On Thursday we looked at the mystery unveiled in Ephesians 3, “the mystery made known to me by revelation”, as Paul writes. This mystery was previously hidden, but God’s Spirit has revealed it now, namely that “the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” All the divisions have been swept away; God has revealed His great plan of salvation, “his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The fact that God’s eternal purposes were so misunderstood (even in the heavenly realms) and yet prevailed gives us great encouragement in this walk of faith. “I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory,” Paul wrote and we too need not be discouraged whenever we face sufferings, since God is working all things together for good to those who are called (Romans 8:28)

Finally, we looked at Paul’s prayer that we might know how long and wide and high and deep is the love of Christ and might know this love that surpasses knowledge — “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” If that seems beyond words, Paul reminds us that God is able to “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” and, amazingly, that is “according to his power that is at work within us“. We have an awesome God!

Stephen looked at two passages from the New Testament on Sunday evening, both demonstrating God’s presence with people.

The first passage (Luke 23:40-43) looked at the thief on the cross and how he came to know Jesus, being given the promise of being with Him in paradise. The second (Acts 7:54-56) looked at the martyrdom of the deacon Stephen, who saw ‘heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’ immediately before he was stoned to death. In both cases, the presence of Jesus made all the difference: the two men were not alone.

Jesus is near to us, to comfort, direct and guide us. As Ezekiel wrote, ‘The Lord is There’ (Ezek 48:35). His presence makes all the difference.

We ended by listening to the Casting Crowns’ song ‘Who Am I?’ This is a question which seems to have been recurring in various guises lately – Dave preached recently on a similar theme and I used this song last week in a PSHE lesson on the same theme as well! If you’d like to know the answer, watch the powerful mime and listen to the song at:

youtube.com/watch?v=CT7x3VnrqbA

Many thanks, also, to those who supported the Macmillan Coffee morning on Saturday. This raised £124. THANK YOU!

Dave continued our study of Ephesians 2 this morning, looking at the first seven verses in more detail.

He talked about the contrast between the natural man (one who has no relationship with God) and the Christian (one who does have a relationship with God through Christ.) The natural state is that of being spiritually dead. John 17:3 tells us that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. God is the author of life and gives life, but before we know God, we are trapped in a circle of depravity and do not have life at all. We were, therefore, under God’s condemnation, but God did something about this situation!

Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Moreoever, not only has Jesus risen from the dead, we have been seated with God in heavenly places. We have died to sin (Romans 6:1-2) – not that we are now without sin (see 1 John 1:8), but we no longer belong to sin anymore; we are no longer slaves to sin. Now, we have a choice!

Now, because of God’s great love, mercy and kindness, we are alive to God. We have a new mind (Romans 12:1-2) and a new purpose. We are, indeed, new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) and we share in Christ’s exaltation and glory.

One thing that really struck me on reading Ephesians 2 is the graphic language Paul uses. I was especially struck by verse 3 (“gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.”)

‘Cravings’ reminds me of when I was pregnant and had some very weird cravings for food. One day I even bought a new frying pan so that I could eat pancakes (the old one had lost its non-stick!) I virtually lived on sweet and sour chicken when I was pregnant. I craved it so much I can still remember the feeling of yearning twenty years later!

The Greek word rendered ‘cravings’ by the NIV is epithumia. It means a longing (especially for what is forbidden) and can also be translated ‘lust’. I was also struck by the idea of the sinful nature having both desires and thoughts, which to me speaks both of emotions and reason.

Our old nature appeals to both our feelings and to our rational thoughts. We believe that by giving in to its cravings, we will be gratified: that is, we will feel happy, satisfied and fulfilled. But the sinful nature can never satisfy us. The only satisfaction that truly lasts is found in God.

We now have some great posters up in the community hall.

The verse is 1 Peter 3:10 in the CEV: “Do you really love life? Do you want to be happy? Then stop saying cruel things and quit telling lies. “

The verse here is Psalm 4:8 (“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”)

This cute dog reminds us of Hebrews 13:6

And this maybe not-so-cute dog reminds us of Hebrews 10:23 (“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”)

Last week, we looked at Ephesians 2 in the Bible study.

The chapter begins with Paul’s reminder of what we were before we became Christians: how we were dead in transgressions and sin and totally separated from God and all of His promises for mankind. Now, we have been made alive together with Christ: indeed, we have been raised and made to sit together with Christ in the heavenly places, that God might show even more riches of His grace in the ages to come. All of this, God did by His love, grace and mercy. Our part is faith – and even that is a gift from God! – not works, so that we cannot boast that we engineered our salvation ourselves. The end result is that we have been created in Christ to walk in good works, which God planned beforehand for us to do.

The second part of the chapter looks at how far we have come as Gentiles, courtesy of Jesus Christ. Once strangers from the promises made to Israel and without God in the world, we can now draw near through the blood of Christ. By His death on the cross, Jesus abolished the law and commandments which separated Jews and Gentiles and has reconciled us both to God in one body. We Gentiles can therefore be fellow-citizens and members of God’s family. We are alos part of that grand temple being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus as the cornerstone. We then become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.

In the discussion that followed, there were many points raised for reflection. Perhaps the most fundamental is that without an appreciation of our true state without God, we cannot appreciate the enormity of what God has done for us. We do not have a ‘cheap salvation’, but one which cost so much because our state was so desperate. We can marvel at God’s love, grace and mercy, but we can never earn these things. They are offered freely to us. Then the challenge is to walk in the works God has prepared for us to do. As Michael Card so eloquently says in his song ‘The Poem of your Life’ (based on the Greek word for ‘workmanship’ (poiema) in Ephesians 2:10):

“Life is a song we must sing with our days
A poem with meaning more than words can say
A painting with colours no rainbow can tell
A lyric that rhymes either heaven or hell.”

Yesterday was our usual coffee morning, but this week we decided to join Macmillan in their fund-raising efforts and hosted a Macmillan coffee morning. We raised £124 from the coffee morning – thanks!

Here’s the new board we have had made to advertise the coffee mornings:

Welcoming people:

Joan always has a smile!

A smile from our host, Diane (and Garry!):

More smiles…

We sold some books and buns as well.