Blueprints of the Church: Peace, Love, and Grace

Notes:

Introduction:

Strange…

Here’s why?

Wrapping up our sermon series called Blueprints of the Church:

Summary of the WHOLE LETTER!

Resurrection Results:

Because we serve a risen king, we benefit!

Peace

Love

Grace

PEACE

Peace from God

Ephesians 2:14–15 “14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,”

Throw back to Good Friday

Peace between us and Jesus

Peace between us those divided

Resurrection RESULT!

Peace FOR Others

Ephesians 4:3 “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Sense of crisis to it:

Elrond the Great impressing upon the 9 in the Fellowship of the Ring.

“You will unite or you will fall.”

Jesus already won the victory, so we do no practice peace without hope. No matter how fabricated we can be, Jesus has already won.

HOWEVER!

We are commanded to fight for unity.

Make it a source of crisis in your relationships: FIGHT FOR UNITY.

You have this victory in Jesus: Now you must move forward fighting for unity!

“Peace to the Brothers”

Who are these brothers?

All stripes and types

Races and faces

Husbands and wives

Children and parents

Slave and slave owners

How do you fight for peace?

How do you construct structures of isolation?

LOVE

Foundational to the Letter

Blueprints of the Church=Foundation of LOVE!

Love FROM God

“love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Love FROM GOD!

Ephesians 1:4 “4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”

Ephesians 1:15 “15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,”

Ephesians 2:4 “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,”

Ephesians 3:17–19 “17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Do you know God loves you?

Later in the book:

Love for Others:

Ephesians 4:2 “2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Ephesians 4:15–16 “15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Building is built from people, founded on love!

Ephesians 5:1–2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

You are not the author of your faith!

Comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Don’t try so hard

Grace

Grace: 12 verses.

Grace from God

Ephesians 1:2: “Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”

Ephesians 2:5: by grace you have been saved—

Ephesians 2:8 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Grace for Others

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Invited to an Easter service

How thoughtful!

Gave the invitation back and said give it to someone else.

Legacy:

Jesus didn’t have a tombstone: His tomb stone rolled away!

Jesus offers you Peace!

John 20:19: “Peace be with you.”

First thing offered!

Jesus offers his love

Jesus offers his grace.

Resurrection Life=Resurrection Results!

Receive and rest his peace, love, and grace.

Go out with his peace, love, and grace!

Legacy Question:

What do you want to be remembered for?

A person who received Peace, Love, and Grace.

A person who gives peace, love, and grace.

Being Funny:

“I was hoping for a pyramid”

“I told you I was sick”

“Hey! Thanks for stopping by!”

“Loving father, occasional husband.”

“Died from not forwarding that text to 10 people.”

For the Christian, it’s not enough to believe in the resurrection.

You are a