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Jan 12, 2020

The Order is Everything

The Order is Everything

Passage: Ephesians 1:1-23

Speaker: Chip Reed

Series: General Topic

The book of Ephesians holds together like a water-tight chamber. To me it is the best summary of the Christian life in the NT. As I thought about preaching this week, I kept coming back to the book of Ephesians. Chapters 1-3 speak of our identity in Christ, while chapters 4-6 are a call to action. The order is important. Don’t miss that. Especially as we approach a new year where we are inclined to make lots of resolutions, and quickly fail to execute them by the first of February. So today we will look at chapter 1, to see how Paul describes our relationship with Jesus and how this is the FUEL for our actions, in the Christian’s life.

Order of Worship

PRE SERVICE: Ephesians 1:3-4a
CALL TO WORSHIP: Ephesians 1:3,7-8,13-14
PRAYER: The Consecrated Life (from The Valley of Vision)
OLD TESTAMENT Reading: Psalm 139:1-8,13-14,17,23-24
MESSAGE: The Order is Everything!
CENTRAL TEXT: Ephesians 1:3-14
BENEDICTION: Ephesians 1:17-19
POST SERVICE: Ephesians 1:17-18

Readings & Scripture

PRE SERVICE: Ephesians 1:3-4a
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,

CALL TO WORSHIP: Ephesians 1:3,7-8,13-14
LEADER: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

PEOPLE: 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.

LEADER: 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
PEOPLE: 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

PRAYER: The Consecrated Life (from The Valley of Vision)
LEADER: O, Gracious God, it is your great will to make known the glory of Your Son.
ALL: Let us stand in this great gospel.
LEADER: Center our hearts. Renew our minds. Here is our duty.
ALL: To know the love of Christ. To consecrate our lives in gratitude and good works.
LEADER: Holy Spirit work in us the grace and beauty of Christ.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 139:1-8,13-14,17,23-24
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

CENTRAL TEXT: Ephesians 1:3-14
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.


LEADER: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,

ALL: what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might


POST SERVICE: Ephesians 1:17-18
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,

Illustrations

Nanny Diaries - Who Is Annie

Golden Globes 16 - Jim Carrey

InView Combo - Supertramp Universe

Related Media

 

 

QUOTES:

  • “The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus.” - Tim Keller
  • “Every day you preach to yourself a gospel of your loneliness, inability, and lack of resources or you faithfully preach to yourself the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” - Paul David Tripp
  • A human being is a creature of God with a nature designed by God to consciously display God’s greatness and his beauty and his worth. That’s what I think our fundamental identity is.” - John Piper
  • “whenever God does something to you, he also intends to do something through you. Our work in the world is an extension and expression of God’s very identity.” - Jeff Vanderstelt

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