Ephesians 2:14-22

Thursday April 20, 2006

REMINDER:
NO LIFE GROUP NEXT WEEK -- THURSDAY APRIL 27th

Verse 17 uses the word "peace" which is a gift from the Lord. The division or gulf between the Jews and the Gentiles was abolished because He was the peace.

Verse 18 The word "access" is like being presented to a king in a throne room. What things do we have access to with Jesus? Love, peace, power, blessings...

Verse 19 He abolished the law because he fulfilled the Law. He is the chief cornerstone. This phrase corner stone appears several times throughout the Bible.

Verse 21 The building God which is being built by God continues to be constructed. "Holy Temple" refers to inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.

Verse 22 "Built together"

Verse 20 Refers to the "prophets;" this means the early believers in Christ. But this could also mean the Old Testament prophets, which would bind the Gentiles with the Jewish prophets.

If we hate one of the brothers or sisters in Christ; they are a part of Him and we are hating Him. A Chinese brother once shared this: Before the Cultural Revolution in China, there were many different churches and denominations. After the Revolution, there was just one.

In our time of sharing and prayer we heard of burdens for some of the local college students and university campuses. We also prayed for one another and we learned a lesson on how to reach out to others: Listen, Love and Pray.

No Life Group this coming Thursday

There will be no Life Group this coming Thursday.

This Thursday is known as Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday.

It is the day before good Friday when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Have a Happy Easter!

Thursday April 6, 2006

We welcome Richard, joining us for the first time.

Ephesians 2:11-22

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever"

We repeated this statement at the end of last week's meeting. We felt the Lord leading us to do things that were different, not the usual. We prayed for one of our members who needed physical healing and he found relief from his illness! The whole process resulted in lessons for each of us to learn.

Today we had a word from the Lord:

"I got your number, your phone number. If you press in and seek me,
expect a phone call."

The Lord is saying, God knows what we are going through. Each of
us...individually, He is aware...

So today we continue in Ephesians.
Jesus has torn the veil to give us access. At that time there was a huge difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. Circumcision was one of the signs. Uncircumcised people were thought to be unclean--dogs, as they referred to the Samaritans (among others).

verse 13 again... "But now..." ...again...God changes the situation.

Isaiah 57:19

Romans 2:25-29
If it wasn't in the heart it was a form of spiritual pride. Verse 11 says "Remember" because that spiritual pride can happen over and over through the generations. Jesus makes one new man out of the two--the Gentiles and the Jews.

But God...

March 30, 2006

Ephesians 2:1-10

There is a contrast--in the first three verses it speaks of being dead spiritually. But then in verse four; it says, But God.

He made us alive, raised us up in Christ and seated us in the heavenly realm with Christ (verse 6). That is past tense. Done. When someone is seated it shows authority. Seated shows a finished work. We don't always realize that we have this finished work.

The beginning of Ephesians sets the groundwork for the end (spiritual armour--we studied this earlier: see here here and here). The children of Israel didn't enter into the promised land because of unbelief (Hebrew 3:19).

We will be on display--a showcase (verse 7).

Ephesians 2:10
We are His workmanship...the grace comes first and the works after that.
Good works may not mean the works that we do. (Verse 9)
God is the one doing the works we walk in them. God is the workman, we are the project. He works through us.