Sermon Tone Analysis

We live in crazy times, don’t we?

There isn’t much peace, much unity, or much positivity floating around for a lot of people.

With everyone having school, work, jobs, games, clubs and more it seems that people are just tired, hopeless, and dissatisfied.

Perhaps that’s you tonight.

Maybe you’re caught up in how busy your life is that you have had much time to consider the more important things and you’re finding yourself beat down by the chaos of life.

Well, last week we looked at the change that Christ makes among people who are divided from each other and separated from God and as we look at this weeks text we will come here to consider the benefits of Christ being our peace as Paul said He was last week.

So, since Christ is our peace, we get to enjoy specific benefits.

However, sometimes life gets so dark or so hectic that we take our eyes off of those blessings and can find ourselves invested, belonging and identifying with things or places that don’t matter.

Maybe you’ve been so busy with school, work, and sports that you’re just longing to get away from everything for a bit and maybe go hiking, or shopping, or fishing because at your core that’s what you are.

You are a shopper, you are a hiker, you are a fisherman.

Well, the reality is that those are things that don’t hang around do they?

Weather changes and money gets spent up, but there is something that is much more important that sticks around a lot longer and it’s my hope today that you can tell yourself, “When my life gets hectic and my heart feels heavy, I need to remember that God is active in my life.”

And because that is true, I want us to look at three peaceful reminders.

1. Remember that He’s given you a place to belong.

2. Remember that He’s given you guidance in this life.

3. Remember that He’s given you His presence.

When I was in high school and was finally given a little freedom, my Dad told me that if I ever found myself at a friends house or a get together that I knew I shouldn’t be at then he is always happy to be made the bad guy in the situation.

What he meant by that is that if these people were doing these they shouldn’t be doing then I could always text him and tell them, “Hey guys, my Dad says I need to be home, I gotta go.”

He was happy to take the blame to ensure I wouldn’t have an excuse to hang around places and people I shouldn’t be.

Well, when we look here in Ephesians we find a group of people who are in a city with a massive temple dedicated to Artemis, when you entered the city there is a stone archway that still reads, “To Caesar Augustus, who is God.”

This was a city of serious sexual perversion running about and was a highly educated area as well.

So,, when these people heard the Gospel and God changed their lives, surely the lives that they once had where the identified with the cults, or sexual immorality, or learning or whatever it was, surely when God changed their lives, people would wonder what happened and all that they can say is, “Jesus Christ saved me.”

This brings me to my first point which is:

Remember That He’s Given You a Place to Belong.

On Sunday night, Pastor Karns used a quote from R.C. Sproul who was asked what spiritual truth has impacted him most and he said, “That God knows me better than anybody and I am accepted by Him.”

Well, as we look in verse 19, we find that we aren’t strangers or aliens anymore, we aren’t identified by our sinful lives, we are away from God, but we belong to Him now.

You see, strangers and foreigners didn’t have any rights, but if you were a citizen, you had special privileges.

Paul picks up on that here and says, “Hey, you don’t belong to that old life and you aren’t kept outside of the Temple of God anymore.

You’re His now.

You belong to Him now.” and in verse 21 we find that we belong together.

This isn’t referring to that old temple in Jerusalem but the Church which is made up of all Christians and it is to these people we belong.

Notice in verse 21 says, “joined together,” we are to be together as Christians.

To do life with one another.

So what does this mean for us today?

This means that you and I don’t have to keep looking for belonging.

When I was in high school I was proud to be on the drum line, we practically lived together and it was an idol in my life.

But after graduation that disappeared and most of those guys who I considered my best friends haven’t spoken to me in years.

But do you know where my belonging really lies?

It’s with the Church.

I don’t have to keep looking for some place to belong, Jesus found me out in the world looking for it and He saved me and brought me home to His Church.

This means that racism, cliques, and grudges have no belonging here because we have been forgiven and united by the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is so serious that Jesus says, “Hey, if you come to worship and you have a problem with a brother, get up and go fix it and then come back to worship.”

Now, if you feel like you belong somewhere, that means you can be authentic right?

That means that you should have friendships here were you genuinely care for one another and want the best for each other.

Which leads me to our next point which is.

Remember That He’s Given You Guidance in This Life.

What does it mean for us to want the best for each other?

Does it mean that I just want you to be happy?

No, it means that we desire to see one another standing upon what the Bible teaches and following Christ together.

This is what Paul says is our foundation and cornerstone.

When Paul says that the apostles and prophets are our foundation, he is saying that the Scriptures are the foundation of what we do and who we are as the Church and that Christ Jesus is our cornerstone or the One who guides and directs us as His people.

If we get off of the foundation and the cornerstone, there is no hope for us and we are nothing more than a pointless club, but we don’t have to go through this life wishing we hand direction.

Jesus didn’t say, “Hey, I’m done here, good luck and I’ll see you later.”

No, He has not left us helpless.

Instead, He has given us His Word and so, we don’t have to look to the world for guidance, but we can look to His Word, we came go to Church and hear from the preachers and teachers He has given us, as Paul says in Ephesians 4, and we can develop friendships with old Christians who will invest in us like Titus 2 teaches and we can have guidance for us.

The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Look to it for instruction for your life.

Guys, you aren’t stranded.

You don’t have to be lone wolf Christians.

Make this place your home, build relationships with people here, love them, devote yourself to them and serve with them.

Let them pour into your life all the knowledge they’ve gained from years of walking with Christ in His Word.

Pray that God will give you a stronger love for His Word and Himself.

And on the topic of the Church, we find our last point which is

Remember That He’s Given His Presence To Us.

Notice in verses 21-22 that the structure is growing into a temple.

The Church is growing and Paul tells us in verse 22 that it’s by the Holy Spirit.

So, the Holy Spirit is building a Church of people by saving them through the Lord Jesus Christ that they might become a dwelling place of God.

There’s the Father, Son and Spirit again!

And how does the Spirit grow the Church?

Through us, He uses people like me and you to tell others about the gospel and He does the work of changing their hearts and minds and makes them new people, our brothers and sisters!

And this isn’t all, but notice in verse 22, we are the dwelling place for God.

We don’t have to travel to Jersualem, God is meeting with us here as we gather with one another.

In the Old Testament the Holy of Holies is where God’s shekinah glory was, but now the Holy Spirit is in His people.

The Church is the dwelling place of God, not the building, but in each of us and when we are gathered together He promises a special presence with us.

This means that since there is a special presence of God when we gather together, we should make Christian worship and fellowship a top priority in our lives because this is a big deal.

This also means that we should ask ourselves, “God, how are you working in my life through the Church and for the Church that you might be glorified?”

Conclusion.

So, as you prepare to go face the world tomorrow and things get hectic and your beat down with temptation and burdens, remind yourself that God has saved you and united you with His people and they are there to share your burdens, to encourage you, and to walk with you.