As the Apostle Paul continues his letter to the Ephesians, he continues to fix our eyes on the fulness of what God has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ, so that we might have eyes to see and comprehend the good news of Jesus. And in his writing, he uses a pattern to structure his writing: “You were this, but God… now you are this, and here’s the new reality into which you live.”

This week we’re pleased to welcome Willie Shain-Ross, who preaches from Ephesians 2.11-13, and helps us to remember and understand what our life was truly like apart from Jesus Christ: we were covenantally cut off and spiritually alienated from God. But Jesus came to take on our spiritual alienation so that we might be reconciled to stand before God, and be brought into the new reality of his kingdom here on earth.

As we’ve been journeying through the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we’ve been invited to have the eyes of our hearts opened to behold the depths and the riches of the love of God. This week, Rob preaches from Ephesians 2.8-11, and unpacks one of the most succinct and breathtaking accounts of how we receive our new life in Christ: we are saved by nothing other than the grace of God.

But sometimes we can get this backwards, and our hearts can get in the way of falling into God’s grace, as we boast in our pride or shame. As the Apostle Paul ushers us past these barriers to God’s grace, though, he shows us that what God has in store for us in Christ is so much more beautiful and amazing than we could have ever imagined!

Throughout his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul is intent on opening our eyes to behold the depths and the riches of the love of God. He points to three specific things Jesus did in history to guarantee our salvation: Jesus was made alive; Jesus was raised up; and Jesus was seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places. Jesus did all of this for our sake. But Paul says the good news go deeper still!

This week, Rob preaches from Ephesians 2.4-7, and helps us see how Paul is building and expanding our horizons to understand just how big and wonderful this salvation in Jesus really is. Because not only did Jesus resurrect, ascend, and take a seat – Paul is saying we’re involved in these matters, too. Because the Gospel is alive, and it’s not just about living forever in heaven after we die – it’s about being raised to the fullness of life together in Christ starting today, and continuing forever more.

Throughout his writing, the Apostle Paul soars to great heights of joy and praise. And he ushers us to come with him, into these realities of praise and thanksgiving, that are more than we could ever have begun to imagine. But to lead us there, he needs to show us where we’ve come from, and see just how deep was the pit from which Jesus came to set us free. Because the good news about Jesus only really makes sense in light of the devastatingly bad news of our true spiritual condition without him.

This week, Rob preaches from Ephesians 2.1-5, where we come face to face with the truth of our own spiritual condition: we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and captive to forces that were beyond our control. But God was not content for us to stay that way, and in the abundance of his mercy, has made us alive together with Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul planted many churches throughout the ancient world, and whenever he would leave, he would stay in touch with them. As he continued to learn about the church in Ephesus, he was filled with joy to learn of their faith, and of the new believers in their midst. And in Ephesians 1.15-23, we find Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus.

Paul’s prayer was filled with thanksgiving for their faith, but as Rob preaches, he shows us that Paul wasn’t content for them to have simply prayed to receive Jesus into their lives: Paul wanted more for them than that. He wanted them to go the distance, and continue to go further up and further in to the depths and riches of life and faith in Jesus. And the way he prayed they would do that was to know God rightly and truly – so they may appreciate to the fullest possible extent the implications of the blessing they have already received in Jesus Christ.

The book of Ezekiel is among one of the hardest books of the Bible to understand. Yet, amidst all the imagery and obscurity, Ezekiel’s ministry was fundamentally a ministry of hope. This week, Rob preaches from Ezekiel 47.1-12, and invites us to experience the hope of Ezekiel’s vision.

Ezekiel is standing on this tiptoes, and he’s looking over the ledge – he’s trying to catch a glimpse of what God was doing in his day. And what he saw was something far greater than he could have ever dared to imagine! He’s seen a temple filled with the presence of God – and realized that God is going to come and dwell with his people again. And he’s seen a river – an impossible river that flows from God’s temple – and which brings the presence of God to the people, and brings healing and transformation and life wherever it flows.

From the very beginning of his letter to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul’s writing and imagination is steeped in God’s activity in Jesus Christ. And he wants us to get caught up in that with him. As we continue our series going through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Rob preaches from Ephesians 1.11-14.

As he finishes unpacking the longest sentence in the New Testament, looks at the third blessing Paul identifies – that we have been given a future blessing, having been sealed by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance in God’s Kingdom. And this means we can take heart, and not despair for how things seem in the world around us, because we have received a living and assured hope – a hope that has been proven by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and which has been guaranteed to us by the sending of the Holy Spirit.

From the very beginning of his letter to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul’s writing and imagination is steeped in God’s activity in Jesus Christ. And he wants us to get caught up in that with him. As we continue our series going through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Rob preaches from Ephesians 1.7-10.

As he continues to unpack the longest sentence in the New Testament, he looks at the second blessing Paul identifies – that in the present, we have received redemption. But in order for us to have redemption now, it means that we must have once been in bondage to something, and couldn’t free ourselves. As we press into the meaning of redemption, we find that we have been liberated through the abundant showering of God’s grace, so that we can be united together to Jesus in his new Kingdom.

From the very beginning of his letter to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul’s writing and imagination is steeped in God’s activity in Jesus Christ. And he wants us to get caught up in that with him. As we continue our series going through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Rob preaches from Ephesians 1.3-6.

As he begins to unpack the longest sentence in the New Testament, he shows us that Paul is stretching and expanding our horizons to behold reality and time as so much bigger than we realized. And from our expanded horizons, Paul shows us that, before the beginning of creation, God’s end goal was not that we would simply exist and be ‘out there’ – but rather that we could come and be gathered up into him, and be adopted as his children.

From the very beginning of his letter to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul’s writing and imagination is steeped in God’s activity in Jesus Christ. And he wants us to get caught up in that with him. As we begin a new preaching series going through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Rob preaches from Ephesians 1.1-2.

Unpacking Paul’s greeting to this church in Ephesus, and the say he addresses them, he helps us to see that from the very first words of this letter – and before he’s even got to verse 3 – the way Paul says “hello” reveals he is intent on grounding us in the good news of Jesus Christ, and the implications for what it means in our lives.