Ephesians 2

Intro

We are going to continue to go through the book of Ephesians

However one super important thing that I want you to pay attention to

We have a reading plan for you to go through as we Go through this book.

Here is the cool part

If you go through the reading plan, and get a parent to sign it for you.

I will give you some candy

So make sure you grab a sheet

I think it applies so well to some of the things that we talked about at retreat

For those who remember a couple of weeks ago when we started this series

I did a little trivia for y'all about the book of Ephesians

So if you remember the book of Ephesians is believed to be written between 60-62AD

It was written by who? Give away

it was written to the Ephesians who are from the city of where? Give away

Paul was writing the letter because of the persecution that the Ephesians were facing

However one thing that was different about this letter compared to many of Pauls other was that he wasn’t addressing a bunch of problems in the church

But instead he gave encouragement and simply just wanted to motivate

That being said, very often the book of Ephesians is known as the letters of what?? Love giveaway

Before we get things started today I want to start you off with a challenge question

WHAT HAS GOD DONE FOR YOU?

I want you to start off by writing 4 things that God has done for you

I want you to keep that throughout this message

And so as we dive farther into this book I want to give us 4 things that God has done

there are many more things that he has done, but these are few things really big things that he has done for all of us

1. God has Saved us by grace

Ephesians 2:4–7 “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.”

One of the most vital and core beliefs that believe about Jesus is that

when he died for us he did it out of grace

It wasn’t because of something that we did.

it wasn’t because of how Holy we were

in fact fundamentally grace means unmerited favor

which means not only did we not do anything to get it\

But we also don’t deserve it.

Anybody ever do something nice for you before when you didn’t deserve it?

What I love is that is as the scripture goes on Paul goes even farther to say this:

Ephesians 2:8–9 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Does anyone know who those 2 dudes are?

Those are Richard and Maurice McDonald they were 2 brothers who started a little burger stand can anyone guess what it was called?

Yes McDonalds was founded by both of these guys in San Bernidino California in 1940?

When they first Began McDonalds stood out because of their crazy fast service and Simplified menu

It was all about the burgers and the Fries

Now here is where it gets interesting?

In the 1950’s a guy named Ray Kroc began to partner with the McDonald brothers to help them grow their company.

As time went on Ray began to completely change everything from where the McDonald brothers originally started.

Ray built more locations

Changed the look

The menu

Essentially cut corners to make things faster

And Cheaper

Leading the company to being as huge and big as it is today

But here is the thing

in 1961 Ray bought McDonalds from both of the brothers

He Verbally made a deal that both brothers would get royalties from McDonalds

But because nothing was in writing guess what never happened.

Throughout Ray’s entire career of owning McDonalds he always called himself the FOUNDER of McDonald’s

Even publicly for many he was known as the FOUNDER

Why do I share all of this

Because even though Richard and Maurice started everything

Ray Kroc is who wanted and took all the credit

Richard and Maurice came up with the idea got all the staff for the first one

But all the credit goes to Ray

So my question for us is how often do we do that in our relationship with Jesus.

He is the founder of our lives he is the creator

And he is the one that has saved us by grace, but how often

Do we boast because we think we do good things for God

Just like Ray

I am going to do this with the business

expand it this way

Make it grow like this

And how many of do that with God

“God look at the stuff I did for you”

“God look at how Holy I am”

“God look I Told all my non Christian friends that cussing is bad”

And we wear this holiness like its a merit badge

And the truth this is when people look at us

all the credit goes to who??

Oursleves.

Or on the flip side of the coin. you do all these things for God

Because you think that if you don’t he’s gonna throw you away

God is not interested in the thing that we “do” for him our heart doesn’t reflect it

Being saved by grace means that our work are not mandatory for salvation, but the condition of our heart is

The second thing that God has done for us

2. God has planned out our future

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

When I was in high school the first job that I ever had was working at Meijer

How many of y’alls parents shop at Meijer?

I remember they would schedule us on paper. look at the paper to find out when you work

Well I remember one day during the summer I had a day off and I had a friend come over to spend the night

I purposefully did it becasue I wanted to sleep in the next day

I got a call from my boss

I share all of this because in our lives there is a plan lives.

And we don’t always see it, and we don’t always know about it, but it is what God wants to do in our lives

And I believe there are times when the Devil tries to call us

where even know we know and believe God’s plan he wants to try and convince us other wise

Times where the Devil wants us to question

Am I really saved

Does God really have a plan for me

Does God really see when I read my bible

Does He really hear my prayers

The Devil can’t stop God’s plan, but he can stop you

Pastor Nate shared something very similar at retreat

But the truth is that God’s plan for you life can’t be stopped

And so if the Devil can’t effect God, he can effect You

I say all of that because I don’t want you to forget

Live for God’s plan

Don’t let the Devil push you away from what God has for you

3. God has Unified us with Christ

Ephesians 2:11–13 “Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.”

Paul continues on with this idea of being people of God

And he explains that we all have become unified under Christ

In the old testement we see that God made the jews his chosen people

And so following God meant follow a very specific way of life

Closer to the time of Christ there was a significant gap between those who were jew and those who were not Jews (Gentiles)

In many ways Jews saw themself as above Gentiles

But what happens when Jesus comes along

Jesus dies on the cross and breaks down every cultural barrier that could have ever existed

He says regardless of who you are

as long as you believe in him you are saved

And so Paul reiterates and explains that this gap has existed for so long, but no longer

Why is this so important

Under Christ there is a new covenant

If I say there is new covenant does that make sense to you when I say it

To Help you guys understand this even better

Have you guys ever been to a sporting event before and you saw the suite level seating?

Yeah you can’t go in there unless you have the ticket that says you are allowed to right

Some of them you can’t even get in unless you apart of the company that owns the suite

In many ways thats how things used to be before the covenant that God created.

With the new covenant Jesus made it so you didn’t have to pay a bunch of money

Or be apart of a certain group to get the best seat in the park

You just need to believe in him

I want to keep on this thought for a moment though because being unified doesn’t just mean that we get to be apart of this cool club

but it means get along together in peace and loving each other

Ephesians 2:14–16 “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”

Under the new covenant there is no more walls or barriers that we can put up against each other

We are called to walk in peace

4. God has invited us into his Holy Temple

Ephesians 2:19–22 “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.”

Have you guys ever had a friend before that is so close they can just walk into your house?

Like it doesn’t matter what’s going on. like they are always over

I friend like that when I was in college

He came over whenever

Would spend the night whenever

I share this story because in many ways it is similar to what Paul is referring to

He talks about how we are members of God’s family

But then he closes out this chapter saying that:

We are “becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” and that we are “being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.”

So I say this about Jonah because he didn’t literally live at my house

But he was so close to us that he practically did live there

He felt like he was at home when he was there

Here is what I want you to hear this morning

Having the Holy Spirit active in our lives means that God feels at home in our hearts

In the same way that we can go over to a friends house and just feel welcome and at home

It is the same thing with the Holy Spirit in our heart

So my question to you this morning

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT ENTERS YOUR HEART?

Does he feel welcome?

Does he feel at home?

Are you hospitable to him?

Here is an even deeper thought

Are there certain rooms you don’t let him go into?

I say all of this to you this morning not to discourage you, but rather to encourge you

That same power that raised Jesus can live in you

Not only that but you and I have been saved by grace that we didn’t deserve

So I want to end today

What is one way you can open your heart to the Holy Spirit?