♫ 2025-08-31 St. Paul's Presbyterian Church

Please Stand for the Word of God

Welcome -

Facing the people, the leader greets them in the Lord's name. The Greeting should be explicitly Christian, declaring that the Lord is present and empowers our worship.

Scripture Reading

• Hebrews 10:24-25 – “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works… not neglecting to meet together…”

• Romans 15:7 – “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We gather in Your presence with grateful hearts and open spirits. Thank You for the gift of this day and the privilege of worshiping together. We lay aside the distractions of the week and fix our eyes on You— our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Let Your Spirit move freely among us.Speak to us through Your Word, stir us through song, and unite us in prayer. May every heart be softened, every burden lifted, and every soul drawn closer to You. We dedicate this service to Your glory.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Chorus I just want to praise You

Chorus I love You Lord

Chorus Father God , I give all thanks and praise

Exhortation

 Dear friends, the scriptures urge us to acknowledge our wickedness before almighty God our heavenly Father and to confess our many sins to Him, that they may be forgiven through His infinite goodness and mercy in Jesus Christ our Lord. We should always humbly admit our sins before God, but especially when we meet together to give thanks for the great benefits we have received from Him, to praise and worship Him, to hear His holy word and to ask what is necessary for our bodies and souls. Therefore let us come before the throne of our gracious God and say together :

General Confession said together.  

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have strayed from Your ways like lost sheep, we have left undone what we ought to have done, and we have done what we ought not to have done. We have followed our own ways and our own desires and we have neglected and broken Your holy laws. Have mercy on us Lord. Restore those who repent and confess their sins according to Your promises declare in Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant, merciful Father, for His sake, that hereafter we may live a righteous and obedient life,  to the glory of Your Holy Name. Amen. 

Assurance of forgiveness said by the minister standing.

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, does not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.  He has given authority and commandment to His ministers to declare to His people that He pardons and forgives the sins of all who truly repent and believe His holy gospel.  Therefore, let us ask Him to grant us true repentance and His Holy Spirit, that we may please Him now, and that the rest of our life may be pure and holy so that at the last we may come to His eternal joy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, In earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our

trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, For ever and ever.  Amen. 

Elizabeth

will now read the Old Testament reading to us from the NIV pew bible.

She begins with “Hear the Word of God as it is written in

Psalm Psalm 112

First Reading Isaiah 28:23-29

She ends with “This is the word of God”.

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”

Evelyn

will now read the New Testament reading to us from the NIV pew bible.

She begins with “Hear the Word of God as it is written in

Second Reading Hebrews 13:1-8

Gospel Luke 14:1-14

She ends with “This is the word of God”.

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”.

Hymn Be Thou my vision

Sermon

Prayer

Gracious Father,

We thank You for the richness of Your Word, and today we open our hearts to the truths found in Ephesians. As we reflect on Your eternal purposes, Your grace, and the unity of the body of Christ, may Your Spirit illuminate our minds and soften our hearts. Grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know You more deeply, understand the hope to which You have called us, and grasp the immeasurable greatness of Your power at work within us.

Let Your Word not merely inform us, but transform us. Shape our identity in Christ, strengthen our love for one another, and stir us to walk worthy of the calling we have received.

Speak through Your servant today, Lord. Let every word be rooted in truth and delivered in love. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our cornerstone and head of the Church.

Amen.

WORDS OF LIFE SERIES 2

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS      

by Francis W. Dixon

Sermon 1 SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST

(Scripture Portion: Ephesians 1:1–14 “1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” )

The apostle Paul spent three years in Ephesus (Acts 19;  and 20: 17-38), and as a result of his ministry a church was established in that city.   Ten years later, from his prison in Rome, Paul wrote this Letter and sent it by Tychicus to the Christians there.  Ephesians is a thrilling book because it tells us how we (or anyone) can become a Christian and how God wants us to live the Christian life.  Sit - walk - stand

Chapters 1 Passive

2-3 tell us of our Wealth in Christ;  and chapters

4 – 6 tell us of our Walk in Christ.

The Key Verse to the first three chapters is 1: 3, which introduces the theme of this first sermon.  In the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has made over to the believer His whole estate of spiritual wealth. Without Christ, and apart from Him, we have nothing, we are nothing and we can do nothing (John  15: 5);  but, as believers, God says to us – Luke l5: 3l.  How rich we are – yet how few of us realise our true wealth and “possess our inheritance” (Obadiah 17)!   God has made His Son the source of all spiritual blessing, and the moment we receive Him as Saviour and Lord all the blessings which are in Him become ours.  What are these blessings which are ours in Christ and which we need to appropriate and enjoy?  Verses 4 -14 mention seven.

1. We have been CHOSEN in Christ before the Creation of the World (verse 4). Passive

This is the great truth of Election.  How wonderful that God should select us to be His very own!  Notice when He chose us and why He chose us – compareJohn 15:16 “16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” and 1 Peter 1:15–16 “15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” .  What a marvel of sovereign grace this is!   Our salvation was certainly no after-thought in the mind of God;  the whole plan was conceived in eternity past.  Believer, do you ever wonder whether after all you will be saved?  Read and rest upon verse 4, cast away your doubts forever – and look up John 6:37–39 “37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” .

CHOSEN

2. We have been PREDESTINED unto the Adoption of Children (verses 4/5). Passive

This word  “predestine” means “to mark out beforehand”.  In eternity God not only chose us but He planned what He would do with us.   Election looks backward and tells us we were chosen (verse 4);  predestination looks forward and tells us why we were chosen (verse 5).   God’s purpose in choosing us is that we should be brought into His family and given the full status and privileges of sonship.  Think of it – we who were lost and enemies have been chosen to be sons, members of the Royal Family of Heaven! – look up 1 John 3: 1-3, and compare Romans 8: l8, l9 and 23.

CHOSEN - PREDESTINED

3. We have been ACCEPTED in the Beloved (verse 6). Passive

This means that whereas God could never accept us in our sinful, unregenerate condition, yet once we trust Christ as our Saviour He does accept us in Him – compare Isaiah 64:6 “6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”  

with Ephesians 1:6 “6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” .   This should banish all my doubts.  If I look at my sinful self I doubt at once, but if I fix my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews  l2: 2), in whom I am accepted,  my doubts vanish, because God has accepted the perfect life and the finished work of His Son, and it is in Him that I find my acceptance.

CHOSEN - PREDESTINED - ACCEPTED

4. We have been REDEEMED and all our sins have been forgiven (verse 7). Passive

To redeem is to buy back, to release by ransom – look up 1 Peter 1:18–19 “18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” .   We were “sold as a slave to sin” (Romans 7: 14), and we have been “bought at a price”  (1 Corinthians 6: 20);  and not only this, we have been forgiven   -  look up Isaiah 44: 22-23;  Psalm l03: 12 and Luke 7: 47.   God has not only made us His own, but He has made us fit to live with Him for ever.  How has He done this?  -  “by His blood”;  that is, by the sacrifice and atoning work of the Lord Jesus  -  look up Matthew 20:28 “28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”” , and compare 2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” with Hebrews 9:12 “12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” ;  1 Peter 1:18 “18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,”   and 2: 24  and Revelation 1:5–6 “5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” .

CHOSEN - PREDESTINED - ACCEPTED - REDEEMED

5. We have been INITIATED into the Divine Mystery (verses 8 to 10). Passive

This word “mystery” refers to truth which was once undisclosed but which God has now revealed.  The particular “disclosure” referred to in verse 10 is that everything is moving towards the glorious consummation of all things, when Philippians 2:10–11 “10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” will be a reality.  Where has God made known unto us the mystery of His will (verse 9)?  In His Word, which is “the word of the prophets made more certain” (2 Peter 1: 19).   There we have God’s glorious plan for the future, until time is no more and the saved are with Him for all eternity.

CHOSEN - PREDESTINED - ACCEPTED - REDEEMED - INITIATED

6. We have obtained an INHERITANCE (verse 11). Passive

In Christ we have everything we need for time and for eternity (verse 11)  -  look up 1 Peter 1:4 “4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,” , and compare Romans 8:17 “17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” and 32;  1 Corinthians 3: 21-23;  2 Timothy 2: 12 and Revelation 5: 10.   Inheritance speaks of riches, wealth, possessions  -  and how rich we are in Him!   Verse 14 tells us that we already have the guarantee of our inheritance.   The Holy Spirit within us is the pledge that one day we shall enter into all that which already belongs to us in Christ  -  look up Ephesians 4: 30 and compare John 14: 16-17.

CHOSEN - PREDESTINED - ACCEPTED - REDEEMED - INITIATED - INHERITANCE

7. We have been SEALED with the Holy Spirit of Promise (verses 13 and 14). Passive

This divine sealing denotes ownership and security;  we belong to Him and we shall always belong to Him! – we have been sealed “unto the journey’s end” (Ephesians 4:30 “30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” ).

These spiritual blessings belong to every Christian.  They are only ours if we are “in Christ” (verse 3);  if, having heard the gospel (verse 13), we have believed (verse 13).

WORDS OF LIFE MINISTRIES

PO Box 334, EASTLEIGH, SO53 2UB, UK

www.wordsoflife.co.uk

Notices Mr. John Oberholzer

Birthdays

2 Sep Janet

21 Sep Evelyn

Tithing

Collection

Praise God from whom all blessing flow

Prayer

Hymn Crown Him with many crowns

Doxology - Now unto him.