God’s Greatness and Authority

Intro:

Thanksgiving week—most will sit down to a Thanksgiving meal

consisting of Turkey, Ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie—list goes on

Some of you may have a particular Thanksgiving that stands out from the rest.

I have one

Broken feet both of them at the same time—Thanksgiving looked different that year.

Instead of cooking the turkey, I was coaching someone else to roast the turkey.

But what really stood out was this body of believers.

The people in this church came alongside us with meals, helping with various ministries, giving rides, etc.

Trans.

Much like the group of believers Paul wrote to in Ephesus.

He addresses this group in Ephesians chapter 1 we are going to begin with vs 15

Ephesians 1:15–22 NLT

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

We see here that Paul is blessed by this congregation and informs them that he never stops praying for them.

He doesn’t stop with simply informing them, but he goes on to tell them what he is praying for and over this group of believers.

First Paul is praying that they be

1.Enlightened (vs 17,18)

—to gain knowledge and understanding.

To know God

To Gain Understanding

Ill. Homeschool items/days

HOW? Through reading His word/memorizing

Church attendance—pastors, teachers, other leaders; and we learn from and are encouraged by one another

John 1:1 NLT

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psalm 119:105 NLT

105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

Proverbs 3:13 ESV

13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

The goal of the Spirit’s activity in a believer’s life is that they know Christ better /more; and

to receive more wisdom, insight, and understanding concerning God’s present and future purposes for them

Trans.

Paul prays first that we would know what Christ has done for us; then he prays that we might live up to these wonderful blessings by putting them to work in our daily lives—that we would be

2. Empowered (vs 19-23)

giving someone power/authority to do something—

Then the responsibility to do it once they have been given the power/authority

Ill.Cassie—children’s pastor.

In order for believers to gain spiritual strength and ability,

to have victory over Satan our enemy and say NO to sin,

to be able to tell other people about Jesus’ message effectively we must have God’s power flowing through continually.

This power and strength comes from the Holy Spirit .

It is the same power and Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to God’s right hand—the highest place of honor and authority

God gives this power and authority to those who believe

Without this power, no part of the calling or hope would be possible.

The pronoun switch in the verse from the previous use of ‘you’ to ‘us’ shows Paul including himself and all believers in this awareness and in the hope of the prayer

Conc.

When we read that prayer today, we see again the theme of knowing Christ personally, and the desire for a daily experience of the divine power

Bring it back to verse 15—Ephesians were a blessing to Paul because they were ENLIGHTENED and were growing in knowledge and understanding of God .

They were empowered by the Holy Spirit with the same power that raised Christ from the dead and they fulfilled their responsibility.

God wants you to grow in knowledge understanding of Him by

Reading His Word

Attending church

Building community

God wants you to be empowered by His Holy Spirit with the same power that raised Christ from the dead and to fulfill the responsibility of this empowerment in our every day lives.