BUT, "GOD LOVES ME!" - Ephesians 2:1-10

Every month it seems something is in need of scheduled maintenance. Spark plugs need replacing, tires rotated, and oil changed in my vehicle (oh, I have two vehicles). I must have annual doctor visits to maintain a lower cholesterol count. Even my computer needs regular maintenance or unnecessary files will build up; slowing it down. I broke down this past year; buying one of those external hard drives so that we can do less deleting and more saving – something aches inside me – I’m just deferring the problem.

Do you know where I am leading you? Yes, I’m a Pastor; I care about spiritual things. It is true: you need spiritual maintenance. A couple good encounters with people who don’t live God’s way will leave you on the examination table needing repair. The world is a hard, selfish place. The Bible says, “Don’t be conformed to its image.” There must be a good amount of pressure from the world for the Bible to address it so straight up. You may say to yourself, “I don’t need any maintenance; I’m doing just fine.” Maintenance is still needed when we cannot see it. The need for your car to have a four wheel alignment will not be realized until many miles down the road as your tires begin to wear uneven. So it is with spiritual maintenance; you may not be able to recognize your need for a little adjustment now but in a few days, weeks, years, you will be in rough shape. You must allow the Scriptures to examine you, placing yourself under its diagnostics.

One of the primary Biblical texts to study for spiritual alignment is Ephesians 2. I will break it into two parts: teaching 2:1-10 on Jan. 4 and 2:11-22 on Jan. 11. Because I will be walking through the chapter verse by verse, I want this blog to turn a new corner. Here I will provide you additional scripture for further study and thoughtful questions to consider. I welcome your feedback.

Ephesians 2:1-10
This paragraph can be broken into two parts: Life without God (v. 1-3) and Life with God (v. 5-10). They are linked together by verse 4; the answer for getting across the line of life without God to life with Him. Another chapter in the Bible to help illustrate this transfer is Romans 6:1-11.

1. The result of sin is always the same, What? (Colossians 2:13; Romans 5:21, 6:23; James 1:13-15)

2. Will sin always keep you from God’s promises? (1 Corinthians 6:5-11)

3. Who took the initiative to move you from life without God to life with God? (2 Corinthians 5:18)

4. What motivated God to take such initiative? (Psalm 145:8, Habakkuk 3:2)

5. What three words describe the work of God in you? (Note: God does for you what God has already done for Christ.)

6. Think about the meaning of these three works in your life? What is their impact?

7. What is the main point of this paragraph: (Ephesians 4:17-32)

That you are saved by grace through faith.
That you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ, for good works.

TALE OF 3 STORMS

In this final message on stress, and how it can strengthen us, Pastor Greg and I want to bring you the telling of 3 storms in the Bible. This is important because it give us the ability to evaluate the reason and meaning of storms from different perspectives. All three storms have the same elements: wind, rain, clouds, lightning, and thunder. Each storm creates the same reaction in its participants - fear. A storm is a storm and the effects of a storm are universal - what is often different is the "why"?

"Why am I experiencing this storm?"

Also, every financial crisis plays out the same: loss of income, bills cannot be paid, losing house and reputation, wounded credit rating, etc. However, the reason for the financial crisis can be dramatically different from person to person. I read today in the newspaper about many Jewish families now struggling financially, and not due to their poor choices. They are experiencing financial ruin because of a deceitful money manager, Bernard Madoff. Their financial crisis is for different reasons than the person who lost their job or the person who is being choked by debt because for the past 3 years he has purchased unnecessary toys on easy credit. Each of these financial situations would create feelings of stress. Although the cause of stress is the same, the reason you are in the storm may be for a different purpose. At some point, you must ask the question, "why am I experiencing this storm?"

The first storm to investigate is Jonah's storm (found in the book of Jonah). The second storm is Paul's storm on his way to stand trial in Rome for his belief in Jesus Christ (Acts 27:13-26). The third and final storm is the disciples' storm in the boat with Jesus (Mark 4:35-41). Read up on these before Sunday.

As you look at these three storms side by side, you will notice some similarities in people's reactions. Those individuals who knew God and how to hear God's voice fared much better than those who did not know God or understand His ways. After looking at these real accounts of storms, you will understand more clearly how to face stress, use the 7 identifying questions to give reason for your stress, so that you may surrender your life to God and grow through whatever circumstance you are facing.

Our desire (God's desire) for you is that you be STRENGTHENED BY STRESS.

STRESS: FROM STUPIDITY OR FOR SERVICE

Pastor Ben here! I’m excited to share God’s word with you this Sunday. Because our time is filled up with a lot of good stuff I’ll make this to the point.

Life is hard, full of stress and life is not all about us. With those two ideas in mind, we can be strengthened by stress. Jesus knows exactly what is going on in our lives because He is always with us...and simply; He is a kind, engaged brother.

I’ve awkwardly entitled my message, “Stress: From Stupidity or for Service” because we are trying to figure out the purpose of our stress. By stress I mean pressure, not emotional turmoil. We need to investigate if our stress is the natural consequences of our stupid choices (I’ll define stupidity as knowing what’s best and choosing something else) or is it God using a hard time to prepare us to serve and minister to someone else.

Here are some of the scriptures we will be studying this Sunday: II Corinthians 1:3-6; Galatians 6:7-10; Daniel 3. See you then.

REJOICE YOU'RE GROWING - 1 Pet 4:12-19

As I prepare my teaching for this Sunday, I received a phone call from my mother about my oldest cousin's 14 year old son who was hit by a car going 35 mph. Still a day later he is recovering in the hospital with some bleeding in the brain. They are concerned, not sure, is everything working right? They have him mildly sedated so that he may recover quicker. Everyone is worried, hoping, and experiencing a little stress.

Now back to studying about how we are Strengthened through Stress. Wow! What am I going to say. This is one of the real stressful circumstances we face - often calling it a tragedy. The Bible talks about the testing of the heart. These things sure test my heart.

If I believe this event is an opportunity for growth, does that mean God causes these things to happen? No, that cannot be right. I know Romans 8:28 says, "God works all things for the good..." It doesn't say, "God causes all things" but that He works all things. Some things just happen. Why? Because we live in a broken world. At creation, God made a perfect world - a world experiencing perfect balance. We know, because of what I taught last Sunday, that we experience stress when our balanced life is thrown into imbalance. We may say, "I was thrown a curve ball (like your 14 yr. old kid being hit by a car).

God's perfect design was put into chaos when we decided to not trust Him or play by His rules. We decided to eat from a tree that he said would hurt us. We didn't believe. We wanted the story to be more about us; and the rest is history. We allowed sin to enter our environment by not trusting. This caused an imbalance in the systems of the world. Now things don't work perfectly. The Bible talks about the world groaning too deep for words. So on most days, you and I experience the imbalance of our world which causes stress.

The way to grow from stress caused by circumstance meant to test you or sharpen you is to respond in the opposite of what we did in the Garden of Eden. Commit (Entrust) yourself to God and continue to do what is right. God promises to work everything out for those who trust Him.

~Eric

An after-thought: it is hard for me to trust Jesus when I don't like the potential outcome.