A Bigger Story -Week 1: Life As Story

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Title of the message this Morning

A Bigger Story-

Week 1: Life as Story

Big Idea:

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians to help his readers see the big picture, and understand the larger story they found themselves in.

As we read Ephesians today, we remember that we are part of a bigger story, one that unites us together as we look to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Prayer:

“Father, help us see the big picture today.

We need to understand what story we are in and our part in it.

And we need to leave behind some of the smaller stories we’ve been stuck in.

Let the work begin today.”

Scripture: Ephesians 1:1-23

Introduction

Welcome church!

Today we’re starting a new 5-week series called A Bigger Story, based on the New Testament letter to the Ephesians.

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians to help his readers see the big picture, and understand the larger story they found themselves in.

As we read Ephesians today, we remember that we are part of a bigger story, one that unites us together as we look to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith…

In their wonderful book, The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis and John Eldridge observed that most people live their lives with the same feeling you get arriving 20 minutes late to a movie.

The action is well under way and we haven’t a clue what’s happening.

Who are these people?

Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?

Why are they doing that?

What’s going on?

We sense something really important, perhaps even glorious, is taking place, and yet it all seems so random.

And this all points us to this important truth;

We experience Life as a Story.

Life is not a list of propositions, it is a series of dramatic scenes.

Stories are the language of the heart.

ILLUSTRATIONS:Shape

1. Eugene Peterson, (Presbyterian Pastor) Said: “We live in narrative, we live in story. Existence has a story shape to it. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have characters.”

2. G. K. Chesterton, (1874-1936), Poet, novelist and critic) Said: “People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books on religion.

The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than the others.

Our existence may cease to be a song; it may cease even to be a beautiful lament…

But our existence is still a story.”

In the story of our lives, we need to know there is a plot that makes sense.

And we need to know there is an Author who is moving the characters and the action toward a logical conclusion.

The Problem:

Too many don’t know the Author or the Plot, so they write their own small script.

Some popular modern storylines:

1. The Victim: “Why does everything go wrong for me?”

2. The Survivor: “Just keep your head down and keep moving.”

3. The Romantic: “My true love must live in Seattle.”

4. The Sports Junkie: “My games, my kid’s games, or my heroes will give my life some meaning.”

5. The Religious Person: “I’ll tame life by taming God. I’ll follow all the rules and formulas that will force God to protect me from suffering.”

All of these smaller stories offer a taste of meaning, adventure, or connectedness.

But none of them offer the real thing.

They aren’t large enough.

Living in small stories is why we demand instant gratification; we need a sense of being alive now, for now is all we have.

Without a past that was planned for us and a future that waits for us, we're trapped in the present.

And there’s not enough room for our souls in the present.

We need a bigger story.

Question: How can we make sense of our lives, every part; the good and the bad?

Children can give us a clue.

They seem to intuitively understand the true Story, the Gospel, as a fairy tale.

In his book, Telling the Truth:

The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale, Frederick Buechner (boo-share) argues that fairy tales aren’t just silly stories; they are realistic, only more so; exaggerated pictures of what life is really like.

1. There is this underlying sense that life as it is commonly experienced is not all there is.

2. Somewhere there is a crack in the sky and the world beyond leaks through it. And if you’re close enough when it happens, you’ll see something wonderful, unexplainable, and your life will never be the same.

3. Also, this enchanted world isn’t very far away: you walk through the woods and stumble upon a cottage with seven dwarfs. Or you climb into an ordinary wardrobe closet and emerge into a magical place called Narnia. Nar - nee-ah) (Or, as Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is near you…”)

4. And the central theme of these stories isn’t just about the transformation of the world around us, but rather the transformation of the main characters: ugly ducklings become swans, frogs become princes, and wooden puppets become real boys.

5. There are dragons and evil sorcerers and wicked stepmothers. But they aren’t the whole story, not even the central part of it.

6. Fairy Tales are true not because they teach us that dragons exist, but that dragons can be defeated.

7. Because there are also genuine heroes and heroines, and a cause to live for that is worth dying for.

8. And Lastly he says: there is a quest or a journey fill with danger and the stakes could never be higher.

For centuries prior to the Modern Era, the church viewed the gospel as a cosmic drama whose themes filtered down into our own stories and drew together all the random scenes into a redemptive wholeness.

But our rationalistic approach to life has stripped us of all that, leaving a faith that is barely more than mere fact-telling.

Modern Christianity reads like an IRS 1040 form: It’s true, all the data is there, but it doesn’t take your breath away.

Illustrations:

1. British theologian Alister McGrath warns: “To reduce God’s revelation to principles or concepts is to suppress the elements of mystery, holiness and wonder… Principles may enlighten and inform; but they do not force us to our knees in reverence and awe, as with Moses at the burning bush, or the disciples in the presence of the risen Christ.”

2. G. K. Chesterton: (born 1956) is an author, speaker, activist, public theologian “I had always believed that the world involved magic; now I thought that perhaps it involved a Magician… I had always felt life first as a story; and if there is a story there is a Storyteller.”

3. Brian McLaren: “One of the church’s crises, as we enter the new Millennium, is that Christianity has presented itself as a system of belief instead of a story.”

4. About halfway through their journey, “The Lord of the Rings” after enduring many hardships and facing many more, Frodo’s faithful friend Sam Gamgee asks the big question: “I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into, Mr. Frodo?”

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians to answer that question—to help them see the big picture, and understand the larger story they found themselves in.

Not surprisingly, it sheds light on our situation as well.

Main Teaching:

The letter opens with Paul’s explanation of what has

happened to them. Read Ephesians 1:1-23

What has happened to us? Three things:

First, we have been chosen. Verses 4-5

“Long ago, (once upon a time), even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” (NLT)

Notice: our “chosen-ness” doesn’t mean we’re special in some way, or that others have not been chosen.

This was the mistake of the people of Israel, right up until Jesus’ time.

Rather, this is Paul’s way of emphasizing God’s initiative.

We didn’t choose him; he chose us.

We weren’t even looking for him; he came looking for us.

Second, we have been Forgiven. Verses 6-8

“So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

Paul is answering the first objection that rises within us:

“Hey wait a minute.

You say I’m chosen to be holy and blameless in God’s eyes?

Man, have you got the wrong person!

I could never be that.

There must be some mistake.”

No mistake.

God has already taken care of your sin problem.

You are forgiven because of Christ.

Paul describes God’s grace as being “poured out on us;” “lavished on us;” he has “showered us with his kindness…”

What a great image!

We’ve been bathed in liquid love.

Like that river of chocolate in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Wouldn’t you love to immerse yourself in that?

This kindness is not the result of anything that we have done or thought of.

It’s just grace.

So stop thinking you have to do something to deserve it. You don’t.

And you can’t.

Relax!

Third, we have been commissioned. Verses 9-10

“God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.”

God has called us to be a part of his plan.

He has trusted us with classified information.

John 15:15-16 “I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you, and appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.”

We have a role to play in this cosmic drama, a task to fulfill in God’s great enterprise.

And what is “this tale we have fallen into?”

We’re given a hint in verse 10.

It has something to do with Unity; Oneness.

God’s ultimate plan is to bring everything together in Christ.

So, tell me again how we got here?

We believed. V. 13.

“And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”

You’ve been living in a Matrix of Lies all your life.

But one day you heard the truth, and you believed it, and that’s all it takes to start the Transformation.

And how can we be sure this is the Truth?

Because we have a deposit, a Down Payment, a Guarantee: The indwelling Holy Spirit.

Transition:

That much describes the very beginnings of New Life in Christ.

Many of you have come that far.

Others of you are right there, ready to make the leap of Faith.

But what do you do now?

You feel like Neo coming out of his cocoon in The Matrix:

Everything is blurry and fuzzy.

You know something has happened, but you’re not sure what.

You don’t want to go back to sleep in the Matrix, but you don’t want to stay where you are either.

The Solution: Paul’s Prayer, verses 15-23.

He prays for these new initiates in the Faith and he asks God to give them two things:

First,

Spiritual Wisdom

Verse 17 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

Notice: this is not secret knowledge of some special formula or incantation; not knowledge of doctrine or theology; not even knowledge of scripture.

Rather, it is knowledge of a person: Jesus Christ.

And there is so much to learn.

He is the most beautiful, magnetic, perfect, attractive, loving, wise, just, and powerful person you will ever meet.

Get to know him!

Second,

that the Eyes of your Heart will be opened.

Verse 18: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,”

We’re not accustomed to seeing with our hearts.

We’re accustomed to seeing with our eyes.

- But your eyes can only see data.

Your heart can see Truth.

Your eyes take in information for your brain to process.

Your heart takes in wisdom that feeds your soul.

Paul wants us to “see” three things with the eyes of our heart:

1. The Hope to which he has called you.

You can’t see hope with your eyes.

2. The richness and splendor of the Community we’re a part of – The Church.

3. The Power that is available for us who believe.

Vs. 19-23: “This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.”

Conclusion

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Todo.

This is the great, epic story we’ve been caught up in.

And we have a crucial role to play.

We’ve all got a purpose.

As you think about The Bigger Story this coming week, take some time to consider what smaller stories have you been living in that you need to leave behind?

Are you…

The Victim: “Why does everything go wrong for me?”

The Survivor: “Just keep your head down and keep moving.”

The Romantic: “My true love must live in Seattle.”

The Sports Junkie: “My games, my kid’s games, or my heroes will give my life some meaning.”

The Religious Person: “I’ll tame life by taming God.

I’ll follow all the rules and formulas that will force God to protect me from suffering.”

Pray that God would open your eyes to HIS story and to the part you’ve got to play in it.

Let’s pray together.

Salvation:

The Word of God says in: John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:13 NKJV

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you’d would like to receive Jesus today, please pray this prayer with all of us:

Lord I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died On the cross for my sins and His resurrection from the dead gives me eternal life. I ask forgiveness of my sins, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Benediction

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,” — Ephesians 1:18—

Have a Great Week! Goodbye!