February 24, 2008 Sermon Notes

Pastor Marty Grubbs -- February 24, 2008
“LOVED”
Six Words for a New Life series, part three

A review:

Ephesians 1 – Chosen
Ephesians 2 – Alive
Ephesians 3 – Loved

 

Paul wants us to understand that we are:

1.      Empowered
“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being ... may have power, together with all the saints ...” -Ephesians 3:16, 18a

2.      Alive
“... so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” -Ephesians 3:17a
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ...” -Ephesians 2:4-5

3.      Loved
“... to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge ...” -Ephesians 3:18b-19a

4.      Fulfilled
“... that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”   Ephesians 3:19b

          “My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask Him to strengthen you by His Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths!  Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
          God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.” -Ephesians 3:14-21, The Message

 

 

A morning thought...

When we take an in-depth look at the story line of God’s written Word, the Bible, we quickly begin to recognize that it is the story of God’s love and provision for His people. It is a story of divine love. He loved all that He created: the universe, the earth, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Esther, King David, the prophets, the disciples, Paul, the saints before us, and then you and me.

The apostle Paul says it best: “And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God” [Ephesians 3:16-18, The Message]. If there is ever a question of God’s love for us, we have only but to gaze on this Jesus on the cross and recognize God stretching Himself to us so that we might experience it. God is love!

—George Skramstad, 2008