Letters
Eph 6:10-24 Be Strong in the Lord
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Be Strong in the Lord
Well, we come to the end of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians today so I thought we might stop and think about what we’ve heard over the past 8 weeks.
We began with a reminder of the way God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ; how he chose us before the creation of the world to become his children; how he’s lavished his grace upon us by wiping away our sins. We were also reminded that God has revealed to us the mystery, that is the details, of his plan for the final completion of his creation; what he calls the completion of time.
Then we thought about the amazing result of Jesus death and resurrection, which is that through no efforts of our own, by God’s grace that is, we’ve been saved, raised up and seated in God’s presence in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And because we’re now in Christ Jesus all the barriers that divide us from other human beings have been broken down.
Eph 4:1-16 - Becoming One in Christ
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Becoming One in Christ audio
We come today to the core issue of the letter: If we’re to fulfil our destiny as a church, if we’re to demonstrate the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, as we read last week, then we must be united in heart and mind. But can we do it?
Here in ch 4, Paul begins to outline how being the new people of God is to be worked out in the down-to-earth, concrete realities of life. As we read on we discover that there are two challenges for us. First, it’s to build ourselves into a single united people without any of the social and economic divisions we see everywhere else; and then to be a holy people, showing in our lives the purity and righteousness that belongs with the people of God.
So today let’s think about the unity of the Church. How does that unity arise and how is it to be maintained?
Rom 8:26-39
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Life in the Spirit -Help and Assurance audio
Well, how’s life treating you? That’s a fairly common question people might greet you with; commonly responded to with “Fine, thanks.” But is it fine? Or is life a bit tough at the moment, even if you don’t feel like sharing that with a mere acquaintance? Are you worried about some issue in your life? Are you concerned about the future?
Over the past few weeks we’ve been reading Paul’s letter to a church that were certainly doing it tough at a number of levels: at both the personal and external level. They were struggling with living lives that please God, and they were struggling with the pressure of living in a world where normal expectations and lifestyles were opposed to Christianity. In other words they weren’t that much different from us. Suffering is very much a universal experience.
Last week, though, Steve pointed out that we need to give thanks to God because the sufferings of this world can’t be compared to the glory that awaits us and now Paul goes on to build on that theme of thankfulness.
2 Cor 5:6-21 New Creation
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
New Creation and Reconciliation
Who’d like a new body? I’d say put your hands up but I wouldn’t want you to pull a muscle in your eagerness. Well today we follow up on what we heard last week, from Howard, of the reality of our hope of eternal life, of the fact that Jesus’ resurrection assures us of our own resurrection and, what’s more, that the presence of his Holy Spirit within us assures us that we’re already experiencing that eternal life with God, even if that is limited by our mortal bodies. Today we’re thinking about what that experience of God’s presence with us might mean for us in our present circumstances.
Paul begins this section reminding us that we remain always confident, not of our own strength or ability, but of God’s promise. One thing about Paul is that he understands what it’s like to struggle with life as a Christian. You’ll remember, if you were here 2 weeks ago, how he used that metaphor of having a great treasure in jars of clay. The jars of clay, of course, are us; our weak bodies and our less than perfect willpower.
Rom 7:14-25 - Living in the now and not yet
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Living in the Now and Not Yet
When John writes his first letter to the churches in Asia- minor he reminds them that God loves us so much that he’s made us his children; and then he says “3:2Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” In other words our future life has to shape our present life. If we’re to live with God in the future then we need to start learning to live now in a way that pleases God.
So how are you at living a god pleasing life? You don’t need to answer that out loud. Nor do you need to give yourself a score. But my guess is that if you’re like me you may regularly find yourself thinking back on something you’ve done and realising that you should have done the exact opposite if you wanted to please God? How often do you realise that you’re repeating those mistakes over and over again? And if so, what do you do about it?
