Preview - Ephesians 3

I am not sure what to expect regarding a sermon on this text (Ephesians 3:14-21) and all of the great truths regarding the "love of Christ which surpasses knowledge." This reminds me of Jeremy Walker's comments regarding our failure to understand the lovingkindness of God here. 

But it will be exciting to be sure. 

Every "family" in heaven and on earth is named after God the Father.  Does that mean every family in the sense of those who follow God's will and love Him, or is it more of a broad meaning speaking to God being the author of all creation?

"The riches of His glory" is a frequently used phrase in Ephesians.  This could be a preamble to any benefit that the Christian receives - for it is all from the incredible riches of God's grace and to the praise of His glory (or glorious grace).

Paul is praying that we would know the unknowable.  This is a paradoxical tension, but one that Christ can increasingly reconcile. Perhaps in reference to our sanctification it can be said that we know more of the infinitely unknowable riches of God's grace now than we did when we first believed.  And in this way we may be always approaching full knowledge.  And yet only in heaven can we hope to have this unknowable knowledge in full.

I am still mulling over the concept of infinite desires from last week's sermon. Our infinite desires can only be satiatied by an infinite God.  And in the context of Ephesians 3, it stands to reason that the intellectual desires of those made in God's image are also infinite.  We want to know all things. We want deep and profound knowledge. And yet the noetic effects of the fall, our weaknesses, our simplicity, and our sin all conspire to prevent the satisfaction of these desires. But in Christ we can begin to understand the deepest and most profound knowledge of all time.  While we can't understand the love of Christ completely, we can know the mystery - thank God the Gentiles are fellow heirs! This will be one of the many things to keep our minds bursting at the seams with activity through eternity - to understand and know the deep love of Jesus.

Preview Luke 5

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Luke has established the divine origin of Jesus, recounted His temptation in the wilderness, and discussed the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  One final note on Chapter 4: Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15 which says, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers - it is to him you shall listen." And just as Moses fasted forty days on the mountain, Jesus fasted forty days in the wilderness. 

This is just another interesting pointer to fulfilled prophecy, the unity of scripture, and the beauty of God's plan of redemption!

Preview Luke 4

Preview – Luke 4

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

Lord willing we have another exciting day in God's house tomorrow.  This week we're studying Luke four.  In Luke chapter four Jesus is tempted in the wilderness.  How is it that God could be tempted?  If it is impossible for God to sin, then would it stand to reason that He could also not be tempted?  This is certainly a mystery but I think we find a helpful solution to this question when we consider Jesus' humanity.

Preview - Luke 3

Preview – Luke 3

Pastor Shane Walker

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

John the Baptist is a prophet who is the subject of previous prophecy himself: Isaiah 40:3-5! Jesus was also the subject of much prophecy.  Both John and Jesus were announced by angels and were prophesied in the Old Testament.  

Preview - Luke 2

Preview – Luke 2

Pastor Shane Walker

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

The incarnation

When we looked at Mary's song we saw a clear link to the Psalms of David as well as the appropriateness of Mary using similar language as her forefather to praise God regarding the coming of Jesus.  And the coming of Jesus was a fulfillment of the promise to David that he would always have a descendant sitting on the throne.  And so we see in the beginning of Luke 2 the family is returning to Bethlehem the city of David due to Joseph's lineage, for a census.

Preview - 2 Corinthians 4

Preview – 2 Corinthians 4

Pastor Shane Walker

My thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

Although this passage applies to all believers, it particularly applies to those who are ministers of the Gospel.  But the embedded distinction between "all believers" and "ministers of the Gospel" in the previous sentence may be shown to be unclear due to the fact that, in a limited way, all christians show to others the beauty of the Gospel.  Many of us also speak the Gospel in informal ways as well.  "'I believed, and so I spoke' we believe and so we also speak."

Preview - Luke 1:45-80

Preview – Luke 1:45-80

Pastor Shane Walker

My thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday
Luke chapter 1 is extremely long – it is the longest chapter in the New Testament.  No wonder we’ve broken it into two sermons at our church.  Last week we learned about the response of Mary and Zechariah when they were in the presence of Gabriel.  This week we see a more full response from both Mary and Zechariah and both of them are beautiful.