Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Ephesians 4:1-15

Theme: We Are Better Together

Thesis: God has called us to experience spiritual health together in a local church family.

Notes:

1. Loving Unity
   • 4:2, Unity among believers isn’t just a future “in heaven” thing
   • Unity is possible here on earth, in each local body, because of Christ’s sacrifice
   • Christ died not for persons–but for a people
   •  Our local gathering of God’s people is a microcosmic visible picture of God’s universal, invisible church
   • We meet on Sunday as a reflection of the early church meeting on Sunday to celebrate Christ’s resurrection
     • Acts 16
     • Acts 20
     • Justin Martyr, 150 AD
   • Required attitudes to create unity:
     • Lowliness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, bearing with one another in love
2. Grace-Empowered Ministry 
   • 4:7, Every believer is equipped with spiritual gifts by Christ’s victory over sin & death
   • The purpose of each gift is service to and in the local church body
3. Christ-Centered Maturity 
   • We all grow together
   • Just as a body’s health is dependent on each part being healthy, so it is with a local church

Live It Out

1. Commit yourself to the spiritual health of your church family through ministry and maturity
2. Commit to building unity in your church family through faithfully gathering and fellowshipping with them

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Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Ephesians 2:11-17

Theme: We Are Better Together (Week 2)

Thesis: God has called us to experience spiritual health together in a local church family.

Notes:

1. God has gathered us together in a Person: Jesus Christ
   • John 17
   • Acts 9:4, “…why are you persecuting me“
   • Acts 20:28, “…the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.”
   • Titus 2, “…a people for His very own possession”
   • Throughout history, when God calls a people He gathers them together
   • Throughout history, when God gathers His people He gathers them to Himself
     • Adam & Eve in the garden
     • Tabernacle in the nation of Israel
     • Christ in flesh
     • Spirit indwelling
     • Future state: we will be physically with God for eternity
2.  God has gathered us together as His People
   • Ephesians 2:19, “…fellow citizens…household of God…building, temple, dwelling place of God”
   • Christ saved each of us–not just from death and Satan–but for His glory and His people
   • Salvation isn’t about me, it’s about us
   • We are saved by covenant–into a covenant community
     • Those are inseparable
   • “Like every family, we have weird aunts and loud cousins”
   • God made us for community
     • As humans
     • As His people
     • Heb 10, “…stir each other up to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves”
     • 1 Corinthians 12, “…you are a temple of God…”
       • But more accurately, “…y’all are a temple of God…”
       • “you” is plural
3. God has called us together for a Purpose
   • Ephesians 3:10, “…that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church…”

Live It Out!

1. Make the gathering a priority
   • Planning to attend church Sunday morning starts before Sunday morning
   • Failing to plan is planning to fail
   • Failing to plan to attend is to plan not too attend
   • Prepare so that you can attend with joy

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Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Ephesians 2:

Theme: Our Identity In Christ

Notes:

Finding our identity in Christ allows us to relate to others around us in a Christ-like way.

Three Truths:

1. Rooting our identity in Christ releases us from our past

   • “…you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked….”
   • “…among whom we all once lived….”
   • “…even when we were dead in trespasses and sins….”
   • Our past reminds us that:
     • We can’t earn God’s love
       • “I know God loves me–but I don’t think He likes me”
       • It can be tempting to think that we can do something to “earn” grace
         • “I did these things, so God kind of owes me a good day”
         • “This bad thing happened, I must not have done enough to please Him”
     • If we think God treats us this way–offering grace provisionally or based on works
       (i.e., not grace), we will relate to others in this same way
       • How can you reflect God’s grace if you don’t feel God is full of grace–
         but that He is severe and usually disappointed?
   • God loves us, not because we are intrinsically or potentially lovely
     • God makes lovely that which He chooses to love, i.e.,
       He loves us because of of what He has done, not because of what we have done
   • Growing up in a Christian home you often are protected from committing certain sins that unbelievers harm themselves and others with
     • “The big ones”
     • But the closer you grow to Christ, the darker you understand your own sins to be–no matter how socially acceptable those sins might be
   • God’s desire for us to mourn over our sin is not a call to wallow in shame–it’s a call to accept His offer of grace, repent of our sin, and be made new
   • At salvation you have been given the resources to be free from sin
     • It doesn’t mean that some sins may take more time and effort than others to be free from
       • Sins you are painfully aware of
       • Sins you are unaware of

2. Rooting our identity in Christ allows us to rest in His present grace

   • The call of legalism is often harsh and unforgiving
     • “This bad thing happened, I must not have displeased God.”
   • It can also be seductive
     • “This good thing happened, I must be really righteous”
   • But the truth is that God loves us with a covenantal love–where God loves us because He has promised to love us–based on the merits of Christ–not because of how you have performed.
     • Q: Won’t people just feel a license to live as sinful as they want, penalty-free?
     • A: People truly saved by grace will be transformed by grace.
   • You need not be pulled here and there by the exhausting sins of:
     • pride (look what I have done for God)
     • despair (look what I have done to God)
   • We must remember that God has entered into a covenant with His people:
     • By His own initiative
     • Utterly aware of every one of our sins
     • And God is for us!

3. Rooting our identity in Christ restores us to purpose

   • Graces:
     • imago dei (ih-MAH-go DAY) — “the image of God”
       • Every human is made in the image of God
     • Common grace
     • Redemptive grace

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Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Ephesians 2:1-10

Theme: What Does the Bible Say About Identity: Who Am I In Christ?

• Personal Identity
• Social Identity
• Restored Identity

Notes:

• Questions:
  • How did I get here?
  • Who am I?
  • Why am I here?
  • What is true?
  • How do I know right from wrong?
  • What happens when I die?
• Ecc 3:11, “…He has put eternity into man’s heart….”
• Questions of Identity:
  • The answers to these questions will determine who you are and what you do with your life
  • Who am I?
  • Why am I here?
  • Personal Identity
    • Your individual personality and characteristics
    • How you perceive yourself
    • What distinguishes you from others?
  • Social Identity
    • Your shared values with others
    • How others perceive you
    • How are you alike with others?
  • If we tie either our personal identity (what I think about myself)
    or our social identity (what others think of us) to the wrong things,
    we are going to have a flawed view of our identity
    • Since God is the author of who we are, He has the authority to rightly describe who we are
  • The structure of the book of Ephesians points to the issue of identity
    • As believers, our identity is inextricably  tethered to Christ
  • Every other source of identity is a false foundation of shifting sand:
    • Being a spouse
    • Being a parent
    • Being wealthy
    • Being creative
    • Being an American
    • Being employed
    • Being successful
  • Am I still who I am when I lose one or more of these things?
  • Am I still OK when I lose one or more of these things?
  • The “Disney problem”: when a protagonist looks inward to find truth, and lives out their own subjective truth apart from their any other truth
    • But we are born without any indwelling truth
    • We must find truth outside of ourselves
      • Eph 2:1, “…you were dead in trespasses and sins….”
      • Our will is by nature bound to oppose God
      • Apart from the regeneration of the (external) Holy Spirit, we will not come to the truth
  • Sin distorted our identity
    • But through Christ, we have been given a new identity
    • Our old identity has no power over us
      • 1 Cor 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified….”
      • Eph 2:1-2, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked….”
      • 1 Tim 1:13, “though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent…”
    • We don’t define ourselves by how we feel or how well you do:
      • I’m doing great–I’m better than those other sinners
      • I’m doing terrible–I will never change or improve
  • A right perspective on our identity as believers:
    • I am loved
    • Not because I am inherently lovely
    • But because Christ has made me lovely
    • We don’t derive our identity from what we say about ourselves
    • We derive our identity from what God says about us
  • We are freed from either shame or pride because
    • God acknowledges our sin,
    • Christ atoned for our sin,
    • God accepts Christ’s sacrifice,
    • God transforms us,
    • God calls us His own
• Live It Out!
  • Root out false ideas with the truth:
    • 2 Cor 10:5, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
  • Meditate on truth of God’s word
  • Pray that God would empower your future through hope in what Christ has done

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Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Psalm 23

Theme: The Great Shepherd

Notes:

God called David, a shepherd, to reflect the Great Shepherd, and shepherd God’s people

We often remember David’s great victories: defeating Goliath, conquering the Philistines, capturing Jerusalem

Yet David had many great tragedies

• He spent years on the run as his king tried to murder him
• three of his sons died–all under tragic circumstances

Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my shepherd”

1. God’s Exaltation

• The LORD: there is a God, and He is the Creator of the universe
• My shepherd: This God is my shepherd
  • He watches over me
  • He meets my needs
    • Not necessarily our wants
      • “I shall not want”, meaning, “I shall not lack”
• Will this God be there for you in your worst moments?
  • Will he sustain you through pain and loss?
  • This psalm affirms that this God that provided for David will provide for you
  • Would it help to worry?
    • Matthew 6:25-34

2. David’s Expectation

• Because of who God is (past & present), He will provide for me  (future)
  • “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil, for you are with me;”
  • “your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
    • The shepherd is armed with the tools to defend the sheep against enemies without–and to save us from our own foolishness as well
  • The psalm marks God’s many provisions:
    • You prepare a table before me
    • You anoint my head with oil;
  • David’s expectation is rooted in relationship with God
    • “You are with me;”
  • God’s goodness and mercy are absolutely unfailing–regardless of whether we deserve it (we don’t)
  • God not only is good and merciful–but he delights to do so

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