Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Join me in The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Today we continue our series based on the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians The theme is “Making a New World”.
Today we are talking about The People in Your Church.
Text
Ephesians 3:16-18 NKJV
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height
Scripture Reading
Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV
Appreciation of the Mystery
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Introduction
In Ephesians 1:14-19 Paul prayed that the churches would have a distinctive kind of people, indwell people, broad minded people, and godly people.
Today we are going to look at these qualities and strive to be churches with these traits.
- The church needs people indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
- Christ has a dwelling place in the inner self of people.
Verse 17 says, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
This denotes permanent residency, an abiding presence.
Paul prayed that Christ may possess the entire being, purifying the affections, enlightening the understanding, and controlling the will.
The condition for the indwelling Christ is faith on the part of the believer.
Christ is willing and ready to enter in and become the abiding guest.
B. Christ gives super strength to believers.
Look at verse 16, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,”
Followers of Christ can be more than ordinary people.
They can have the powerful resources that are beyond the merely physical element of life.
This power comes through the dynamic operation of God’s Spirit.
He alone can make people strong.
The church desperately needs indwelt people.
Only God can give the strength necessary to accomplish the Lord’s divine mission.
2. The church needs broad minded people.
- Too often churches are full of narrow minded people.
Paul prayed for broad minded congregations.
He did not want believers to think of the church in provincial terms.
The church has often had a limited vision for the gospel and has restricted God’s love and concern to a limited number.
B. The church needs to comprehend God’s world wide program.
Look at verses 18-19,
18 The you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul wanted the believers to learn that God’s love reached to all the peoples of the earth.
God’s love is limitless, and an effective church is one filled with people of limitless love.
3. The church needs godly people.
- Christ can make a transformation in life.
Verse 19 says, “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Paul wanted the to be the tabernacle of God, “The fullness of God” means the sum of God’s characteristics.
People can be increasingly filled with godly character.
As Christ dwells in the herts by faith, God’s character can be seen in the lives of believers.
B. Christ can make an impression on a secular world.
God living in human beings gives the world a model of the authentic Christian life.
The world longs to see God, therefore they will be attracted to people who are filled with “the fulness of God.”
Conclusion.
Paul’s prayer gives insight as to what kind of people believers should be.
He desired these kind of people in the church so that God’s mission would be accomplish.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2021 IS A YEAR OF REFORMATION
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