Ephesians - How I Live
Ephesians 4:1-6:9
09/25/17 THE NEW WAY OF LIVING: Walking in Love - The Flip Side
September 25, 2017 • Richard Cimino
We expose darkness by WHO WE ARE in Jesus. The life and light of Jesus in you will stand in stark contrast to that which is broken in the world ��� to that which is dark in the world. The thing the Christian has to guard against is covering up the light of his or her life in Jesus for fear that it might offend the unbelieving world around them (like when someone is in a dark room and you turn on the light ��� it���s painful, irritating because they have adjusted to the dark. Their pupils are opened wide to make it possible to navigate in the absence of light. When the curtains are pulled back and the sunlight blazes in, or when the light is switched on ��� it is painful.
10/09/17 THE NEW WAY OF LIVING: Filled with the Spirit
October 9, 2017 • Richard Cimino
Paul wants us to know that there is no Christian life apart from the Holy Spirit ��� he wants us to know that the Christian life is impossible without Him! By inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wants every Christian in every generation and culture to know that there is only one way the Christian life can be lived: Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
07/24/17 THE NEW WAY OF LIVING: Honest and Edifying
July 24, 2017 • Richard Cimino
In the 1st three chapters of this amazing letter Paul defines the new and true identity of the Christian ��� an identity that is New; not in the sense of not being old ��� but new in the sense of a totally different kind. This identity has nothing to do with what I can do, or what I���ve done, or what I hope to do someday. It isn���t rooted in what I possess or what I hope to possess. It isn���t rooted in my social status or wardrobe or mode of transportation. It isn���t rooted in what I eat or don���t eat. It isn���t even rooted in religion. It is rooted in all that God has done for us in Jesus, with Jesus, by Jesus and through Jesus. Every Christian is a new creature ��� a new kind of human ��� recreated in Jesus. The old has passed ��� everything about my humanity is new. Everything about my new humanity is rooted in the person of Jesus and the very life of Jesus. Here in Ephesians 4 Paul is telling us that WHO WE ARE in Jesus transforms HOW WE LIVE! We can���t have a ���new life��� without having a ���new lifestyle��� ��� a new way of living.
07/03/17 Growing Up To LIVE Up
July 3, 2017 • Richard Cimino
This is our 2nd installment in our study of the 2nd section of a letter written by the apostle Paul around the mid-1st century to men and women in the city of Ephesus (modern day Turkey) who had believed the Good News concerning Jesus Christ. This letter was inspired by the Holy Spirit (it is the very Word of God to man). It speaks to every generation of Christians living in every culture. That means it was written for US!