Why Ephesians?

April 19, 2008

Why Ephesians?

The last 13 weeks we have been talking about Experiencing God through a study by the same name. This was a great follow up after our study of the Colossians and the heretical teaching they were and we are facing. Once were determined to stay away and dismiss heretical teaching, Experiencing God was great and heart opening in specifics of how we can hear and obey the will of God. This was significant in growing us toward taking action at each moment to ‘see where God is working and going there’. Turning our attention and running to meet where God is working is exciting. I know we have been challenged in our relationship with him across the seven realities that the study called out so clearly.

As we came near to the end of the study, there were many requests around topical studies of marriage and family. Certainly many parts of the Word of God reveal practical truths about marriage and family. It was not hard to pick a relevant book, however. As the Experiencing God study continued 3 things became obvious:

1) We need to continue our focus on the Word of God - the one source of written truth
2) We need to continue our focus on prayer – our personal communication and lifeline with our Lord
3) We need to continue our focus on fellowship – intentional relationships to honor and glorify the Lord

The letter to the Ephesians is very clearly a book in which the practical applications of the Word, prayer, and fellowship coincide. I believe we will be challenged to a new level of relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ as well as honoring and glorifying Him in our day-to-day relationships.

We will be studying 2 main things in Ephesians:
I. Our Standing – where are we in relation to the Lord
II. Our Condition (our struggles) – how our Standing affects our day to day lives and relationships

I DO NOT expect this study to be an easy one. I would ask that each of you pray earnestly for wisdom, both for me, as I attempt to be a witness for Christ (which, by the way, is a humbling and pretty messed up idea) and for each of the class members.

I DO expect that we will come closer to the Lord Jesus through this study. I DO expect that we will be challenged with the main question of all of the universe: “But what about you?” He asked, “Who do you say I am?” Peter Answered, “You are the Christ.” Mark 8:29 and how this affects us daily and moment by moment with our spouse, our friends, and, most importantly, our savior Jesus Christ.

I am very excited about how God can continue to mold and shape us as spouses, parents, and friends to glorify Him through this study.

Warm Regards,
Andy