Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

Good morning.

Are we ready to be still?

And listen to what God has for us from his word?

Not my words.

My words really don't matter God's words, matter.

Hopefully my words are infused with God's word, so that helps things, the matter, if you have your Bibles turn with me, if you will read Ephesians chapter 1, we're going to begin.

Book of Ephesians.

Today, we went through the book of Galatians, we see what Paul is saying about the church, the glaciers, now we see what he has to say to the Church of Ephesus.

How they need to live their life and what they got to be doing.

Today, as we prepare our hearts to Worship the Lord, there's a lot of things going on.

We have an opportunity, this tomorrow, this next week to minister, to a large group of people in our community, those who may know, the Glen Aiken, family, his wife came and passed away and then we'll be doing the funeral tomorrow.

So that's a large family between the Athens, the fans in the Davis's, so keep them in prayer.

Good to have the Ed Johnson.

Andrew Johnson had buried his father Ray yesterday, so, keep them in prayer.

Has just been one of those weeks of a lot of things going on, and that's good.

I'm not complaining.

It keeps me out of trouble, when I'm busy doing other things, but keep these folks and prayer as they go through and navigate these new days before them.

Paul is talking to the Church of Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 1, on his second missionary journey.

He visited Ephesus, he left behind Aquila, and Priscilla to carry on the ministry that was started.

He returned to Ephesus two years later and he ministered there for 3 years.

What he did while he was in Ephesus.

Was he reached the whole province of Asia with the gospel?

In three years, I've been 30 years here at hoosac Valley Community Church, 37 years in the area.

I'm not sure.

I reach the whole province of this area.

I wish I had, I wish I was able to minister to people the way that Paul was able to and especially in today's society, in the time frames that we have of social media and the ability to get online and administered.

In fact, when, when you have a gimmick where you pass out on a Wednesday night, you get a lot of use Right over three hundred views that Wednesday night.

Usually, it's maybe fifty at the most.

I'm not going to pass out in up my plan.

One of my plan Wednesday night to pass out two weeks ago, but that's we have an opportunity to be able to share the gospel with crossed.

This whole nation.

In fact, we've been doing our videos and and live streaming for quite a while.

Now we have a lot of folks who like to go to Florida for the winter for some reason and and they've asked for us to be able to Live streaming, so they can watch church when they're at home.

So those of you that are watching church at home this morning, didn't want to get out of the house and still have your pajamas on.

We'll see.

See her next week.

It's too easy to do it the way we want it.

Here's the thing that was going on, even with Paul, Paul is saying to the Church of Baptist, listen, things of the world are creeping in to the church.

The things of God are being pushed out to sort of like maybe our own Nation, when we sort of began to remove God from schools in the courtroom and different things like that, taken, down to 10 commands that we don't want to offend people.

the moment we began to remove God from our lives, in from things, in our lives of blessings of God, become less, and less, we need to be aware of that Paul medicine and some years later, as after he was done Ministry, he was a prisoner in Rome and he writes this letter He writes his letter of encouragement to the Church of Ephesus.

He writes, many letters of encouragement to other believers, other churches that he has been a part of starting And my question, when I read that is where would I be if I was in prison because of my faith?

If I was put in prison because of what God has called me to do, what I be, Excited enough to share the gospel message with people that are going the wrong direction, trying to draw them back or would I be the person to say?

Well, that's it.

I've done my part.

God, I'm done with them and you got to ask yourself that same question, see Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle, the one who was at one time out, persecuting the church, who got to be an apostle.

For Jesus Christ, is now encouraging people in the latter days of his life to continue on the faith in which they had first learned to not listen to the fables, not listen to the ways of the world to stay strong in the word of God.

so he wrote this letter to the Believers in Ephesus, one of the major themes that he is giving here is that God is at work in this world and he is no matter what we think about the world God is at work.

God sets kingdoms up heaters kingdoms and he allows things to happen.

I mean you can look and read in the Old Testament, you see how God allows things to happen, even if it's not the way he wanted it because of the hearts of the people is, okay?

That's the way you want it.

That's what you're going to get.

And then you have to deal with the consequences of those choices that we have made.

So he has that theme of working in this world.

God is working through his church at you and me.

And those of us who are believers, those of us who know Christ is our Lord and savior.

Those of us here in the walls of this building.

This building is not the church.

This is just a building The church are the Believers sitting in the seats those who know Christ as their lord and their savior.

This building could be turned into a lot of things.

It could be Apartments, it could be a business, it could be all other kinds of things so it's not the building.

That is a church, it's the people who are the church.

We find that he's putting things together, that's what he tells us.

In verse 10 of Ephesians chapter 1.

I just want to read that real quick, and then we'll go back to the first one.

So that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ.

Both of which were in heaven, which are on the earth in him, he wants to gather us together.

He wants to put things together.

He wants us to minister for him.

Because he has ministered to us.

We find the differences was an important city that boasted of being the custodians at Temple of Diana.

Their worship of the Goddess, Diana.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

So Paul, is there any preaching of this new God, he's preaching, all this God of the creator of the universe that, hey, we need to follow this.

God, don't worry about the God, small G's of the world, get them out of your life, follow the Creator, and if you follow the Creator, you'll you will be blessed.

He will guide you.

He will direct you.

The city of Ephesus was devoted to a Dollar Tree.

That explains why Paul had so much to say about defeating.

The devil will get that to that when we get to chapter 6 of Ephesians not today, we'll get there later on in the in the summer.

But what we find here is what he talks about salvation here in verse 1.

So if you hear this morning and you're not sure where you're going to spend eternity, listen up, get your antenna out.

So you get some good reception, not from me.

But from God, cuz I'm going to share his words that you may know.

It's not about how good we are and how much work we can do.

If that was true, then that cross wouldn't need to happen, right?

Jesus wouldn't have needed to go to that cross.

He wouldn't have needed to lay his life down for you and me to shed his blood to go through all that pain.

If he is God's son, if he is, God In the Flesh and he knew that that wasn't the way.

Why would he do that?

So this morning, as we begin chapter 1, let's read these first few verses and see what God has for us.

Paul, and Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints were in Ephesus.

In faithful.

In Christ Jesus grace to you and peace from God.

Our father in the Lord, Jesus Christ blessed, be the God, and father of our Lord.

Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Heavenly places in Christ.

When did he do that?

Look what he says before the foundation of the world.

That we should be holy and Without Blame before him and love stop right there.

For a second with me this morning before the foundation of the world, before he put the world together, listen to this.

Before he formed the world, he knew you and he knew me and that amazing.