More than a Prayer

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SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this series on the Book of Ephesians, Pastor Shawn and Krista highlight Gods desire to bring reconcile the world all together in Christ. This week, we explore Eph. 2:1-10 gaining insite on the depth of salvation. Is more than just affiliation, it’s about transformation.

Altar Instructions: Please come up when I begin the sub point of pt 3 “Faith is God divinely…” and begin to play right away. FYI-If you have any songs with the theme of salvation or repentance that would be great. If not, we will work with whatever you have .

Series | Ephesians

Pre-Message Welcome

Grace Place family! It’s awesome to have you here with us today, whether in person or online.

I’m Shawn, and along with my wife, we serve as the Co-Pastors of this incredible church.

At The Grace Place, our mission is clear: we are Caring People, Caring for People.

We pray that you experience God’s care in our time together and in your life.

Spanish Welcome - 2nd Service ONLY!

A nuestra familia de habla hispana .... Bienvenidos… es-pera-mos - que - usted… y-su-familia.. se-sien-tan bien a-tend-idos también.

To our Spanish speaking family... welcome, we hope you and your family feels cared for as well.

Before we get into the message today….

Pastor Plug: Starting Point

Starting Point, April 12

Register in the CC app

Transition: This week we are in week 3 of our

Series | Ephesians Series

Sub title: All Together

The central theme of this book is ALL TOGETHER… as Paul addresses how God plans to bring the entire world all together in Unity under Christ’s rule.

Today we are going to be looking at Ephesians ch 2: v. 1-10

Eph. 2:1-10 ESV

English Standard Version Chapter 2

(Paul start here with the bad news)

***Feel free to encourage people to listen to the Holy Spirit speak to them personally as the message is preached

LETS PRAY

YOU CAN WALK OFF THE STAGE WHEN YOU SAY AMEN

Transition: the title of our message today is...

Sermon Title | More than a Prayer

Iv’e titled this message… MORE THAN A PRAYER… becuase Salvation is so much more than just a prayer to invite Jesus into your heart its also about surrendering to him as Lord.

Today I want to unpack the meaning behind a true Confession of Faith.

By the way… be sure to check out the resources section of your notes. I added a commentary to help you stud Ephesians:

Book: Its commentary by Keener, Craig S.

Introduction

I want to unpack 4 profound questions… Paul addresses that help us build our theology of Salvation.

The academic term for this theology of salvation is…

Soteriology: It’s the Bible’s explanation of how God rescues people from sin and brings them into new life in Christ.

Paul does a great job doing all of this in these 10 verses.

Lets look at the next statement on the screen…

Here’s whats at stake if we miss understand Gods Saving work:

Whats at Stake:

If salvation doesn’t lead to transformation, then what we’re calling salvation may not be salvation at all.

II want to make sure the people of TGP do not get caught up in this same kind of trap.

I want to make sure the Gospel you preach is more than a prayer -

If this raises questions in you about your own salvation… or you want to make sure the salvation you preach is biblical… today’s MESSAGE is for you.

We’re talking about more than a prayer!

Sermon Title | More than a prayer

Let’s dive right in… the question answered here is this…

Why we need a SAVIOR? v.1-3, Rm 3:10, Rm. 5:12

***Clay you can have the point and upcoming verse on the same slide… it will come fast

We see this in… the opening 3 verses as Paul Reminds this church of their status before Salvation.

We need a savior becuase…

English Standard Version Chapter 2

2 And

Do you see the issue with humanity?

Death has a grip on all of you & you just blindly followed along.

Paul says next.. towards the end of v.3….

English Standard Version Chapter 2

You were what?

Why is Paul emphasizing the SIN NATURE in humanity…

Knowing humans today… I suspect it’s because many of them did NOT believe they were that dead in the first place.

Let me say it like this…

The salvation story is NOT about God making bad people good… but about dead people alive.

So many think the issue is, not being good enough… so we try to solve our problem with sin by good deeds - but dead things can’t produce life.

ILLUSTRATION: Swim or die

Imagine you are thrown into a violent sea and do not know how to swim.

No matter what you do to survive… its not enough… you will drown

This is the reality of Sin and Humanity -

So… Why do we need a savior…. IN YOUR NOTES…

Answer: Because we were born with a SIN-NATURE

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: What spiritual blindness/bondage would you be stuck in if God had not provided a savior?

Consider the way’s you have missed his standard… if you are struggling with this… skim over Matt. 5-7… to help you out.

Maybe Christ is not your savior.. how does sin & death have a grip on you?

Transition: the title of our message today is...

Sermon Title | More than a prayer

Paul answers the question, Why do we need a savior? We see its because we need someone to deliver us from our SIN NATURE.

The 2nd question I want to answer today… is this…

Who gave us a SAVIOR. v.4-5, Rm 5:8, Rm. 6:23, Eph. 1:14

***Clay you can have the point and upcoming verse on the same slide… it will come fast

We see the answer to this clearly in… v. 4-6 Paul transitions from bad news to good news by saying….

But God (But Who? GOD) being rich in mercy … becuase of his great love… he made us alive in Christ

Even though we were lost in sin… GOD made a way out.. becuase he is Merciful, he did it through Christ!

God gave us mercy…

What is mercy?

You may have heard it described like this…

Mercy is when we DON’T get what we DO deserve. (Repeat)

What do we deserve for sinning against God? We our destiny in v.3 - as Paul calls us Children of Wrath… we get Gods Wrath.. in the end if it was NOT FOR MERCY.

Why wrath…?

Rom 6:23 tells us

We must pay for our sin… its a debt we owe God…Why?

Because God is holy and just, sin cannot go unpunished—the cost of sin is death and eternal separation from Him.

Mercy says… STOP - I don’t want them to suffer my wrath… they can not handel it… I will give my son instead… he will take on the full payment of their sin… he will suffer for things he never will do…

Suffering in eternity is hard to imagine…. but consider a future without Gods presences - love, grace, mercy, help, his cosmic order, and then call that place called Hell… constant conviction and torment with no relief.

God is RICH… in Mercy is… He never runs out… (We should Thank him for this!

Why… is he rich in MERCY towards us? What is his motivation to be merciful?

Eph gives us two reasons… thats echoed through scripture

First reason… we see in v. 4… scripture says…

becuase of his GREAT (What?) LOVE for us…. even when we we’re lost in our sin.

He LOVES you to much to leave you as you are… He want’s to come back Home in Christ - Where you belong.

He is rich in mercy… 1st becuase of his Great love…2nd…

For His Gory.

We saw this in Eph. 1:14 and right here in Ch 2… v7…

Becuase He IS GLORYOUS.

He is seating you up in High Places…so that in the coming ages… which we are in right now… People will HEAR, SEE and KNOW God is Glorious! (Eph. 1:14; 2:7).

Friends…he doesn’t save us for GLORY alone.. or Love alone.. but both LOVE & GLORY.

In Your notes… Who gave us a savior? the answer…

Answer: GOD gave us a savior.

Our Savior’s name is JESUS!

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: Describe what it was like you realized God gave you mercy, not becuase you deserved it, but becuase of his love?

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Transition: the title of our message today is...

Sermon Title | More than a prayer

If we are sinners.… in need of saving…

and If God provided a savior… becuase of his Love and Glory…

This leads us to our next question… we then…

How are we SAVED. v.5-8, Rm. 6:23, Joel 2:32, Rom 10:9, Jn 3:16, Acts 2:21

***Clay you can have the point and upcoming verse on the same slide… it will come fast

You hear us quote Eph 2:8 nearly every time we give an appeal for salvation…

We realize from point one… that no matter how hard we try… the flesh is weak…. we are stuck in sin and apart from Christ we are doomed for the wrath of God unless we receive the Mercy of God in Christ.

So Paul helps us to understand… HOW we are saved… Lets look at the 1st requirement…

English Standard Version Chapter 2

For by

What is grace?

Look on the screen with me…

Grace is when you GET what you don’t deserve (Forgiveness and right standing with God )

***Clay when clicking to add this quote… please keep Eph. 2:8 from the previous slide on here as well and drop, Point 1

We don’t deserve forgiveness we deserve death and seperation… but instead get the FREE gift of grace instead…

Its free for us…

But it cost Cost the son…

He took on the wrath of God for us… overcame death hell and the grace… and shared his victory… with us

Lets look at the 2nd requirement for salvation…

English Standard Version Chapter 2

For by grace you have been

***Clay as you put up these definitions on the screen please keep the last version of Eph 2:8 with “saved through FAITH “in red font.

So… it takes Gods GRACE,.. and FAITH.

What is faith?

Lets look a little deeper into this word faith.. Check it out on the screen with me..

Faith:

This word faith is much more than is seems… lets look at the origin of its meaning

Greek word: Pistis = Belief

This describes you coming into agreement and choosing to Believe.

This is your part of salvation - but God does not leave you completely on your own to figure this all out.

Let me explain.., this greek word Pistis where we get our word FAITH…s born from the root word…

Root word: Peitho = describing… Divine persuasion

In other words… it requires divine persuasion for you to begin to see your sin and and realize that what God says is true and it produces CONVICTION in you…

This is what the Word does… it begins to persuade - Jesus - the living word… and scripture the written word… when it is shared… begins to help us SEE our need for saving…

This is why we always say… we need the Holy Spirit to Transform our Heart… - this is always why we invite him to do this as we pray before nearly every message that is PREACHED.

So the reality is… Salvation requires both

Grace, Gods part..

and…

Faith (Also Gods part but in cooperation with you… as you through coming into agreement with him.

Here is the full implications of salvation through FAITH.

Le me say it like this… IN YOUR NOTES

Clay please include all three of these as one statement… they are just broken up into three chucks here becuase I am going about the separately.

Faith is God divinely PERSUADING you,

You we’re not smart enough to come up with this on your own… God began to persuade you: Sin is real, its killing me, I need a savior. none of this was your idea… it was all His convincing…

and… IN YOUR NOTES

belief is you coming into AGREEMENT with what he has said

Meaning… God I hear what you said… and I agree… I believe this is true…

Now for clarity… you are NOT done with your part… becuase faith is not just about being persuaded.. becuase it can’t stop here.. the Demons also believe and they tremble…

I’m going to take it one step further…

and IN YOUR NOTES>..

and SUBMITTING your life to him.

I submit to Him as my Lord - with his help I am going to live according to the ways of JESUS.

I like to say it like this… I PLEDGE my life to him

****Many are persuaded, and many believe, but all do not bow

This is what it means to be saved by GRACE through faith

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: How has your submission invited you to respond to a situation this week? I wanted to… but instead I…

If you have 2 min… tell a story about submittion…

I had a situation arise this last week… my pride welled up… I wanted to do things my way… but I felt the pull of the Holy Spirit say …. SLOW DOWN… be QUICK to listen… slow to anger….

So I submitted… I could feel my dead flesh kicking and squirming…

But the power of God in me was greater…

Close

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What a God we serve!

By Grace we are saved through faith…NO ONE CAN Boast…

Paul closes by saying..

v. 10 We are HIS workmanship created for GOOD WORKS… we used to produce works of DEATH becuase of Sin… Now we will produce GOOD works of Grace!

Friends any person who receives genuine salvation WILL produce GOOD WORKS… they can’t help it!

Their life bends to the desires of God and when it does not… they are depending on the grace of God to cover their sin… and rather than making excuses or justifying their sin… they are actively seeking God to free them and deliver them from the sin that entangles them…. that they would become more like him!

Friends…

A gospel that doesn’t change you is not the gospel that saves you.

So today… if you do NOT know Jesus as your Lord and Savior today is your day…

Salvation Altar Call

I believe Jesus is here today, and He wants to save you. Salvation simply means to deliver or to free. It’s not just about delivering you…

It’s about believing

Believing in Jesus means trusting what He say’s—about sin, and eternal punishment, thats the bad news.

The good news is this… that His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins, making us right with God.

Ephesians 2:8 reminds us: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Salvation requires two things:

1. God’s Grace—His undeserved gift of forgiveness and life because of His love for you.

2. Faith—placing your trust in Him for salvation.

If you’ve never asked Jesus to save you, today is your day. If you’d like ask him… , raise your hand.

I want to invite you to Repeat a prayer after me

· There is nothing magical in this prayer.. it simply is a way of declaring to Jesus what has taken place in your heart.

Here is how I would like to end the service for everyone else….

Call to Action Altar Call

We’re going to end the service with A question as we do nearly every week.

ALL ACROSS THE ROOM – HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT spoken to you in anyway today?

Resources

Book:The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament (Second Addition) by Keener, Craig S.

Going Deeper

What stuck out to you the in this passage? v. 1-10

What spiritual blindness/bondage would you be stuck in if God had not provided a savior? v. 1-3, Matt. 5-7

Describe what it was like you realized God gave you mercy, not becuase you deserved it, but becuase of his love? Rom 5:8

How has your submission invited you to respond to a situation this week? I wanted to… but instead I…

What might the Holy Spirit be saying to you in light of this teaching?

How might the Holy Spirit want to transform you in light of this teaching?

What actions might the Holy Spirit want to take in light of this teaching?

Tongues & Interpretation

1. To STRENGTHEN the Church (1 Cor14:5)

For prophecy is greater than SPEAKING in TONGUES, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be STRENGTHENED.

Believers, God has operated through this gift today to strengthen you today. Let your faith be strengthened and know that God is in control and using supernatural measures to speak to us.

2. Is a SIGN for unbelievers. (1Cor. 14: 21a, 22)

1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (ESV)

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

22 -  So you see that speaking in tongues is a SIGN, not for believers, but for UNBELIEVERS.

The Bible explains to us God has chosen to use this gift to be a sign for you. A sign for what? It is a sign of his realness for those of you who have been doubting or questioning the existence of God. He wants you to know he is REAL and he wants to bring you spiritual life and health. If you're in here today and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior... he wants you to know he has gone to great lengths to show you his love today. (Great opportunity for a salvation altar call if it fits).