IMAGE: ALIVE IN CHRIST
IMAGE: NEW LIFE
WELCOME
Sunday, June 25, 2023
SERIES: ALIVE IN CHRIST
A STUDY IN EPHESIANS
LIVE MESSAGE: NEW LIFE
Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–5:2 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
Scripture Reading Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV
Ephesians 2 ESV and Audio
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages 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 a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
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“Amazing Grace” 1779 by John Newton
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LIVE 11:00 AM EST
Sunday, June 25, 2023
SERIES: ALIVE IN CHRIST
A STUDY IN EPHESIANS
LIVE MESSAGE: NEW LIFE
Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–5:2ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
^Videos by Inspirational>1…
MESSAGE: NEW LIFE
Sunday, June 25, 2023
SERIES: ALIVE IN CHRIST
A STUDY IN EPHESIANS
MESSAGE: NEW LIFE
Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–5:2 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–5:2 ESV
Ephesians 4, 5 ESV and Audio
The New Life
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Walk in Love
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
SERMON NOTES
Sunday, June 25, 2023
SERIES: ALIVE IN CHRIST
A STUDY IN EPHESIANS
LIVE MESSAGE: NEW LIFE
Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–5:2 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
“In God’s family, we choose to live differently.” That’s pretty much what Paul is saying in Ephesians 4. Now that we’re alive as sons and daughters of God, now that we’re members of His family, the house rules have changed. This new family doesn’t live like other families do. It’s all different.
The Old
Paul describes the old self—this Gentile lifestyle—as “corrupt through deceitful desires.” It’s a desire-driven way of life, living to gratify our appetites.
But notice, those desires are deceitful, because they never deliver what they promise. And they are corrupting—they twist and dehumanize us the more we give into them.
Paul says that kind of living messes up our thinking, calling it the “futility of mind.” Paul is describing what moral philosophers call “Akrasia.” What the heart desires, the will embraces, the mind rationalizes, and the conscience justifies.
Paul’s whole point is that we cannot keep living the way we used to.
The New
Paul uses two images to describe our new way of living: a classroom and a wardrobe.
Your new self is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. It’s God’s own signature style. It’s a look that He created and wears Himself. And He’s clothing you in His own image and likeness.
You are His sons and daughters after all, part of the family. So, it’s fitting that you would dress the part.
And at the heart of this “putting off” and “putting on” is to “be renewed in the spirit of your minds”
We are to put off the old self and put on the new self, as we actively receive the ongoing Spirit-led renewal of our minds. Paul is describing spiritual transformation, not behavior modification.
As we open ourselves up to the Spirit, following His lead, obeying His call, surrendering to Jis will, we are putting off the old self and putting on the new self. When we keep in step with the Spirit, those old gentile rags just don’t fit right, and our new godly threads start to become increasingly comfortable. We feel more at home in them day by day. as we grow into the people we were always meant to be.
We have a whole new life to live into.
The Change
Paul now gives 5 examples of what this Spirit-led renewal looks like as we put off the old and put on the new:
A) Put off lying and instead put on truth.
B) Put off sinful, festering, sustained anger, and instead put on daily reconciliation.
C)Put off stealing, and instead put on honest work.
D) Put off corrupting talk—caustic words that tear down—and put on instead constructive, edifying, situationally wise speech.
E) Put off bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, malice, and relational ugliness—and put on kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness.
What does it mean to be imitators of God? “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
We have the Father to imitate, and the Son to follow, and the Spirit urging us to new life.
We have everything we need for life and godliness.
Takeaway:
In God’s family, we choose to live differently.
Benediction
Scripture: Galatians 2:20 ESV
Galatians 2 ESV and Audio
Justified by Faith
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
PASTOR TO PEOPLE
“In our family, we choose to live differently.”
Our kids can repeat that phrase. There are so many times when Krista and I have to explain to our kids why we are a bit odd as a family. They overhear other kids using words they’re not allowed to use. They wonder why they can’t have cell phones when other kids their age have them. They feel out of the loop when they’ve not seen some of the same movies as their peers. And we tell them, “in our family, we choose to live differently.”
It’s not that we’re trying to be strange as a family, although parts of that are unavoidable given the quirkiness of their father. We’re trying to protect the beauty of their childhood. We’re trying to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We’re trying to instill godly patterns in our family culture. We’re not doing it perfectly, but we’re doing the best we know how.
Our kids are learning it’s okay to be different. Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean we have to do it too. Living with wisdom and godliness means we’re going to be a bit weird. To follow Jesus is to swim upstream. We’re a countercultural people. We’re alive to the New Creation. We’re citizens of heaven. We’re a people living now in light of kingdom come.
In God’s family, we choose to live differently. That’s what Ephesians 4–6 is all about. The call of Jesus means daring to be different. It means we’ll stand out from the crowd at many points. But even when we’re a bit odd, we are loved, more than we know.
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