Sermon Notes
Sermon: Rooted in Christ’s Love by Rev. Jessica Johnson
Date: July 29, 2018
Scripture Passages:
Key Points:
Prayer
In Ephesians 2, Paul preached on unity in Christ and told the Jews and the Gentiles that they are to be one body in Christ. Now, in Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul is telling the Jews and Gentiles that they should love each other as if they are one in Christ. Basically, they need to act like and live like they are one in Christ. The point of Paul’s prayer is that Christians have the power to understand, in reality, the fullness of Christ’s love. His love surpasses all understanding, but through the Holy Spirit, we have the capability to understand what we need to know. Through the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to love as we are in Christ.
Strength
Paul prays that the Ephesians are rooted and well-founded in Christ’s love. Christ’s love provides love and sustenance. It provides power and strength. Even when bad things in life cut us down, we can regrow. Our roots are entwined with Christ, and no one can tear up and destroy our roots. For as Romans 8:31 states, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
God is the source of our strength as long as we are rooted in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, God provides us strength through reading the Bible (God’s Word to us), praying and worshipping God, and living out of obedience to God.
Depth
To know God is a knowledge that supersedes all other knowledge. The nature of God is endless, His attributes, too numerous to count. Paul’s mission is to grasp God and all that He is. But as F.F. Bruce states, “To grasp this revelation in its totality is not the achievement of a moment – Paul himself, toward the end of his apostolic career, did not suppose that he had fully comprehended it – but to grasp it was his personal ambition, and he prayed that his Christian friends might share and attain that ambition. Here was a spiritual exercise that would make demands on them all their lives.” Paul was under no illusion that what his goal was would be achieved in a single lifetime.
“To know the love of Christ involves the personal knowledge of Christ Himself, that personal knowledge whose attainment was Paul’s own high ambition. Paul prays that his readers may be endowed with all the resources of spiritual strength necessary to attain this knowledge, and he addresses his prayer to the Father.” – F.F. Bruce
Apprehension
We can comprehend, or understand, something. But until we apprehend, or grasp, it, we cannot make it our own. This is when we develop our own faith through understanding. This is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. We never had to be worry about having inadequate spiritual resources to meet the demands of life and to live up to being in a relationship with God. God provides us all the resources we would ever need to know God; we just need to reach out and grasp them.
F.F. Bruce points out, “The disclosure of this mystery is the heritage of all the people of God: it is fitting that they should have an intelligent appreciation of it.” As children of God, we should desire to know Him more. And God wants to be in relationship with us. 1 Corinthians 8:3 states, “But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” God is reaching out to us just as much as we are reaching out to Him.
Fullness
The glory of God can be seen as a total of all his attributes. You cannot have knowledge without love, and you cannot have love without knowledge. You need both. F.F. Bruce says, “Both the knowledge and the love are mutual, in both it is God in Christ who takes the initiative.” But those are only two attributes of God. There is always more to know.
Dwell literally means “be at home in”. Christ needs to feel at home and be an integral part of our lives. The Christian should be so full of Christ that Christ is the dominating factor in their attitudes and behavior.
Final Thoughts
Paul was praying for the inner man. Intercessory prayer is probably the most common type of prayer we have but take a moment to evaluate what types of things you pray when you pray for others. Too often, our prayers are about physical and material needs. Many times, the prayer requests that I get have to do with physical healing or finances or accomplishing a goal. It is not wrong to pray for these things. God tells us that we can bring all our worries and troubles to him. However, while we may pray for our own inner being, how many times do we pray for someone else’s inner being? How many times do they ask us to?
Further Suggested Study:
Sermon: Rooted in Christ’s Love by Rev. Jessica Johnson
Date: July 29, 2018
Scripture Passages:
- Ephesians 3:14-21
Key Points:
Prayer
In Ephesians 2, Paul preached on unity in Christ and told the Jews and the Gentiles that they are to be one body in Christ. Now, in Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul is telling the Jews and Gentiles that they should love each other as if they are one in Christ. Basically, they need to act like and live like they are one in Christ. The point of Paul’s prayer is that Christians have the power to understand, in reality, the fullness of Christ’s love. His love surpasses all understanding, but through the Holy Spirit, we have the capability to understand what we need to know. Through the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to love as we are in Christ.
Strength
Paul prays that the Ephesians are rooted and well-founded in Christ’s love. Christ’s love provides love and sustenance. It provides power and strength. Even when bad things in life cut us down, we can regrow. Our roots are entwined with Christ, and no one can tear up and destroy our roots. For as Romans 8:31 states, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
God is the source of our strength as long as we are rooted in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, God provides us strength through reading the Bible (God’s Word to us), praying and worshipping God, and living out of obedience to God.
Depth
To know God is a knowledge that supersedes all other knowledge. The nature of God is endless, His attributes, too numerous to count. Paul’s mission is to grasp God and all that He is. But as F.F. Bruce states, “To grasp this revelation in its totality is not the achievement of a moment – Paul himself, toward the end of his apostolic career, did not suppose that he had fully comprehended it – but to grasp it was his personal ambition, and he prayed that his Christian friends might share and attain that ambition. Here was a spiritual exercise that would make demands on them all their lives.” Paul was under no illusion that what his goal was would be achieved in a single lifetime.
“To know the love of Christ involves the personal knowledge of Christ Himself, that personal knowledge whose attainment was Paul’s own high ambition. Paul prays that his readers may be endowed with all the resources of spiritual strength necessary to attain this knowledge, and he addresses his prayer to the Father.” – F.F. Bruce
Apprehension
We can comprehend, or understand, something. But until we apprehend, or grasp, it, we cannot make it our own. This is when we develop our own faith through understanding. This is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. We never had to be worry about having inadequate spiritual resources to meet the demands of life and to live up to being in a relationship with God. God provides us all the resources we would ever need to know God; we just need to reach out and grasp them.
F.F. Bruce points out, “The disclosure of this mystery is the heritage of all the people of God: it is fitting that they should have an intelligent appreciation of it.” As children of God, we should desire to know Him more. And God wants to be in relationship with us. 1 Corinthians 8:3 states, “But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” God is reaching out to us just as much as we are reaching out to Him.
Fullness
The glory of God can be seen as a total of all his attributes. You cannot have knowledge without love, and you cannot have love without knowledge. You need both. F.F. Bruce says, “Both the knowledge and the love are mutual, in both it is God in Christ who takes the initiative.” But those are only two attributes of God. There is always more to know.
Dwell literally means “be at home in”. Christ needs to feel at home and be an integral part of our lives. The Christian should be so full of Christ that Christ is the dominating factor in their attitudes and behavior.
Final Thoughts
Paul was praying for the inner man. Intercessory prayer is probably the most common type of prayer we have but take a moment to evaluate what types of things you pray when you pray for others. Too often, our prayers are about physical and material needs. Many times, the prayer requests that I get have to do with physical healing or finances or accomplishing a goal. It is not wrong to pray for these things. God tells us that we can bring all our worries and troubles to him. However, while we may pray for our own inner being, how many times do we pray for someone else’s inner being? How many times do they ask us to?
Further Suggested Study:
- 2 Corinthians 4
- Colossians 2
- Romans 8
- Philippians 4
- Psalm 1
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