Downloadable Inductive Study of Ephesians 5:1-22

Coffee Talk For Ephesians 5:1-22

Link to Tommy Nelson’s teaching…start of with his Church History series…he’s a baller, old school with high shorts and Chuck Taylors, but a baller none the less.

There’s a story by Ursula LeGuin called “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.” It tells the tale of a city in which everyone is perfectly happy. It is not a morally perfect city, for there seem to be no objective moral or ethical standards. There is no true religion, no government, no crime. Sounds like a story that starts off intriguing and gets boring quickly, right? But LeGuin knows that such perfection is impossible for us to conceive in any meaningful way. So she ends her description of Omelas with a final detail: the city can only remain in its happy state as long as there is one member of the community in unceasing, uncomprehending misery. A child, kept in a corner cellar, entirely without human contact and living naked in his own waste. At their intellectual coming of age every citizen of Omelas is made to observe this suffering child. Most of them choose to remain in the city that pays for perfect happiness with a single life. But some choose to walk away, to search for a city that can achieve perfect happiness without a sacrifice.

There are many ways to read and interpret this story, of course, but as I re-read it over the weekend several thoughts struck me at once. Here they are, in no particular order:

• Do Christians try to create an Omelas out of the church, all the while ignoring the state of the unbelievers in their community?
• Are we hiding in church, using it like a doctor’s lounge, while we wait for the One who will finally usher in an eternal state of perfection?
• Is not walking away from the needs of another the consummate act of selfishness? After all, those who walked away from Omelas couldn’t live with the idea of their happiness coming at the expense of another, but they only cared enough to preserve themselves from the uncomfortable reminder. They didn’t care enough to save the child because they would have sacrificed their own happiness by so doing. So they didn’t really care about the suffering of the child. They cared about how the suffering of the child made them feel.

That train of thought led me to remember a quote from John Stott in Alexander Strauch’s “Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-up Call to the Church: ”A true love for people leads to labor for them; otherwise it degenerates into mere sentimentality. “ This was followed closely by Francis Schaeffer’s declaration: “Man is more than a soul to be saved.” Both thoughts rooted in the truth that “faith without compassion is dead” (James 2:17).

Knowledge of the right isn’t enough: even the demons know and tremble. We must act out, work out our faith. To borrow a phrase from the music of my past, “luv is a verb” (DC Talk). The proof is in the action. When I consider that Christ died for us—was for a time separated from his Father for us, an experience so painful that the Son of God asked to be spared—I am ashamed of how selfishly I hold on to my possessions, my time, and my comfort.

But maybe most of us at 501 don’t need to be reminded of the command to love our neighbor. Maybe we have been champing at the bit, looking for direction and purpose beyond our own edification, hoping to find out what 501, our beloved miscellaneous body of believers, is actually for. Maybe with the opportunity presented by the Habitat for Humanity project we are rising joyous, inspired, to a resounding battle cry! An opportunity for action, taken by believers, a working out of our faith, a response to Christ’s call—remembering that what we do for “the least of these” we do for Him. We revel in the opportunity to glorify the name of Christ, and to demonstrate His love to those who cannot be easily reached by words alone.

Opportunities to act on our principles are crucial to our faithfulness and experience as believers. When I was a kid my mom made me memorize and perform Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” I hated it. Well, the performing part, that is. The poem itself I found moving, inspiring; I felt that the words reached my soul.  It tells the story of 600 cavalry soldiers who are accidentally commanded to attack a force much larger than they. With unflinching obedience, even though they know the orders cannot be accurate and that they stand no chance, the horsemen courageously ride into battle. The final two stanzas read:

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

Volley’d and thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

While horse and hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came thro’ the jaws of Death

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them,

Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wondered.

Honor the charge they made,

Honor the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred.

I became aware of my longing for identification with something greater than myself, a longing for a righteous cause, the moment I finished reading that poem. It’s a longing that has never flagged, and I don’t think I’m alone in this desire. God made us this way, with the knowledge that we were made for more than our own existence, a conviction —which was what T.S. Elliot was saying in his poem “The Hollow Men” :

“Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception

And the creation

Between the emotion

And the response

Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire

And the spasm

Between the potency

And the existence

Between the essence

And the descent

Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is

Life is

For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.”

Together we can defy the whimper; empowered not by our own strength, but by the might of the compassionate agent of our own salvation. In doing so we identify what every individual longs for and what every organization requires; we declare our cause, our meaning: to work out the effect of our understanding of spiritual reality on our physical reality. We must have both faith and works to be complete, to be three-dimensional believers, and to be fulfilled in our faith (James 2:20). Why am I excited about the Habitat for Humanity project? Because as the walls of that home go up—when we’re working out our faith—there’s going to be rubber all over the road.

Reading the account I thought to be so familiar though, the imagery of the drama that unfolded on that day came to life for me in my mind as it had never before. Usually the character I focus on, who the movies are always about, and certainly who is ultimately the point is Jesus. But this morning it was the person of Pilate, the Roman Governor, ultimately responsible for the decision of Jesus’ fate, where my attention was drawn.

For the first time I saw in my mind’s eye just how common Jesus must have seemed to this man: seated in a governor’s palace with a carpenter, in working man’s clothes, bloodied and tired from the night before, standing before him. Though these moments recorded in John 2000 years ago mark the fulcrum of history to us, to Pilate then and there it was no more than a very difficult day at work. Throughout the account in John Pilate is contentious of his duty, seeks to make the wisest decision for his governorship, attempts to be just, in ways seems compassionate, and even wrestles with the implications of Jesus’ claims of divinity. But ultimately, when weighed against the pressures of life, the demands of the job, and the harsh realities before him, Jesus, the Carpenter Son of God, is someone to be dismissed.

Pilate gives Jesus to be crucified that his career may continue, offering a sign above the bloodied Christ’s head reading “THE KING OF THE JEWS” as a half measure of recognition that, had the circumstances been different, Jesus and His lordship might have been worthy of consideration.

Today the risen Christ still comes in power cloaked in humility, the images evoked by the crucifixion  story this morning making me consider how often I am Pilate to my Carpenter King.

If we are not in the buckle of the Bible Belt here in Little Rock, we are at least in the big Turquoise inlay just off to its right; and here, to us, to me, Jesus indeed can be common. I get busy, I get selfish, I excuse my sin and enlarge MY kingdom, while posting my token sign with my business card or fish on my car proclaiming that Jesus might be my king under certain circumstances.

So this morning I knelt in repentance before my King who is patient and kind. Who IS alive, and does reign on high while crafting His dwelling place in my heart. My prayer is that His kingship would transcend my life’s convenience and comfort as His love transcended when He laid claim to His kingdom with three nails and a spear. By His grace I want to seek Him harder, listen to His voice more, and glorify Him most. After all, if He truly is King and not common is that not the least He deserves?

Happy Good Friday to all who know the riches of His Kingdom.

There are many steps to go in preparation for our first 501 work day April 10th when we will raise the walls, but it is exciting to start to see this project of sacrifice and service take shape.

The team work and selflessness of the folks we are partnering with is incredible. The “Over the Hill Gang”, a group of six retirees that know houses volunteers their time to build at least 2 days every week to prepare the home for us to do our thing on Saturdays. I had the chance to meet our crew bosses Steve, James, and Misty, who will be directing our Saturday work crews, an incredible team of folks working full time on this deal to get it done.

Crew Bosses Steve, Misty, and James

We still have much work to do. The floor laid and walls raised are a result of the funds we have already contributed. Let’s continue to boldly both give from what we have been blessed with and ask others to join us in giving to this effort that will literally change lives and tangibly glorify God in our city.

We are on our way!

Wanna Be a Part? Click Here

As we look to give of our time, effort, and resources in serving our city in Jesus’ name Thursday was an awesome first step toward the $35,000 we are working to raise to provide a home for a family here in Little Rock.

This Tuesday workers arrived at the work site to set the piers for the start of the build…we are underway!

If you are interested in more information about this project click here. If you want to be involved, or want to give toward the effort, please email Michele Burns @ mburns@fellowshiponline.com .

This Thursday is the time for action. We are set to “break ground” on the home here at our Kirk Road campus April 5th (Monday after Easter) and to do so we as 501 need to have $10,000 cash on hand…that’s right, $10,000 of the $65,000 we need to raise.

Through matching funds pledged we’ll hit that target if we generate at least $5,000 over the next three weeks. Though there will be a time later to raise funds from others, this first $5,000 is coming straight from our check books at 501. This whole building process will be such an opportunity to give together SACRIFICIALLY of our time, our effort, and our money and thus show forth AND experience the grace of God (2 Corinthians 8:1-9).

So bring your checkbooks this Thursday! Looking forward to the growth this exercise in generosity will bring. I’m excited to grow in that alongside all of you!

PS: Check out this sermon series form Mars Hill Church on Generosity, it’s good stuff.

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:

John 3, 1 Peter 1:22-25, 2 Peter 1:3-11, Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:3-15, Romans 7:14-25, Galatians 5:16-26, Romans 6-8

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

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

The Adversary: Mark Bubeck

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.

Do NOT do this. Everything that comes up will cost approximately $396,532,083.74, which will probably give you a teensy, tiny heart attack.

A work lunch conversation about how simple this would be and a quick trip to the hospital to get my heart fixed later, I headed over to Wal-Mart armed with my manual (which I didn’t even know I had and certainly have never opened) and a completely false confidence.

I managed to walk out of that store with a Halogen Light bulb, my dignity (although there was mention that I was probably going to blow my hand off), and without punching the man who made me feel like an idiot because I don’t know how a carburetor works. Or exactly what it is.

I opened up my manual, opened the hood (okay, that took 10 minutes. AND I had to use my manual to find the opener-lever.), and peered inside when-

“Hey, will your car not start?”
I spun around, and there was an older man standing next me.
“Oh, no- I’m just trying to change my headlight bulb.”
“How’s it going?”
“Welllll… so far, I got the hood open.”
He chuckled, and without saying a word, took the manual and bulb out of my hands. He sent me inside to wash my hands,

(proof I tried)

and when I came out, he had not only fixed the headlight, he had cleaned off my battery and replaced a screw that had come off the front grill. I’m not kidding.

So for months and months and- okay, for life so far, this “man helping a woman because she can’t do it herself business” is exactly what I’ve been tooth and nail fighting. Because, the truth is, I probably could have done it myself. It would have taken me an hour *cough* hourssss, and I might have gotten hurt, but I could have done it. I can follow pictures.

But that’s not the point, is it?……. Is it?

And there it was- what I’ve been missing all along, maybe.

That this wasn’t about a man putting a woman in her place, or taking care of a “lil’ lady”, or any of that stuff-

it was about one human helping another human. It was about compassion, not superiority. It was about kindness, not smugness.

Oh, pride. You are indeed a sneaky little sucker.

I’m not saying that the next time I need something done to my car, I won’t try to do it myself. And it will probably end with a trip to the emergency room and irreversible damage to my car. I’m stubborn, and I don’t learn that fast.

What I’m saying is that I’d like to recognize these things a little more for what they really are, and less for what they’re not.

(I’m learning)
(Thanks, God)

Now all the heavenly splendor
breaks forth in starlight tender
from myriad worlds unknown
And we, this marvel seeing,
forget our selfish being
and know a beauty not our own.
Music: Innsbruck Heinrich Isaak (15thC)