Kevin Dibbley - November 12, 2023
"Rich in Mercy"
This sermon is entitled, "Rich In Mercy". It is taken from one of the most well-known sections of Ephesians – Ephesians 2:1-10. At the heart of the passage is the glorious truth that God has been incredibly merciful and gracious to each of us as His children. Every single one of us who has put our faith in Jesus Christ has a miraculous story of rescue and deliverance. Even if our testimony seems boring and mundane in comparison to how others came to Christ, what we have been saved from and what we have been saved for, is absolutely staggering. Here’s the question that the Lord wants us to consider in Ephesians. If God has been rich in mercy towards us, will we be rich in mercy towards one another? The gospel of mercy and grace produces a community of mercy and grace. Let’s come and be reminded afresh of the glorious gift of our salvation in Christ and the call that it gives us to be rich in mercy towards others.
Scripture References: Ephesians 2:1-10
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.
