Union Church

Ephesians: Walk in Wisdom

Listen in as we continue through our journey of Ephesians and see Paul's encouragement to be attentive and walk in wisdom.

 

Quotes from the sermon:

 

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust. - TS Eliot

Proverbs 15:1
Proverbs 1:1-7

Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 3:7-8

James 1:5-8

God wants us to seek him, draw near to him, believe in him, and what does he do? He rewards us. It pleases him. We get to have a relationship with him. It is to our benefit to know him and he's not hiding. - Trillia Newbell

The mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character… Ultimately, nothing in this life, apart from God, can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after our desires ad infinitum. The result? A chronic state of restlessness or, worse, angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment, depression—all of which lead to a life of hurry, a life of busyness, overload, shopping, materialism, careerism, a life of more…which in turn makes us even more restless. And the cycle spirals out of control. - John Mark Comer

"Gratitude is not only a response to God in good times - it's ultimately the very will of God in hard times. Gratitude isn't only a celebration when good things happen. It's a declaration that God is good no matter what happens.Being joyful isn't what makes you grateful. Being grateful is what makes you joyful." -Ann Voskamp

Ephesians: Emulating Jesus

Listen in as Anthony Garcia walks us through Ephesians 5:1-14 and see how God leads us in child-like faith to emulate Christ.

 

Sermon Quotes:

• “Our imitation of God in this life — that is, our willed imitation as distinct from any of the likenesses which He has impressed upon our natures or states — must be an imitation of God incarnate: our model is the Jesus, not only of Calvary, but of the workshop, the roads, the crowds, the clamorous demands and surly oppositions, the lack of all peace and privacy, the interruptions. For this, so strangely unlike anything we can attribute to the Divine life in itself, is apparently not only like, but is, the Divine life operating under human conditions.” - C.S. Lewis

 

• “Because when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”  - Martin Luther

 

• “The most fully human and complete person who ever lived was Jesus Christ. He never married. He was never in a romantic relationship, and never had sex. If we say these things are intrinsic to human fulfillment, we are calling our Savior subhuman.”     - Sam Allberry

 

• “Jesus doesn’t put the word self in front of identity. Jesus puts the word self in front of denial.” - Sam Allberry

 

• In all your course, walk with God and follow Christ as a little, poor, helpless child, taking hold of Christ's hand, keeping your eye on the mark of the wounds on his hands and side, whence came the blood that cleanses you from sin and hiding your nakedness under the skirt of the white shining robe of his righteousness. - Jonathan Edwards

Ephesians: Deeper Dependency

 Today we continued our journey through the book of Ephesians and saw how Jesus leads us out of anger and bitterness toward a life of love. Two questions help us to react and respond in everyday life, "What would a person, deeply loved by God do? How would a forgiven person respond?"

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Ephesians 4:25-32

"If we are a body, then we are one that is afflicted with an autoimmune disease.” - Christina Cleveland
Anger is like a headache in that it tells me something is wrong. It’s a feeling that seizes us in our body and immediately impels us toward interfering with, and possibly even harming, those who have thwarted our will and interfered with our life. Anger includes a will to harm them. Most wrongdoing traces back to anger. We talk about “righteous anger,” but usually people feel their anger is righteous in the moment they’re angry. We say anger is an energy for action, but anything you can do with anger you can do better without it. - Dallas Willard

James 3:6-12

“The illusion of control is an acceptable one. It's a pretty & perfect vice. It accomplishes, succeeds, & wins—all the while killing you. - Lore Ferguson Wilbert

“When the Bible uses the term heart, it means the causal core of your personhood. The heart is your directional system. The heart is your steering wheel. Your behavior isn’t caused by the situations and relationships outside of you. Your behavior is shaped and caused by how your heart reacts to and interacts with the situations and relationships that are outside of you”. - Paul Tripp

“I'm an old man, and this is one of my dreams: that my descendants will one day live in a land where people are quick to confess their wrongdoing and forgive the wrongdoing of others and are eager to build something beautiful together.” - John Perkins

Ephesians: Faithful Presence

This week we install local elders at Union Church and look at what being a faithful presence looks like today.

Sermon quotes and cross references:

Ephesians 4:17-24

Ephesians 4:1-3

John 8:12

“Are Christians victims of this post-Christian world? No. Sadly, Christians are co-conspirators. We embrace modernism’s perks when they serve our own lusts and selfish ambitions. We despise modernism when it crosses lines of our precious moralism. Our cold and hard hearts; our failure to love the stranger; our selfishness with our money, our time, and our home; and our privileged back turned against widows, orphans, prisoners, and refugees mean we are guilty in the face of God of withholding love and Christian witness. And even more serious is our failure to read our Bibles well enough to see that the creation ordinance and the moral law, found first in the Old Testament, is as binding to the Christian as any red letter. Our own conduct condemns our witness to this world.” Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes With A House Key

 

John 14:6

“In our tasks, the call of faithful presence implies a certain modesty that gives priority to substance over style; the enduring over the ephemeral, depth over breadth, and quality, skill and excellence over slick packaging or “high production values.” - James Davison Hunter

“We believe that many Christians do not fully appreciate the odd way in which the church, when it is most faithful, goes about its business. We want to claim the church's "oddness" as essential to its faithfulness. That which makes the church "radical" and forever "new" is not that the church tends to lean toward the left on most social issues, but rather that the church knows Jesus whereas the world does not. In the church's view, the political left is not noticeably more interesting than the political right; both sides tend towards solutions that act as if the world has not ended and begun in Jesus.” - Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens

 John 17:14-18

1 Peter 2:11-12

 “We cannot will ourselves into the deep obedience that God requires. We can’t obey until we ourselves have received this grace and picked up our cross. We can’t obey until we have laid down our life, with all our false and worldly identities and idols. We can’t obey until we face the facts: the gospel comes in exchange for the life we once loved. But when we die to ourselves, we find the liberty to obey. As Susan Hunt explains, “When God’s grace changes our status from rebel to redeemed, we are empowered by his Spirit to obey him. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2) into his likeness (2 Cor. 3:18). Joyful obedience is the evidence of our love for Jesus (John 14:15).” Rosaria Butterfield

Ephesians: For a Life of Love

Today we looked at Ephesians 4:7-16 and saw how Christ supplies us and stabilizes us for a life of love.

 

Sermon Quotes:

Ephesians 4:7-16 

“We need only open a newspaper to see that religious beliefs can cause harm. But to say that religion is bad for you is like saying, “Drugs are bad for you,” without distinguishing cocaine from life-saving medication. In general, religious participation appears to be good for your health and happiness. Turn this data on its head and the trend toward secularization in America is a public-health crisis…Does religion cause violence? It certainly can. But millions of people are driven by their faith to love and serve others. And Christianity, in particular, has served as a fertilizer for democracy, a motivation for justice, and a mandate for healing. If we think the world would be less violent without it, we may need to check our facts.” - Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity

“Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.” Tim and Kathy Keller 

“He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.” - Ephesians 4:11-16, The Message Translation

 

New Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We thank you for your love and your truth. We are grateful that Jesus has come to us, forgiven our sins, and is making all things new.

As we navigate this life, we ask for your grace to sustain us. Help our hearts to be centered on you. May your Spirit guide every thought, word, and deed. Increase our love for you and the people around us.

In the name of Jesus we pray,
Amen.

Matthew 4:18-22 - Practicing the Way

Listen in as Anthony and Jon walk through Matthew 4:18-22 and look at how the word and way of Jesus help us discover his will for our lives.

Ephesians: The Power of One

Listen in as we look at Ephesians 4:4-6 and see the 7 things that hold God's people together.

 

Notes//Quotes:

Ephesians 4:1-6

1 Cor 12:12-20

“If we truly love the church, we will bear with her in her failings, endure her struggles, believe her to be the beloved bride of Christ, and hope for her final glorification. The church is the hope of the world—not because she gets it all right, but because she is a body with Christ for her Head.” - Kevin DeYoung, The Glory of Plodding

Hopelessness stems from identity crisis:

I am what I have

I am what I do

I am what other people think of me.

Henri Nouwen

“Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.” - Henri Nouwen

“Eighty six years I have served Christ, and he never did me any injury, how then can I blaspheme my King and Savior?” Polycarp

 

“The truth of God’s limitless power would be absolutely terrifying were it not paired with the truth of his limitless goodness.” Jen Wilkin

“I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it. I am, of course, not denying the importance of the many activities by which we seek to challenge public life with the gospel– evangelistic campaigns, distribution of Bibles and Christian literature, conferences, and even books such as this one. But I am saying that these are all secondary, and that they have power to accomplish their purpose only as they are rooted in and lead back to a believing community. - Lesslie Newbigin

One Body - We belong. We are not alone. We are family.

One Spirit - We are empowered. We are gifted. We are free.

One Hope - We have a future. We will be made new. We can rest in Him.

One Lord - We have a King. Our King is worthy. We live surrendered.

One Faith - We are His children. We believe and trust. We follow our Good Father.

One Baptism- We are pure and forgiven. We walk in newness of life. We will be raised with Him.

One God and Father - We are known. We are loved. Help is near.

One God and Father - We are known. We are loved. Help is near.

Ephesians: The Walk

Listen in as Anthony Garcia walks us through Ephesians 4:1-3 and shows how we are to walk in unity with Christ and one another.

Ephesians: The Prayer

Listen in as we look at Ephesians 3:14-21 and see Paul's prayer for God's people.

Quotes/Cross references: 

Opening quote from the gathering:

"Worship works from the top down, you might say. In worship we don’t just come to show God our devotion and give him our praise; we are called to worship because in this encounter God (re)makes and molds us top-down. Worship is the arena in which God recalibrates our hearts, reforms our desires, and rehabituates our loves. Worship isn’t just something we do; it is where God does something to us. Worship is the heart of discipleship because it is the gymnasium in which God retrains our hearts.” - James K.A. Smith

Ephesians 3:14-21

“He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.” - Brother Lawrence, Practice of the Presence of God

"The modern loss of faith does not concern just God or the hereafter. It involves reality itself and makes human life radically fleeting. Life has never been as fleeting as it is today. Not just human life, but the world in general is becoming radically fleeting. Nothing promises duration or substance. Given this lack of Being, nervousness and unease arise." - Byung-Chul Han - The Burnout Society

Prov 4:23

“The reach of a tree depends on its roots. Choose roots over reach." - Karen Swallow Prior

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
  And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
  And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
  Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
  Though stretched from sky to sky." - Fredrick Lehman

"The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands” ― Martin Luther

John 3:16-17

"Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into your mind; he is after nothing less than your wants, your loves, your longings…Jesus’s command to follow him is a command to align our loves and longings with his—to want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a world where he is all in all—a vision encapsulated by the shorthand “the kingdom of God.” - James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love

1 John 3:1

“Prayer does not (merely) equip us for greater works, Prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers

“If you have never known the power of God’s love, then maybe it is because you have never asked to know it - I mean, really asked, expecting an answer.” Fredrick Buechner.

"I will let myself not be overwhelmed with the season, but be overwhelmed with the goodness of God, so I can then overflow with the goodness of God to others. I will be experienced as a blessing by others, to the extent I have slowed down — and counted blessings — and first experience myself as blessed. The greatest gift God graces a soul with is His own presence.” - Ann Voskamp

Ephesians: The Plan

Listen in as Jon discusses Ephesians 3:1-13 and shows how Paul encounters the plan of God in the midst of the paradoxes of life.