Kevin Dibbley - March 24, 2024
"Children and Parents"
In our study of Ephesians, we are going to be looking at the relationship between parents and children (Ephesians 6:1-4). In the Roman Empire, children did not have the status that they do in our society. Fathers had the legal right to deal with their children like they were property. They could be as harsh and cruel as they desired to conform their children to their wills. They even held the right of life and death over their kids. Paul’s words to children and to parents retrieve family relationships from the kingdom of self to the kingdom of God. In the gospel and its introduction of a new society, a new realm under the reign of King Jesus, family becomes a place of worship and kingdom advancement. Family is where children and parents grow in the grace and in the character of Jesus Christ. God created the family to be a place where His wisdom and His goodness flourish in the lives of adults and children to the praise of His glory. Family is one of the primary places where joyful disciples are made. Join us this Sunday as we speak to both children and parents about how they might learn to live together, to grow together, and to serve one another in the Lord.
Scripture References: Ephesians 6:1-4
From Series: "Ephesians: One In Christ"
We are beginning a sermon series focusing upon the New Testament letter of Ephesians. Our series is called “One in Christ”. In Japan, there is a form of artwork called Kintsugi art. Kin means gold. Tsugi means to mend. In Kintsugi art, an artist will take, for example, a piece of ceramic teaware that has been broken during an earthquake or something like that. Instead of repairing it to make it look like the original plate or teacup, the artist will instead use Japanese lacquer and gold to actually highlight the fractures. Out of the broken vessel comes a brand new piece that is considered more beautiful and more valuable than the original. The apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians that God in Christ has chosen to take our lives broken and alienated from God and each other by sin and make one new community. John Stott writes “Through Christ and in Christ, we are nothing less than God’s new society, the single new humanity which he is creating and includes Jews and Gentiles on equal terms. We are the family of God the Father, the body of Jesus Christ his Son, and the temple and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.” Our hope and prayer is that over the next several months, we would get a vision of the church as God’s new creation, His masterpiece, which is just the beginning of what God intends to do throughout all eternity and throughout the entire heavens and on earth. Out of his brokenness, we become one. Pray that together we would become in real relationships what we are in positionally through the gospel – One in Christ.
