Title: God’s Power
Text: Ephesians 3:14-21
Introduction: Tell the story of the little boy and the sand box. As he was digging, he discovered a huge rock in the middle of the sand. He dug till he loosened the stone. Once loosened, he pushed and shoved, even using his feet to the edge of the sandbox. The problems then began for the young boy. No matter how hard he tried, the stone just rolled back into the sand. His dad was watching from a window and noticed that the little boy was so frustrated that he began to cry. When his father came to the sandbox, he asked, “Why didn’t you use all of your power to remove the stone?” He replied, “I did. I pushed with hands and feet only to fail.” “No son, his father answered, you didn’t call for me.” With that said, the father moved the rock outside the sandbox.
POINT-----> Aren’t we the same way with God?
‒ We use our own power only to fail.
‒ For what ever reason, we tend to miss God in the everyday scheme of life.
**That’s what we want to talk about tonight.
‒ Everyday life.
‒ How do we conquer each day we live with the help of God?
‒ People tend to reach out to God in crises, but not everyday living.
1. We ask the FATHER Ephesians 3:14-15 (NCV) "So I bow in prayer before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name."
a. If the little boy in the story had only realized his father’s power.
‒ I think he knew he COULD ask his father.
‒ I think he knew his father was there.
‒ I just think he forgot the father power and ability to remove the rock.
b. How many times are we like that with God?
‒ Old Jonah while in the belly of the whale prayed. Jonah 2:7 (NCV) ""When my life had almost gone, I remembered the LORD. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple."
(1) We need to never let the situation get this bad before we remember God.
(2) We need not be like the lady who said, “Well I think we need to pray.” Her husband’s response was, “It hasn’t come to that has it?!!”
‒ If we will but remember the father and trust Him to have the power to remove the rocks.
(1) We are too much like the boy. We want to handle it ourselves.
(2) This never works.
(a) We are but humans.
(b) We are frail and failing.
(3) Trust is the real issue. (Ephesians 6:10 NCV) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his great power.
(a) Not in my own, or a preacher, or youth minister, but in HIS POWER.
2. We live for Christ INWARDLY Ephesians 3:16 (NCV) "I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit. I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith ...."
a. Christianity and following God has always been a matter of the heart.
‒ What caused David to kill Goliath? God’s power working through a willing heart!
‒ What caused Peter to walk on the water? A heart of trust and the power of Jesus!
‒ What caused the disciples to preach even when told not to? Hearts that loved Christ, and the Holy Spirit that filled them up!
‒ Even the Crucifixion of Jesus was a matter of the heart.
(1) If you think for one moment that Romans crucified Jesus, your wrong. Jesus said, “No man takes my life, I lay it down willingly.” It was a Savior full of heart and trust in His Father that crucified Jesus.
b. You see, when we decide to get our hearts right the rest of us follows the lead.
‒ When people have a passion to work, they work hard!
‒ When people have a teach, they work hard a teaching.
‒ When people have a passion to play ball, they play with all their HEART!
(1) Tennessee fans don’t like the way the LSU Tigers beat them yesterday, but you had to take your hat off to the LSU quarterback. Limping leg and all, they won in a big part due to that man’s heart.
‒ And when we decide in our hearts to follow the Spirit that was placed there at baptism (Acts 2:38), we will never stop serving God.
(1) Matthew 12:33-34 (NCV) ""If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. 34 You snakes! You are evil people, so how can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart."
(a) Jesus is teaching that these people were full of evil IN THERE HEARTS, therefore, there was nothing good coming out of them.
(2) I believe the opposite is just as true.
(a) If the heart of the man has a passion to serve God, he can do all manner of good for God.
(i) I love to see young people serving God. I know that those who are dedicated to Him will serve Him naturally.
(3) How do you react when someone blows the horn at you on the road, grabs your buggy at Wal mart, or steps in front of you in line?
(a) Be carful, because you never know when that person blowing the horn isn’t your preacher in a new car, or that person who grabs your buggy could be mistaken, or the line breaker could be your next opportunity to share Jesus.
(b) You see, you might hide from me or your neighbor, but you won’t hide from God
(4) The point here is that my heart will directly tell me how to act because of what I desire to do.
(a) Brethren, we do anything we really want to do don’t we?
(i) We might “hurt” to bad to come to church, but do fine at Wal mart.
(ii) We might no feel like studying our Bible, but we will study the play book, or work manuals.
(iii) We might not like to get up early, but we do it for work.
(5) IT’S ALL A MATTER OF THE HEART!!
3. We follow the path of LOVE Ephesians 3:17-19 (NCV) "I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love--how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God."
a. We live so much in a state of fear and hatred in our world. HOW MUCH WE NEED THE LOVE OF GOD!!
‒ The Love of God #133 by F.H. Lehman “Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the sky of parchment made. Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.”
b. Paul’s prayer here is that we would not just love, but that we would be strong in love and that we be built on love.
‒ Every well-built house has a solid foundation. God says that our lives need to be built on love.
c. Not only should we build our lives on love, but we should build our lives on a love like Jesus’s.
‒ Do you understand Christ’s love? Paul indicates here that it is possible to understand through prayer. V. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God."
‒ We can be filled with the fullness of God.
d. The only thing that really matters after you become a Christian is how you love God and love others.
‒ (Matthew 22:37-40 NCV) Jesus answered, "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ {38} This is the first and most important command. {39} And the second command is like the first: ’Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ {40} All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands."
Conclusion: What do you think the little boy we talked about at the beginning thought after his father picked up the rock?
‒ WOW!! How strong!!
‒ WOW!! That strength is mine anytime I want it.
‒ WOW!! I can trust my dad to do anything for me!!
‒ When we realize all that God can do for us, we too can say what Paul said,
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NCV) "With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen."
