SPEAKER_00 0:10

Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you abide in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Welcome to Pillar's Abide in Me Podcast, a weekly opportunity to abide in Christ through weekly pillar sermon and worship reflections. I'm Christian.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

And I'm Trish. Hear these words from the Book of Ephesians. Now to him who, by the power at work within us, is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Hear it again. Now to him who, by the power at work within us, is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Paul in Ephesians gets pretty worked up about power. What is it? Who has it? How to use it? He keeps circling back to power. He keeps pushing back on notions of power. The whole letter offered in that growing coastal town in the harsh realities of first century Rome spins around power. I'm guessing it's because they had so little of it. They and the rest of us with them just pawns in the world's game played by powerful people, and you're not one of them. Now to him who by the power at work within us. Power. We seem to have this love-hate relationship with power. Mostly we love it when we have it and hate it when someone else does. Power, it's like oxygen. There's really no way of life without it. It is, it just is, it's necessary. Someone is going to claim it while others are going to resist it, vie for it, or subvert it, all which is another grasp at power. Now to him who by the power at work within us. Paul refers to power as not really yours. You don't really have it. You don't really get to exert it. But rather it is at work within us. Power belongs to God. Power originates with God. Power is God's. God put power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead. That's what it says. Power. It's God's. It belongs to God and it's at work in us. Power of the one who makes the world with a word. Sun and moon and stars, oceans tiding and great lakes freshing. Power to vanish babble into a community of confused stutterers. Even our best efforts at achieving our own destiny are thwarted into mumbling. Power to part seas for the deliverance of the ones He loves. Power to send rain to quench fires. Power to tear down walls and provide the promised land. Power to raise the dead and heal diseases and rewrite history. Power to forgive and reconcile and redeem all things. That's the power that's at work in you. Not a Him who by the power at work within us. Power is not something you have, it's something we steward. It's not something you grasp, it's something God gives. It's not something we take and use for our own purposes, but something at work in us, in the world, to participate in the saving work of Jesus Christ for the world. So you can imagine the power at work in you, guiding you, directing you, inviting you to act in the world is going to line up with God's heart for the world. There are other powers. Let the hearer beware, but the power I'm talking about at work in you will always guide you in the way of good and right and true. Now to him who by the power at work within us.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

For our part as a pillar community, we'd love to be praying for you. So feel free to reach out to us at abide at pillarchurch.com. Let's pray. God of our salvation, you have restored us to life. You have brought us back again into your love by the triumphant death and resurrection of Christ. Continue to heal us as we go to live and work in the power of your spirit, to your praise and glory. Amen.