Sermon - Jeff Raines - What Do We Have Here? [Ephesians 1:15-23]

First Baptist Shreveport

Where do you feel like you belong?

There has been a decline of social connections over the decades. We are more isolated, inside in our lives of air conditioning and Netflix. And we’re not just isolated but also divided- in a pandemic of loneliness. But we were made for community.

How can we share the gift of Christian community more fully this year?

The book of Ephesians goes deep in looking at God’s design for the church.

In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul talks about the POWER of the church through Jesus Christ, he’s trying to wake us up to what we have in Christ.

Paul prays for:

• Wisdom & revelation
• Hearts may be enlightened
• Know the hope to which He has called you
• Know the glorious inheritance of the saints (the gifts of one another, the connections)
• Know his incomparably great power for us who believe

So much of the power of the church comes from the service of so many of the overlooked servants of the church, servants like Gene Powell who passed away over Christmas. Gene served our church in so many ways for so many years.

In Christian community, we are engaging in something mysterious and powerful. When we gather together and the Spirit is among us, something happens. People walk away from church for all kinds of reasons, or sometimes maybe they stay on the outskirts, but in Ephesians, Paul is calling us to sink into it. That we belong. It takes time and at times it’s inconvenient, but there is an alchemy of transformation in which ordinary people become saints as followers of Jesus. There is power in Christian community.

Are you willing to risk, to brave the waters and dive deeper into Christian community? There is surprising power that meets a deep longing in our hearts in and through Christian community.