Covenant Life Church

September 15 2008 at 5:00 am

Ephesians, Part 2: Application

Yesterday Mark Mullery, senior pastor of our sister church Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax preached from Ephesians 1:3-6. Thanks again, Mark, for serving us so well on such short notice!

You can listen online or download the message here.

And here are this week’s application questions, prepared by pastor Don DeVries, for your consideration on your own or in a small group setting:

1. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen him; and I am quite sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterward…for I could never find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love.” How does your own story of conversion, like Mr. Spurgeon’s, magnify God’s electing love?

2. Ephesians 1:4 states that God “chose us in him” [i.e., in Christ]. All of God’s redemptive activity on our behalf is centered in His Son—how does reflecting on that stir your love for the Savior and cultivate humility in your heart?

3. How does contemplating that God specifically chose you before time began cultivate an assurance of His unchanging and eternal favor and love for you?

4. Ephesians 1:6 states that God’s initiative through Christ in election, redemption and adoption is “to the praise of his glorious grace.” How do these truths inspire gratitude, joy and worship in your heart?

September 13 2008 at 1:21 pm

Sunday: a Change and a Snapshot

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I’m looking forward to worshiping with you tomorrow. As you might have noticed in yesterday afternoon’s post, there has been a change of preacher for tomorrow. C.J. is sick, and we insisted that he not try to speak so that he can focus on getting better. We are so thankful for Mark Mullery, senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax who was eager to serve our church by stepping in for C.J. and preaching from the same text, Ephesians 1:3-6. Thank you, Mark!

And here are some snapshots from last Sunday:

Starting Point Host leader Jeremy Mayhew greeting guests

Starting Point volunteers cleaning up

September 11 2008 at 3:02 pm

Sunday Preview: Ephesians and Praying for Iran

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This Sunday Mike Bradshaw leads our time of singing. Mark Mullery, senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax will continue our Ephesians series, preaching from 1:3-6:

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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

We will also take some time to pray for the nation of Iran, a nation rich with history and culture but currently facing some grave circumstances such as religious persecution, human trafficking, and rising poverty and unemployment. On Sunday, we will pray for these 65 million people and the converts among them facing great pressure and persecution from family and friends and from the Islamic government, which just passed a bill imposing the death penalty for converts to Christianity. But by God’s grace and in spite of the isolation from the outside world of believers, the young church in Iran thrives, and I look forward to crying out to the Lord on their behalf this Sunday.

September 11 2008 at 12:11 pm

Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees

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The video above is a clip from the first message in our Ephesians series. My goal was to illustrate the Apostle Paul’s intention to help us see the “big picture” of God’s purpose for the Church and the rich spiritual blessings believers enjoy in Christ. And here is a quote from John Stott that sums up the message of Ephesians:

The letter focuses on what God did through the historical work of Jesus Christ and does through his Spirit today, in order to build his new society in the midst of the old.

It tells how Jesus Christ shed his blood in a sacrificial death for sin, was then raised from death by the power of God and has been exalted above all competitors to the supreme place in both the universe and the church. More than that, we who are ‘in Christ,’ organically united to him by faith, have ourselves shared in these great events. We have been raised from spiritual death, exalted to heaven and seated with him there. We have also been reconciled to God and to each other. As a result, through Christ and in Christ, we are nothing less than God’s new society, the single new humanity which he is creating and which includes Jews and Gentiles on equal terms. We are the family of God the Father, the body of Jesus Christ his Son and the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit

Therefore we are to demonstrate plainly and visibly by our new life the reality of this new thing which God has done: first by the unity an diversity of our common life, secondly by the purity and love of our everyday behavior, next by the mutual submissiveness and care of our relationships at home, and lastly by our stability in the fight against the principalities and powers of evil. Then in the fullness of time God’s purpose of unification will be brought to completion under the headship of Christ.

—From The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Ephesians

September 10 2008 at 5:17 pm

Studying Ephesians Together

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Thanks for all the encouraging feedback we’re receiving about the Ephesians series. Donna Banks wrote, “I am so excited that our church is going to be studying the book of Ephesians and am full of faith that this series will bear much fruit in our midst.”

On Sunday I encouraged people to consider studying Ephesians in their personal times of devotion. For some this might mean using a commentary and studying the book over an extended period of time. For others it might mean using a day each week to review the last passage preached on, or to read and prepare for the next passage to be preached. To help you with this, what follows is a schedule of messages from now through November.

Sept. 07 - 1:1-2: Introduction to Book
Sept. 14 - 1:3-6: God’s Blessings in Election
Sept. 21 - 1:7-14: God’s Blessings in Salvation
Sept. 28 - 1:15-23: Prayer for Understanding of God’s Mysterious Blessings

Oct. 05 - 2:1-10: Our Salvation: Changed from Death to Life
Oct. 12 - 2:11-18: Our Salvation: Changed from Strangers to God’s People to God’s Family
Oct. 19 - 2:19-22: The Church: God’s House

Nov. 02 - 3:1-14: The Divine Mystery Displayed and Proclaimed
Nov. 09 - 3:14-21: A Prayer for Power
Nov. 16 - 4:1-6: The Priority of Unity
Nov. 23 - 4:7-13: Diversity for the Purpose of Maturity
Nov. 30 - 4:14-16: Growing Up Together

September 8 2008 at 5:12 pm

Diving Into Ephesians

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Yesterday I received this encouraging e-mail from Covenant Life member Javed Khan. He makes a great suggestion on reading straight through the book of Ephesians. Thanks for the tip, Javed!

Dear Josh,

Many thanks for beginning the study on Ephesians. I am very excited to see what the Lord will do as we go over this book. I did this morning what you suggested and read over Ephesians in one sitting. A good way to do this is to go to the online ESV and listen and follow it as it is read out on audio. This is a good way to do it because it allows you to process the message by multiple senses (sight, sound, and touch if you write and underline at the same time). It took less than 30 minutes, and it was very rich, and I was able to see the “Forest for the Trees.”

I continue to pray for you as you lead His church.

—Javed

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