Don't forget that you Gentiles

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THE CHURCH Ephesians 2:11-22 Pastor Dennis Clanton Woodland Church Sunday, September 9, 2018

“Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:11–22, NLT) 1. God has given the resources, authority, and power to the Church made of members who are deeply different from one another. “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” (Ephesians 1:22–23, NLT)

2. The Church is a supernatural community. A. We are citizens. “You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them.” (Ephesians 2:12, NLT) “We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.” (Philippians 3:20, NLT) B. We are members of God’s family. “You are members of God’s family.” (Ephesians 2:19, NLT) “God’s family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15, GW) “Warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitful ness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him].” (Hebrews 3:13, Amplified) C. We are a holy temple. “We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:21, NLT) “Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.” (Ephesians 2:18, NLT)

3. I must have spiritual heart surgery. “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” (Ephesians 2:14–16, NLT) “Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.” (Ephesians 4:23–24, GNB) GROWTHWORK “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NLT) 1. Worship the Lord daily. 2. Search my heart for any hardness. 3. Beware of the deception of sin. 4. Learn to share my story. 5. Be a part of a small group. 6. Commit to membership in a local church.

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