Worldliness...quotes

Here are some quotes from my sermon on Sunday on worldliness:

Imagine I take a blind test in which my task is to identify the genuine follower of Jesus Christ. My choices are an unregenerate individual and you.

I'm given two reports detailing conversations, Internet activity, manner of dress, iPod playlists, television habits, hobbies, leisure time, financial transactions, thoughts, pas¬sions, and dreams.

The question is: Would I be able to tell you apart? Would I discern a difference between you and your unconverted neighbor, coworker, classmate, or friend?

Have the lines between Christian and worldly conduct in your life become so indistinguishable that there really is no difference at all? (C. J. Mahaney, Worldliness)

Worldliness is departing from God. It is a man-centered way of thinking; it proposes objectives which demand no radical breach with man's fallen nature; it judges the importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it declines to be a 'fool for Christ's sake'.

Worldliness is the mind-set of the unregenerate. It adopts idols and is at war with God. Because 'the flesh' still dwells in the Christian he is far from immune from being influenced by this dynamic. (Ian Murray, Evangelicalism Divided)

Knowing Where You Live - A Broken-Down House

Last Sunday I reintroduced us to the book of Ephesians (since we have been away from there for a while) by setting the context of chapters 4-6 where I will begin in two weeks.

Where do we live? This is an important question to answer and remember. Here are some very challenging questions given by Paul David Tripp (in Broken-Down House).

Let me ask what may seem like a stupid question. Do you know where you live? No, I don't mean your street address. I want you to see the most deeply spiritual and profoundly personal implications of this question.
Do you bring to each day the realistic expectations that come from a cogent understanding of your life, yourself, and your world? Still confused? Then let's break it down a little.
Is there anything that is disappointing you right now? Is there a relationship or situation that is leaving you hurt and confused? Are there personal problems that you simply have not been able to solve? Do you ever feel alienated, alone, or misunderstood? Have you had to deal with mistreatment or injustice lately? Have you been hurt, angry, fearful, or discouraged? Is there any place in your life where you feel like giving up or giving in? Does your life ever seem much more complicated than it should be? Does it seem like you are always having to deal with obstacles of one kind or another?

Do you wish you didn't have so many problems on your plate? Does it bug you that even the easy things in life don't turn out to be nearly as easy as you thought they would be?

Are there problems in your past that still haunt you? Do you regularly face difficulties you have sought to solve, but which still lie open and festering? Have you ever envied someone else's life? Have you ever wished you could start over in some area of life, but you know you can't? Have you ever felt too weak and too unqualified to deal with what is confronting you? Does your life seem to move too fast for you ever to be able to catch up? Has there ever been a day in your life that was fundamentally problem-free? (23-24)

Here are my three points from last week:

1. We live in a broken down house because of sin.
2. A gracious Restorer has come to this house with the promise of restoration.
3. We are called to live a restoration lifestyle.

Ephesians 4-6 is about living a restoration lifestyle based on the fact that the RESTORER has come and promised great things. This restoration lifestyle is not a me and my personal project that God is going to do in my soul (although he does work on individuals). He is working a restoration on us as a church--a community. He intends to transform individuals as well as groups of individuals who realize that they were made for more than themselves. This means we are called to live in a "broken-down house" together which can be quite messy. Apart from the Spirit's power we have no hope. However, Christ has promised to be with us and work in us through His Spirit to make us One Body.

Ephesians Cloud

Here is a word cloud for Paul's letter to the Ephesians.  Word clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text (Ephesians). The more that word appears in the letter the bigger it is. see http://wordle.net 

ESV Study Bible - Intro on Ephesians through Chapter 1

The ESV Study Bible is coming out in October. I look forward to getting this helpful resource. Here is a pdf of the introduction-chapter 1 notes on the letter to the Ephesians.

Introducing Ephesians - Sermon

On Sunday (September 7) I began a new sermon series on Ephesians.

Here is the manuscript for my sermon.
Here is the audio for the sermon (right click to download).

I liked what David Powlison has to say about the letter of Paul to the Ephesians:

You will not go wrong if you plunge into Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Master it. Be mastered by it. Work Ephesians into your thinking, your living, your prayers, and your conversation. The Bible is vast and deep, and human life is diverse and perplexing. But in a pinch you could do all counseling from Ephesians. It’s all there: the pig picture that organizes a myriad of details. And Ephesians is not only “counsel,” but also “counseling.” It talks and walks method as well as content. Paul himself is a changed man. He lives out and teaches wise pastoral strategy. Ephesians aims to teach you how to live. That is a synonym for counseling biblically, for doing face-to-face ministry. (See With New Eyes)

Memorizing Ephesians

Lord willing, this Sunday I will begin a sermon series on Paul's letter to the Ephesians. 

I am not yet sure how long the series is going to take but I plan to memorize this great letters as I go and I want to invite you to join me.  

Here is a good article about memorizing extended passages of Scriptures - how to and why? 

The first few sermons I will start with fewer verses but it will pick up as we go--that is my guess. 

My verse week is on Ephesians 1:1-2

Week 2 - Ephesians 1:3-4

Week 3 - Ephesians 1:5-6

Week 4 - Ephesians 1:7-10

EPHESIANS: New Sermon Series After Labor Day

Lord willing I will begin a new sermon series on September 7th at Grace Church during the morning corporate worship service on Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Over the next several months we will slowly work through this glorious and inspired letter by the apostle Paul.

Please pray for me as I prepare the series and preach the series this Fall and Winter. Please pray for yourselves that you would listen with attentive ears--not primarily to my words but to the inspired words of God.

In order to get the most out of the series, I suggest that you make a pattern of regular reading of the short letter to the Ephesians. Read one chapter a day (there are six chapters) and the entire letter on Sundays. Read the book prayerfully and expectantly. Ask God to help you better understand and know Him, His will, His character and His plan for you and the church. Ask God to help you know and do! We are to be hearers of the Word and doers. Ask God to lead you to a joyful obedience to the truth for the glory of Jesus!