WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:35.390 Good morning, Ward. I am thank you. I am so glad to be with you. I am excited about this day, and I'm excited that that we get to do church together. This is the the first sermon of of my ministry here, and as I start this ministry, I I want to just take a second and acknowledge my heart is just full of gratefulness for your previous pastor's ministry. 00:00:43.815 --> 00:01:16.615 I am so so grateful for Scott's ministry to me and my family and to you as a church. And the what we're gonna do together is we're gonna build on that ministry as he's poured into you. We get to build on that. And and who Ward Church has been over the over the years, an incredible legacy that we're gonna build on together. This is a sacred and holy calling to be the church together and in this moment. 00:01:16.935 --> 00:01:51.705 And I believe it's sacred and holy not just because of who you are, who God has made you over the years, but also who God is calling us to be and where God is taking us in this next season. Now my temptation this week, my first week with you officially, my temptation is to inspire you with great vision and wow you with my oratorical abilities. But instead, I'm just gonna be me. Is that alright? I just decided it's just gonna be me today, and we're gonna we're gonna study the word together. 00:01:51.705 --> 00:02:13.505 That's what we're gonna do. That's what we that's what we do, and it's a holy thing. I had this professor in seminary, he had a thick Virginia drawl and he had a floppy Bible, and he was an Old Testament professor. And I just remember him, he would hold this thing up and he would say, this is the word of God. You gotta have a floppy bible for this. 00:02:13.505 --> 00:02:45.245 Right? This is the word of God, and it's all we've got. And and that sticks with me because it's in this word that we have everything that we need for a flourishing life and for the hope of eternity. And so when we gather together on a Sunday in worship, it's it's really like a it's like a sacred assembly, and we're reminded of God's presence with us. And the whole morning is is an experiencing of God's presence together. 00:02:45.405 --> 00:03:13.625 As you greet people in the hallways, you're reminded that that they're created in the image of God, and as we sing and pray, we're we're, caught up in in the very throne room of God. And as we open the scripture, we expect to hear a word from God because he has a word for us. And this is life changing stuff that we get to do together as we study. So will you study the scripture with me? Let me pray and we'll open the word. 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:41.165 God, speak to us today. We're you people and we long for a word from you. And I pray that you would help us to hear it clearly, to understand it. I pray that your word would grab hold of us, grab hold of our whole lives. And, father, would you help us not just to hear it, not just to get it, but to actually put it into practice. 00:03:41.485 --> 00:03:54.070 We pray this in your holy name. Amen. Well, we're gonna we're gonna work through a bit of Ephesians today. If you have a bible, you can pull it out. You can pull out your bible in the pew. 00:03:54.070 --> 00:04:14.710 It'll also be on the screens. This is one of my favorite books of Scripture. This church in Ephesus, this little church wasn't really sure of themselves. They weren't really sure of, you know, how important they were kind of in the grand scheme of things. They actually weren't even sure if maybe they were just going through the motions. 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:31.165 Maybe they were just they weren't important. They didn't matter. They didn't really feel like they had a mission. They were just kind of maybe showing up and doing church. And it's to this church that was unsure of themselves that the Apostle Paul writes a letter. 00:04:31.485 --> 00:04:54.110 And if we had time today, we would start at the beginning, and we'd read all the through. That's what you should do this afternoon in between football games. It's a good halftime read. You should read that. And you'll see that at the beginning, talks to this church and he says, you're part you were created and chosen by God to be part of His mission. 00:04:54.845 --> 00:05:09.880 That's an unbelievable thought. You were chosen by God to be part of his mission, and he lays out sort of the cosmic scope of this mission. And you could just hear this little church in Ephesus going, wait, us? Who? You know, I you talking about us? 00:05:09.880 --> 00:05:24.025 We're part of that? And Paul said, Yeah, that's what you're part of. And then Paul does something really incredible in chapter two that we're gonna spend some time on. He he names them. He identifies them. 00:05:24.345 --> 00:05:54.245 He sees them. I I don't know if you've ever had anybody just just see you at some time that you needed to hear it. You know, when somebody just sees you and they they speak into you words that, you know, you long to hear, but you didn't even know you needed it, and they identify you, and they say, man, I was watching you, and you're an incredible, you know, father. It just grabs you because it's like, Oh, oh. You hear who you are. 00:05:54.245 --> 00:06:22.065 Somebody looks at you and says, Wow, I've noticed, man, what a good friend you really are in tough times. And they you're like, they saw me. That's a powerful thing to experience, and and the apostle Paul is is giving that he's this for this church, And it's not just for them. It's not a book just written to them. It's a book written to us, to the church, to you, and to me. 00:06:22.945 --> 00:06:43.765 And so Paul, in chapter two, and we're gonna read verses eight through 10. We're gonna move around a little bit in here, so keep it open. So in in chapter two verses eight, this is what it says. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It's a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. 00:06:44.085 --> 00:07:07.810 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. He used this little phrase there. It's a little descriptive word. He said, You are God's handiwork. Ephesians was like, Wait, us? 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:28.110 Yeah, you. You and I. That's who you are. You are God's handiwork. Now that word, it's a Greek word that's translated into English, and the Greek word behind that is actually this word poema, That might sound familiar to you. 00:07:28.110 --> 00:07:43.245 You probably haven't studied Greek. I'm not very good at it, but even I know poema sounds familiar. Right? It's like it's where we get the word poem from. So he's saying, you are God's poem. 00:07:44.045 --> 00:07:55.740 Think about the thought of that for a second. You're God's poem, this unique and beautiful. You're God's work of art. You're God's poem. That's who you are. 00:07:55.740 --> 00:08:08.380 That's who Ward Church is. That's who you and I are. Now if you're like me, you didn't grow up with a lot of poetry. You have a little bit, you know? And so when I hear your God's poem, I think Shel Silverstein, right? 00:08:10.155 --> 00:08:15.995 There are too many kids in this tub. There's too many elbows to scrub. I just washed it behind. I'm sure it wasn't mine. There's too many kids in this tub. 00:08:15.995 --> 00:08:36.230 You familiar with that's the poetry I know. Know. That's not what he was saying. It's probably something more like there's there's a poet named Malcolm Guy that I've learned to love in the last couple of years. And a couple of lines of his poem, listen to this. 00:08:36.950 --> 00:09:08.870 In the beginning, not in time or space, but in the quick, before both space and time. In life, in love, in co inherent grace. In three in one and one and three in rhyme. In music, in the whole creation story, in his own image, his imagination, the triune poet makes us for his glory. Think about those words. 00:09:10.165 --> 00:09:28.720 You are God's poem. His handiwork. He created you. That's an unbelievable thought, and it's hard to even grasp that God looks at you, and that's how he sees you. That's how he sees us as a church. 00:09:29.680 --> 00:10:07.055 Now we wanna soak that in, but we can't get stuck there. That's not just for you to consume and just soak it in because we were created to hear those words and start there, but we were created actually for so much more. Not just to sit and consume, but we are actually wired to be on mission, and so that's why you hear that in Paul's words. He doesn't just say, you're God's handiwork and stop. He says, you're God's handiwork is good work created to do good work. 00:10:07.375 --> 00:10:24.230 Did you hear that? It's not enough just to be just just satisfied. In fact in fact, Paul earlier talks about that as as a way towards destruction, that that's actually sin. If our life becomes just all about consumption listen to how he says it. It was just a little bit earlier on. 00:10:24.230 --> 00:10:59.310 It's in chapter two in verse three. It says this, all of us he's talking about the way they used to be, who they used to be, and he goes, all of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. All of us have experienced living this way, Paul says. We're all about we're driven by satisfying our cravings and desires. 00:11:00.430 --> 00:11:35.085 Really, there are two pitfalls that are kind of inherent in this passage, and the first is that we would live our life just trying to satisfy the cravings. You may be thinking, well, you know, that's not that big of a deal, I don't do those cravings, because you are thinking like me, that craving, we have some ice cream at home right now, some of the good stuff, you know, and it's in the freezer, and I have that craving late at night just to go grab, just to If you don't eat it out of the bowl, doesn't matter. You just do the spoon right out of the know, eat it quick. Don't even close the freezer. That's the craving. 00:11:37.405 --> 00:12:11.675 Actually, that craving can go so much deeper, because there's this longing, this craving inside of us to matter, to be something, someone important? This this craving to be good enough? And if we're not careful, we can get caught in this trap where our life becomes all about that. We're just striving after, seeking after being good enough, and that is what Paul describes as a craving of the flesh. It actually leads to destruction. 00:12:12.930 --> 00:12:57.430 That's one of the pitfalls, but there's another pitfall that's part of this passage, and it's probably one that as Christ followers, we're more inclined to. Because it says we're we're God's handiwork created to do good work, and we, as followers of Christ, we know the good work part. We wanna do good work. What happens though so often is I get the order of things mixed up, and I feel like I have to do good work in order to earn God's favor. Like, I'll strive after things, and and I and I I know if I'm talking to a good church group, you'd say, well, that's not good theology. 00:12:57.430 --> 00:13:19.050 It's not, but it's often how I slip. I just kind of slip into this pattern. We're like, I'm going, hey, if I do if I work hard enough, I do enough stuff, and I've got enough stuff on the list, and I'm working and I'm trying, then God will look down and go, there he is. Right? My servant Caz, oh, he's doing great. 00:13:20.010 --> 00:13:47.520 And so I often, like, will strive to do good things so that God will look down on me with favor. But that's a flip of the Gospel order. It's a mix up, and the Gospel order actually matters. You heard it right there in the passage. He started off with, oh no, it's by grace that you were saved, not by works. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:14:00.785 Did you hear that in the passage? It's by grace that you were saved. That's when he started, before he told us we are God's handiwork. He said, it's by grace that you were saved, not by works. It's from yourself so that no one could boast. 00:14:02.145 --> 00:14:28.015 He starts with grace, and this is extremely important. If you start there, you start to hear the words of grace, you start to recognize that God gives you grace, that you are God's handiwork, not because of what you've done, not because what you earn, not because of the good work. Then out of that, you can begin to do good work. Then out of that, you begin to step into mission and do the work. Live the way that God has called you to live. 00:14:29.775 --> 00:14:59.095 Last year, we had a kid that wasn't really practicing for those music lessons that we pay so much for. I know that never happens in your family, but in my family sometimes. My wife was getting tired of trying to make that happen and get the music lesson going, and so she said, Caz, I need some support here. I need some help. Looking back on it, I think what she meant was get up from what you're doing, which was Saturday afternoon on a couch watching football. 00:14:59.095 --> 00:15:19.150 Right? I mean that's, I think what she meant was get up from that and go to the kid and help them through the thing. But what I interpreted that as, yell really loudly from your couch. And so I did my best. I gave a good full volume scream, hey, you got one minute to be on that rehearsal. 00:15:19.150 --> 00:15:35.295 I'm setting a timer right now. Then I gave a threat, it's one of my best threats right now. I'm working on these, know, but I was, you know, get practicing or else you're gonna think the Amish have a lot of technology when I'm done with you. Right? That's good. 00:15:36.880 --> 00:15:53.265 That's good. And that went as well as you think it would have gone. It was screaming and yelling, slamming of doors. Cammy hates it when I do that too. She's when I yell mad, know, it was not good. 00:15:53.265 --> 00:16:23.915 It was not a good moment. Cammy says to me, hey, if we're not doing this right, right? Let's go sit down and talk. And we sit down and start to just a whole different environment, and this kid who didn't want to practice, and and Cammy starts to just speak into her an identity. She goes, you're a music lover. 00:16:24.635 --> 00:16:37.130 You love music, you love getting to be part of this. And she's and and you're an art. You're creative. We see creating all the time. You're you're so creative. 00:16:37.530 --> 00:16:58.785 And that's really who you are. You're a musician, you know, in your heart. And and just started to name for her who she is, a reminder of who she is. And then Cammy did this thing that was she goes, and I want you to know just a little secret. Your dad and I don't really care if you're great at music. 00:16:58.785 --> 00:17:10.480 In fact, we're hoping you don't major in music in college. That's our hope. We're thinking accountant or engineer. Apologize to the musicians here. That's a good degree. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:35.340 It's a good degree. We're just hoping. We we it's we don't but you're a musician in your heart, and she needed to hear those words to be reminded of who she is. And all of a sudden, rather than me yelling up, get to work, get to work, she was reminded this is her identity. It's like something that matters. 00:17:35.340 --> 00:17:55.525 It's something deep in her heart. Suddenly, it was like magic. Suddenly, she's leaning in to the rehearsals and to practice. One of the coolest things to ever see because it was a little glimpse of how the gospel works in all of us. We have to hear this again and again and again. 00:17:56.725 --> 00:18:15.565 God's given you grace. You're his hand you work. He's poured out riches of his grace on you, not because of what you've done. It's a gift. But now out of that, he calls you into a new way of living, a new way of being. 00:18:15.565 --> 00:18:40.180 He calls you to to live into the identity that that he's given you. See, you are God's good work created to do good work. Now remember the church in Ephesus, they really weren't getting the scope of this though. Right? It was like good words, but they didn't get really how big this was. 00:18:41.865 --> 00:19:23.460 Paul's reminding them over and over, the good work that you're called to do is part of God's mission to redeem the world. So in chapter one, this is a little earlier, Paul knew this was coming, and he knew it would be hard for them to grasp. So in chapter one, we get this prayer, it's recorded, that Paul prays for them, and it's an incredible prayer to me because so often I think of a prayer, like I'm praying for you know, I might pray for you to be healed or for you to do a great job on whatever's coming up for you. I pray for action things, but what Paul prays for for them is just that they would see that their eyes would be open. This is chapter one, and we're gonna pick it up in verse 18. 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:36.415 So we're kinda moving backwards through Ephesians. Chapter one verse 18. And listen. This is a prayer that they would get it, and it's really a prayer for us too. Listen to this. 00:19:36.815 --> 00:20:30.875 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power, dominion. And every name that is invoked, not only in this present age, but also in the one to come. He goes, I I I'm praying that you grasp what you've been invited into. God's mission is so big, and he's given you power. 00:20:32.075 --> 00:20:44.890 That's the Holy Spirit. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. He goes, that's the same power. This is an incredible thing. He's given to us, to the church, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. 00:20:45.050 --> 00:20:57.505 That's what we get to be a part of. That's what we're called into. That's what he means when he says you were created as God's good work to do good work. That's the work he's talking about. It's resurrection type work. 00:20:58.465 --> 00:21:10.785 And the prayer is that your eyes would open up, and you would see, oh, I'm part of something that's so much more. It's not just church. It's not just showing up on a Sunday morning. It's not just going through the motions. It's not just, you know, does this even matter? 00:21:10.785 --> 00:21:24.890 No. It matters. It's a part of changing lives, and we've been invited into it. In fact, we were wired for it and created for it. That's an incredible, incredible challenge that Paul gives us. 00:21:27.405 --> 00:22:11.190 Now he goes on, and we don't have time to go to all the different pieces, but if we got to chapter four, we would see that he talks about different roles that people play in the church. In other places, Paul talks about them as spiritual gifts, and and he talks about the different gifts that people have. The point is this, we don't all play the same role, but everybody, everybody has a role to play. Everybody is invited into ministry, and your ministry might look very different than the person sitting next to you. Today, as you walk through the halls and explore all the ministries that we have going on, we're gonna give thanks that God has given us as a church His Holy Spirit, that we can make an impact in the community around us and be part of changing lives. 00:22:11.190 --> 00:22:38.910 You're gonna see all these unbelievable ministries where God's Holy Spirit is poured into us so that we can pour it out, and we do that well as a church, and so we're gonna be thankful for that, but I want you to also pray, God, what are you calling me to in this? It may be something that seems really, really small and really insignificant, and yet it's not. Right? It's part of the mission of God. It's a piece, a part of changing people's lives, and it may be something that's really big and really scary, and God's whispering, step forward. 00:22:38.910 --> 00:22:49.965 Go into it. You were wired for this. You were created for this. You're my good work. My poem created to do good work. 00:22:50.765 --> 00:23:19.365 This year, this school year, this season of ministry, I encourage you, step in. Step into the ministry that God is calling you into. Now I wanna pray for us, and I'm gonna pray over us the words that Paul prayed, because this was a prayer not just for church a couple thousand years ago. It's a prayer for you and for me. So would you pray with me? 00:23:22.725 --> 00:24:29.715 God, we pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that you may know, that we may know the hope to which you have called us, the riches of your glorious inheritance as your holy people, and then your incomparably great power for us who believe. God, we pray that we would grasp that power, the power that is the same power as the mighty strength that you exerted when you raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in this present age, but also in the one to come. God, would you open the eyes of our heart? Would you help us to to grasp what you called us into? And would you give us the courage to step into it? 00:24:31.100 --> 00:24:35.420 We pray this in your holy name. Amen.