Kevin Dibbley - October 1, 2023
"Safe in the Father's Love"
One of the great sources of anxiety that we all face is the feeling that our lives seem to be spinning out of control. Whether we feel like our destiny is being determined by unpredictable forces of nature, inherited dna, unjust political or military powers, technological advances like AI, spiraling health and housing costs, or worse, demonic and evil forces, Paul reminds the church at Ephesus that their lives and destinies are safe in the hands of sovereign love. This week’s sermon is called “Safe in the Father’s Love.” In Ephesians 1:5-6, the Word of God reminds us that our lives are never spiraling out of control. For the Christian, life is resting in the care of a God who brings us into His family through Christ at the expense of His Son and ensures our future together as one forever family under Christ. We are loved with everlasting love. We share a common destiny. We are forever the family of God. What joins us together is our adoption in Christ. Let’s gather and be reminded that we are safe in the Father’s hands.
Scripture References: Ephesians 1:5-6
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.
