Ephesians 1:15-23 | Jordan Schumacher | Second Service

me does life hit you so hard that you've been knocked down have you gone too far to find the middle ground did they raise you so high just to put you back down have you been so lost you could never be found i don't know what it's like to be kinds of ways can you can you relate we both know what it is have you ever been left when you should have been loved has the river i've [Music] you don't know what it's like to be [Music] we both know what it's like to be we both know what it is i don't know what it's like to be you don't know what it's like to be me but by the grace of god we'll see each other's heart you [Music] here is where i this is good morning lifehouse family there are plenty of events coming up this month that we wanted to make sure you know about as we kick off this coming fall season september 23rd at 6 30 to 9 00 pm the 50 plus solo ladies group is hosting a game night complete with desserts a great opportunity to get better acquainted and we can get you there if you need a ride families add to your calendar september 26 5 30 to 8 pm for the great family treasure hunt mark my words it will be a treasure of a good time sign up today or find out more details on the church center app october 22nd to 24th marks the annual lighthouse women's retreat registration is open now on the church center app so make sure to save your spot today here is pam bundy with one small thought as she looks to the theme of the retreat the lord's prayer my name is pam bundy and i've been asked to share something from the verse from matthew 6 11 for um for retreat so i want to share two life lessons is how i like to call them the verse matthew 6 11 says give us this day our daily bread you know when i grew up as a child i don't think i ever thought when i sat down to dinner whether that be food on the table i never thought i might not have a lunch box i it never entered my mind although i heard that there were people starving in the world but i never really experienced it and then in 2014 god took me to uganda and i learned a lot of life lessons there and one of the things that happened at the very beginning of the trip was i went to the guest house which was where the amani choir was staying they were preparing to come to the united states for a choir tour and i was asked to lead them in a devotional but before i did they actually were having a time of prayer and when i listen to those children pray and i listen to them thanking god for the food they gave he gave them on that day that he would give them on that day when i heard them thank him for waking them up this morning that they were alive on this day something radically changed in my heart and i remember the story of god feeding the children in the wilderness giving them manna and he specifically gave it to them every day to gather what they needed for that day i really feel that it's a part of god's heart for us to learn total dependence on him that we we don't have anything that he hasn't given us that he hasn't provided we get stuck in our world and we just um assume there's going to be money in the bank or in our pocket and we can buy what we need we have refrigerators to save food and freezers to save food you know in a country like uganda most people don't have electricity and they're a cash society they work they get paid in cash and they use that cash that day to buy the food for that day so they understand this verse very differently than we do and i really believe it was god wanting his disciples and us to learn to be dependent on him for every single thing more information on the weekend can be found under events on the church center app no mom left behind a one-night gathering for ladies of all seasons worship testimony a veteran mom panel and a super fun night out to be encouraged and supported on your journey october 2nd 6 to 8 pm no mom left behind register to attend and for child care on the church center app today may the lord bless you and keep you this fine sunday and until next time we will see you on the church center app good morning everyone i'm glad you're here this morning why don't you stand with us and sing [Music] to the web that never runs dry drink of the water come back there's no more [Music] [Music] is [Music] bring all your failures bring your addictions come lay them down at the foot of the cross jesus is waiting there with open arms with his own [Music] is [Music] freedom [Music] praise god praise god praise god from [Music] praise him for the wonders of his love sing it again praise god praise god praise god from whom all blessings [Music] is [Music] is [Music] the power of hell forever defeated now it is [Music] bring your addictions come lay them down at the foot of the cross jesus is waiting god so loved the world [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] this place [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] your name is [Music] how majestic is your name [Music] i'd like us to read together from psalm 116 verses 5 through 9 join me and read the lord is gracious and righteous our god is full of compassion the lord protects the unwary when i was brought low he saved me return to your rest my soul for the lord has been good to you for you lord have delivered me from death my eyes from tears my feet from stumbling that i may walk in the land of the living i once was lost i walked away the road was dark i could not see my hope was gone the pain was real but your mercy you saw my steps you felt my fears you heard my cries you caught [Music] see [Music] you died so i could live no greater [Music] my deepest shame is cast away you sing a song [Music] see [Music] you died then [Music] the bridge sings your loving kindness it leads me to repentance i sing that as a prayer this morning before the lord died [Music] it leads me to your loving kindness [Music] lord let your kindness lord let your kindness let it lead [Music] let it lead us [Music] i stand before my king and bow my heart to see you save me [Music] me you died so i could win no greater love [Music] [Music] we thank you lord for your mercy [Music] and because of that mercy [Music] our hearts can sing of his marvelous and his wonderful love for us singing how marvelous how wonderful [Music] how is my savior's love for me [Music] he took my sins and my sorrows he made [Music] and suffered and died alone and with the ransoming glory [Music] shall see it will be my joy through the ages [Music] how wonderful [Music] how wonderful is [Music] how wonderful is my savior's is my savior's love for me and is my savior's love for amen let's just sing that with just our vocals one more time singing [Music] my song shall ever be how marvelous how wonderful yes lord jesus we sing of your love for us it captivates us it humbles us fills our heart with thanksgiving we thank you god we give you praise in this place we thank you for your mercy and how it is new today for us to receive lord i pray that we would see it that we would receive it that it would change us that it would begin a new work that we would see things differently because of your love for us we pray this in the mighty name of jesus and everyone said amen amen go ahead and have a seat well good morning life house how's everyone doing so good to be worshiping with you you know we were singing earlier of god's greatness and his kindness and his mercy that he gives to us and as we think about the church the gathered people of god experiencing that kindness and that goodness is something that we should all experience when we're around believers i just want to let you know that's what i'm experiencing from you from you and my heart is incredibly full in a myriad of ways this church and the people in it are blessing me and my family you know yesterday we had the absolute blessing of moving into our home here in yep northern california relocating from southern and i think i would still be there moving boxes and trying to get a refrigerator in unsuccessfully if we didn't have an army of volunteers that just were happy to go and serve and it really honestly was hard for me to accept but uh i learned very quickly to accept it when i didn't didn't have to do the refrigerator you know so i felt good about that but thank you so much and you know uh two of the gifts the generosities that we've uh experienced here are this hat and this shirt and so i wanted to uh sport it in celebration of our uh our our lifehouse family our church family here and you know what it doesn't hurt that the giants are in first place right now so i i can i can sport that and celebrate that as well but you know in this new season of ministry as we we my family begin here uh we also as a church family are entering into a new season right uh and we're coming up on the fall and so we're starting this sermon series that we have called filled full and we are tracking through the book of ephesians and we began last sunday and so we're going to go on to the second part of the chapter one and we're going to finish chapter one today and so what the apostle paul has been doing is he has been praising god for the enormous blessings that god has packed full into his people each one of us when we believe in jesus we are marked with a seal we are given tremendous spiritual blessings in our lives and we we talked about those yesterday based on what paul said in verses 1 through 14 that god is our father that jesus is our savior and that the spirit is our security and so he goes on to the enormous blessings in salvation and then he's going to move to praying that we would receive and participate in the fullness of those blessings and so he goes from salvation to sanctification and the way to unlock that is through prayers he teaches that he models that he shows us that in this book and so we're going to be in verses 15 through 23. i want to encourage you to go ahead and open up there if you're not already we're going to put it up here on the screen but just before we dive into the text i just want to acknowledge that you know in a room this size and those online and there's there's going to be a number of places that we're at in regards to prayer you know i was reading uh recently from the pollster barna he did a survey on uh americans in regard to this area of prayer and he found that prayer is actually the most common form of religious practice in america isn't that kind of interesting it's not gathering together it's not necessarily reading the bible it's prayer it's the most common and in fact 80 of americans pray you know every so often but full 50 percent pray daily they have made that a daily habit you know as i was thinking about prayer in my own life i i imagine that all of us maybe have experienced that sense of really coming to the end of your own resources and realizing that we actually are powerless over the final outcome of specific specific circumstances in our lives you know not too long ago i came face to face with one of those when my aunt debbie who is one of those saints that prayed for me and she was so faithful in journeying uh with me even when i was wayward and i was following the ways of the world and i was doing my best to run away from god she prayed for me and she was instrumental in my spiritual journey you know a couple years ago she got cancer it was really hard for me to see her experience that and i remember asking her i said how painful is it on a scale from one to ten she told me it's about a twenty and it broke my heart and in those moments when we realized there's really not anything we can do about that in the life of our loved ones or even in our own lives where do we turn in those moments you know paul is going to counsel us to turn to prayer and we're going to learn the types of prayer that really are indeed powerful but you know if i'm being honest this morning the truth is i'm not as far along as i'd like to be in this area of prayer you know so often i find myself being completely inundated by the circumstances of my life the temporal concerns that i i just can't seem to get above and and look out and and have have uh my prayer concern not just focused on me but on all of those sprinkled throughout my life that's what paul's going to encourage us in today so let's read this he starts at verse 15 and it says this for this reason ever since i heard about your faith in the lord jesus and your love for all god's people i have not stopped giving thanks for you remembering you and my prayers i keep on asking that the god of our lord jesus christ the glorious father may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better i pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you the riches of his glorious inheritance in this holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe that power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised christ from the dead and he seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority power and dominion in every name that is invoked not only in the present age but also in the one to come and god placed all things under his feet and appointed him as head over everything in the church his body the fullness of him who fills everything in every way so heavenly father i pray that you would speak to your people by your word through your spirit teach us how to pray powerfully pray that in jesus name amen so paul is writing to the ephesians and these are those who are coming out of darkness and coming into light and uh these are predominantly gentiles who didn't grow up going to church right they've had this experience this fresh vision of faith from from uh the word that paul has preached to them it's the gospel it's the good news and uh they've received salvation and paul's reminding them of the blessings that they've received and then he goes on and he shares with them that the way to foster that is through prayer so salvation should lead to sanctification and the bridge there is praying asking god to unleash his power and his goodness in our lives and so here's the big idea we can take away today big idea is this persistently pleading for people's spiritual progress is powerful each part of this phrase is actually important so i i want to break it down for each of the phrases the first aspect is this persistently pleading and not just periodically mentioning you know i have found that uh when you truly love someone you don't give up easily on them there's this sense of persistence there's a tenacity it's not let you work at it it's actually that it just comes about as you love them as your love for them grows and so uh for tony and i when when i was uh meeting her and saying i kind of like this girl she she might be right for me and and my love started to grow for her i found that uh i i couldn't stay away i wanted to keep calling her and so i started out calling her maybe once every month and then that slowly turned into once a week and then that turned into once a day and then i think she started blocking me on the phone because i started getting a little bit creepy because i wanted to be around her i wanted her to know i was in it with her and i wanted to be with her a persistence of going after it's the same sort of prayers that we should be praying for others in our life and that's the second point you know paul mentioned that he had not stopped praying for the ephesian believers but he make make note of this that paul is praying for other people and not just himself you know i wonder if we were to think about that for a moment what is our prayer life like you know what what predominantly fills our prayers and who are we praying for you kind of think over the last week or two or month and get a sense of that barna in his research when he was asking folks in america what they typically pray for what he found is that most prayers are individualistic prayers maybe a little bit self-centered prayers prayers for our blessings for our concern our travel not necessarily for others those people's god sprinkled and put into our lives that we may benefit paul says it is your faith that i am praying for you ephesians it's your love for god's people that i give thanks for i'm remembering you you are in my heart and then also it is for people's spiritual progress and not just their material or physical blessings it's not physical health or material blessings predominantly that paul's encouraging us to pray for but something much higher which is the enduring spiritual aspects in our lives paul says it like this he says that you would god would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know god better pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened that you would know the hope of which he's called you something way more enduring than the temporal concerns of this life does that make sense it's praying for a deeper level and not just the shallow concerns that preoccupy our minds and this was really challenging to me this week this is i audited my own prayer life what do i pray for what fills my heart and fills my mind we know paul is kind of the spiritual mentor and guide is going to come alongside us in this area of prayer and wherever we're at he's going to encourage us to take some steps about how we can pray with power and there's three parts of powerful prayers that we see in his in this text today so we're gonna uh go through each one of those and actually they follow the progression that's right up here on our wall of discover develop deploy and so the first piece here this is a spiritual growth process he's telling us first celebrate spiritual discovery this is what paul is a pastor to these people is doing he's celebrating the spiritual growth in their life he says it this way for for this uh reason ever since i heard about your faith in the lord jesus and your love for god i have not stopped giving thanks for you you just kind of get this sense that paul's like this big teddy bear of a dad you know just wants to wrap his arms around these people and just say man i'm so happy for you love you so glad that you're doing well in your in your faith you know for us it is a great reminder that the spiritual life is a journey not just a destination but a journey and so it's a process and it's a process of discovery where we are discovering more and more truths about who god is and who jesus is in our lives and so it's not a once and done type thing that's not the spiritual life also as people of god we need to be the first ones to celebrate those spiritual victories in other people's lives i've taken steps you know in 20 years of ministry in the local church something that i found is that oftentimes we will hold back an encouragement or hold back a blessing in someone's life or we'll hold back the praise because we might think that they're going to get a big head if i say that to them or or it's maybe not the humble thing to do and so what it can happen is the inverse is actually true we can become spiritually dry kind of dead discouraged when we're not receiving encouragement from others and so when we spend time together as brothers and sisters in christ let's be the first to encourage that spiritual step hey they took a step there that's awesome praise god for that and you know god is the one who causes the growth it's not us it's him that is operational through us and the last piece here on this point is that the goal is progress not perfection it's progress in both faith and love faith towards god love towards others so the second piece here is so how do we grow how do we grow in faith towards god and love towards others paul's going to go on he's going to tell us through revelation for spiritual development it is through knowing more about god him revealing himself to us that we actually grow he says it this way that god may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better it's important for us to realize how god builds faith in people and how he does it is through the holy spirit and what the holy spirit births in people's lives and it's three predominant things the holy spirit scripture and then god's holy people those are the things that have been sanctified set apart that god is doing a work in and through and it's through knowing and participating more and more in those areas that we begin to know god more and more that's why it's so vital church that we're engaged in a life group that there's a place where two or three can gather it and god is right there in the midst and and we can confess and encourage and share our lives with one another and we open up this book the bible and we learn about how god has spoken to his people and it's trustworthy to lead us in growth and so if you're not a part of a small group a place where you can kind of be encouraged in this journey of faith i want to encourage you to take that step on our app there's you can request information about signing up for a group super easy and if there's not one that is right for you come talk to me talk to one of the staff members we'd love to get you connected and we'll help you take that step so getting connected to a group is an important piece here for faith building but spiritual development occurs ultimately as we know god better and the word that paul uses here of knowledge or knowing isn't just the greek understanding of knowing it's actually in its background more of a hebraic understanding which incorporates three aspects we'll break those down the first one is yes facts with our head that we would understand certain truths about god and so we'd understand it mentally who god is and what jesus has done for some theological truths but secondly it's also from our heart that every information would travel this distance to to the center of our being it would actually inform our loyalties it would inform what we feel and our motivation for action then lastly it would flow through our hands be something that we experience and do in reality that we participate in this thing called faith now faith works faith works it actually has a way of working through us when it's real faith and so it's not just a head knowledge that uh we know certain facts about god you know it's kind of like this uh tonya i i can't just say that i love her when i know that her birthday is on october 1st right that's great yeah i know that if that doesn't inform the way that i then respond or what i feel in order to respond uh there is going to be a disconnect and so it should hopefully flow from my heart that i have a a loyalty to her an affection of fondness and then i want to serve her i i want to rub her feet maybe or i want to get her a puppy dog or no she doesn't actually like dogs and so maybe i shouldn't do that right but it should inform how i actually respond and interact with her so we we celebrate the spiritual discoveries we lean on god but it's in the through scripture and the holy spirit in the midst of god's people that we develop spiritually and then ultimately we need to have our eyes opened by the holy spirit in our lives for what our purpose is for missional deployment because ultimately we've all been saved from something for something and paul says it this way the eyes of your heart may be enlightened now i don't know about you but i don't typically talk like that with people pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened today you know there's just this properness or a little bit of oddness in that turn of phrase well the reality is in the first century the inner being it really had sensations it really made a difference and so your inner being your heart can feel it can taste it can touch it can sense it can hear and so all throughout scripture you'll see those metaphors and what it's trying to get us to understand is that we need help from on high to actually be opened to the spiritual realities going on in our lives so with the scales need to fall off so paul says there's three truths we need to understand and the first is that god has a purpose he's a plan for our lives and that is good news you know not too long ago uh rick warren wrote a book called the purpose-driven life has anyone read that here and and so have about 50 million other people you know it's one of the most you know well read or published books non-fiction books in history behind the bible and it's fascinating but what it reveals is that there was a hunger for purpose to know that we were made to make a difference that this life matters and and what we're doing has an ultimate purpose behind it and paul is telling his ephesians that it's god who's the one who tells you what you're ultimately called to do that you may know the hope to which you have been called now in the christian life we have been called from darkness to light we have been called from sin to salvation we have been called from hopelessness to hope and helpfulness and health and impact and it's all because of what jesus has done in our lives the second thing we need to realize is god has given us everything we need to accomplish the purpose you know so often in our lives they will come across folks who uh because maybe they've made a mistake they've messed up they've gone the wrong direction they think somehow that disqualifies them from being used by god when in fact it gives them a testimony about how god can redeem and and use that brokenness for his glory and god everything in your life he wants to redeem he has it there for a purpose it's part of his plan so god has given us everything that we need he says of the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people then third point here is god's power that is not by our power that change happens or we bring about god's best it's through his power and the apostle paul as you read this text it is mind-blowing power man he uses four different words to describe the type of power that uh god has operational and is available to you and i not just in eternity but starting right now that we have access to this mind-blowing incomparably great power a power that anything is going on in your life that god can redeem it it's a power like no other power and so paul says his incomparably great power for those of us who believe so through christ we have access to it and he uses four different words and one of those words that he describes this power with is dunamis that's where we get our word dynamite from dynamic it is this explosive power another word that he uses is energia and then ideas where we get energy from and he's talking about this electric current that's flowing through your veins because the holy spirit is in your life this isn't run of the meal stuff this is exceptionally great power and so it's the type of power that is the same as the mighty strength that god exerted when he raised christ from the dead it is the type of power that seated him at the right hand of the heavenly realms over everyone else not only in the present age but also in the one to come and it's a power that fills to fullness every aspect of his body which is the church and so what type of power is it well it's this type of power it's a resurrection from the dead type of power it is an enthronement overall type of power it is enduring for all time type of power and it is filled full in every way type of power isn't that good news church that that type of power is available to you and i and so whatever is going on in your life today god has the power to address it he has the power and it's available to you for those who believe now paul doesn't want us to miss the big idea the big idea is this that persistently pleading for other people's spiritual progress is powerful it's not just for us but it's immensely encouraging for you to look to your right and your left those who are sitting next to you and realize that they have your back they are praying for you now we're brothers and sisters in this thing and that we're family and then we're going to not let anyone be left behind and we're going to love each other and lead each other to jesus together that happens in prayer you know the apostle paul started out in this chapter 1 with praise and prayer and then he's going to go back to praying in chapter 3 and then in chapter 6 he concludes his message with these words and pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests with this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the lord's people paul is trying to tell us prayer is powerful because you have access to the most powerful thing in the world it's the god who created this universe and you can supernaturally ask god to unleash his blessings in other people's lives so those are the types of people that we want to be those who advocate and who are persistent because we love one another in prayer now you know i think so often in our lives we're content with shallow prayers with this run-of-the-mill everyday type of low-level temporal concerns paul wants to lovingly steer us to something different something better something more rich something more lasting and it's to get our eyes on the spiritual dimension that there is something that's lasting for all eternity that god is doing and let's focus on that let's pray for our spouse that the love of god would uh encourage their heart and that it would change them forever and that they would be closer and closer to jesus let's pray for our kids that maybe they're off uh sowing some wild oats but we're not gonna give up on them we're gonna ask that god's holy presence his power would be manifest in their life and that they would turn and find their purpose and hope and that that this thing would make a difference so never give up pray because god can intervene you know i think that there's aspects for all of us wherever we are in this journey to take a step and what if we did what if we were those types of people that didn't give up what if we were those types of people that when we woke up we were praying for others what if we had this little journal we're just noting all the ways that we're praying and asking god to bless others in our lives and what if as we saw god show up we told other people and encouraged them that god was the one who who did that thing in their lives what kind of difference would that make in your neighborhood in your marriage and in your families i think it would make a great difference so the first question to ask is how often am i praying just an assessment question an honesty am i a person of prayer and if i'm not what's the step that i could take in that direction can i begin to pray maybe if you're not a prayer warrior start out by just praying once let's start there and then see as god shows up and encourages you but if you are have been on this journey a while i'd encourage you to start a prayer journal it'll help you praise god for all the blessings that he answers through that and second it's for whom and what am i praying for just an audit are you are you praying for others or do you find yourself like me oftentimes you're just praying for yourself let's be generous and bless others ask god to supernaturally intervene in their lives we'll praise him so let's do that together church heavenly father thank you that you never give up on us lord this life is a spiritual journey and we all find ourselves at different places in it but yet it's by design and you want to lead us forward god and you have asked that we celebrate those spiritual steps for it but lord knowing that you are the one who causes the growth and ultimately it makes a difference it causes other people to discover faith so by no means is this life just run of the mill lord you have a plan and a purpose for us would you show us what it is as we lean on you by your spirit in the midst of your people pray this in jesus name and we all said amen i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me and all [Music] i will say of the goodness of god [Music] and all my life you have been faithful [Music] you have led me through the fire [Music] known you as a father [Music] you have been fed [Music] that i am [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] we want to send you on your way in the grace and the peace of our lord jesus have a great rest of your day [Music] oh [Music] it's [Music] is [Music] is [Music] it's running after me [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Music] is [Music] good job everyone thank you this is to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to this is my surrender [Music] is my surrender to do [Music] whatever you [Music] to do [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh oh [Music] oh yeah [Music] [Music] few you

Channel: Lifehouse Church Rocklin

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Length: 65min 42sec (3942 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021