Grace and Peace to the Saints

Announcements/Meditation

Announcements

Farmers Market Saturday’s 8-11

Prayers for Johnathon and Jenna Herrera and their new baby girl who is in the NICU

Let us now prepare ourselves for worship

Call To Worship

Adoration -

Minister: Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Congregation: And also to you.

Scripture - O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. Know that the Lord, he is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 95:6, 100:3

Doxology - Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Confession

Prayer: Most Holy and merciful Father, we acknowledge and confess before You our sinful nature, prone to evil, and slothful in good, and all our shortcomings and offenses. You alone know how often we have sinned: in wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love. But you, O Lord, have mercy upon us, who are ashamed and sorry for all wherein we have displeased You. Teach us to hate our errors; cleanse us from our secret faults; and forgive our sins, for the sake of Your dear Son. And, O most Holy and loving Father, help us, we beg You, to live in Your light and walk in Your ways, according to the Commandments fo Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

As we know worship, let us know that our sins are forgiven by God’s grace that brings peace that surpasses all understanding.

Hymns of Worship

God of Grace and God of Glory

Grace Greater Than our Sin

Prayers of the People

Prayer Requests

Intro to Ephesians

Prayer for illumination

Why Ephesians? As I start on this journey of trying my utmost to share with you the word of God, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, I desired to do so from a source in which the whole of the Christian faith and walk is contained. Ephesians is just the book from which to do this. Paul's letter to the Ephesians holds a special place in his canon, as it is the only letter that does not specifically address the problems of a specific church. Therefore, it provides us the best generalization of Paul's expectation of the life of a church. In fact it is probably one of the latest epistles written by him, with the exception of Philippians and the 2 letters to Timothy.

Author Paul wrote this epistle while imprisoned in Rome. Probably somewhere around 60 AD. Bout 30 years after Jesus, and about 6 or 7 years after his ministry in Ephesus, where he stayed for 2 or 3 years. At this point in Paul’s life he is under house arrest in Rome, preaching the gospel unhindered, but still unable to leave. Though Paul would not be executed for about 6 more years, it is seen in the nature of the letters he wrote during this time, that he was intent on providing final instructions to those whom he had ministered to and with. This intent comes through in the book of Ephesians as we see Paul providing the church with timeless instruction in how to conduct itself.

Recipients - the letter as we will see is addressed to the church in Ephesus, but it is also possible that this letter was a circular letter of sorts. One sent through Ephesus to all the churches in Asia minor. The earliest manuscripts of this text actually do not have the address “in Ephesus” that we see in the greeting. This is all the more reason to see such great value in this book, it was an instruction to all believers in all the churches, and not simply a response to specific problems in specific churches that may not be common to all.

Therefore, as we begin this journey into Paul’s exhortation of the church, let us examine it in the light of the original recipients, as well as its specific application in our own time and life.

Apostles and Saints

Our Scripture today is Ephesians 1:1-2;

These are the words of the Living and true God:

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus far is the reading of Gods word

Paul’s Apostleship - Paul begin’s the letter not simply by identifying himself as the author, but rather by establishing here his authority . His identity as an Apostle

Apostleship - today we often look upon the word very lightly, not giving it a whole lot of significance, but in the original recipients would have cherished the receipt of such a letter from Paul because of his apostleship. Though we within the protestant faith do not venerate anyone within the church as highly as Paul would have been viewed, we can imagine that it would be akin today of the Catholic church on the other side of town receiving a letter directly from the Pope, or of a military unit receiving a direct letter from the President with their orders handwritten by him.

Paul himself indicates in Ephesians that the apostles were the foundation of the church of which Jesus weas the cornerstone (Eph 2:20), and that it is to the apostles and prophets to whom God reveals “mystery of Christ”, unknown to the sons of men before this time, that the gospel included gentiles (Eph 3:5), speaks of them as gifts from God for the “equipping of the saints” (Eph 4:11). Needless to say Paul himself knew the significance of his own position, and elsewhere in Scripture we saw that it greatly humbled him.

But most importantly we see a key element in Paul’s address of himself and his position within the 1st century church, and that is the fact that his apostleship was by the “will of God.” Paul is declaring that he is an apostle, not by self appointment, but through the authoritative decree, the sovereign will of Almighty God. (R.C. Sproul, The Purpose of God:Ephesians)

We can make more sense of this statement “by the will of God” as we proceed through the letter. Paul refers back to the will of God six times within the letter each time with language that indicates that what is and has happened is by His will alone, and at the close of the letter with instruction for the reader to diligently seek “understanding of the will of the Lord” and to “do the will of God from the heart.”

Who were the Saints - next we look to whom it is that Paul writes this letter. “to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”

The translation of this phrasing can be easily read as “to those who are saints, and faithful in Jesus Christ.” The term saints indicates “holy ones”, or those set apart by God. The sanctification by God is here put before man’s faith. The twofold aspect of salvation is thus presented, God’s grace in the first instance sanctifying us, (that is, setting us apart in His eternal purposes as holy unto Himself); and our faith, by God’s gift, laying hold of salvation.

Grace and Peace

Standard Greeting - Paul greets this church with the greeting “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a somewhat standard greeting, and reflects many of the greetings used in other of Pauls letter. And while there is no hidden theological meaning in the greeting, it is interesting to note that the words with which he greeted this church will appear as a continuing thread throughout the letter.

Grace and Peace - the grace of God will appear again and again in the book of Ephesians, 12 times to be exact, and it seems that Paul was seeking to extend this grace to these original readers. Peace also will be show up multiple times, though not as many, in showing what is the fruit or the outcome of receiving this grace from God.

We today as the church should hope to see that too, as we work our way through this masterpiece of a letter from Paul to those in Asia minor. As we read it and encounter those “hard sayings” of Paul that Peter talked about, let us not forget that the product of all this growth, maturity, meat instead of milk is a peace that surpasses understanding, flowing from the grace of God which originates in His will alone for us as a body.

Closing Song

It is well with my Soul

Commisioning

Now go and may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in the knowledge and love of God Almighty, The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always.