BLOB 4/22/10
Though there are a couple resources and further discussions I do want to post about last night’s study of Ephesians 5:1-22 because time is short and coffee is fresh I just want to get up the downloadable lesson and “Coffee Talk” card. Had a great night last night, so fun to see everyone, meet new folks, and get after studying the Bible together. Check out the below links for the good stuff:
Downloadable Inductive Study of Ephesians 5:1-22
Coffee Talk For Ephesians 5:1-22
The BLOB 3/12/10
Last Night 3/11/10
Had a great time at BLOB last night, really enjoyed digging in to Ephesians 3:14-21 with the rest of the folks. If you missed it you can download the text and the study as a PDF below (think we are going to work to do that for all of the BLOBs both past and future). Anyhow, my favorite part of the study was the discussion that sprung up about “faith”.
We started the study of the text with the understanding that it is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church to live the IDEAL experience of following Christ. Considering the text in this light and comparing what Paul writes to our lives can be at the same time both exciting and daunting. Paul walks through a progression that gets us to this Christ-centered ideal, and cynically our initial response was “sure…that sounds easy.” The fact is though that all of the action carried forward in Paul’s prayer is of God, making its fulfillment in either the church at Ephesus or in our lives completely God’s to accomplish. The issue then is deciding if we really believe God meant what He lead Paul to pray for these people, and if He means it for us.
We talked about busyness, distraction, sin, discouragement, and loneliness; in other words: “real life”. Paul’s ultimate hope for these people (and the ideal experience of Christ in which to hope) is that through Him we would “…be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:19) In “real life” this ideal often feels very far away. It was this feeling upon which our discussion on faith turned. In a world of tolerance through the scrubbing of absolutes we are taught both overtly and by consequence of the culture within which we live that the ONLY arbitration of “trueness” is that of our emotion.
We all agreed that quite often the Truth in scripture does not feel all that true at all. And maybe that is where a definition and utility for faith can be found. Maybe understanding the application of faith in our world is as simple as acting as if God’s promises are true even (perhaps especially) when they do not feel as if they are. Applied to the text last night and the anticipation of God filling us with all His fullness that action comes down to prayer and patience. Prayer that we would know Him as Paul prays we would and patience on God for Him to bring about what He promises in His time.
Know I left last night more resolved to wait on Him, and hope in the result of the action God Himself has promised His people.
The BLOB Ephesians 3:14-21 WebStudy
Digging Deeper
In considering Paul’s prayer that the Ephesian church would be strengthened in their “inner being” in Ephesians 3:16 we took a brief look at the Doctrine of Regeneration.
The concept of “inner being” is accessible to us at face value. We understand the meaning of one’s “heart of hearts”, true character, core, deepest self, truest nature etc. But what we may not see in Paul’s thought of their “inner being” was his understanding of just what type of truest self the Ephesian church possessed.
Christian doctrine is derived from the systematic study of the breadth of scripture to understand God’s complete revelation of various truths about His nature, creation, character, activity etc. The Doctrine of Regeneration states that scripture shows that Christianity is not about believing or doing but about becoming: when someone truly sets Jesus as Lord, God does something to them and in them, changing them radically. Through God’s activity our old nature which was that of rebellion and animosity towards God is destroyed and replaced by God with a new nature of sonship/daughtership: a core nature that loves God and delights in the things that are of Him and please Him.
Below are some scripture references and resources that continue to dig deeper into the foundations and implications of this incredible FACT: that “…if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” (2Cor 5:17). Hope this helps your study, would love to see all of us dig deeper into how this changes EVERYTHING about us, our lives, how we relate to our God.
Scripture to Study:
Books:
Renovation of the Heart: Dallas Willard
He That is Spiritual: Lewis Speery Chafer
The Mortification of Sin: John Owen
Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know: Wayne Grudem
Sermons:
Mark Driscoll on Faith in Your New Birth (Streaming or Download)
Tommy Nelson: Systematic Theology: Soteriology I: The Doctrine of Salvation
Tommy Nelson: Systematic Theology: Soteriology II: The Doctrine of Salvation
Tommy Nelson: Systematic Theology: Pneumatology II: His Work and the Believer
Our Angelic Audience
Several BLOBs ago we were studying Ephesians 3:1-13 and we cracked a couple of huge cans of worms open we did not have the time to really delve into. The can opener used was vs. 10 that talks about the church being used by God to show His “manifold wisdom” to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”. The essence of the truth Paul is describing is that in creation we are not alone. Along with they physical realm which God created and with in which we exist (See Gen.1-3) God also created the heavenly realm populated by the angelic host (Col 1:15-17). The purpose of ALL of creation (and redemption for that matter) is to show forth the greatness and glory of God. Angels are a part of this design and were created primarily to worship God. And God is so great that the praise of these eternal beings will go on forever and ever. Scripture also teaches that though these angelic beings are glorious and powerful, they are not omniscient and in fact grow in their spiritual knowledge of God as they observe His work of redemption in history with mankind. Angels actually are better equipped to worship God by watching Him work in our lives. It makes sense that God should be worshiped in “stereo”. Does He deserve any less? How insufficient is our praise towards Him in the incarnation of Jesus for example. We have no grasp on His deity, just how humble God is to become a man. But the angels saw the Son rise from His throne in glory and condescend to be a little baby lying in a manger. How much more fervent is the angels’ Christmas proclamation to the shepherds “Glory to God in the Highest” when we consider what they saw Jesus do, glorified in heaven just 9 months prior? 1 Peter 1:12 says that angels long to look into our redemption, a fact that Paul understood in both the importance of his message as well as his mission. He understood that his life was lived not only to bring praise to the name of God before men, but before the very angelic host themselves. In looking at the presence of the angelic realm and their observation of our redemption there were really two avenues of thought that I want to provide resources to dig deeper for ourselves:
1) Incidence in scripture where we observe the angels in attendance
2) The doctrine of Angelology and its corollary Spiritual Warfare
1 Angels in Attendance
Last night we looked at the role of angles in creation and the worship of God to understand Paul’s meaning in Ephesians 3:10. Here are the basic truths discussed in understanding this passage:
- God created the angelic realm in advance of the physical creation of which we are a part
- Purpose of all creation is the showing forth of the greatness and glory of God
- The chief role of angles is that of eternal worshipers
- Though angles are spiritual beings they are not omniscient
- Angles grow in knowledge and hence worship of God by watching the redemption of humanity and the building of the Church
- Not only are we used to glorify God before men here on earth, we are also used to glorify God’s name before the angelic host
- Angles are in a position to more fully appreciate and worship God for His humility and love, having seen Jesus the Son in glory, give that up to become a man, live sinlessly, suffer and die for the salvation of mankind
We referred to a couple moments in history where angels were present to observe the activity of God and bring more praise, below is a more comprehensive list of where the presence of the angelic host appears in scripture. Take some time, look it up and maybe even consider what the angels would have seen about God from their perspective that would have informed their praise.
Scripture of Angels’ Observation
- At Creation: Job 38:7
- Giving of the Law: Galatians 3:19, Acts 7:53
- Birth of Jesus: Luke 2:13
- Temptation of Christ: Matthew 4:11
- Jesus’ Resurrection: Matthew 28:2
- Jesus’ Ascension: Acts 1:10
- Jesus’ Second Coming: Matthew 13:37-39, Matthew 24:31, Matthew 25:31, 2 Thessalonians 1:7
2 Angelology and Spiritual Warfare
I’m going to get outta the way and let the big dogs eat on this one. Below are a couple of links to literature and sermons on this subject I have found incredibly helpful. Though this teaching is not directly from Fellowship and is thus not the church’s “official” position it is very close if not right down the line. We’d include postings to Fellowship’s material if it was available on line (Fellowship Institute is a great way to get at this truth here locally, check out this link). Check out these links to books to read on the subject of angels and spiritual warfare. I have found this teaching incredibly helpful for me personally.
Books:
Systematic Theology: Wayne Grudem
Sermons:
Tommy Nelson on Satanology (Streaming) I would recommend listening to WHOLE Systematic Theology series available on his site as well.
Mark Driscoll on Spiritual Warfare (Series Streaming or Download)
Hope these resources help. I loved the time spent with our BLOB that night. A lot of the power of the scripture we studied that night I think is in the consideration of OUR mission and message in light of OUR story. Hope you keep drilling deep, hope you cut out that time to hear God speak. MANY are watching.
BLOB Rater 2/27/10 Ephesians 3:1-13
Really loved last night, it was fun to finally get back to BLOBing. Would love for you guys to use the rating system below AND the comment section to share with one another what God was doing in you through our time together last night. We love feedback for sure, but would like to see this more as a tool to share our experience with one another so PLEASE take some time to leave a comment for our mutual encouragement as a 501 community.
Also want to provide the follow up information promised during our master teacher time. Last night in the set up of the text we were studying we cracked a couple of huge cans of worms open we did not have the time to really delve into. In looking at the presence of the angelic realm and their observation of our redemption there were really two avenues of thought that I want to provide resources to dig deeper for ourselves:
1) Incidence in scripture where we observe the angels in attendance
2) The doctrine of Angelology and its corollary Spiritual Warfare
1 Angels in Attendance
Last night we looked at the role of angles in creation and the worship of God to understand Paul’s meaning in Ephesians 3:10. Here are the basic truths discussed in understanding this passage:
- God created the angelic realm in advance of the physical creation of which we are a part
- Purpose of all creation is the showing forth of the greatness and glory of God
- The chief role of angles is that of eternal worshipers
- Though angles are spiritual beings they are not omniscient
- Angles grow in knowledge and hence worship of God by watching the redemption of humanity and the building of the Church
- Not only are we used to glorify God before men here on earth, we are also used to glorify God’s name before the angelic host
- Angles are in a position to more fully appreciate and worship God for His humility and love, having seen Jesus the Son in glory, give that up to become a man, live sinlessly, suffer and die for the salvation of mankind
We referred to a couple moments in history where angels were present to observe the activity of God and bring more praise, below is a more comprehensive list of where the presence of the angelic host appears in scripture. Take some time, look it up and maybe even consider what the angels would have seen about God from their perspective that would have informed their praise.
Scripture of Angels’ Observation
- At Creation: Job 38:7
- Giving of the Law: Galatians 3:19, Acts 7:53
- Birth of Jesus: Luke 2:13
- Temptation of Christ: Matthew 4:11
- Jesus’ Resurrection: Matthew 28:2
- Jesus’ Ascension: Acts 1:10
- Jesus’ Second Coming: Matthew 13:37-39, Matthew 24:31, Matthew 25:31, 2 Thessalonians 1:7
2 Angelology and Spiritual Warfare
I’m going to get outta the way and let the big dogs eat on this one. Below are a couple of links to literature and sermons on this subject I have found incredibly helpful. Though this teaching is not directly from Fellowship and is thus not the church’s “official” position it is very close if not right down the line. We’d include postings to Fellowship’s material if it was available on line (Fellowship Institute is a great way to get at this truth here locally, check out this link). Check out these links to books to read on the subject of angels and spiritual warfare. I have found this teaching incredibly helpful for me personally.
Books:
Systematic Theology: Wayne Grudem
Sermons:
Tommy Nelson on Satanology (Streaming) I would recommend listening to WHOLE Systematic Theology series available on his site as well.
Mark Driscoll on Spiritual Warfare (Series Streaming or Download)
Hope these resources help. I loved the time spent with our BLOB last night. A lot of the power of the scripture we studied last night I think is in the consideration of OUR mission and message in light of OUR story. Rate the BLOB below and COMMENT to share maybe how God is shaping your understanding of how He is shaping you, your life, and your message.
BLOB Rater 1/29/10 Ephesians 2:11-22
We’re using this tool to get us interacting over what God is doing and what we are experiencing in our individual BLOBS on Thursday night. Please rate your experience from the night and BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT as well to expand what you thought, learned, and how you encountered Jesus through that time. We’re not looking to collect data, but rather share our experience to keep pursuing the idea of “one anothering” that is ours as part of Jesus’ Church.
This week we studied Ephesians 2:11-22 moving from Paul’s reminder to the Ephesian church in 2:1-10 of the grace by which they have been saved to the position of closeness to God they have been brought to by the workings of Christ. In a pursuit of God without temple, empty ritual, or superstition Paul reminded the church that God was dwelling in them and amongst them as they were being built together in Christ. Prayerfully we are experiencing that same nearness progressively as we pursue holiness and real community. What’d you think about last night? What stood out? What have you resolved to apply?
RATE YOUR BLOB!!!!!!!!!!
BLOB 12/3/09 Ephesians 2
We’re launching this new tool to get us interacting over what God is doing and what we are experiencing in our individual BLOBS on Thursday night. Please rate your experience from the night and be sure to comment as well to expand what you thought, learned, and how you encountered Jesus through that time. We’re not looking to collect data, but rather share our experience to keep pursuing the idea of “one anothering” that is ours as part of Jesus’ Church.
This week we are transitioning in Ephesians 2:1-10 from Paul’s praise of God and prayer for the church at Ephesus to looking at the extravagant GRACE that God pours out on us in Jesus and that the church in Ephesus was learning to accept. Prayerfully we will all be moving to a greater understanding of God’s grace through our study and time together.
Share what you thought!