August 4, 2024
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Ephesians 6:1-4
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parenting
The truth is, parents today are worried. They’re worried about their child’s health: obesity, drug abuse, bullying, internet safety, teen pregnancy, gender dysphoria, depression, teen suicide… They’re worried about their education: public, private or home school? College? So, a lot of parenting today is worry-driven, or fear driven. Parents today feel overwhelmed and underprepared. Either because they came from a dysfunctional family themselves or because they have no foundational biblical understanding, they feel lost in their role. So, many are just winging it.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he told them how to parent their children in the Lord. We can follow God’s Word for parenting our children in the Lord.
July 28, 2024
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Ephesians 5:22-33
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marriage
Every marriage is like a high flying dangerous acrobatic endeavor that requires two people to focus on hanging on tight to one another. How is your marriage doing? Are you hanging on tight to one another? Think about your marriage for a minute. Are you experiencing the blessing of God on your marriage today? Wouldn’t you like to?
As we learned last week, experiencing the blessing of God on our family means bowing to His authority and plan and depending on His power and love. Have you decided to follow God’s plan, His design for the family? In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave instructions on how to follow God’s design for being the family of God. Among these, are his instructions on how to follow God’s design for marriage.
July 21, 2024
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Ephesians 3:14-21
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family
What’s the answer to the question, “Who dealt this mess?” We did. That’s the answer. That’s why we worry so much about it. Because we know that much of the mess, if we’re truly honest, is our own fault. Yet no matter how hard we try to have the perfect family, we’re still ending up with crazy chaotic and well, messy. And this often leaves us feeling exhausted and feeling like failures.
But what if we’re aiming at the wrong thing? What if we stop aiming at having the perfect family and instead aim at having a family that lives and even thrives under God’s blessing? What if we prayed, “God bless our mess.” In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that believers would experience God’s blessing on the family.
July 23, 2023
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Ephesians 6:1-4
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parenting
What is your parenting approach? Where did you learn how to be a mom or dad? Was it from your parents? From friends or a book? Or are you just winging it?
February 26, 2023
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Ephesians 4:11-16
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discipleship, spiritual growth
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave them a vision for being a church that builds up believers in love, growing them to spiritual maturity in Christ Jesus. We can get a vision for being built up in love, growing up to spiritual maturity in Christ Jesus.
January 15, 2023
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Ephesians 4:17-24
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discipleship
What kind of ideas and images inhabit your mind, your thinking? Where did they come from? Do you have a mindset, a worldview, shaped by the Word of God as applied by the grace and Spirit of God? Or is your thinking shaped by the culture you’ve grown up in? The truth is, as believers, we all struggle with being “double-minded,” having competing ideas and images in our thinking. Some from God and some from the world.
God wants to renovate our thinking so that we have the mind of Christ. In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he taught believers to yield their minds, their thinking, to Christ for renewal, for transformation, for renovation. We can yield our minds, our thinking, to Christ for renovation.
August 14, 2022
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Ephesians 6:1-4
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parenting
Parents today are worried. They’re worried about their child’s health: obesity, drug abuse, bullying, internet safety, teen pregnancy, gender dysphoria, depression, teen suicide… They’re worried about their education: public, private or home school? College? So, a lot of parenting today is worry-driven, or fear driven. Parents today feel overwhelmed and underprepared. Either because they came from a dysfunctional family themselves or because they have no foundational biblical understanding, they feel lost in their role. So, many are just winging it.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he told them how to parent their children in the Lord. We can follow God’s Word for parenting our children in the Lord.
August 7, 2022
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Ephesians 5:22-33
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marriage
How is your marriage doing? Are there some areas that need a tune-up? Or maybe even a restart? The truth is we all need help with our marriage. And the best help is found in the Lord. For God has a design for marriage.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave instructions on how to follow God’s design for being the family of God. Among these, are his instructions on how to follow God’s design for marriage. We can follow God’s design for marriage.
July 24, 2022
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Ephesians 4:15-16
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communication, family
How are you and your family doing with communication? If you’re single, do you have good communication with your parents and siblings? What about with close friends? Do you ever feel lonely with no real family to talk to? If you are married, are you and your spouse experiencing the joyful oneness and intimacy that God designed for marriage? Is there unity in your family with mutual understanding?
How can we learn to communicate for mutual understanding in our families?In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he taught them to communicate for mutual understanding as the family of God. We can communicate for mutual understanding in our families.
July 17, 2022
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Ephesians 3:14-21
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family
How has your family life marked you today? Some of you had a great family life growing up, but some of you are still trying to find healing from growing up in a dysfunctional family. And to be clear, no family is perfect. Every family has problems and challenges. Regardless of the kind of family you grew up in, there is hope and healing in Jesus!
In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that believers would experience God’s blessing on the family. We can experience God’s blessing on our families.