What is it that only God can do?
Yesterday marked the start of our dedicated month of prayer, where we are calling the church in a season of focused and resolute prayer. The constant refrain I would love for you to have turning over in your mind is this question: "what is it that only God can do?". Let's not set the bar so low that we can effectively control the outcome of our prayers by ourselves. That kind of prayer is valid in part, but it hardly requires an exercise of faith, and so neither glorifies God no blesses us.
There are things that we are utterly powerless to control. Let's go after those things together.
Yesterday marked the start of our dedicated month of prayer, where we are calling the church in a season of focused and resolute prayer. The constant refrain I would love for you to have turning over in your mind is this question: "what is it that only God can do?". Let's not set the bar so low that we can effectively control the outcome of our prayers by ourselves. That kind of prayer is valid in part, but it hardly requires an exercise of faith, and so neither glorifies God no blesses us.
There are things that we are utterly powerless to control. Let's go after those things together. What do you long to see in our church? In your family? Among your friends and colleagues? What miracle are you desperate for? I believe there are spiritual blessings we have not experienced simply because we haven't been bothered to ask (James 4:2). So let's follow the invitation of Jesus: Ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7-12). This is no blank cheque to be spent on selfish desires, but it isn't an empty promise either. Our God doesn't give those. His promises can be called on!
Ask yourself: what is it that only God can do? What blessing sits so far outside of our human ability to reach? And let's join our voices in prayer this month to seek after such things.
To God be the Glory,
Pastor Mike
What do I need to know about Exodus
Having spilt some ink over the reasons why we are jumping into Exodus recently, we are now going to ask the question: OK, so what do I need to know?
This will be a brief introduction to the book, followed by some great recommendations for further study.
Having spilt some ink over the reasons why we are jumping into Exodus recently, we are now going to ask the question: OK, so what do I need to know?
This will be a brief introduction to the book, followed by some great recommendations for further study.
Who wrote it and when?
The book of Exodus does not include any claim of authorship, however is generally considered to be primarily written by Moses, like the rest of the Pentateuch. As for dating the events, there are two main theories: the first theory places the exodus around 1446 BC as per the record, while the second theory places it later - around 1260 BC.
What’s the backstory here?
Within the great story of God’s redemptive plan, Exodus contains incredibly significant forward steps from where things left off in Genesis. The first book of the Bible opened with the creation of the world (Gen. 1-2), followed by the tragic fall of the human race in the garden (Gen. 3). After the continued spiraling of humanity into darkness and depravity (Genesis 4-11), God reveals the first step of His plan of redemption: to create a people for Himself. In Genesis 12, Abraham is given a promise that he will become a great nation, and that through his line he would bless the whole earth. Fast forward generations and his family finds themselves in Egypt, where they begin to multiply and fill the land (Exodus 1:7). This sets the scene for the events of the book, where God steps in in the most dramatic of fashion.
Give me the short version – what happens in Exodus?
Pharaoh, fearing an uprising, brutally enslaves the rapidly expanding Israelites, inflicting on them heavy burdens and impossible expectations. His intentions were simple, he wanted to crush their spirits to dust. The chapters that follow tells the story of God’s great liberating acts, by which he frees the people, before constituting them into a nation with the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai.
It begins with the calling of Moses to be God’s instrument in the people’s liberation – a conversation that took place through one famous burning bush. Moses confronts Pharaoh demanding that his slave army be released, a request Pharaoh rejects with derision. A dramatic back and forth follows, culminating the miraculous display of power in ten horrific plagues. Pharaoh finally relents after losing his firstborn son, but changes his mind and sends his army after the Israelites, resulting in the iconic scenes of the Red Sea parting, only to collapse once more upon the Egyptian soldiers.
God miraculously then supplies all the vital needs of the people in the desert – manna from heaven (manna translated literally means “what is this?”) and water from the rock – only to be confronted with the persistent grumbles of the people. God leads them to Mount Sinai where they receive the law, including the ten commandments, and He initiates a new covenant with the people through Moses (sometimes called the Mosaic Covenant). This is the moment that this family of Jacob formally becomes the nation of Israel.
The book ends with God revealing that He desires to dwell with the people. He didn’t simply rescue the people from slavery so that they might just be free from political oppression, He saved them so that He might be with them. Chapters 24 onward are God’s meticulously detailed plan for dwelling with the people through the tabernacle – a sort of traveling temple. The detail in these chapters might feel overwhelming, and it might feel anticlimactic after such a dramatic narrative for the first half of the book, but its significance is profound. God was going to dwell with them, be known by them. And in the detail, He is preparing them (and us) for all that Christ would do in the cross.
Outline
At its most basic, the book of exodus breaks into 2 sections:
1. Departure from Egypt (ch. 1 - 15)
2. Journey to and arrival at Mount Sinai (ch. 16 - 40)
A more detailed outline of the book, courtesy of the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible:
1. God Hears, and Remembers His Covenant (1:1–2:25)
2. God Comes Down and Calls His Deliverer (3:1–4:17)
3. God Redeems His People (4:18–15:21)
a. God redeems his people through his promise (4:18–7:7)
b. God redeems his people through his plagues (7:8–10:29)
c. God redeems his people through his Passover (11:1–13:16)
d. God redeems his people through his power (13:17–15:21)
4. God Leads His People (15:22–18:27)
5. God Instructs His People (19:1–40:38)
a. God instructs his people through the commandments (19:1–20:17)
b. God instructs his people through the covenant (20:18–24:11)
v. God instructs his people through the tabernacle (24:12–40:38)
Resources
Books
Tim Chester’s Exodus for You
“ The book of Exodus is key to understanding Jesus. It is an exciting story, a historical story and - as it points us to and inspires us to worship Jesus - it is our story.”
Reading Plan
You can find a great reading plan for Exodus on the Bible app by Spoken Gospel
Online Introduction Courses
The Gospel Coalition, in conjunction with Crossway, have put together some great digital resources to serve as an introduction to the book. These are definitely worth a look!
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/introduction-to-exodus/#overview
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/knowing-the-bible-exodus#week-1-overview
Also, the Bible Project have a few great videos that will serve as helpful introductions:
Final word of encouragement
I would love to encourage you to intentionally open yourself up to the book of Exodus. Get familiar with the story. Spend some time meditating on what you find in its pages. If you’re particularly unfamiliar and maybe daunted about digging into the Old Testament, let me give you this encouragement: Jesus sees Himself as the point of Exodus. In Luke 24:27, we read: “…beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Jesus sits down with these disciples and shows them how Exodus is about Him.
On the mount of transfiguration, where Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah, do you remember what Luke 9:31 says that he was speaking to them about? It says he “spoke of his departure (literally, exodus) which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem”! Jesus talks about his death as literally his exodus. Jesus Himself quoted Exodus on at least seven different occasions, making it one of His most drawn upon books. My point is, Jesus clearly loved and honoured Exodus.
I think we should too.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Mike
Why study the book of Exodus?
As a church, we are about to launch a new teaching series through the book of Exodus. Pastor Matt and I are both very excited to sink our teeth into the book, and have been for a while. Why Exodus you ask? Well, that’s exactly the question I’d like to take a moment to answer.
As a church, we are about to launch a new teaching series through the book of Exodus. Pastor Matt and I are both very excited to sink our teeth into this book, and have been for a while. Why Exodus you ask? Well, that’s exactly the question I’d like to take a moment to answer.
Exodus gives us the definitive salvation event of the Old Testament
“God’s entire plan of salvation is exodus-shaped. The whole of Scripture is exodus-shaped.”
The first reason we would invest time and energy in the book of Exodus is this: much of the Bible simply won't make sense without a grasp of its story. It is like an interpretive key that helps unlock the pages that follow, bringing them to life. From the slavery of God's people in Egypt, the mighty hand of God that delivered them through miraculous wonders, the Passover and the giving of the Law at Mt Sinai, these elements are threads that begin to weave together the greater story of God and the world.
The exodus is the model of salvation for the whole of the Old Testament. Bobby Jamieson writes:
“The Psalms celebrate and reflect on it. The prophets predict a new exodus patterned after it (e.g., Isa 40:1–11). Crucial New Testament terms like “redemption” derive from the Exodus, when God rescued his people at the precisely calculated cost of one lamb per household (Exod 12:1–13) … God’s entire plan of salvation is exodus-shaped. The whole of Scripture is exodus-shaped.”
Again and again, the biblical authors are going to point back to the Exodus as the prototype of redemption:
“Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?” (Isaiah 51:10)
“For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.” (Micah 6:4)
”…but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:8)
What the cross is to the New Testament, so the Exodus is to the Old.
Exodus is about God's self-disclosure to the world.
There is an ever present temptation to make God in our own image. We project our own desires, hopes and imaginings onto our conception of God, instead of allowing Him to reveal to us what He is truly like. The greatest error we can make is to reduce God to a more manageable size, and in so doing elevate ourselves.
J.I. Packer writes:
“Churchmen who look at God, so to speak, through the wrong end of the telescope, so reducing him to pigmy proportions, cannot hope to end up as more than pigmy Christians.”
“Exodus reveals to us a God who is both holy and compassionate, fierce and faithful, powerful and kind-hearted. He is the great I AM, the one who is, the one who has always been, and will always be.”
The good news is that God has profoundly revealed Himself in human history so that we might know Him. Ultimately the Bible teaches that God is most perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ, however that is not the only time He has disclosed Himself. Millennia before that stable in Bethlehem heard those first cries, God had begun to make Himself known.
There are two moments in particular that stand alone in all the pages of the Bible as being especially profound moments of divine revelation – both occur in Exodus. Firstly, in chapter 3, Moses has an encounter with God in a burning bush. In this conversation, God answers Moses questions as to what He is to be called: “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM … say this to the people of Israel ‘the I AM has sent me to you’” (Exod. 3:14). So much is wrapped up in the divine name, but most striking is that it teaches us that God is self-existent and cannot be defined by anything outside of Him, and therefore any other name is insufficient. He simply is who He is.
The second moment of revelation comes from chapter 34, where again God reveals Himself to Moses, this time on Mount Sinai: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” Exodus reveals to us a God who is both holy and compassionate, fierce and faithful, powerful and kind-hearted. He is the great I AM, the one who is, the one who has always been, and will always be.
Let us heed the words of Mr Packer, and not look at God through the wrong end of the telescope. Let us beware of seeing God in our image rather than opening up our eyes to who He has declared Himself to be.
Exodus lays the foundation for us to understand the cross of Christ
Although the story of Exodus is a wonderfully exciting and dramatic tale, it also points to something outside of itself. Ultimately, it sets the scene for the final deliverance of God’s people from sin and evil, accomplished by Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. Peter Enns writes:
"The story of Exodus does not actually end until we come to the cross and the empty tomb - or even beyond, not until the Second Coming. In other words, seeing how we as Christians fit into the story must be seen in light of how Christ completes the story.”
“...seeing how we as Christians fit into the story must be seen in light of how Christ completes the story.”
What is God doing in the story of Exodus? For example, why demand a lamb be slain and the people of God to gather underneath its blood? In a deep sense, He is constructing the mental furniture in the imaginations of the people: that God will rescue through the blood of a sacrifice. He is foreshadowing the atonement of the cross of Christ. When John the Baptist announces to the world that Jesus is “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29), the minds of his first hearers go straight to Exodus. This is just one example among many of the way Exodus lays a foundation to understand why it is the cross of Jesus saves us. Your worship will be richer and your gratefulness more instinctive as you begin to see the depths of the love of God in the cross through Exodus.
Exodus is about Redemption - which makes it our story
“As we meditate on the exodus, we will find that this image of God’s redeeming the lost out of darkness and slavery is beautifully transformative, even as it finds its “yes and amen in Christ”.”
And finally, we turn to the mega-theme of redemption, which finds its roots in the pages of Exodus. In the exodus we see God’s redeeming His people out of slavery to pharaoh, and yet redemption is not merely about rescue. Redemption is about restoration, and even more, it’s about re-creation. God was not just restoring the people to a state of “non-slavery”, but ushering in a new era of relationship with Him. As Graeme Goldsworthy wrote: "The exodus is the end of captivity but it is only the beginning of freedom". All that was lost in the garden through the sin of Adam, God was setting in motion to reclaim. That fractured relationship between God and people was being restored, even as the people were constituted into a nation at Mount Sinai. Of course, from where we stand in history, we know that this newly constituted people of Israel would suffer the results of their persistent rebellion against God, and that Jesus would come to establish a new covenant by His blood.
“If you are a Christian, then Christ has redeemed you out of slavery to Satan, sin and death. You are free. Right now. Saved from death, and saved to relationship.”
As we meditate on the exodus, we will find that this image of God’s redeeming the lost out of darkness and slavery is beautifully transformative, even as it finds its “yes and amen in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:20). If you are a Christian, then Christ has redeemed you out of slavery to Satan, sin and death. You are free. Right now. Saved from death, and saved to relationship. And in that redemption, there has been something of a re-creation, to the extent that Paul calls you a new creation (2 Cor. 5:21)!
Exodus is about redemption, which makes it our story.
Where to now?
Let me take a moment to really encourage you to open up the book for yourself, and get familiar with the story. If you’re unfamiliar with the Old Testament and somewhat nervous about getting started, don’t be afraid. It will point you to Jesus if you let it. Read it to see the big story. Read it to learn about your God. Read it to understand the cross. And read it to plunge yourself into the story of redemption - your story.
Stay tuned for some more resources to help you get started.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Mike
Four Tips for Diving Deep into God’s Word in 2020
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Today marks the end of 2019, and the close of an entire decade. It was decade that will be remembered for the rise of the smart phone and social media, the great European refugee crisis, and mumble hip hop (dabbing and fidget spinners will surely pass away into the void). And tomorrow, well, tomorrow the door opens to a whole new decade of life on planet earth.
Every year I find the new year gives a special opportunity for a particular kind of reflection on life - a kind of reflection where significant course correction seems easier and more natural than normal. And one thing that is always high on my list for reflection is how it is that I am reading my Bible.
Although I am a pastor, I am by no means a great reader. It is something that I have to work at. It takes discipline. I so envy those who devour books with ease. However, although it is work, reading is something I love because I know it both brings me closer to God and grows me in faith. Because of this, I am a great advocate of finding a good Bible reading plan.
Bible Reading Plans
There are undoubtedly positives and negatives to Bible reading plans, but personally I feel the positives so outweigh the negatives to the degree that they can basically be ignored. That said, let’s address one. The main argument I hear against a structured plan is the old classic – “it so easily becomes a box-ticking chore instead of the life-giving experience it is meant to be”.
But can I propose a response: if I told my wife that any kind of regular date night is off the table because that commitment would feel like a box-ticking chore, I would be in some trouble. And yet, I hope that it is plain to see that planning a regular time together as a couple is part of maintaining a healthy marriage.
I’d argue the same is true for our relationship with God. The way to war against falling into dull, task-driven Bible reading isn’t to not plan to read the Bible. It’s to plan read the Bible with God.
So with all that being said, here are some helpful tips and resources for you to consider in putting together your Bible reading plan:
Firstly, make a plan
Have you read the whole Bible before? All sixty-six books? If not, then make a plan to start. Each book is unique and vital for understanding God and life with Him. It’ll take some time for sure, but it’s the way God has ordained we grow in grace. There are some great Bible in One Year plans out there, however if the load seems like too much, cut it in half and do it over two years, or even three or four. Here are some guides with some great advice and plans:
Finding a Bible Reading Plan That’s Right for You by Trevin Wax
Bible Reading Plans by Justin Taylor
Secondly, have a partner
Find someone who you can journey with and discuss what you’re reading with. If you’re married, this should be easy. If not, find a brother or sister at church and ask them if they’d like to do a plan together for encouragement.
““Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost! Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live.” ”
Thirdly, read in different ways
What I mean is this: read widely, and as well as deeply. Sometimes reading the Bible should look like reading the six chapters of Ephesians at once and letting the message of the entire book wash over you. And sometimes, reading the Bible means not making it past a single verse as you dive deep and ponder the way the words interrelate. Never think of wide and deep as an either/or – embrace both, and your grasp of scripture will expand.
Finally, keep the main thing the main thing
Any plan to read the Bible is never just about reading the Bible, it’s about hearing from God. In that sense, the Bible is just a stepping stone to the real goal. The key that unlocks the door to live-giving Bible reading is prayer. Pray before you read, pray as your read, pray when you have finished. Invite God into your space and circumstances. Fight the urge to find satisfaction in ticking off chapters (confession: this is hard for me), and seek to find joy in listening to the words of your creator.
As we embark on a new season of life in 2020, let’s consider a course correction by drawing closer to God once more in His word.
Studying Ephesians as a Church
This Spring we are going to be jumping into the book of Ephesians as a church. Ephesians is a wonderfully beautiful book. Throughout history, the church has had trouble even describing it’s power and magnificence.
Commentator Klyne Snodgrass wrote: “Pound for pound Ephesians may well be the most influential document ever written.” Can you think of a more significant claim you can make about a book?
Welcome to Ephesians
““Pound for pound Ephesians may well be the most influential document ever written.””
This Spring we are going to be jumping into the book of Ephesians as a church. Ephesians is a wonderfully beautiful book. Throughout history, the church has had trouble even describing it’s power and magnificence.
Commentator Klyne Snodgrass wrote: “Pound for pound Ephesians may well be the most influential document ever written.” Can you think of a more significant claim you can make about a book?
In the “Introduction” to his series on Ephesians, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote this:
“It is very difficult to speak of [Ephesians] in a controlled manner because of its greatness and because of its sublimity. Many have tried to describe it. One writer has described it as ‘the crown and climax of Pauline theology’. Another has said that it is ‘the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of our holy Christian faith’. What language! And it is by no means exaggerated.
. . . . the peculiar feature and characteristic of the Epistle to the Ephesians is that here the Apostle seems to be, as he puts it himself, in ‘the heavenly places’, and he is looking down at the great panorama of salvation and redemption . . . The result is that in this Epistle there is very little controversy; and that is so because his great concern here was to give to the Ephesians . . . a panoramic view of this wondrous and glorious work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
. . . Luther says of the Epistle to the Romans that it is ‘the most important document in the New Testament, the gospel in its purest expression’, and in many ways I agree that there is no purer, plainer statement of the gospel than in the Epistle to the Romans. Accepting that as true, I would venture to add if the Epistle to the Romans is the purest expression of the gospel, the Epistle to the Ephesians is the sublimest and the most majestic expression of it. . . .There are statements and passages in this Epistle which really baffle description. The great Apostle piles epithet upon epithet, adjective upon adjective, and still he cannot express himself adequately. There are passages in [the] first chapter, and others in the third chapter, especially towards its end, where the Apostle is carried out above and beyond himself and loses and abandons himself in a great outburst of worship and praise and thanksgiving. I repeat, therefore, that there is nothing more sublime in the whole range of Scripture than this Epistle to the Ephesians.
That’s Martin Lloyd-Jones for “Ephesians is really good.” I hope that stirs up your heart for what is ahead. Ephesians is spiritual dynamite and therefore radically transformative. So, let us embark on a journey deep into God’s word together as a church, as we seek to let it shape every facet of our lives – “to the praise of his glorious grace!”
What you need to know
Let me take you through the basics of what you need to know as you approach this letter:
Author
Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul, as the letter itself twice claims: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1:1), and “for this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles…” (3:1). Despite being a militant opponent of the early church, Paul had an amazing conversion to following Jesus. He was transformed by a personal encounter he had with the resurrected Christ while on the road to Damascus to persecute and imprison followers of Jesus! Jesus knocked Paul off his horse, blinded him, and asked Him a terrifying questions: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul writes the letter from prison around AD 60-62, probably in Rome where he finds himself at the end of Acts. He would never be a free man again, being executed in Rome in AD 64.
Purpose
Unlike many other New Testament letters, Ephesians doesn’t appear to have been written to address a particular question or concern in a local church, but was probably intended to be distributed to the churches in the region. This means that the letter is general in nature, and covers a wide range of topics on what it means to be “in Christ”. Ephesians takes a “cosmic” view of the gospel - God’s reconciling the world to Himself in Christ.
The city of Ephesus, located on the western edge of modern day Turkey, was the major city in the region. Economically powerful and socially diverse, the greatest feature of the city’s identity was that it was home to the great temple of Artemis. This temple was so significant it was named one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and its honour so important to the inhabitants that Paul’s preaching of Christ caused a riot as the public defended Artemis supremacy.
Structure
The book divides neatly into two halves: chapters 1 - 3 focusing on gospel doctrine while chapters 4 - 6 apply those gospel doctrines to various areas of life and church practice. For our study of the book, we are going to be breaking the book into 5 mini-series:
Salvation (1:1-2:22)
The Church (3:1-4:16)
New Living (4:17-5:21)
Gospel-Centred Relationships (5:22-6:9)
Spiritual War (6:10-24)
Overview of our series
Part #1: Salvation
1. WE ARE Chosen (1:1-6)
2. WE ARE Redeemed (1:7-10)
3. WE ARE Sealed (1:11-14)
4. WE ARE Loved (1:15-21)
5. WE ARE Made Alive (2:1-7)
6. WE ARE Saved (2:8-10)
7. WE ARE Reconciled (2:11-22)
Part #2: The Church
8. A CHURCH That Reveals the Wisdom of God (3:1-13)
9. A CHURCH That Prays for the Fullness of God (3:14-21)
10. A CHURCH That is Unified by Christ (4:1-6)
11. A CHURCH That is Maturing (4:7-16)
Part #3: New Living
12. THE GOSPEL BRINGS New Life (4:17-32)
13. THE GOSPEL BRINGS Light (5:1-14)
14. THE GOSPEL BRINGS Wisdom (5:15-21)
Part #4: new loving
15. THE GOSPEL SHAPES Relationships #1 (5:22-33)
16. THE GOSPEL SHAPES Relationships #2 (6:1-9)
Part #5: War Armour
17. STAND FIRM (6:10-24)
Studying Ephesians for Yourself
Reading ephesians
To give you a good grounding in the book, let’s do a close reading of the book together.
Step 1: Pray
Pray that God will give you wisdom and insight as you study the letter of Ephesians.
Step 2: Read the entire book in one sitting
Ephesians is actually quite short, only six chapters and should only take 15-20 minutes to read through. Reading it in one sitting will give you a big broad view of the book, and to be honest, this is primarily how the book should be read. Why? Because that’s how the recipients would have read it! Yes, we will be breaking it apart verse by verse and seeking to understand its meaning over the coming months, but we shouldn’t do that without also reading it as a whole letter. While reading it, try take note of the big ideas, themes and words Paul keeps coming back to.
Step 3: Read again!
This time, read it and highlight the following words. Look at how they’re used and what they are adding:
#1 - In Christ: This is one of Paul’s favourite ways to speak about the followers of Jesus. Go looking for the phrase and see it everywhere!
#2 - Love: Love is a big theme in Ephesians - first God’s love for us and then our love for others.
#3 - God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Paul often mentions different members of the Trinity in different ways. How does he refer to the roles of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?
Step 4: Commit to reading the book often
Through the series, commit to continuing to come back to the book. Read it often. Read it fast. Read it slowly. But don’t leave it on the shelf. You might want to commit to reading the book once a week for the duration of the series. You might want to attempt to memorize the entirety of chapter 1 by the end of the year. You might want to pick just 10 different verses to memorize.
Recommended Reading for Ephesians
Sometimes when you travel to a strange and foreign country, it’s good to have a reliable guide to help you come to grips with what you’re seeing. So it is with the biblical texts. You might like to grab a copy of one (or all!) of these to help you in your exploration of Ephesians.
Four Reasons to Join a Small Group this Year
Commitment is not exactly a sexy thing in our culture. Maybe the one thing modern Aussies are committed to is the ideal of being noncommittal. We love freedom, options and flexibility, and so the concept of covenanting to walk the ups and downs of life with a community is perhaps more counter-cultural than ever.
Let’s be honest. Attending a small group bible study takes effort. It takes time, energy and investment that can be in short supply in our busy lives. Certainly at times, it can feel easier to throw in the towel rather than commit to a whole year of midweek nights out after a hard day at work.
So, here’s four reasons to gear up, count the cost, and throw yourself into a year of doing real life in community.
#1 It is how we grow
“Sanctification is a community project”
The journey of genuine faith is not a passive one. We aren't going to grow in God apart from serious pursuit of His truth in the Word, dedicated time together in prayer, and continual application of gospel truths to our hearts. If you’re reading this, then you probably already agree with that statement on the surface. But these aren’t the only forces God has given to shape us more into the likeness of Christ. In addition to the Word, prayer and gospel application, God has ordained that growth happens when we strive after Him together. Our faith is deepened in community in ways that can’t happen on our own. Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”. In this process of mutual sharpening there are often sparks. It can be uncomfortable and difficult at times. But when we give ourselves over to the work of being sharpened in community, we find that our rough edges get smoothed and our lives begin to resemble more of that of our saviour. As John Piper writes: “Sanctification is a community project”. As we gather in living rooms and around dining tables all over the city, we get to encourage each other, love each other, and point each other to Jesus in real ways that actually matter to our lives. We get sharpened.
#2 It is how we love one another
““So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.””
But small groups aren’t only for our own growth and journey with God. In fact, the love of Christ won’t allow us to stop with just thinking of ourselves in this — we are compelled to consider love of our neighbour (2 Cor. 5:14). And small groups provide a tangible context for us to practice the “one anothers” of scripture. The New Testament is full of them. Love one another. Serve one another. Honour one another. In fact, if you were to count them, you’d find 59 separate direct commands of this nature. And I’m not sure if you’ve notice this, but each of these 59 commands are impossible to fulfill on your own — you need someone else to be the “other”! When you are at your house watching Netflix on a Wednesday night, you are unable to love, honour and serve anyone. Small groups provide that place that we get to, as the body of Christ, minister to each other the grace of Jesus. You’re not only sharpened, but you can be used as a tool in the hand of God to sharpen another! What a privilege. In small group, we get to go about the business of one-anothering one another for the glory of God and so show that we truly are the disciples of Christ (John 13:34-35).
#3 Not Just Hearers
““...be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” ”
At Enoggera Baptist Church, we run our small groups primarily by following the sermon series we are in as a church. This is a very intentional decision. It provides unity for our church. It encourages attendance on Sundays. But more than this, gathering midweek for prayer and reflection on the Word helps us consider together how we put what we hear into practice. Like two pedals on a bike, we first gather together as a big family to sit under the Word preached and join in worship, and then midweek, we gather as a small family to process, reflect and pray together. Each pedal helps the bike stay steady. At times we can fall into a pattern of spiritual bulimia, continually hearing the Word of God but not applying it before we move on to the next thing. This failure to stop and properly digest the Word does harm to the depth and integrity of our faith. As James writes, “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Being in community helps us make this move from head to heart, from concepts to life, from information to application. It helps keep the bike steady and drives us ever further towards Christ.
#4 Community is not actually an optional extra
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
We’ve left the most pressing reason until last. The most fundamental reason to join a small group is this: living in genuine community is in no way an optional extra to the Christian faith. Now, that is not to say that the format of midweek small group is absolutely necessary in of itself, but that the underlying principle of deep relationship with others is. This is because God actually designed us for community. Being an eternally unified community within Himself - Father, Son and Spirit - when God created man in His image he imprinted on us something of that same intrinsic communal nature (yes, even you, my introvert friends). This is in your very DNA. The concept of a private faith is entirely alien to the scriptures. The gospel says that we aren't just saved from Satan, sin and death, but that we are saved into a people - the church. To war against this is the equivalent of a foot deciding it didn’t want to be part of the body (1 Cor. 12:12-14). Our western individualism is at odds with God on this, but trust me, His way is better. We were made for community by His good design.
Small Group Launch
So as we launch our groups for the coming year at Enoggera, consider what it is you are called into. You are called to deepen your faith with your brothers and sisters, be a tool in the hands of God to sharpen others, to put your faith into practice and so be doers and not just hearers, and to live out your very design. It’s not always easy, but nothing worth doing is ever easy. Trust God’s wisdom on this. And as is so often the way in God’s mysterious ways, it is in the hard thing that we find the richest blessings from God and discover whole new wings in the mansion of His grace.