This fall, Beloved Community will embark on a journey through the book of Ephesians.
Why Ephesians?
In the book of Revelation, Christ calls the church in Ephesus to return to the love they had at first. He commends them for hating evil, persevering, challenging false prophets, and enduring much for His name, but He notes that they have fallen from their initial love. The book of Acts provides a glimpse of that love and how it first took shape.
Acts Chapters 19-21:
In these chapters, we find Paul’s initial missionary journey to Ephesus, marked by a move of the Spirit. For two years, Paul preached and taught the gospel in various spaces. He performed miracles, healed people, cast out demons, and made disciples. Ephesus became a strategic hub for spreading the gospel throughout Asia. Those years of intentional engagement with the community and disciple making started to impact the community in tangible ways. Eventually people voluntarily rallied together to burn their idols watching thousands of dollars worth of idolatry go up in flames, and then refused to continue spending their money on those idols. This economic disruption hurt the pockets of those profiting from idolatry, leading to riots. After these riots, Paul prepared to leave Ephesus, following a call from the Lord to Rome. When Paul tells the Ephesian elders he is leaving for Rome and they would likely never see him again. They wept sorely. As he shared the news with others, he received similar responses of weeping and pleading for him to stay.
Paul eventually made it to Rome and ended up in prison, where he wrote to the Ephesian elders and the church. In his letter, Paul addresses issues he had already laid the groundwork for. Our journey through Ephesians gives us a front-row seat to many of the things Paul communicated to the church in Ephesus and hoped to communicate to the church at large, cultivating both communal and individual transformation. A revelation from God regarding the identity of the church.
What were the things that Paul taught the church in Ephesus that led to and encouraged continued change in the community?
What gospel seeds did Paul plant that created a counterculture against idolatry?
What are the implications of Paul’s message to the church today?
What does it tell us about God’s plan, purpose and identity of the church in a world rebelling against Him?
How does Paul’s revelation to the Ephesians stir us to intentionally engage the community around us?
Prof. N. T. Wright, a renowned biblical scholar and historian, says:
“Ephesians begins with the big picture of God’s ultimate intention of bringing forth the joining of ‘heaven’ and ‘earth,’ reuniting what had been fractured long ago. Paul explains that, through the Messiah, God has brought together one new humanity. This new family of God will lead to a different way of thinking, speaking, and living. In addition, attention is given to the reality of the unseen world as it plays out in the lives of this New Family which lives in unity and holiness.”
Series Overview
The Ephesians series launches on August 11th and will run for 16 weeks.
A good way to prepare our hearts for our journey through Ephesians is to read Acts chapters 19-21 to see how it all began. Then, read the book of Ephesians itself. A good plan is to read the section being preached prior to our Sunday gatherings.
Here are the sections we’re covering each week:
- 8/11/24 | Ephesians 1:1-14
- 8/18/24 | Ephesians 1:15-23
- 8/25/24 | Ephesians 2:1-10
- 9/1/24 | Ephesians 2:11-22
- 9/8/24 | Ephesians 3:1-13
- 9/15/24 | Ephesians 3:14-21
- 9/22/24 | Ephesians 4:1-6
- 9/29/24 | Ephesians 4:7-16
- 10/6/24 | Ephesians 4:17-24
- 10/13/24 | Ephesians 4:25-5:2
- 10/20/24 | Ephesians 5:1-14
- 10/27/24 | Ephesians 5:15-21
- 11/3/24 | Ephesians 5:22-6:4
- 11/10/24 | Ephesians 6:5-9
- 11/17/24 | Ephesians 6:10-17
- 11/24/24 | Ephesians 6:18-24