For the last few weeks, we have been looking at how God wants us to conduct our faith in relationships. We’ve looked at the relationship between wife and husband, children and parents, and now Paul turns his attention to employees and their employers. Isn’t that such a wonderful thought? God loves us so much, He even gives us instructions on how to get the most out of our work lives. Whether you are an employer or employee, God wants you to glorify Him in your work and today we learn how.

This morning, we take a break from our journey through Ephesians to focus on youth. As the world celebrates and exults the youth at this time, so do we at Family Church as the youth put together this morning’s service - part of a faith-at-home series based on the concept that faith is caught, not taught. Today’s scripture tells the family unit to remember God, the days of old, and the stories of generations gone before.

We live in a world of subtle sexual innuendoes - like subliminal advertising that feeds false information into our sub-conscience. Billboards advertising sin-filled sex shops, and programs that promote adultery and promiscuity. They are all part of a system that is designed to first get us to accept the unacceptable, then to normalise it, then to celebrate it - to the point where we are all living in sexual immorality that we can’t even recognize. The Ephesians faced the same challenges, if not worse. The temple of Artemis promoted temple prostitution, drunken orgies in the streets, and pornographic art that was built into every aspect of society. In this morning’s scripture, Paul is addressing the dire concern of sexual immorality with the Ephesians and gives them some guidelines to overcome it. Through this scripture, we can overcome our own challenges with sexual immorality.

Are you aware of the power of your words? Words have the power to build up and destroy. And in today’s passage, Paul addresses the way Christians are supposed to use their words to build one another up. While corrupt speech seems so distant from us, we are all engaged in it at some point, often unwittingly, and when we do it can lead to bitterness, wrath, and malice. Paul gives us practical advice on how to use our speech to build up the body of Christ with Holy means through kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness.

In last week’s sermon, we learned that when Christ ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. Now, in this morning’s passage, we learn more about those gifts and what their purpose was. It’s an important message for Christ’s church today, because it calls all who worship our Lord Jesus to work in His ministry. Ministry means “to serve,” and one of the greatest pitfalls of the modern church is that the ministry is left to those of the office of the clergy. Today, Paul teaches us that the gifts Christ left were actually the leaders in the church, and they are gifts because they equip us with what we need to serve - to minister.

Today, 2,000 years ago, Jesus rose from the dead. It is known as the greatest miracle of all time and is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. In fact, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that if the resurrection isn’t true, we have no need for our faith. The resurrection is what makes Christianity different from all other faiths. For all other world views and religions, their gods/prophets are dead and buried - worm food. But Jesus lives and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Today, we look at the resurrection and what it meant for the disciples, and how that applies to our lives today.

For the last few months, we’ve been working through Ephesians and the salvation they experience as a result of their faith in God and their belief in the Son. It’s been about their identity in Christ as believers and Paul has been guiding them on how to deal with these matters for both the Jew and the gentile. Now Paul prays for them that they may take their salvation and build on it, to put it into action so that they may receive the wonders of God’s fullness.

Last week we looked at Jesus, the coming savior, and how we should spread this incredible news! This morning, we look at Jesus, the coming King, as told from time immortal. From the moment mankind fell, God put in place a plan to save us from the consequences of sin, in the form of a living King coming to earth. To understand the magnitude of this grace, we need to understand what kind of king Jesus is and how it differs from our understanding of what an earthly king is. Only when we understand that will be in a position to worship Him, as we were created, in a way that pleases Him. To truly understand Jesus’s kingship, we need to see what the Bible foretold of Jesus, what He did on earth, and what He still plans to do!

Last week, Pete spoke about one of those “church” words, grace. We throw it around without much thought, without considering what it means. Grace is the gifts that God gives, that we did not and can not earn. Today, we look at what that grace means for us, and how we should respond to that grace. To do this effectively, we need to remember who God is. Who the Father is, who the Son is and who the Holy Spirit is. When we understand these things, then we are saved by God’s grace and called and enabled to do good works, which God ordained for us before the universe existed.

Today we’re starting our journey in the remarkable book of Ephesians as we celebrate the Lord’s Table. During his 30+ years of truly remarkable ministry, Paul visited Ephesus on two of his three missionary journeys. Ephesus was the capital of Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey. It was a key strategic location for the Roman empire. It had a bustling economy, with over a million inhabitants, and millions more visiting each year. It was a centre of Greek philosophy as well, with the temple to the Greek God, Artemis, the goddess of wild animals. Also known as the temple of Diana (Roman goddess) – it was four times larger than the Parthenon in Greece.

Many of the Roman leaders would head to Ephesus for their vacations, it was one of the most influential cities in the ancient world. Paul spent 3 months in the Jewish synagogue teaching the Jews about Christ. Later, he spent two years in the school of Tychicus teaching the world about Jesus. So effective was his teaching, that we learn that no one that went to Ephesus did not hear the good news of the Gospel. The Ephesians received more of Paul’s teaching than any other place or group of people – they were the most spiritually advanced of all the churches of the Roman empire.

The journey through 2 Thessalonians finishes today. Over the last few months, we’ve learnt of the plight of the Thessalonians; Paul was ripped from their midst and they were suffering persecution. Imposters told them that Jesus had already come and they were left behind. They were in a panic and so, Paul has been teaching and encouraging them in the ways of Christ. Now that he has explained everything to them, Paul is wishing them God’s peace and grace. It is God’s peace we crave above all other things as human beings and that is what we focus on in today’s message.

After expounding some very lofty spiritual truths like the rapture, second coming, destruction of the anti-Christ, etc, Paul returns to some practical teaching about work. While we need to be cognizant of the lofty spiritual truths, we still have a big responsibility in the routine of everyday life and work is central to this. Through the scripture this morning, we get a great look into the world of work from a Biblical point of view and through Paul’s teaching, have some practical ways to implement them in our working lives.

Throughout 2 Thessalonians, we see Paul exhorting, teaching and praying for the Thessalonians during their trials. Now, as the letter draws to an end, Paul and his missionary brothers are about to journey further into the heart of the dark ancient Mediterranean. So Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for him, that the Lord may go ahead of them and deliver them from the evil that they are about to face.

When we are faced with a lot of instructions at one time or a lot of tasks at one time, we need to deal with the most pressing, troubling ones first, right? That’s what’s happening when we get to this stage in Thessalonians. The Thessalonians needed to know how to build the Church and needed instruction, but first, they had to deal with the concept of the rapture. Now that Paul has addressed their concerns about the second coming, Paul moves on to give them powerful instructions on how to build the Church in Thessalonica.

One of my favourite quotes from Martin Luther King is “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Love is a powerful thing! Today’s scripture is about how that power abides in a family context, referred to as brotherly love. The Thessalonians had to overcome a great deal in their journey of faith. The way they did it was to bound together in loving brotherhood and in doing so, they turned the world upside down!

Today we take part in the Lord’s table… It’s one of the two ordinances we’re given to carry out as believers in Jesus Christ. And to truly understand the impact of the Lord’s table, we need to back in time… To look at more of these stories. In fact, today, we’re going to cover more of Rehab’s story as we build-up to the Lord’s Table. As we take a look at these stories today, I want you to seriously consider them. These are not mythical stories like much of the world would have us believe. They are ancient realities that tell us about our creator and how we got to this point. When we understand the stories, we get a better grasp of the current state of the world and what our response should be.

An endurance race is a beautiful battle of mind, body and will and to finish it takes endurance. That’s how we arrive at Hebrews 12 this morning. As we’ve learnt, the Christians the author is addressing are Jews and they are struggling in their journey. He’s comparing the Christian Journey to an endurance race. They have just joined the race and there are great difficulties. The author is telling them, hold on a sec guys… This is not a 100-meter sprint, hold on… There is more to the race than what you can see in front of and around you. This is a long race and it takes endurance.

Today, we see the author of Hebrews addressing the Jews who are having a hard time believing. They heard the word of God and they witnessed the life of Jesus second hand. They knew in their hearts that what they heard was true. But because of the suffering and persecution they were facing, they could not come to grips with it. They saw God’s works, His plan and His salvation from afar, but they could not believe it. The author is imploring the Jews to believe as Joshua did.