In Him Series

INTRODUCTION

• Based on the rest of Acts and Paul’s letters, several years have passed since he left the city of Ephesus.

• After his departure, the remaining believers organized a church and continued to gather regularly for worship and spread the good news of Jesus.

• When Paul writes this letter, he is a prisoner (3:1) in Rome (Craig Keener, “Ephesians: Situation,” in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993]).

• The church was thriving, reaching people of all ethnicities, both Jew and Greek.

• How did they grow?

• How was the church of Ephesus so successful in carrying out the mission?

• This goes to the question for us to consider.

• How can we be a church that reaches people and impacts our community?

• There are all kinds of theories concerning growth.

• Honestly, I am more interested in church impact versus church growth.

• If our goal is simply numerical growth, we are missing the boat.

• If we focus on numeric church growth, we could do that and miss the boat of being a church that makes an impact.

• A numerically growing church is not necessarily a church making an impact in the lives of people, the community, and the world.

• A church that is making an impact in the lives of people, which in turn impacts our communities, will be a church that grows.

• More importantly, you will grow.

• If you do not grow spiritually, your faith will not impact the lives of others or the church.

• So how was the church of Ephesus able to make such an impact, and what caused the lives of so many to be changed?

• How were so many lives changed that these new believers shook the world they lived in?

• It starts with the message that was proclaimed!

• If you want to change your life, world, and those around you, it has to start and end with Jesus.

• All the slick marketing campaigns, the building projects, and the proper use of technology will have no real impact unless it all begins and ends with Jesus!

Romans 1:16 (NET 2nd ed.)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

• We have a compelling message to share; today, I hope you will see some more exciting reasons!

• Today we will spend time in Ephesians 1:1-14 as we examine WHY Jesus has to be the center of all we do.

• From the passage, we will look at four reasons for Jesus being the center of all we do in life.

• We will focus on the phrase IN HIM and IN CHRIST as we examine our passage today!

Ephesians 1:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

SERMON

IN HIM:

I. Our blessings flow.

• How many of you here today want to be blessed in your life?

• How many of you have people you want to see be blessed in your life?

• One of the reasons we should be excited about making Jesus the center of our lives and message is that all of our blessings flow from God through Jesus!

• As Paul writes this letter to the church at Ephesus, he begins with a list of reasons to praise God.

• It is so easy to lose sight of why and who blesses us.

• When we live for our glory, life gets empty and, at some point, void of meaning.

• One thing that should excite us about Jesus is that God blesses our life through Him!

• Do you want to be blessed in your marriage?

• Make Jesus the center and focus of your marriage!

• Finances, parenting, life?

• Make Jesus the center.

• The word “blessed” comes from the verb meaning “to speak well of.”

• When we are BLESSED by God, it means that God has done something for our benefit, to help us to prosper, to give us contentment.

• We have people in life that we love and want to see be blessed.

• God loves you and wants to see you be blessed, also.

• What we find here are a couple of things.

• First, our SPIRITUAL blessings by God come through Jesus.

• In other words, without Jesus, we are not blessed by God; that only happens through Jesus.