New Sunday Series:

Rediscovering Church – a study in the book of Ephesians

April 22 – June 24

If you are looking for the gist of the NT in just a few pages, Ephesians would be your book.  Ephesians presents the deep truths of the gospel and then applies them to all areas of our lives.

Unlike most of the other letters Paul wrote, there is no specific problem he is addressing.  Instead Paul helps his readers contemplate the various facets of the gospel and then teases out some of the key implications.  The later chapters explain how the gospel affects and transforms emotions, marriage, family, career, etc.

The first half of the letter is all about living in X – where we receive every spiritual blessing.  All of you theologians among us will love chapters 1-3 where Paul reflects on the foundational doctrines of the faith.

The second half of the letter is all about living for X- how we experience and live out the gospel.  You activists will be juiced by chapters 4-6 where Paul tells us how the theology of 1-3 gets lived out in the various aspects of life.

Each of us will be smacked around a bit because the two halves form one book!  Theology is illegitimate if it doesn’t lead to transformation & community; gospel transformations and relationships must be built on a right understanding of who God is, what Jesus did and how the Spirit functions.