, is that even in his grieving, we see that God is far kinder than we can imagine!

A sermon series that started at Ephesians 4 might give the impression that the Christian life is a bunch of moral (and also sensible!) directives for how to live and earn the favour of God. But that’s why chapters 1-3 are so important!It’s not, “Do this to be loved by God.”It is, “You all are so loved, and this is what the life of loved people looks like… so live out of the overflow of that love!”This Sunday, we walk through some really practical ways that this love shows itself, and how these characteristics help to build this temple that God lives in.

This Sunday… Ephesians 4: 17-24Here’s where we are in Ephesians: Paul has spent three chapters laying out a whole new identity for followers of Jesus. Through Christ, we have been brought near to God and to one another, becoming the dwelling place of God—a temple with a mission. He caps it all off with a prayer that together we would know the vastness of the love that has made all of this possible.Ephesians 4 begins with a call to live in a manner worthy of that calling. Christ has given gifts to his church so that every believer can play their part in building up the body. As each member contributes, the church grows into maturity, stability, and Christlikeness. The focus now shifts from who we are in Christ to how we live as the people in whom God dwells and through whom Christ is revealed to the world.And for Paul, it's almost unthinkable that if we truly know who we are in Jesus, we would keep dressing in the habits of our old life. Instead, he calls us to put on a whole new wardrobe—one that, in Christ, already belongs to us.

The prophet Ezekiel saw a river flowing from God's temple, bringing life wherever it went. Jesus declared that this river would flow through those who would trust in him. This river, he says, is the Holy Spirit.Front and centre of Paul's vision for the church in Ephesians is a people indwelt by the Holy Spirit for the blessing of the nations. In a world that often feels dry, weary and fractured, what does it mean to live as his church indwelt by the Holy Spirit?

This Sunday… Ephesians 4:7–16Jesus generously gives... gifts of people... to build up his church.Paul presents two vivid and contrasting pictures of what that building can become: toddlers in a storm-tossed boat… or a mature body growing up into Christ.Obviously, Paul wants us to move toward maturity!But, how do the gifts fit into that maturity? As each one uses the measure of grace Jesus has given them, the whole body is built up in love.