SPEAKER_00: Open up your Bibles with me to Ephesians chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: We're in Ephesians chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: It's uh 21 verses.
SPEAKER_00: That's home base in our main text tonight as we wrap up this Youth for God weekend.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: We've been talking about with our teens and about the purposes and plans of God.
SPEAKER_00: That He has made us for oh so much more, as we'll conclude tonight than we could even possibly imagine.
SPEAKER_00: That God has given us a purpose way bigger than ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about tonight to know himself through Jesus personally, to belong to a family, a people, to participate in his mission, that his glory, that is the worth, the value of God, might be displayed through even us, as imperfect as we are, that God is able to do it and wants to do it through us.
SPEAKER_00: His ultimate purpose and everything is displaying his own glory.
SPEAKER_00: God obviously is not some sort of narcissist or anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: When God's glory, as we will see in the text tonight, is put on display, his work is put on display, his goodness is put on display, and as the very creator and sustainer of all things, it is good for the world and good for us to see and enjoy his presence, his glory.
SPEAKER_00: And it's going to allow us to pursue our purpose and mission, God's mission, when we have joy and revel in God's own glory.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the theme from this weekend.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 9 and 10 has been one of the key passages.
SPEAKER_00: And I've taken this verse and slapped it with Ephesians 2.10 that we're saved for good works.
SPEAKER_00: What are those good works doing in Ephesians 2.10?
SPEAKER_00: God's making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Things in heaven and things on earth in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we're saved for more.
SPEAKER_00: We're saved for good works that God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
SPEAKER_00: Title Tonight's Lesson That Our Purpose is His Glory.
SPEAKER_00: Our very purpose and mission is God's glory put on display.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at verses one through six.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully you're there with me by now in Ephesians chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you've heard of my stewardship of God's grace that was given for me to you, know how the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
SPEAKER_00: As I've written briefly, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it's now been made revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body.
SPEAKER_00: Your purpose is bigger than your own individual personal story.
SPEAKER_00: We've been trying to hit on that, especially this morning with the teens, that your purpose, everyone in this room, not just the teens, obviously, is bigger than your own personal experiences and story, however you want to put that.
SPEAKER_00: That ultimately, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever career you decide, place you live, uh, those are kind of side quests and secondary to your purpose.
SPEAKER_00: You can do a lot of different amazing things in family and marriage and for your community and for your career, all sorts of cool things.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't change the Christian's purpose at all.
SPEAKER_00: There's a bunch of different things you can explore in God's good world, but your purpose is way bigger than just my own personal individual story.
SPEAKER_00: It's way bigger than that.
SPEAKER_00: The apostle Paul, if you notice in verse 1, he begins with talking about his own purpose that God had planned for him.
SPEAKER_00: I know Paul's unique.
SPEAKER_00: He'd seen the risen Jesus himself.
SPEAKER_00: I know he's an apostle and has unique responsibility and authority with that, but nonetheless, Paul, and it's not like he's any more saved than any of us.
SPEAKER_00: He's a fellow brother in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, the ones estranged from the Old Testament uh worldview, if you will.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's life had obviously radically been redirected by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that he's doing is prison and current suffering.
SPEAKER_00: His circumstances aren't what I think your average American Christian even would say, hey, there's someone living out God's plan and purpose, right?
SPEAKER_00: A lot of us would look at him and probably doing some theorizing that Job's friends did of like, what did you do wrong, Paul?
SPEAKER_00: That's probably plus what a lot of our uh westernization of and really bastardization of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That God is going to make me wealthy, healthy, and happy.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how we look at Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say it's all ruined because now I'm a prisoner.
SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't even say I'm Rome's prisoner.
SPEAKER_00: He says I am a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you lost people, you Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: That's why I'm in prison.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm assuming that you've heard these things.
SPEAKER_00: So your circumstances, obviously, that was easy to preach about.
SPEAKER_00: Your circumstances don't define your purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Jesus Christ does.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times we put a lot of value into how I feel and what's happening in my life.
SPEAKER_00: And if things are going well, then I must be on track, physically speaking.
SPEAKER_00: And if I'm facing trials and sickness and pains or whatever, then that must mean something else.
SPEAKER_00: But for Paul, he probably didn't picture himself.
SPEAKER_00: If I were Paul, I'd be pretty surprised if I were told go preach the gospel to everyone, and then I end up chained up in a jail cell or under house arrest.
SPEAKER_00: I'd be kind of surprised at that.
SPEAKER_00: Like, uh, is this what I was told to do?
SPEAKER_00: I thought God said we're gonna go spread this gospel everywhere, and I'm I'm being confined and stopped from that actually happening.
SPEAKER_00: Which really wasn't the case, right?
SPEAKER_00: He's uh the very reason we even have Ephesians in our Bibles is because Paul was imprisoned.
SPEAKER_00: He was still doing the work in a really different way than he expected.
SPEAKER_00: That happens to all of us in different ways.
SPEAKER_00: That the circumstances it doesn't change my purpose.
SPEAKER_00: I may have been individually planning to go to this school or even do this thing for Christ in his church, and it went different.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't change my purpose, even as hard as it says, even when we're suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't change our purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Our purpose is not the earthly things.
SPEAKER_00: Those stories with families and school and success, they might be part of your story.
SPEAKER_00: It may be trials and suffering.
SPEAKER_00: They're not your purpose.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the purpose.
SPEAKER_00: God's always accomplishing his will.
SPEAKER_00: He's probably doing a million zillion other things.
SPEAKER_00: I have no idea that he's doing, and I maybe see like two of them in my life.
SPEAKER_00: He's always working, he is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is really thankful, even rejoicing, I might say, in his suffering because he trusts that God's purposes are way, way better and larger than what he could see, even though he was in a jail cell.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's own life became something bigger than Paul himself.
SPEAKER_00: That purpose is bringing God's plan, this mysterious gospel into the world of creating a people.
SPEAKER_00: It's a stewardship.
SPEAKER_00: He has a responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: All of you, in your own respective situations and roles, have a stewardship and role to play.
SPEAKER_00: The stewardship of God's gift or grace was given to me for you.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't for Paul.
SPEAKER_00: We're not given blessings and gifts from God for me ultimately, but for you, for each other.
SPEAKER_00: To know the mystery, it was made known to me by revelation, right?
SPEAKER_00: He's an apostle.
SPEAKER_00: As I've written briefly, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The teens nailed this one pretty quickly, which was how can I understand the mystery of the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's so cliche.
SPEAKER_00: What's the second Bible class answer?
SPEAKER_00: What Bible class answer number one is the answer is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Bible class answer number two is might be read your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You can understand this when you read my letters.
SPEAKER_00: You can see my insight, inspiration from God's Spirit into the mystery of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And it was made known to me the sons and other generations, or not known to those generations, rather.
SPEAKER_00: It's been revealed to his holy apostles, Paul's one of them, uh, prophets along with the apostles by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: It's from God.
SPEAKER_00: And what's the mystery?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6 is helpful to me.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of it's the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: The mystery in their context is Gentiles, people who did not worship the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: They worshiped other gods in idolatry.
SPEAKER_00: Even they can be fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the good news, the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Pretty shocking for them.
SPEAKER_00: We laid out yesterday, I asked uh the teens, uh, what are some differences between Jews and Gentiles?
SPEAKER_00: There's some humorous responses.
SPEAKER_00: And uh there is also um trying to connect that to what are some differences in our cultural context today?
SPEAKER_00: Which makes you think of this morning sermon about unity.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews and the Gentiles, even though they're both following Christ, they have every single reason not to like each other and not to get along.
SPEAKER_00: And you can even come up with a half-decent sounding excuse of it'll benefit the kingdom more if we just take our church down the road, and there'll be the Jewish Church of Christ and the Gentile Church of Christ, it'll just go better that way and we'll advance more.
SPEAKER_00: And that is unthinkable for God and the apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Because he's not just saving individuals, he's creating a new people.
SPEAKER_00: We're not creating a new people if we split over, you know, the you know, drop of a penny or whatever, right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm out of here, I don't like that.
SPEAKER_00: That's we're creating a new people, God's creating new people, and you and all of us have a purpose and role in that, just like Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Because your purpose is to participate in God's mission.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that's been clear, teens.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that's been really clear for you guys.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that's been clear for us.
SPEAKER_00: That's our purpose.
SPEAKER_00: It can look a lot of different ways, depending on life circumstances and this fallen world, both joys and failures, etc.
SPEAKER_00: Your purpose is to join God in his mission.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, of this gospel, I was made a servant according to the gift of God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: This is verse 7, which was given to me by the working of his power.
SPEAKER_00: To me, though, in the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, to bring to light for everyone is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
SPEAKER_00: So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
SPEAKER_00: This was according to the eternal plan.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that interesting?
SPEAKER_00: You have this eternal plan.
SPEAKER_00: I'll pause right there that he gives us.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Of this gospel, notice Paul sees himself as what?
SPEAKER_00: He sees himself as a minister of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's where he sees himself as a simple servant and finding his role.
SPEAKER_00: He understands he's a servant.
SPEAKER_00: And here's how he describes his calling is to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, obviously, it's not about any kind of platform, and it's by God's power.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see this in verse 16 in just a minute or two.
SPEAKER_00: God's power is the one who is doing these things.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, on the least of all the saints, but this gift was given to preach unsearchable riches.
SPEAKER_00: I like that language of how we talk about the gospel, and it's to bring the light.
SPEAKER_00: The Gentiles are in the dark, and then the light is revealed through this good news through Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's this mystery that Gentiles are welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then there's a there's a huge so that in verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: I put it here in the orange.
SPEAKER_00: So that here's the reason why you have a purpose in your day-to-day living, and why Paul, even as an apostle, what his purpose was, we do all this so that through the church, the people who are fighting, the Jews and Gentiles who are fighting with each other, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God may now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's asking, how can we make the greatness and richness of Christ known?
SPEAKER_00: This is the goal.
SPEAKER_00: This was the goal.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not just obviously to the world, but even to cosmic spiritual powers.
SPEAKER_00: We were just talking about the whole armor of God in our discussion with the teens at 4 o'clock.
SPEAKER_00: And I think it was Grant.
SPEAKER_00: I asked, how does it make you feel?
SPEAKER_00: We looked at some other verses in the Bible where they're you know, we picture demons and Satan like a little pitchfork and like giggling and running away.
SPEAKER_00: No, like the powers in the Old and New Testament are you know lowercase G gods, if you will.
SPEAKER_00: Like they're a threat.
SPEAKER_00: They rule over nations, they oppose the Lord God most high, they oppose his people and his plan.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul picks up on that language from Old Testament spiritual rebels and the idolatrous pagan ancient near East and throws it into the New Testament world as well.
SPEAKER_00: You can read passages like in 1 Corinthians 10, where it's like, oh, it's just an idol, you can eat the meat, and then Paul will simultaneously say, Well, there is some spiritual evil and demons behind the idols, like at Zeus's temple.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, oh.
SPEAKER_00: And here he says, Hey, you church, you're gonna put on display the manifold wisdom of God to these rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here it could be neutral.
SPEAKER_00: There are heavenly rulers like you know, Michael or Gabriel, who are faithful to God.
SPEAKER_00: But we know in chapter 121, Jesus has ascended above them in his resurrection and ascension.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 6, verse 12, they're for sure enemies.
SPEAKER_00: It is a really fascinating concept.
SPEAKER_00: How does God's making known his manifold wisdom to the hosts of angels and demons relate to the church?
SPEAKER_00: He says it's through the church.
SPEAKER_00: The church, you, if you're in Christ, you are his chosen instrument for showing these cosmic powers, his great wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that strange and humbling and beautiful altogether?
SPEAKER_00: The reality existence of the church, of you, seemingly unimpressive, random, nobodies, maybe unwise or unwealthy, or unknown, like I said, you may feel unaccomplished or whatever, but from the world might call unremarkable.
SPEAKER_00: This shows the angelic host and even Satan and his minions that their time is short.
SPEAKER_00: What's the mystery in context?
SPEAKER_00: What's the mystery that Gentiles are being grafted into the family of God?
SPEAKER_00: And we might take in principle today the mystery, I'm part of that mystery as a Gentile, but the mystery is God creating a new people, no matter how different they are, no matter their background.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like as if the gospel, as it is progressing and marching through the earth, that is the cosmic warfare of Christ's people, of his church, that as more and more people come to the truth of Jesus and into his church, it is putting on display to the faculty of spiritual hosts that they're in trouble.
SPEAKER_00: And this goes hand in hand with having unity as well.
SPEAKER_00: If we are not part of the plan to bring all things under earth in order, if we are not uh seeking to do good works that God's prepared for us, but we're we're stuck with distraction or division or anything like that, we're not putting the wisdom of God on display, not just for the world, but for even spiritual rebels.
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of the story of Job here, even though he was just an individual, that Job really did put on display the wisdom and worth of God before Satan.
SPEAKER_00: So even now, as the earth sees it, the heavens do, even though the world may not see it, the heavens, the unseen realm sees what is happening amongst the followers of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The church's purpose is to put God's glory on display to both the seen and the unseen world.
SPEAKER_00: That's incredible.
SPEAKER_00: And often and for good reason, we talk about like the hidden sins that nothing is hidden from God's sight.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know exactly, the Bible doesn't say the exact limitations of where demons and whatnot what they can see or not see, but it's very clear they interact with the world and they influence everything wrong and evil you can see in the world.
SPEAKER_00: There's something spiritually evil behind those things.
SPEAKER_00: Old and New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: You can see that throughout.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy can see you too, is all I want to point out.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy's watching too.
SPEAKER_00: And so what's going to happen in God's church.
SPEAKER_00: And that made me make me feel scary.
SPEAKER_00: I like when I asked the kids, how do you feel about these cosmic powers opposing you?
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I think it was Grant and I related with that.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I feel small and I feel afraid.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, yes, I feel afraid too.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, when I think of these cosmic powers, I feel fearful.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Paul in prison is so shockingly bold.
SPEAKER_00: He's shockingly bold.
SPEAKER_00: The church's purpose is but God's glory on display to the seen and unseen world.
SPEAKER_00: Your future could look really different with school, family, friends, opportunities, but you're living on purpose when you're living for God's purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean to have something impressive, but it means faithfully participating in what God is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about purpose, and look where he starts to go here.
SPEAKER_00: He talks about how, as we have this purpose, God has an eternal purpose that he's realized.
SPEAKER_00: In some senses already here.
SPEAKER_00: We see it in the cross and the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: To whom we have boldness.
SPEAKER_00: This is hinting at the high priestly nature of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Why is there a risen human to no longer decay in heaven on my behalf?
SPEAKER_00: There's someone there to sympathize for me and to bring me to my Father, and my Father to me.
SPEAKER_00: So you can have boldness.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4.14 famously puts that.
SPEAKER_00: You come bold to the throne.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's a throne of grace, love, and mercy, because of what Christ has done.
SPEAKER_00: We can do that boldly, confidence, have confidence through our faith in him.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul in prison says, right, that's why I ask you not to lose heart over what I'm suffering for you.
SPEAKER_00: This is your glory.
SPEAKER_00: When you see me suffering for you, you could rejoice in that.
SPEAKER_00: Because you see, hey, we are a part of the plan of God, doing these good works that He's prepared beforehand.
SPEAKER_00: But if we don't delight, like Paul delights in God, when we're suffering, we're not going to be all that engaged.
SPEAKER_00: Duty without delight, it falls oh so short for what we need.
SPEAKER_00: And speaking of being made for more, and for what God deserves.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at verses 14 through 19.
SPEAKER_00: I like to think of this section that your purpose begins with knowing Jesus Christ Himself.
SPEAKER_00: Before we ever start thinking about uh where we're gonna practically and actually be in the church and what I'm gonna do, you kind of put in the cart before the horse there sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Your purpose, it begins with knowing Jesus himself.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Paul's first step after he says, Here's my purpose, here's your purpose as the church, putting God's wisdom on display to cosmic powers.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, Here's step one.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't he doesn't give them an action of go and do yet.
SPEAKER_00: He will, like we talked about this morning in chapter four and onward, he will tell them, here's some practical things.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the first thing Paul does.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing Paul does is that he prays for them.
SPEAKER_00: For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he might grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, length, height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
SPEAKER_00: All starts with prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't go with, hey, go do this.
SPEAKER_00: For this reason, all the things I'm talking about that you are supposed to put on God's wisdom to heavenly beings, I'm gonna pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: And notice the Father from whom every family in heaven and earth is named.
SPEAKER_00: God made the Gentiles just so much he made the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: God has made the person sitting next to you and behind you and in front of you just the same as he has made you.
SPEAKER_00: He's the father of everyone, he's created us all.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not this riches of glory that he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.
SPEAKER_00: We were joking about this with the teens that we're not talking about stuff like Samson here.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: This is something internal, the heart, something that is spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: So that, okay, God's the one who strengthens us through his spirit in your inner being.
SPEAKER_00: Why does he strengthen me?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's not exactly the same as Samson, obviously, or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: It's so that all this here in the blue, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you're rooted and grounded, that you see reality and the truth and love of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is really the heart of Christian purpose.
SPEAKER_00: You get to the very bottom here, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's really all encompassing, powerful language that uh certainly an Old Testament Jew or even a first century Jew might find very shocking.
SPEAKER_00: The fullness of God might be like in the temple or in the heavens or something.
SPEAKER_00: Not in us, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not in me, really shocking for them to hear.
SPEAKER_00: Especially that it's Jew and Gentile, which he's already said that in chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: This is the heart of our purpose.
SPEAKER_00: So before we can live for Christ, you have to know him personally.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he will get to some doctrinal stuff again that we talked about this morning, right?
SPEAKER_00: The seven ones and all that.
SPEAKER_00: But this is that Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith, through the trust and loyalty we have to him.
SPEAKER_00: It's rooted and grounded in love.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to be strengthened to comprehend all the depth of God's love, his beauty and worth and purpose.
SPEAKER_00: We need help with that.
SPEAKER_00: So the goal is not simply now go and do something.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience will follow, but it's to know him, be rooted in him, be strengthened by his spirit, even.
SPEAKER_00: Be overwhelmed, be in awe of this unsearchable love.
SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is, the more uh or the purpose of life, it's not merely just doing stuff for Jesus or obeying Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's obeying Jesus, but it's to become someone who knows and loves Jesus personally.
SPEAKER_00: Some really personal language in here that Christ Himself dwells in my heart through faith, that God's own spirit can strengthen me for a holy living.
SPEAKER_00: He's not talking about apostolic miracles or anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: This is accessible to the teens who are in Christ, so all of you who are in Christ by faith that we can be strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: It's through in accordance with his word, but it's the Holy Spirit himself.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit's obviously not a Bible, the Bible or the Holy Spirit's words, but it's the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Think of Acts 2.38.
SPEAKER_00: The gift of the Holy Spirit strengthens us.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who allows us to comprehend the love and to act.
SPEAKER_00: The more we know Christ, right, the more naturally we're going to want to be like him.
SPEAKER_00: The more naturally our lives revolve around Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The more I know him personally, the more I want to be like him, and the more my life very naturally, organically is going to revolve around Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that's why many of you are here in this room right now on a Sunday night.
SPEAKER_00: The more you know Christ personally, the more life naturally revolves around him.
SPEAKER_00: Really starts to sound cliche with the bracelets of like what would Jesus do and that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_00: Who would Jesus want to be with?
SPEAKER_00: I want to be with fellow people who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be where God's presence is.
SPEAKER_00: That's where I want to be.
SPEAKER_00: I get concerned when I hear statements like this.
SPEAKER_00: This is a famous book in our circles where there's this story where this guy says, Hey, having a personal relationship with Jesus is a hoax.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the greatest false teachings of modern-day religion.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not taught anywhere in God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: No one was ever told to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, nor is this principle taught in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Yikes.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, a personal relationship with Jesus mocks God because it infers that God's a respecter of persons and he is not.
SPEAKER_00: I think this is just a mixed mass mess of categories.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's just unequivocally and unbiblically just a disaster, and it's false.
SPEAKER_00: What they're trying to do is it's a counter-reaction to people who treat Jesus like he's my boyfriend or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think that's what they're trying to get at.
SPEAKER_00: But these ideas that Christ would dwell in you and that his love would be in you, or Jesus says in John 14, whoever loves me, my father and I will make our home with him and send the Spirit with Him.
SPEAKER_00: If you love me, you'll keep my commandments.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, that sounds really personal.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians 2.20, Paul says that Christ loved me, he gave himself up for me.
SPEAKER_00: That's personal.
SPEAKER_00: If we get upset, by the way, when we you know call out things amongst our own traditions, you're just in denominational thinking.
SPEAKER_00: If we get upset of, like, oh that that's my guy, you can't pick him up.
SPEAKER_00: What are we doing?
SPEAKER_00: The scriptures are our final authority.
SPEAKER_00: It is so personal that God's spirit would dwell in us and strengthen you for a holy living.
SPEAKER_00: This is such good news that you could know Jesus and know the love of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: When I know him as Lord, he's my king, not my boyfriend, obviously, but I know him as a brother, Hebrews 2.
SPEAKER_00: He's my brother in the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: He lives in me by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I call God Father because of him.
SPEAKER_00: And the Spirit strengthens me for holy living.
SPEAKER_00: He is a helper.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes in our church circles, we take so much for granted.
SPEAKER_00: I take so much for granted that in this letter to the Ephesians, it goes without saying so much that I think I need to say it, and my people in Seattle need to hear this more as well and understand this better, that Paul is writing to a church.
SPEAKER_00: It's just assumed in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: If you're following Jesus, you will be with a people, that you'll be together.
SPEAKER_00: The church, obviously, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's putting on display the God, the wealth of God's wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: The church obviously matters.
SPEAKER_00: The church is God's plan to bring about the gospel to everyone for these good works he's provided for us to bring everything underneath the feet of King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The church is God's priority and his plan.
SPEAKER_00: It needs to be our priority.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the things in Ephesians.
SPEAKER_00: Even just here in chapter 3, I think principally that we're seeing that God, per usual, is not asking us to do anything that he himself has not and is not doing.
SPEAKER_00: The Father prioritizes the church with his plan, his whole plan and was to make a people through his son.
SPEAKER_00: And it's called this purpose in verses 9 and 11, overtly.
SPEAKER_00: This is always God's plan in redeeming a people for himself.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, of course, ooh, pretend that too is not there.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, of course, the Son prioritizes the church by dying for his bride.
SPEAKER_00: And that's according to his own purpose.
SPEAKER_00: We see that, I think, through the high priesthood of Jesus in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Overtly in chapter 5, 25 through 27, comparing a husband and wife to Christ and the church, is that husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the body, the bride, and gave himself up for her.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says that himself.
SPEAKER_00: The son prioritizes the church by dying for her according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit prioritizes the church by empowering us.
SPEAKER_00: That's his purpose enrolled with the church because according to chapter 3, verse 10, the church is going to put on display the manifold wisdom of God even to the unseen realm.
SPEAKER_00: So Father, Son, and Spirit have prioritized the church.
SPEAKER_00: We need to prioritize the church.
SPEAKER_00: Milwaukee Ab has a very special familial love.
SPEAKER_00: I don't see in a lot of places.
SPEAKER_00: We should strive for more unity in those things because our purpose is ultimately God's glory.
SPEAKER_00: Let's begin to wrap this up in verses 20 and 21 of chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Your purpose is ultimately God's glory.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: Now to him, that's the God, who is able to do far more and abundantly than all that we ask or think.
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
SPEAKER_00: He could do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.
SPEAKER_00: How?
SPEAKER_00: According to the power at work within us.
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00: You see that here?
SPEAKER_00: To him, to God, he could do far more than we could think.
SPEAKER_00: It's according to the power at work within us.
SPEAKER_00: This must be the empowerment language that the Holy Spirit strengthens our inner being.
SPEAKER_00: We saw back in verse 16 of this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: As God, we're talking to the Father, but also He is the one according to the power, the Holy Spirit at work within us.
SPEAKER_00: This is how he's going to do it.
SPEAKER_00: To him be glory where?
SPEAKER_00: Where's the glory?
SPEAKER_00: Notice in the church.
SPEAKER_00: God prioritizes the church.
SPEAKER_00: It's his plan.
SPEAKER_00: We should prioritize the church.
SPEAKER_00: To him be glory in the saints, the saved, the church, and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations.
SPEAKER_00: Here we are almost 2,000 years later.
SPEAKER_00: Here we are with Youth for God Week and with a level of intergenerational relationships through all generations in Christ, in the church, that there would be glory to God forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: We're made for so much more than sometimes we get distracted with or what we think ought to be.
SPEAKER_00: There's a massive difference when we say that God can do these things.
SPEAKER_00: If we say I can do them, the pressure's on us.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You and I will fail.
SPEAKER_00: But when we say, when Paul says that God is going to do bigger things than we can imagine, so to say, that puts the trust and faith in him.
SPEAKER_00: And you may be out, whether you're one of the teens right now or you're one of the older people in this building, you may be like, I don't know what's next.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what's going to happen with my life.
SPEAKER_00: God does.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what happens, there is a purpose through whatever you're going through.
SPEAKER_00: You might think I'm not talented enough or something.
SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously, God is.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have much to offer.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God has plenty to offer.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the miracles of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The multiplication of fish and bread, multiplication in the church and our growth spiritually, numerically, it's not about us.
SPEAKER_00: It's just about giving Jesus what you do have.
SPEAKER_00: And when we think that way with our limitations, we become self-centered.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not about us and our limitations.
SPEAKER_00: It's about the God who can do far more than we could ever think or ask.
SPEAKER_00: You might think I'm too young or too old or this or that disqualifies me.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: God's ability is far greater than our imagination.
SPEAKER_00: And God's purposes are bigger than your plans.
SPEAKER_00: Much, much bigger.
SPEAKER_00: His ability is far greater than our imagination.
SPEAKER_00: I feel like I'm the limiting factor when James 4 just says, hey, you want to know why you're not receiving spiritual things?
SPEAKER_00: You don't even ask, right?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we just have to ask.
SPEAKER_00: Ask, and you will receive, seek, and you'll find, knock.
SPEAKER_00: It'll be open to you.
SPEAKER_00: Those are promises.
SPEAKER_00: God's ability is far greater than our imaginations.
SPEAKER_00: His purposes are bigger than our own plans.
SPEAKER_00: Because our purpose is ultimately his glory.
SPEAKER_00: And that glory is in the church.
SPEAKER_00: That church that is made for more.
SPEAKER_00: To put God's wisdom in display, even to the spiritual world.
SPEAKER_00: Like we told the teens this morning, you are the church now if you're in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But also one day, hopefully, God willing, you guys will be the Bible class teachers.
SPEAKER_00: You'll be the ones with jobs, maybe with kids and spouses.
SPEAKER_00: You'll have other responsibilities.
SPEAKER_00: And it will be by God's power your task to pass on the faith once for all time to that next generation.
SPEAKER_00: So that God's wisdom and grandeur will be put on display to coming generations after you.
SPEAKER_00: The question is not simply for the youth or anyone, what am I going to do with my life?
SPEAKER_00: It says, What kind of life will I live for the glory of God?
SPEAKER_00: That's the question we should be asking.
SPEAKER_00: You're chosen in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we talked about Friday night.
SPEAKER_00: You're not saved just from sin, though you are.
SPEAKER_00: You're saved for a reason, for a purpose.
SPEAKER_00: You're brought into a new family.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, you're called to walk differently as a representative of Jesus and his church.
SPEAKER_00: You're given empowerment by his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You have a place amongst his family.
SPEAKER_00: You're called to stand strong.
SPEAKER_00: What's it all for?
SPEAKER_00: The glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: For our own good, but it's for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: Teens, you don't have to leave this weekend knowing exactly what my life's going to look like.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to stress and be anxious about that.
SPEAKER_00: Because you know the purpose that God has for your life.
SPEAKER_00: Time does not permit me to keep going.
SPEAKER_00: Kendall and I miss all of you very, very much.
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, there's a special bond at this church.
SPEAKER_00: You guys were very essential to us starting life together.
SPEAKER_00: We packed everything we had into a Kia Sportage, not a truck, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_00: We packed everything we had into that little car and a pod and showed up here.
SPEAKER_00: Nate, of course, was essential to me starting my work fully as an evangelist, along with the other shepherds at the time.
SPEAKER_00: And you were essential for my own love for ministry and for people.
SPEAKER_00: And this church, collectively, and even a handful of you individually, uh, quite literally supported a lot of my work in Utah.
SPEAKER_00: Where small groups now are a core idea in that church, where Jesus reached a handful of people who were looking for something other than a message of you gotta be good enough to get into a temple.
SPEAKER_00: And there's so much more I could say about you guys and how you've supported us, but it feels normal to be back.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say thank you for having us.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know when, I don't know when we would return, but your example of generosity encourages us to push on.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, we covet your prayers in the next stages of our life.
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't heard we're having twins this winter, uh we need your prayers and we covet them.
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
SPEAKER_00: Don't lose sight of the love that you have here.
SPEAKER_00: You have something special.
SPEAKER_00: Don't ruin it.
SPEAKER_00: I say it's out of love and lose your friends.
SPEAKER_00: Don't ruin it for petty divisions.
SPEAKER_00: There's something beautiful and good happening at this church.
SPEAKER_00: And thankfully, unlike the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders, I can't say I know none of you will see my face again.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful that's not necessarily the case.
SPEAKER_00: Uh when you come take your Alaskan cruise, come say hi to us at Kirkland.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if Amazon gives you a job or something, we need more Christians out west, uh, if you dare so, but come say hi to us.
SPEAKER_00: But as Ephesians 6.24 says, Grace be with all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love.
SPEAKER_00: Incorruptible.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for all the saints in this room and for every single person in this room, dear Lord, we ask that you would open our eyes, that your spirit would align our eyes to the truth of your word, that we were made from more, that especially our youth were made for more.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, so much more than the fleeting pleasures and pains of this world, that we have purpose and a reason to live no matter what happens in this world, because we know you're uniting all things in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_00: And we know we're saved by grace through faith.
SPEAKER_00: It's not our own doing.
SPEAKER_00: And we know, though, because of that salvation, we are to do good works because we are your workmanship, God, and we thank you for these gifts.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for these gifts, dear God.
SPEAKER_00: Please be with the shepherds and their wives of this church, the deacons and their families, the evangelists and all the saints and all the people in this room, youngest to oldest, God, that your spirit would empower and strengthen them to strive for more truth and love in you for the sake of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Please bring us together again soon and help us to see, dear Lord, it's all about your glory, and that's what we are made for.
SPEAKER_00: We say all this boldly in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You were made for more.
SPEAKER_00: You were made for oh so much more.
SPEAKER_00: So don't limit God and what he can do through all of you.
SPEAKER_00: Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power of work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you're subject to heaven's invitation and you want to find that purpose, you could talk to me to the front or anyone else at any time.
SPEAKER_00: And let's do that while we stand and sing this song.