Ephesians

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Staying Quiet in a Noisy World

Author

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:12, Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 26:41, Psalm 46:10, 1 Kings 19:11-12, John 10:10

In the Critically acclaimed 2018 horror film A Quiet Place , Earth faces an alien invasion unlike any other. In the movie, the aliens behave like merciless monsters, using their lightning-fast sp...

liturgy

Our Father, Lord, the world is sometimes a dragon

Author

Calvin Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:4, 1 Peter 5:8, Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 2 Corinthians 3:18

Our Father, Lord, the world is sometimes a dragon with teeth set to devour the dreams of our children. Help our little ones go softly from our homes remembering all we taught them of your great love a...

blog

Faithfulness, Not Size: The Real Measures of Ministry Success

Author

Dan Baumgartner

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20:28, 2 Timothy 4:2

Success is a Long Obedience, Not a Quick Climb Let me start with this: I am predisposed to believing that the ideal church size is relatively small. Eugene Peterson has often been quoted as saying h...

Quote

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:10, John 1:16, Hebrews 4:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Titus 2:11-12

We can never sink so far that God’s grace will not reach us. At the same time, grace does not leave us there. It raises us to new heights.

liturgy

Gracious God, your Son Jesus came not

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 10:45, Romans 12:10, 1 John 3:18, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Ephesians 4:32, John 10:11, Matthew 20:28

Gracious God, your Son Jesus came not be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. He is our Good Shepherd, whose leadership is less about the love of power, and more about the ...

liturgy

O Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned in the

Author

William Barclay

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-13, Ephesians 4:2, Luke 22:26-27, 1 Peter 5:5, Mark 10:43-45

O Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned in the majesty of heaven, who, when you came forth from God, did make yourself one that serves: We adore you because you did lay aside the garment of your glory, and clo...

liturgy

Sisters and brothers, if the torch of

Author

Cody Sandahl

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:10-11, Romans 12:11-12, Philippians 2:14-16, Hebrews 10:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, Matthew 25:1-4

Sisters and brothers, if the torch of your faith is lit right now, it might fizzle out within fifteen minutes of leaving here today. So refill the oil of your faith. Trim the charred ends away from yo...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 5:10, Luke 5:31, Matthew 10:30, 1 Peter 5:8, Psalm 73:4-7, 13, 18-20

Preaching Angle: Wheat and Weeds Grow Even in the Church God’s good creation grows food for all living creatures. God made the Earth, God made all the plants, and God made all the humans and animals ...

lectionary

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:24, Romans 8:12-15, Genesis 28:10-19a, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24, Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 5:10, Luke 5:31, Matthew 10:30, 1 Peter 5:8, Psalm 73:4-7, 13, 18-20

Preaching Commentary Preaching Angle: Wheat and Weeds Grow Even in the Church God’s good creation grows food for all living creatures. God made the Earth, God made all the plants, and God made all ...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide Ephesians 6:10-20

Author

Gabe Fung

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-20, John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 1 Peter 5:8, Colossians 2:15, Ephesians 1:19-20, John 4:4, Matthew 16:18, Romans 16:20

Audience Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was probably intended for wider distribution and use among the various churches around Ephesus. As such, there is no particular crisis or pressing issue being ...

lectionary

13th Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Gabe Fung

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-20, Ephesians 6:10-20, 1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43, John 6:56-69, Psalm 84:, John 8:44, John 10:10, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 1 Peter 5:8, Colossians 2:15, Ephesians 1:19-20, Ephesians 3:16, John 4:4, Matthew 16:18, Romans 16:20

Preaching Commentary Audience Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was probably intended for wider distribution and use among the various churches around Ephesus. As such, there is no particular crisis o...

illustration

Don’t Look Down But Up

Author

Rowan Williams

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:24-25, Philippians 2:3-4, Ephesians 4:2, Romans 12:10, 1 Peter 5:5

In his excellent book on the desert fathers, Where God Happens , former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams tells of an encounter between two monastic fathers. The first was Macarius, famous in...

illustration

Thirty-one New Testament Descriptions of Sinful Mankind

Author

L. Meredith

Keywords

Sin

Scripture

Ephesians 4:18, John 12:40, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 2:11, Romans 8:6, Matthew 7:17-18, 1 Timothy 6:5, Matthew 6:23, John 3:19, Romans 1:21, 1 John 1:6-7, John 5:24, Colossians 2:13, 1 Timothy 5:6, 1 John 3:14, Titus 3:3, Isaiah 64:6, Titus 1:15, 2 Peter 2:20, Revelation 22:11, Romans 1:18, Matthew 7:23, Ephesians 2:3, James 4:4, Matthew 6:22, John 3:20, Matthew 7:26, Ephesians 5:15, 1 Peter 2:25, Matthew 6:2, Romans 2:5, Hebrews 3:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:12, 2 Timothy 3:4, 1 John 2:15, Romans 1:30, 1 Timothy 6:4, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, John 3:35, 2 Timothy 4:4, Acts 7:51, John 8:44, 2 Timothy 3:2, Revelation 3:17, John 3:34, Romans 6:16-17, Romans 1:25, John 8:33, Romans 7:7, 1 Corinthians 6:9

Alienated from God (Eph. 4:18). Blind (John 12:40; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 2:11). Carnally or fleshly minded (Rom. 8:6, 13). Corrupt (Matt. 7:17-18; 1 Tim. 6:5). Darkened (Matt. 6:23; John 3:19; Rom. 1...

illustration

Playing Second Fiddle

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:5, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26, John 3:30, Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 4:2-3, Mark 9:35, Romans 12:10

An Admirer once asked Leonard Bernstein, celebrated orchestra conductor, what was the hardest instrument to play. He replied without hesitation: “Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violin...

illustration

The Stalker

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:6, Matthew 7:15-16, Matthew 10:28, Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Proverbs 14:12

Editor’s Note: This story is often told as a true story, when in fact it is probably fictitious. Nevertheless, there is a significant illustrative point: sometimes the things we fear most may in fact ...

illustration

The Two Equal and Opposite Errors

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:10, James 4:7, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Ephesians 6:11-12, 1 Peter 5:8

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest...

illustration

The EAC

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:14, Matthew 7:13-14, 1 Peter 5:8-9, Colossians 2:8, Psalm 1:1-3, Ephesians 4:14, Romans 12:2

Perhaps the most intense place to experience drifting is commonly known as the EAC, the East Australian Current. If you’ve ever seen the Disney Pixar film Finding Nemo, you’ve been exposed to the EAC,...

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Holding on to Everything

Author

W. Tamra Chandler

Keywords

Baggage

Scripture

Psalm 55:22, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 43:18-19, Ephesians 4:31-32, 1 Peter 5:7

Poet Donald Hall told the story of a hermit in New Hampshire, a man who passed away leaving behind sheds full of hoarded stuff. In one of the sheds was a box labeled, “string too short to be saved.” ...

illustration

Only the Dead Go with the Flow

Author

A. J. Swoboda

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:9, Ephesians 6:13, 2 Timothy 4:7, Galatians 5:1, Hebrews 11:6, James 1:12

By illustration, I have been told that when a cow is born, she innately senses that her departure from her mother’s warm womb to a cold, scary, unknown world outside is upon her. In response, she will...

Quote

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Peter 5:5-6, James 4:10, Colossians 3:12, John 13:14-15

[Humility is] to become like Jesus in his willingness to choose the hidden way of love rather than the way of power.

Quote

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:12, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, John 3:30, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Peter 5:5, Galatians 5:13

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.

Quote

Author

Edmund Burke

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:2, Matthew 23:12, Colossians 3:12, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 22:4, 1 Peter 5:5-6, James 4:6

True humility—the basis of the Christian system—is the low but deep and firm foundation of all virtues.

Quote

Author

Eric Greitens

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 20:26-28, Micah 6:8, Philippians 2:3, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Peter 5:5, Colossians 3:12, James 4:10

I begin with humility, I act with humility, I end with humility. Humility leads to clarity. Humility leads to an open mind and a forgiving heart. With an open mind and a forgiving heart, I see every p...

Quote

Author

John Chrysostom

Keywords

Humility

Scripture

Ephesians 4:2, Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:12, 1 Peter 5:6, James 4:10, Matthew 18:4

Humility is the garden of all the virtues.

ephesians from 1 peter 5

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