The church was born as the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples at Pentecost, a large crowd gathered, the gospel was proclaimed, and the rest is history. God is still in the business of building his church as people are filled with the Holy Spirit,...
Romans 9:19–29 continues Paul argument that God is merciful to whomever he chooses and that God hardens whomever he chooses. Human beings need to remember their lowly state before God and acknowledge that he is the one who holds us in his hands,...
Sin has infected every single human being. It is important to know how our sin has broken a relationship with our sovereign God. No one seeks him, and as a result we make a mess of our lives. Only when we understand this bad news can the good news...
Trees are a reminder that God’s creation is living and powerful. We have a tree in our backyard that has grown substantially since we bought the house eight years ago. The reader will certainly notice how little I know about trees, as I...
The apostle Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians by explaining his faithful messenger and summarizing the message of the epistle. God calls all of the saints to do the work of ministry to encourage the hearts of their brothers and sisters....
Paul encourages the believers in Ephesus to take up the armor of God by praying constantly in the Spirit, making prayer and supplication for others. Pray for not only ourselves, but for others, helps supply, equip, and strengthen believers in the ...
As Paul draws to the close of his letter to the Ephesians, he says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord.” Believers need to realize that they are in the midst of spiritual war and that they wrestle with a formidable enemy, the devil and his demons...
Josh Gilchrist and Jeremy Rainbow teach on Ephesians 6:1-9 covering what is looks like to walk worthy within families and workplaces. God has specific order that he has created, and he longs for people to ultimately honor one another. Authority is...
We see the contrasting results of Jesus’ prayerful dependence in Gethsemane and the disciples spiritual lethargy. We need to realize that we are prone to temptation, and despite our best intentions, we are weak in and of ourselves, and we need t...
Marriage was instituted by God in the Garden where He joins a husband and wife together in a one flesh union. God has specific requirements for husbands and wives. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands as to the Lord, and husbands are to sa...
Those called to belong to Christ should know their spiritual surroundings and step carefully in wisdom, seeking to do what pleases the Lord. Believers must also choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live worshipful lives with one another....
Those who are united in Christ are transformed into children of light, starkly contrasting the way they used to be. Those children of light are to live fruitful lives by not only avoiding the unfruitful works of darkness, but by also warning the w...
The epistle to the Ephesians transitions from talking about all of the things that Christ has done in unifying believers to Himself and to one another. If those blessings are true, and believers have been called to belong to Christ, that calling w...
Paul ends the first half of his letter with a prayer. All of these blessings that he has explained in chapters 1–3 do not happen automatically. They are ours in Christ. But since they are from the Lord, we need to seek the Lord in laying hold of...
Believers can rejoice in the spiritual blessings in Christ because of God’s commitment to his purposes. He blesses believers by making his master plan known to them, by making believers his possession, and by guaranteeing their inheritance by th...
God is the blessed one, and he lavishes blessings on believers because of his grace and sovereign determination. Some of those blessings are being chosen by him, being adopted as children, and having redemption through Christ's blood....
