Sermon Series: 30 Day of Prayer & Fasting
Welcome to First United Methodist Church! We are excited to embark on a 30-day spiritual adventure together. Join us as we dive into the book of Ephesians, exploring how Jesus Christ profoundly impacts every aspect of our lives. Prepare to be inspired and challenged as we uncover God’s transformative power. This Sunday, we will delve into the impact of the Gospel on the community of Ephesus, drawing wisdom from the Book of Acts. Let this message ignite your faith, encouraging you to pray big prayers and expect great things from our limitless God. Blessings await you on this incredible journey of faith.
September 17, 2023 – Ask and Imagine – Week 3 – “Gospel Fluency” – Ephesians 2:1-10
The gospel story is the foundational meta-narrative of a Christian’s life. The Oxford Dictionary defines a meta-narrative as “an overarching account or interpretation of events and circumstances that provides a pattern or structure for people’s beliefs and gives meaning to their experiences.” The Biblical meta-narrative of creation, fall, and redemption enables us to interpret our own story in light of God’s story.
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Saved by grace through faith. This is my story; this is my song. We are God’s workmanship. My life is an example of God’s redemptive work in the world. Guess what? Yours is too! Want to know something else? God isn’t finished with us yet. I read something during my devotional time this week that struck a nerve. “There is an ever-present gap between who we aspire to become and who we actually are right now.” Y’all, that gap ___ is a constant reminder that there is room for grace to keep working on me. It seems that Paul wanted the Ephesian believers and the modern believers to never forget that who we are and who we are becoming is a journey of grace taken with each step of faith. Lets keep walking the pathway toward becoming more like Christ until He comes in final victory! See you Sunday as we continue our series in Ephesians.
Jimmy
Ephesians 2:1-10
Ephesians 2:1-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
From Death to Life
2 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world,[a] following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.[b] 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else,4 but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ[c]—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places[d] in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.