Life Lessons From Paul

Life lessons from Paul

Ephesians 3:14-21

Good morning again and welcome to those who are listening online.

If you would turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 3, we will be looking at the prayer that the apostle Paul offers up for the church at Ephesus and for us as believers today.

We can always complain about what is wrong with the world, wrong with the people, the dysfunctional family that God has put us into.

It is easier to blame others than it is to change.

As we come into this New Year I would like us to be looking internally instead of externally when we want to see change.

Change begins with each of us.

The world has its problems and a lot of the world we will never be able to change or have opportunity to change, but we will always have a chance to change what is going on inside of us.

Apostle Paul in the text is praying for the church at Ephesus and us as believers.

He is directing them to God the Father and letting us see His great love for us.

He points us into this messed up world and tells us to go make a difference.

I understand the fact that as believers we have the Holy Spirit of Almighty God dwelling inside of us and that this building is not the church but each one who claims the name of Jesus is the church.

I have heard some say that we should not say that this is God’s house because he dwells in us.

I see in scripture that the church is also a place where God’s people should come together and be energized to reach a world that is slowly dying and decaying.

We come into this building, the house to be united and then going out to reach this world for Jesus.

It appears to me that when we do it right, we will see His blessing-

Jesus says to His followers, those who are believers, to go into the world and preach the gospel, and go to the highways and byways which is everywhere we get a chance to go.

Jesus says to go, but not many are saying to those we come in contact with to come…

Believers should be going out into the world and say come into a right relationship.

I understand that when the word of God is preached that there is conviction and transformation.

When the Lord gets a hold of lives, they will be transformed and they will also be sharing the word of God with others.

It is a natural flow- you and I going…reaching ones that we were sent to reach and then they come into the body of Christ and they themselves are taught to model the life of Christ.

It is natural after we have that kind of relationship with the Lord that we would then be in the house of the Lord and get our marching orders, our encouragement, our gained strength from the word of God to go into the world and continue to reach others.

Today, the church universal in the United States is in decline because we have not lived out our faith.

In other countries where there is persecution of the believers of Christ, we are seeing great growth even with the persecution.

That is not natural but is super-natural.

It is natural in this day of unnatural to think that if we open up these church doors and hold the door open that people would just show up.

Occasionally someone might do that but usually you don’t go somewhere until someone gives you a review, you tasted of the food of that restaurant, or you know someone who has come and recommended it to you.

Apostle Paul is speaking to us to be in a right relationship so that we might be strengthened and given our direction about the people that God the Father will bring into our lives and we are to show them the great love that God has for us through His wonderful savior and Son Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 3:14-21Read from the Bible clearly

Apostle Paul earnest prayer for you and I - he begins “for this cause”- we have to go back to chapter 1of the letter to letter to the Ephesians to see that cause and it is the church in a messed up and chaotic world and us making a difference to show the world the great love of the Father through Jesus.

“I bow my knees” ( I kneel ) - which means he is prostrating himself before the Lord.

Jews do a lot of praying standing up with palms up- the look you see when they are praying at the wailing wall.

Apostle points out that to be a father in this world is what God created between a man and a women- paternal, you can take a test to see if you are the paternal father of a child-