A Plan Beyond Imagination

Intro: I’ve been teaching my oldest two sons Levi and Titus how to play chess lately… and it’s really been fun... we’ve been playing A LOT.

Levi’s plan is always to beat me in the first three moves… which he typically does the first round we play because I FORGET...

But then we play again and I get wise to his plan and so he’s still learning how to win AFTER that point...

And a few week’s ago we were playing and I kept countering his moves and attacking, and all of the sudden he says, “OK, time to go to plan 'L'!"

Apparently he had moved WELL BEYOND plan A, B and C and was now on plan “L.”

And a lot of times people think that this is how it goes with God...

We think of God like some Master Chess player who is just a few steps ahead of his opponents…

So people.. or maybe Satan make a strong move against him... and God counters… and it just goes back and forth like that...

but often people think that when God’s first plan isn’t going so well, he’s ok to switch plans...

Like God is saying, “My plan for Israel didn’t go so well… I’m going to go to plan B… the church...

And then we think, “Well, the church doesn’t look like something God would want… it’s so broken and messy and full of sinners… maybe we should start looking for plan C or D...”

Some people think, “The church failed in reaching the lost… we should replace it with parachurch organizations...”

Other’s think, “The church failed to influence our culture morally… we should try to start focusing on political or legal solutions through the government.”

Still others think, “The church failed ME, so maybe I’ll just try to live out some personalized version of the Christian faith by myself... just me and Jesus… and maybe I’ll talk about him with some friends for coffee when it’s convenient...”

But it’s been said by many people before me… and they are right... "The Church is God's plan A, and there is no plan B."

Even when God was choosing a specific nation in Israel, the CHURCH was his ultimate plan… he was just setting all the pieces in place.

And even when the church doesn’t quite LOOK like we think it should from our perspective, God is still using his work IN the church to reveal his glory and wisdom THROUGH the church to the furthest reaches of the heavenly places...

He is still working “plan A”… and it’s going to be the demonstration of his ultimate victory to angels, demons, and humanity alike.

So we need to learn to see GOD’S PERSPECTIVE on the church… HIS VISION for the church if we are going to bring him glory IN the church...

That’s the whole purpose of the book of Ephesians and the whole reason we are studying it here today...

We want to see the church from God’s point of view so that we can understand our role in it…

and expand our WONDER and PASSION for what God is doing in the church along the way.

So here’s our Big Idea for today:

Big Idea: Let God's revelation enlarge your perspective of his all-wise plan for his church.

Your Bibles are open to Ephesians 3...

Just to remind you of the context… Paul is in a section of this letter where he is revealing how Gentiles (the nations… non-Jews) came to be included in God’s people.

In chapter 2:1-10, he looks at this from an INDIVIDUAL perspective… that each of us are DEAD in our sin… and in an act of unfathomable grace, God made us alive together with Christ…

and this is true for all those who have put their FAITH in Christ… Jew and Gentile alike.

Then in chapter 2:11-22, he looks at the our inclusion into the church from a CORPORATE identity perspective… that we GENTILES have been brought together with the Jews to create ONE NEW MAN… one NEW BODY… which elsewhere he calls the CHURCH.

And in that church, we are citizens of a NEW Kingdom...

We are members of a NEW family...

We are building blocks in a NEW temple... a DWELLING PLACE for God by the Spirit.

The church is created as this new humanity in Christ to be an echo of the Garden of Eden and a foretaste of heaven where the dwelling place of God is with man.

And Paul is totally enraptured by this reality… and he seems now to want to return to his prayer in chapter 1… that they would “get it.” But then he pauses.

Look at Ephesians 3:1 “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—” [and then most of your Bibles have a hyphen or at least a comma]...

There’s a clear pause in Paul’s train of thought...

He’s about to go down a LONG rabbit trail before getting back to his prayer in verse 14.

And everything that we are studying today is a rabbit trail off of this thought…

You know what those are like if you’ve ever been in a small group discussion or Sunday school class, right?

Someone just goes off for a little while… and everyone is sitting there thinking, “How in the WORLD did we end up HERE?!?!”

But remember… this is scripture… so this is a Spirit-inspired rabbit trail…

(I’ll bet you wish some of those small group rabbit trails were Spirit-inspired)...

This is a Spirit-inspired rabbit trail… we know because it is part of Holy Scriptures.

And I’m so glad it is… because here we get an explanation of Paul’s ministry that helps us understand SO MUCH about the New Testament and the letters of Paul...

We get some clarity and perspective into what God is doing through the church that is unrivaled in the rest of scripture.

So read with me in Eph. 3:1-13.

Big Idea: Let God's revelation enlarge your perspective of his all-wise plan for his church.

God's all-wise plan for the church is...

1) A once-hidden mystery now revealed (v. 2-5)

Look at verse 2 again: Paul says, “[I’m] assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

He’s like, “I know that I’ve told you about this before… but just to make sure you remember… I want to get my unique job description is in the front of your mind...

“I’m going to go down this rabbit trail for just a little bit so that you remember what God has done in me and through me...

God has given me the particular job of STEWARDING… ADMINISTRATING… his grace…

Paul was uniquely entrusted with a certain message of grace (which he outlined in chapter 2) to carry SPECIFICALLY to the Gentiles.

Paul says he is the STEWARD… the GUARDIAN... of this message…

He needs to make sure that it is used for the purpose for which God intended.

And this particular message of grace is described as a MYSTERY that was made known to him by revelation (by the DIRECT breaking through of God into his experience).

Now this word MYSTERY is a very important one to the Apostle Paul and he uses it a lot...

The word, at it’s most foundational level, means something that was hidden that is now revealed [you see where I got the wording for point 1 then… creative, I know…]

But it’s not just something that was hidden that we could go out and find on our own if we looked hard enough… like some buried treasure or something...

The word implies that this information was NOT FINDABLE by normal human wisdom or insight or intelligence.

During Paul’s day there were all these “mystery religions” and they believed that there was this hidden knowledge about the keys to human existence that only a select few people could find if they searched hard enough.

And Paul is saying, “I know the mystery… I have the KEY… but I did not FIND it… I did not DISCOVER it… it was given to me by DIRECT REVELATION of God.

“God had to break through my deadness… my blindness… to make me see it.”

This was a mystery that even PAUL, with all his extensive training as a Pharisee… as a student of the law… could never perceive on his own just by reading the Old Testament.

But Acts 9 gives us the backstory on Paul: one day while he was riding his donkey to Damascus to go beat up some Christians, and God broke through… Jesus Christ himself appeared to him… and he said, “Why are you persecuting ME?”

In other words… Jesus revealed himself as the one who died and rose again and is now glorified...

AND He revealed that he is VITALLY connected to his CHURCH…

To persecute the church was to persecute Christ because the church IN CHRIST…

And in that moment of revelation, all of the pieces of the puzzle came together for Paul...

All of his study of the Old Testament suddenly made sense in a whole new way.

So after this revelation, Jesus sent Paul into Damascus… and he told him to go find a guy named Ananias… who was to lay hands on Paul and restore his sight…

and through Ananias, God revealed that Paul was his chosen instrument to carry the name of Jesus specifically among the GENTILES.

(that’s very important to understand this section of scripture).

That is the PARTICULAR stewardship of God’s grace that was given to Paul… that he was to carry the rich treasure of the gospel… not just to the Jews… but primarily to the Gentiles...

This is Paul’s unique insight and contribution to the revelation of the mystery of Jesus Christ.

That’s why Paul says, “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”

Paul has a unique insight into what Christ is doing that has never been understood before:

That the gospel of Jesus as Savior-King is going to the Gentiles… with ALL of it’s rights and privileges… and as a result, that God is creating a whole new humanity IN CHRIST that is called “The Church.”

That’s the mystery that was hidden that was now revealed… he explains that in verse 6...

But we’ll come back to the content of that mystery more in a moment, but for now I want to focus on this fact:

That this is something that was not known to ANYONE who lived before Christ.

It was completely hidden. Not findable.

Now, they got hints at it.

They were given enough to put their faith in God’s covenant and find salvation.

But they were not given the whole picture like we are today.

In fact, the book of Ephesians is Paul’s clearest presentation of this mystery that was revealed to him by direct revelation from God.

What we are studying NOW was not available to the rest of the world… even to Israel… for GENERATIONS!

And so it’s at this point we should stop and realize: WHAT A PRIVILEGE WE HAVE TO STUDY THIS BOOK!

What we are reading in these chapters is something uniquely given to US in the present age… and we must BELIEVE it!

Apply: So don't squander the privilege.

Paul was given the revelation of the gospel and the church as a unique stewardship…

But if your eyes have been enlightened to the truth that is in Jesus…

And if you have understood this word about his plan for the church… then you TOO are a steward of this truth.

WE have been entrusted with the glorious treasure of the gospel… and with the unveiled purpose of God for his church.

We are the ones who know the mystery! We have the key to how all this is going to play out!

Now maybe you are like, “Pastor Ben, you keep talking about knowing the mystery… I’m still a little fuzzy on what you are even talking about! Can you clarify what the mystery is again?

I’d be happy to! Because Paul has the clarifying answer for you in verse 6: “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

God's all-wise plan for the church is...

2) A once-impossible union now achieved (v. 6)

Explain: We talked about this last week: that the Gentiles were once alienated from Israel and separated from God.

And all throughout the Old Testament, we have these hints of what God is doing, but the whole picture doesn’t really come together.

We have these hints that God is going to send a deliverer… the offspring of a woman who will crush the head of Satan...

We have these hints that God is going to bless the nations through the offspring of Abraham...

We have these hints that Israel is going to be a blessing to all peoples… that the house of the Lord will be a house of prayer for all nations...

But throughout the Old Testament, we see just a trickle of the nations actually coming to know the Lord.

And if Gentiles wanted to become part of God’s people, they had to join Israel as, what is called, a proselyte.

and even then they are kind of second-rate… they don’t even get to become citizens of God’s people… they don’t really have a share in God’s inheritance to Israel…

There is something less than perfect union.

And so Paul is saying, “THIS mystery that was revealed to me and entrusted to me to reveal to others… is that the Gentiles are NOT second rate citizens any longer… they get to be full-fledged participants in Christ.

Through their UNION with Christ in his death and resurrection, they have perfect UNION with God and with God’s people.

They are NOT going to miss out on ANY of the privileges of the Messiah...

His victory over Satan, Sin and Death is now FULLY proclaimed to them… and they get to share in his benefits if they put their FAITH in him…

And they don’t share in his benefits and promise from afar… they are as near to them as his very body.

That body is what we call the church.

And because the Gentiles and Jews are now his body together, they ALL get to partake of his promises.

All of the promises of God find their “yes and Amen” in him.

And ALL of that is just as true for us Gentiles sitting here worshiping Jesus today as it was 2000 years ago in Ephesus.

We said this when we were studying chapter 1: there is not one thing that would benefit your life in Christ that God has not already secured for you and given to you if you are a believer in him.

And so here’s what I want to urge you to do this morning:

Apply: Take hold of all that is yours in Christ. Don't leave any scraps on your plate.

Did you ever notice how… when you go over to someone’s house for a meal, you can totally tell who had a rule in their house growing up that they had to eat all the food that was on their plate...

We did NOT have such rule as a family growing up… and so I usually have some leftover sauce on my plate or something like that...

And I’m always amazed (and maybe even a little embarrassed) when I look over and it looks like my host has already sent their plate through the dishwasher...

They were taught that food is a PRIVILEGE that not everyone gets… we shouldn’t waste it… we should eat it ALL.

And if you are IN CHRIST… if you have put your faith in him and given your allegiance to him… then all of his inheritance… all of his benefits belong to you… don’t leave any scraps on your plate…

Eat them all… and find your soul SATISFIED.

Believer, you get to have FULL ACCESS to the God of the universe through Jesus Christ… and you have FULL ACCESS to his people!

Don’t miss out!

Approach his throne of grace through bold prayer and worship!

Gather with his people all the more as the day of his return approaches!

Get a foretaste of heaven as you embrace your membership in Christ’s family, the church.

There are abundant spiritual blessings available to you and so enjoy every one.

Allow Christ’s provision to shape your very identity and purpose for living.

Walk in the good of what Christ has accomplished on your behalf and what God has given to you in him.

But you have to understand: this inheritance… and this revelation... is only available to those who BELIEVE in Jesus Christ. Paul says that it comes through the gospel.

If you aren’t IN CHRIST… the you don’t receive the promises that are IN CHRIST.

You must understand that our sin separates us from God… and therefore it also separates us from God’s people.

We are DEAD in our sin… without hope and without God in the world!

And it is only when we turn to Jesus as the only Savior and Lord…

It is only when we embrace the truth that he lived the perfect life that we could not live...

Died the death that we deserve to die... our place for our sin...

And he conquered the enemy that we could not conquer by rising again to new life...

It’s only when we embrace the truth that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to him… and he is right now seated at the right hand of God preparing to return in final salvation and judgement...

It is only then that we get to partake in the promise of Jesus and have union with God...

And it’s only then that we can have true union with others in his church.

The church is exclusively those who believe.

There is no belonging before believing. You can benefit FROM the church… but you cannot belong TO the church without believing.

And if you have never given your life over to the truth that Jesus is Savior and Lord over all… then I would plead with you to turn to him today.

Surrender to him.

Trust him.

Build your life upon him.

That’s the good news of JESUS… that’s the message that makes us a church…

And that’s the message that we unashamedly proclaim here at Oak Hill…

Just like it has been proclaimed down through the ages ever since Paul...

Look at verse 7 - “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,”

Paul is acknowledging that he is the LEAST likely person to carry the mystery of God’s plan for Christ and the church to the Gentiles… because he used to HATE that message.

God’s all-wise plan for the church is...

3) A once-despised message now proclaimed (v. 7-9)

Explain: When God converted the Apostle Paul, he gave him two inter-related jobs...

1) To preach the gospel to the Gentiles...

2) And through doing that, to shine light on the fact that God’s eternal, previously hidden plan was to make Gentiles fellow heirs with the Jews (remember, that was the mystery).

These verses are like Paul’s job description:

1) Preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

2) Reveal that Gentiles are full heirs with the Jews in God’s plan.

Which MEANS, that if we don’t understand the teachings of Paul… the letters that he wrote that are included in our scriptures...

Then we lack important insight into God’s PLAN… or ADMINISTRATION for the church.

By the way, the word for “plan” is the same word for “stewardship” earlier...

It’s the way God wants things to be ordered and carried out according to the decree of the Master...

And the Apostle Paul, through his Spirit-inspired letters, gives us unique teaching about the order of the church.

We can’t ignore that order… we can’t just make up what we want the church to be and how it ought to function...

It’s God’s plan… he revealed it… and he uniquely used the Apostle Paul to do it.

So God extended this particular grace to Paul… he uniquely empowered Paul… even though… (or possibly even BECAUSE) Paul was the LEAST of all the saints.

Paul uses language like this elsewhere in the New Testament…

That he was the “chief of sinners”...

That he was “the least of all the apostles...”

That he was “an apostle untimely born...”

And in all these statements, he seems to be looking back to the fact that he had rejected Christ outright…

And not only that… he had KILLED people for following Jesus… which was the same as persecuting Christ himself.

So in verses 7-9, Paul is saying, “If anyone needed GRACE to understand Christ...

“If anyone needed the POWER OF GOD to overtake them and transform their heart, it was me.”

Now… as we read the New Testament today, we would tend to think of Paul as like the “GREATEST of all the saints...”

Like, we want to read this “least of all the saints” business and give Paul a pep talk!

“Paul, don’t be so hard on yourself! You’re like the great Christian HERO!”

And Paul’s like, “No. Stop it. I’m the least of all the saints.”

But I really believe that Paul saw himself as the least… not in the sense that God didn’t love him or he should hate himself or something like that...

But in the sense that he knew HOW MUCH GRACE… and HOW MUCH POWER was required for him to even BE a Christian… let alone proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles.

Paul was in AWE of the GRACE of God in his life… and the PRIVILEGE of preaching the gospel to the nations.

Apply: Do you ever think about the opportunity to proclaim the gospel in that way? As a GIFT of GRACE?

Do you ever wake up in the morning and think, “Man, the greatest privilege I could POSSIBLY have today would be if I got to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ to some lost people today!”

That perspective only comes when we see our own need for grace as surpassing those around us.

When we see what it took for God to save us, we begin to understand how powerful God’s is to save the people around us...

And we begin to proclaim Jesus more out of a sense of privilege than a sense of duty.

The primary reason we should want to proclaim Jesus and/or invite people to church is because we know how much WE need him...

And we know how important his body is to his plan.

Paul was overwhelmed by the unique position that God had given him in the church.

He didn’t think he deserved it. He didn’t throw around his apostleship...

He was just as content to describe himself as a prisoner of Christ as he was an apostle of Christ.

And I believe that’s one big reason God actually gave him this role.

Paul had no pretense about him. He really understood how dead he was apart from Christ.

He actually understood how much he needed God’s grace… and how much grace had accomplished in his life.

And so what better way could there be for God to demonstrate his reconciling power and grace than to put that message in the mouth of a formerly Christ-hating Jew who knew how much he needed grace???

That’s what God was doing through the Apostle Paul… he was validating the message of the gospel by putting it on display in the very one whom he had called to carry it to the Gentiles.

And that’s a small reflection of what he is doing in the whole church…

He’s taking people who formerly hated God and formerly hated one another… and he’s bringing them together...

He’s taking a people who were not a people and making them a people in Christ.

And he’s putting them on display as his trophy… not just to the nations… and not just to the angels… but to the demons and even Satan himself.

Look at verses 10-12 - Eph. 3:10-12 “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”

From our perspective, God’s all-wise plan for the church is...

4) A once-narrow objective now expanded (v. 10-12)

Explain: The church is the result of God’s powerful work of grace in Christ.

It is the demonstration of Christ’s victory… we are his trophy case, if you will.

The church is the PROOF of the WISDOM of God’s plan…

God ACTUALLY provided the rescue for humanity from the power of Satan, Sin and Death...

And God ACTUALLY accomplished what was impossible on our own… to bring us into union with God and each other.

And when that is happening in the church… when we are living for God together in unity… the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places are crying “WISDOM!”

But who are these rulers and authorities in the heavenly places?

Well, one good way to find out is to look and see if Paul uses this phrase anywhere else… you could use a cross-reference in your Bible if you have one...

Our reading plan also had you do that this week...

And there are two primary places Paul uses this phrase… see if you can identify who these figures are...

Let’s look at Eph 6:12 (up on the screen)

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)

OK… do you have an idea of who they are?

Let’s look at one other verse… Col. 2:15:

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15, ESV)

So BOTH of the other places Paul refers to the rulers and authorities, he’s referring specifically to Satan and his demons… fallen angels...

And we can draw the line that they are the subjects of this verse here as well...

Through the church, God is showing the COMPLETE WISDOM of his plan that spans all of eternity… TO… Satan and his demons… BUT WHY?

Why them?

Because they need to know that the victory of Christ is real.

They need to understand that they HAVE LOST, ARE LOSING and WILL FINALLY LOSE in their great rebellion against God...

SO THAT… all glory and honor and power and authority can rightly be ascribed to God.

And when we boldly access God’s presence TOGETHER as the church… ordered according to God’s plan…

When we come without reference to our differences in RACE or nationality…

Without reference to our differences in political viewpoints…

Without reference to our difference in social status...

When we come together in forgiveness of sin and forbearance of differences...

When we simply come together in CHRIST… PROCLAIMING JESUS… we are PROVING God’s victory to Satan and his demons.

They are forced to look upon this work of God and admit, “this is WISDOM!”

And you might be like, “Wow! I didn’t know that all that was going on this morning?!?! I thought we were just here to sing some songs about Jesus and listen to a message!”

“I thought we were here to watch some cute kids get dedicated!”

And we ARE… but what is happening in these moments is so much bigger than those things...

God is proclaiming his authority to the furthest extents of the heavens and earth.

And so every time we gather as the church… or if you are part of another church… every time you gather with them...

Apply: Reflect on the magnitude of the church.

Don’t lose sight of what God is doing in our midst…

Don’t lose sight of what he is proclaiming in us and through us: that Jesus really is the Savior and Lord that God says he is!

The whole cosmos is LOOKING IN upon what is happening in THIS place… and in places like this all over the world…

And they are recognizing the complete wisdom of God because of it.

I keep saying this throughout this series: Don’t settle for a small view of church.

Don’t settle for a man-centered, consumeristic view of church.

Don’t settle for a traditionalist… “this is what we’ve always done” view of church.

Enlarge your perspective on what God is doing here.

God’s objective in the church isn’t JUST to keep some people out of hell...

It isn’t JUST to make them happy or give them a sense of purpose...

It isn’t JUST to keep our kids in the faith...

God’s objective is to PROVE his wisdom to the entire cosmos.

And when you get that perspective on the church… that THIS is God’s eternal plan… it’s plan A and he doesn’t NEED a plan B...

Then you will want to give your LIFE to this plan.

That’s what Paul did… look at v. 13 - Eph 3:13 “So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.”

God’s all-wise plan for the church is...

A once-hidden mystery now revealed

A once-impossible union now achieved

A once-despised message now proclaimed

A once-narrow objective now expanded

And because of all that, God’s all-wise plan for the church is...

5) A once-dishonorable calling now dignified (v. 1, 13)

Expand: Paul is writing this letter to them from PRISON.

Prison is not exactly a coveted place to be.

The Roman prison experience was designed, in part, to dishonor you. To show that you were scum.

It was a place of suffering and shame.

But Jesus turns what is shameful into honor.

Paul’s suffering is for their glory…

It shows that his message to them is TRUE… because this former church-murderer is now a criminal for preaching Christ to the Gentiles.

This echoes verse 1 and brings the whole rabbit trail full circle…

Look back up at verse 1 - For this reason, I Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles...

Paul’s like, “The Romans may be the one’s imprisoning me… but really I’m a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I’m only here because HE wants me here.

“I’m only here because of the privilege I had to preach his name to you Gentiles.”

This is confirmed when we look in the book of Acts as to WHY Paul was in prison in Rome...

Paul had gone back to Jerusalem to visit the church… and he went to worship in the Temple and purify himself...

And he had a few Gentiles with him who had come to know Jesus.

Now, being respectful of the Jewish customs, Paul had purified himself… and he did NOT bring the Gentiles past the Gentile Court...

But someone falsely accused him and said he did…

And so they through him in jail and had him beaten… and he appealed to Caesar… and that’s how he ended up getting to be in prison in Rome.

So it was LITERALLY on account of his fellowship with the Gentiles through the gospel that he was in prison...

And THAT should not make the Gentiles feel ashamed… it should demonstrate to them the great POWER of the gospel toward them.

And so Paul says, “Do not lose heart.”

I’m experiencing suffering here on your behalf… but do not lose heart...

It may LOOK shameful now… but the victory of Christ is SURE… and it is being demonstrated in our UNITY that led to this suffering.

And I believe he is telling them this so that THEY would embrace suffering on behalf of Christ and his church too!

Paul is our example in what it looks like to go “all in” on God’s plan A.

Apply: And I believe Paul would say to us here today... “Do not lose heart... suffering for the gospel is our glory in Christ.”

It is our privilege to suffer for the sake of the gospel going to all peoples.

It is our privilege to suffer when unity costs us something… when we have to lay down our rights and viewpoints to achieve it...

It is our privilege because of all that the church is and all that God is doing through us.

If we have a small view of the church, we will not see suffering in the church as worth it.

We will not want to do the hard work that it takes to maintain unity.

We will not want to make sacrifices to see the message of Jesus proclaimed to the world.

But if we expand our view to see God’s all-wise plan for the church, we will be willing to give it ALL for that cause.

So how do you need to expand your view of the church today?

Maybe you need to see at as a stewardship and not squander the privilege.

Maybe you need to take hold of all that is yours in Christ… BELIEVE the work that he is doing though his gospel in the church.

That could possibly start by JOINING a church… if you don’t have a church where you can live out this plan, we’d love to have you do that here.

Maybe today God is renewing your motivation to proclaim this message of the gospel to those who need to hear it… and better explain what the church is as you invite people in.

Maybe you need to remind yourself of the MAGNITUDE of what is happening in the church as you go throughout your week… and as you meet with your Gospel Community this week and as you gather again next Sunday.

Maybe you need to be willing to suffer for the sake of this glorious gospel that creates the church.

Identify what it is for you. Be specific. What is God doing in your heart right now to expand your perspective? THIS is his plan A… I urge you to get on his plan.

Reflective Prayer Time:

He is Worthy:

Father, we have seen your victory in our church through ___________.

We are Needy:

Ask God to enlarge your perspective on his all-wise plan for his church. Ask him to accomplish the primary application that you identified for yourself.