Why Ephesians?
That is a great question. One I have asked myself many times over the last few weeks.
See, when I decide on a sermon series, I take a fairly strict method to my approach. I like to be a little diverse and not weigh on the same subjects. I like to approach different types of Scripture (epistle, narrative, prophecy, etc.) to stretch myself in applying the Word of God as well as exposing our congregation to the fullness of God's Word.
Here is my personal struggle...I have preached through Ephesians before. Not at my current church, but I have worked through this letter of Paul in a sermon series. That alone is enough to drive me to another book.
But, I can't.
Here's why:
As I sat in my office in February planning out the next 16 months of sermons (yes, you read that right, 16 months) I had about 8-9 weeks in the late Summer that I needed to fill. I had it worked out that after Easter and our previous series on "The Church" (you can catch videos of much of the church series here) we would walk through 2 Timothy. This would have taken us into July and after Labor Day, we would spend 31 weeks going through The Story to give our people a full scope of the whole Bible.
That's when it hit me. Maybe it was a divine leading or maybe it was a wild hair idea, but I decided to poll our congregation on several things about the church from ministries to worship songs and even asking about sermon topics. Well, as I was reading through the responses and praying over God's direction for our church and how to choose between the 20 great ideas (remember, I only had 8-9 weeks to fill), I noticed a trend that 12 of the 20 (60%) were covered by the book of Ephesians. For a sermon calendar junkie like me, that is devastatingly alarming. My whole schedule was ruined for the next 16 months.
However, as I prayed over it and began some immediate preparation for this series, I started reading through the book of Ephesians again. What struck me was not that I had already preached this book, but that God was preaching it to me again. It began to hit me once more that what our church needed was not my planned out sermons, but God's direction in His Word.
So, here are my top four reasons for why we are launching Ephesians this Sunday:
See, when I decide on a sermon series, I take a fairly strict method to my approach. I like to be a little diverse and not weigh on the same subjects. I like to approach different types of Scripture (epistle, narrative, prophecy, etc.) to stretch myself in applying the Word of God as well as exposing our congregation to the fullness of God's Word.
Here is my personal struggle...I have preached through Ephesians before. Not at my current church, but I have worked through this letter of Paul in a sermon series. That alone is enough to drive me to another book.
But, I can't.
As I sat in my office in February planning out the next 16 months of sermons (yes, you read that right, 16 months) I had about 8-9 weeks in the late Summer that I needed to fill. I had it worked out that after Easter and our previous series on "The Church" (you can catch videos of much of the church series here) we would walk through 2 Timothy. This would have taken us into July and after Labor Day, we would spend 31 weeks going through The Story to give our people a full scope of the whole Bible.
That's when it hit me. Maybe it was a divine leading or maybe it was a wild hair idea, but I decided to poll our congregation on several things about the church from ministries to worship songs and even asking about sermon topics. Well, as I was reading through the responses and praying over God's direction for our church and how to choose between the 20 great ideas (remember, I only had 8-9 weeks to fill), I noticed a trend that 12 of the 20 (60%) were covered by the book of Ephesians. For a sermon calendar junkie like me, that is devastatingly alarming. My whole schedule was ruined for the next 16 months.
However, as I prayed over it and began some immediate preparation for this series, I started reading through the book of Ephesians again. What struck me was not that I had already preached this book, but that God was preaching it to me again. It began to hit me once more that what our church needed was not my planned out sermons, but God's direction in His Word.
So, here are my top four reasons for why we are launching Ephesians this Sunday:
- I cannot find a better example in all of Scripture of the collision between what we believe and how it hits us in our every day life. For all of the sway towards practical or principle driven preaching, Ephesians takes us to the very core of our belief and plays itself out in how we must then live: Walking According to the Call.
- Working through entire books of the Bible exposes us to more of what the Word of God actually says and protects church congregations from hearing what I will call "preacher filled" sermons. I'm not saying my way is right and any other way is wrong. I serve in a town with a very large church whose pastor has been overly belligerent towards this methodology. I'm fine with that. However, at the end of my life and ministry God will be the one to evaluate everything I taught and I would personally prefer for it to be as saturated with His Word as possible. Ephesians is proof that verse by verse context driven preaching not only teaches the full Gospel of Christ but places the congregation in a position of developing a love for the Word of God and its application.
- Ephesians is easy to understand. I'm convinced that the church does not need another sermon (much less another series!) on eight ways to do is or eleven steps towards that. The church needs Jesus, His blood, His ransom, and His Word. Too often we complicate faith by adding good advice that can be found in any self help or how to section at Barnes and Noble. The catch is that when we try to church up advice from Carol Dweck or Dale Carnegie we have short changed our faith for some a lackluster substitute and, in effect, muddied the waters when God's Word offers a clear and simple solution. Enter into the world of Ephesians. Did I mention that it is practical?
- I love the church at Ephesus. Maybe not to the extent of Paul, and certainly not to the extent of Christ Jesus. But I love this church. Maybe it's because like my church (and yours...don't be mistaken), it is broken. Maybe it's because the people there, just like in Anderson, SC struggle with matching faith to action. Maybe it's because the church at Ephesus didn't get it right and it's okay. But most definitely it's because this church was unrivaled in influence, save for Antioch. It's a church that shows the rest of us that God will take people like us and train us for a great demonstration of His glory. Husbands and wives, children, bosses and workers, everyday joes and the upper eschalon.
Why don't you make plans to join us this Sunday? I know you will be encouraged by the Word of God. If you have questions about your faith, we will strive to provide biblical answers. If you are seeking ways to apply what you believe, this study will show you where and how. If you are looking for an effective defense of the faith, Ephesians is your place. You will grow with others just like you and learn to live a life that Christ alone can enable.
See you Sunday.
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