God's Boundless Love!
We have a photo album of everyone that has lived with us or stayed with us at least one night. From a Brazilian missionary soccer team to the homeless, and from PhD to high school dropout, it has been a real joy to share space with lots of different people from an amazing diversity of backgrounds. Our family has been blessed with lots of love. The love of God has been poured into our hearts and we feel the obligation to express that love of God past the walls of our home and into the lives of others, whoever they are or wherever they are from!
Tonight we cross over into Ephesians 3, still looking at the foundation and formation of God's new people. A society, culture, family, or community that centers around a loving and accepting Father rather than selfish desires and Satanic influence. God is bringing dead people from every ethnicity back to life in Christ and creating a beautiful and diverse family where there is no favoritism, no special treatment for good behavior, and no ethnic advantage.
We are working our way to the second prayer of this letter from prison, but before we get there Paul takes a little time to make sure they appreciate what Paul has come to understand, and why it landed him in jail! The message Paul was given and spreads has transformed his formerly angry life. He hopes it will do the same for them!
What is the message? Why is Paul in jail? What does this have to do with the love of Jesus? All of that....and more....tonight at 7pm!
View and see!
Steve
Ephesians 3:1-13
January 13, 2021 • Pastor Steve Feden
Ephesians 1:1-6
November 18, 2020 • Pastor Steve Feden
Ephesians has only six chapters and is not written to address a specific issue or problem among the Ephesians believers. Rather, Paul knows that in order for them to have future ability to live as children of God in the middle of Ephesian culture, they will have to gain a deeper and deeper experience of God's love! This is what he is addressing. We will dive right in and watch as the great, methodical, theological mind of the Apostle Paul is overcome with impassioned gratitude over the deep ways God has touched his -- and our -- lives! WARNING: Anyone who actually reads and believes the things we will talk about is likely to experience greater depth of transformed relationship with God and the people in your life! View and see! Steve
Ephesians 1:7-14
December 2, 2020 • Pastor Steve Feden
What does "relationship with God" really look like? I mean, we talk about the fact that Christianity is a "relationship" and not "religion", but what is the real difference? Doesn't Christianity often feel like religion? Obey the commands, do this, don't do that, and so on. I am fully convinced that Ephesians is a "relationship guide". The first chapter is filled with the foundational blocks of relationship with God as HE designed it to be. If we can comprehend Ephesians 1, it will forever impact our understanding of what relationships are supposed to be, and what the basic building blocks of healthy relationships are! Last week we saw the Father's plan. This week we will how the Son (Jesus) participates and how the Spirit participates! View and see! Steve
Ephesians 1:15-23
December 9, 2020 • Pastor Steve Feden
A few years ago, Helga and I enjoyed a long bike ride with friends. We started in Munich Germany and ended in Venice, Italy. It was an epic journey for which we spent time studying maps to prepare. I don't think I need to tell you that the experience of the ride itself was the hope and the joy and the thrill. The map was useful, but could never be a substitute for the ride itself. To this point, in Ephesians 1, Paul has given us a map of healthy relationship with God. Being chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and secure have been points on that map. Great stuff, right? Yes, but it is still a map! What do I mean? Starting in verse 15, we read Paul's prayer for the believers in Ephesus. The prayer is filled with Paul's desire for these precious Jesus' followers. The gist of his prayer? I would love to tell you, but you will need to tune in. I promise it will be worth it. Just like the map is no substitute for the experience of the ride, so the study of doctrine and intellectual knowledge of God are not the end in themselves. This remarkable passage of scripture is sure to stretch your imagination (hint hint). View and see! Steve