A Bigger Story -Week 3: United in Love

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Thank you Lady Pepper for the announcements and the reading of God’s Word.

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My name is Pastor Doc, and I will be sharing the Word of God with you today.

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Sermon Bumper Video

Title of the message this Morning

A Bigger Story

Week 3: United in Love

Big Idea:

In order to move into a bigger story, we need to understand the depth of God’s love for everyone, both ourselves and others as we seek to fulfill God’s calling towards unity and oneness.

Prayer:

“Father, help us to grasp how high, how wide, and how deep is your love for all people, starting with ourselves.

Then let your love flow outward through us toward others.

Expand our vision and our hearts to receive your heart for all people.”

Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-21

Introduction

Review of last two Sessions.

The letter to the Ephesians is written to explain to them the secret plan of God, what Paul calls the mystery.

In other words, he wants them to see the big picture, the larger story.

Last week we saw that God’s great plan is to bring all things together in unity in Christ.

Today, let’s consider the place of love in that process.

A little sociology lesson:

We live our lives in a kind of three-tiered universe of existential reality.

(You might show a diagram of three concentric circles)

Level one (center circle) is My Story, where we all try to write a small, private script, searching for meaning through power, prestige, and possessions.

Level two (second circle) is Our Story, where we find an identity as part of a group, or tribe.

These might include ethnicity, nationalism, religion, or even a favorite sports team.

These loyalties expand our sense of self and raise us above the little, ego-centered stories of level one.

But they are not the whole picture.

Level three (third circle) is The Story, what we’ve been calling The Great Story of God.

It teaches us what life is really all about, the great patterns that are always true, and saves us from the illusions of “we” and the smallness of “me.”

Main Teaching

Read Ephesians 3:1-21

The Mystery of Christ Verses 1-6

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

Paul is writing from prison.

(v. 1) He is in Rome awaiting trial before Nero.

The delay is for Jewish prosecutors to arrive from Jerusalem to press charges against him.

What’s the charge?

He started a riot in Jerusalem.

The story is in Acts 22.

He was making a speech on the steps of the Temple.

Verse 21 records the words that lit the fuse; “The Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

Verse 22 continues, “The crowd listened to him until he said this.

Then they began shouting at the top of their lungs, ‘Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!’”

What’s the big deal?

These people could not accept the idea that God would have anything to do with a Gentile.

They were stuck in a level two story that believed God’s love and God’s plans were reserved for their tribe only.

And everyone else was excluded.

The Pharisees taught that Gentiles were useful only as fuel for the fires of hell.

Or, if they did survive into the age to come, they would exist only to serve as slaves for the Jewish people.

Illustration:

Imagine going into Mecca and announcing publicly that Mohammed had appeared to you and appointed you as a goodwill ambassador to the Jews, because he loves them too.

That gets at the explosiveness of Paul’s remarks in Jerusalem.

You can understand why it sparked a riot, which nearly got Paul killed had not the Roman commander taken him into custody.

So, Paul tells the Ephesians, who were primarily Gentiles, “I’m here in prison for your sake.”

l

It’s all about the Mystery.

“This is the mystery, that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 3:6

Look at the wonderful images in that sentence: heirs together, members together, sharers together.

To put it simply, Paul says the Mystery is Grace. God loves you completely, perfectly, unconditionally.

And Jesus is the proof. He is the picture of God’s extravagant love.

But that’s not being exclusive; it’s inclusive. Why? Because it’s available to anybody!

So, why were the Jews so angry?

Because they thought they had a corner on God.

They were a chosen people, living in a special city, with exclusive access to God, through the Temple and the Law.

In other words, they were living exclusively in a second-level story—Our Story.

But Paul came along and said,

“None of your credentials count any more. Now, everyone gets in because of Jesus. Being born Jewish doesn’t gain you anything.

Keeping the Law doesn’t gain you anything. Worshipping at the Temple doesn’t gain you anything.”

That would be a little hard to take, wouldn’t it?

It would be like joining a very exclusive Country Club, with a million dollar initiation fee, and then being told the next week that the membership committee was dropping all requirements and letting anyone in for free.

As a matter of fact, Jesus told stories that sounded a lot like that.

It reminds me of the old Groucho Marx line – “I wouldn’t join a club that would have me for a member.”

But that’s our dilemma, isn’t it?

We want to be in God’s club, but we don’t want just anyone to be allowed in.

On the other hand, we know that if certain standards are upheld, we’d be disqualified too.

God’s solution: The perfect club, the church. V. 10-12 “God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.”

We already know God’s secret plan, Paul says.

To bring all things together in Christ Jesus.

Now Paul tells us how He’s going to do it – through the Church.

Verse 10 is the key to understanding this entire letter.

So the church serves two purposes in God’s secret plan:

1. We are a demonstration plot for the breaking down of the walls of hatred and suspicion which divide humanity.

2. We are the staging ground for the release of the mighty power of Christ to draw all persons to Himself.

Stop and consider the wonder of the church:

First, God created the universe in all its beauty and splendor.

Then, God created human beings to live in this paradise in a love relationship with Him.

And, he granted them free will, so their love would be real and not forced.

Predictably, we human beings rebelled against God, and broke our love relationship with him.

But, wonder of wonders, God, in Christ, woos the rebels back, pours out unlimited love that the rebels can’t resist. And when the rebels respond to him in love and gratitude, God brings them back into his presence to live together in a relationship of love and forgiveness.

And that’s the church!

Application: How do we get in the club?

First, you have to understand how much God loves you.

This is level one—my story.

v. 8 – “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given to me…” Ephesians 3:8

Do you think you’re the worst sinner who’s ever lived?

Wrong.

That title has already been claimed by Paul.

But you are still a rebel, and it took a miracle of love and forgiveness for God to invite you back.

It takes humility to admit that you have no hope of getting into this club without Jesus.

That may be what’s keeping some folks out.

Illustration: In C.S. Lewis’s classic, The Great Divorce,

there is a scene describing Heaven and Hell as two cities, not that far apart, with regular bus service running back and forth between the two.

And anyone is free to move from one to the other.

One man living in Hell decides to make the trip, so he boards the bus for Heaven.

But as he nears the city he looks out the window and sees his arch-enemy from earth just inside the gates.

He screams in anger, “He’s here? I’m not staying! Take me back to Hell!”

Second, you have to understand how much God loves others.

And not just your tribe; all others.

This is level three—The Story.

True Biblical faith moves from level two Tribalism—where most of the world has existed for most of history—in both directions.

1. First, down to level one—My story; my personal responsibility before God; the story of me becoming

aware of my brokenness and emptiness, and God’s gracious acceptance of me anyway.

2. Then, up to level three—The Story; the realization that God’s love goes way beyond my group, my tribe, the people who look and believe and act exactly like me.

Conclusion

Who do we still look down on as being unworthy of God’s love?

1. People with addictions

2. LBGTQ folks

3. Abortionists

4. Muslims

5. (Fill in the blank)

We need to have our hearts broken with God’s love for those people, too.

Until we do, we’re just like the self-righteous religionists of the First Century who thought they had an exclusive claim on God.

That’s why Paul prays what he does in verses 17-19,

“May your roots go down deep into the marvelous soil of God’s love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (NLT)

When we begin to understand the depth of God’s love toward others, then we will experience the fullness of God’s life and power…

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.

Pastor [e-mail]

Church Office: 909-922-8090

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Communion

I want to take a few moments to give you the opportunity to ask forgiveness of any sin in your life.

Let us pray over the elements (Cross Exposed) in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost

Read first Corinthians 11:23- 26 - (Taking the elements together)

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (take bread)

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (Take Cup)

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

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Benediction

This is God’s plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth. — Ephesians 1:10—

We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” -Madeliene L’Engle (Lang ill)

Have a Great Week! Goodbye!