SPEAKER_01 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_00 0:30

And I'm Trish. Hear these words from the book of Ephesians. I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord. You must no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. This is not the way you learned Christ, for surely you have heard about him and were taught in him as truth is in Jesus, to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Those who steal must give up stealing. Rather, let them labor doing good work with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is good for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and live in love just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to the Lord. This is the word of the Lord.

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Paul spends three chapters moving toward the glorious promise and prayer. 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. I therefore beg you to live a life in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called. All of Christian living starts with God, starts with grace, starts with the glory of Jesus and the action of the Spirit. If Christianity is reduced to an ethic, what we do, or a dogma, what we believe, or an experience, what we feel, we'll wake up one day wondering how in the world we got so far from where we began. The conundrum you feel in your gut when you say, But he's such a good person. Or the disorientation you experience when you notice the disconnect between what someone believes and how they live, or the distance you feel when the feeling of God no longer is as intense or lasts as long, or is there at all. If Christianity is an ethic or a dogma or a feeling, we're in trouble. I've been working so hard, I've been doing so much, I've been praying so consistently, I've been reading my Bible and disciplining my life. I've been to the conferences and I have the accountability partner, I can recite the creeds, one at least for sure, and parts of the other two, I can point to that moment in my life with goosebumps on my arms and a spine tingle in my back. I prayed the prayer. How in the world did I get here? All of those things, as wonderful and important as they were, are, and could be, are not the things that are the source of things. God. The Bible, which is another way of saying the whole story of faith begins with God. In the beginning, God. That's Genesis 1. And it ends with God. Come Lord Jesus, amen. That's Revelation 22. And all of our living and doing and being and trying and hoping and trusting and working and praying and apologizing and forgiving and justicing and reconciling and righteousnessing is all only ever a response to the one who loves and gives, whose mercy is wide and grace is free, whose arms on the cross are stretched and whose heart is so full of love, he came back from the dead to promise you you'll have life and have it in abundance too. That's what this whole thing is.

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And 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. You have given yourself to us, Lord. Now we give ourselves for others. You have raised us with Christ and made us a new people. As people of the resurrection, we will serve you with joy. Your glory has filled our hearts. Help us to glorify you in all things. Amen.