Untitled Sermon

Introduction

How many of you guys in here are ADHD or feel like you are self diagnosed ADHD?? There is no shame in it but I am the same way! Even in my prayer time and maybe even in your own do you start praying and then part of the way through praying you start thinking about how hungry you are, tired you are, what basketball game is coming on that night, how many dubs you’re going to catch in warzone…that’s kind of what happens here in the third chapter of Ephesians with Paul. It’s like he was about to start up into another prayer for the church but he got distracted and went into another praise rant. Paul explains that God appointed him to proclaim God’s amazing plan to reconcile the Jews and the Gentiles together by uniting them together in Christ. And how does that encourage us today?

A Christ-Centered Missionary:

Follows the Will of Christ

Paul starts out by saying that he is a prisoner…which we have brought up before, but notice how he says it. He doesn’t say that he is a prisoner of Ceasar but he says that he is a prisoner OF CHRIST. He doesn’t attribute his imprisonment to the government above him because he knew he was doing what the Holy Spirit was telling him to do. Paul wasn’t walking around looking for trouble, but He knew that it was going to come as Christ suffered here so would we. (John 15:20)

Paul’s focus wasn’t on being happy, healthy, and a good retirement plan but it was the mission of the King. Paul was Christ’s prisoner. Are you? Do you belong to Christ? Do you tell Jesus, “Send me anywhere, only go with me! Use me God!”

Paul sits in prison but he is easing the readers mind not to worry or be discouraged because he knows that his suffering “brings the second coming of Christ, which will lead to their glorification.” Suffering will give way to glory and because of that believers endure with hope. Keep this in mind “the best is yet to come.” The King in all His splendor will arrive soon and the “momentary light affliction” will give way to the “eternal weight of glory.”

Understands the Message of Christ

Illustration: salesman that doesn’t know his product....not effective. As believers we have to know what the message to our mission is. We are called to go but we cannot go out with the wrong message. Many false religions have missionaries but what makes a Christian missionary different is the message of a perfect, crucified, risen, reigning, and returning King. It is SO important that we understand the real gospel and help others understand it properly. I feel like so many people in America have heard some type of “gospel” or seen some type of false faith in another person that makes them have a distorted view of Christ and what he did for them whether that’s a prosperity gospel that focuses on health, wealth, and using Jesus’ name for person and selfish gain for money or health. Or a mormon faith that doesn’t recognize Jesus as part of the Trinity. Or Jehovah’s witness’s or Muslims that believe that Jesus was just another great prophet but not savior.

Paul’s aim was to explain God’s intention to create a “household” for Himself of both Jews and Gentiles, through Christ. Paul is explaining this “mystery” from Scripture that was not fully known in the Old Testament but now this mystery of Christ for all the nations is now laid out and in the open for His people to explain and proclaim to others the good news. EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST HAVE A FIRM GRASP ON THE GOSPEL. Everyone on some level is a theologian because as you read your Bible and learn more about who God is, who you are, and how you can repent and change.

Our main goal is to proclaim the centrality of Christ. Don’t follow rabbit trails about stuff that really doesn’t matter. Keep Christ as the main thing and never get tired of the Gospel of Christ! Be thankful to God that someone shared the gospel with you and explained it to you, and walked alongside of you to see you understand and declare Christ as King! PRAISE GOD FOR THAT MERCY!

Is Overwhelmed by the Grace of Christ

Are you overwhelmed by God’s Grace? Here is how you can gauge that...

Do you notice your own sin before you notice others?

Are you more worried about your spiritual growth before you critique somebody else’s?

Do you have a genuine care for others spiritual position in Christ or is it superficial?

Are you humbled by the fact that God had grace on you or do you carry a prideful spirit still?

God’s grace should humble us. Paul experienced God’s grace and he was overwhelmed by that grace. A blasphemer and killer of Christians became one himself and He knew what God had saved him from. Every Christian must have a real grasp on the seriousness of his or hers own sin and recognize the immense grace God had shown to you when you didn’t deserve it. When you view yourself as Paul did in 1 Corinthians 9-10 as the least of the apostles and you view yourself as the least of the saints you will have no problem serving the least of these that we are called to go to in the world. You don’t mind sharing the gospel with every person from every background, every walk of life, every religious affiliation, every criminal, etc. you name it.

God’s grace should empower us to do good works and share the good news of Jesus. Grace not only humbles us as believers but it also empowers us! Check Paul’s example. God called Paul to him on the demascus road and Paul did a complete 180 and became a missionary for Christ that would establish churches, train elders, proclaim the gospel in new cities, be imprisoned for sharing the gospel, and encouraging others through his faith and his words.

Proclaims the Incalculable Riches of Christ

We must be humble enough to understand that the story of the Bible does not revolve around you…it revolves around Christ. When it revolves around us it becomes a religion with it’s own God…you! When we see the world through a me-centered lens we begin to distort the story of the gospel. Our focus is no longer on the creator but the creation, our focus turns from the big G God to a little g god, our attention is taken off of Christ and placed on ourselves. However, when we are humble and we look heavenward, our faith explodes in gratitude and our knowledge of the riches that are in Christ become deeper and the appreciation continues to grow. We have a global church, we have a global God. God wants to see every tribe, every nation, every tongue coming to the knowledge of Christ and placing their faith in Him. We have a huge mission and we have an even bigger God. His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts, His purposes higher than our actions. When we get out of ourselves and get into God we start to understand that all things are possible in Him. That thing you’ve been worrying about all of a sudden doesn’t seem as important, or you know it can be conquered.

ILLUSTRATION: A good TV show. The more you watch it the more you understand and the more that is revealed to you, which leaves you craving more, which causes you to binge watch, then all of a sudden you have your friends and family hooked on watching this amazing tv show with you. Shouldn’t that be how we treat our relationship with God?

Has a High View of the Church of Christ

If you are a Christian you should have a high view of Christ and a high view of the CHURCH. The church all throughout Scripture to reach others for Christ but it also influences the heavenly and spiritual realms! The existence of the church is announcing that the rule of the evil authorities and rulers is coming to an end once and for all! These spiritual beings watch in amazement as they see both Jew and Gentile and people from every walk of life incorporated into this thing called the church as EQUALS.

Just like Blake mentioned last week about the equality and unity and diversity within the universal church and in the church setting we are in right now is united under Christ. Christ is the central character in God’s plan to reconcile people to himself and to defeat the powers of spiritual evil on the cross at Calvary and resurrected from the dead to be seated at the right hand of God the Father. People from every tribe, every tongue and every nation will proclaim Christ as their savior!!!

Draws Near to God Through Christ

Conclusion

How would you describe the gospel?

Do you know what it is well enough to share it with others?

Are you too focused on yourself than Christ?

Is your aim in life to see others come to faith in Christ and to grow in your faith?