Introduction

"The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me.' Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'"

I was recently invited to a lunch with several people and Elder Yong was there. I had many conversations with Elder Yong and throughout our conversation, I found myself sharing trivia, little bits of knowledge that might seem unimportant or insignificant to others. We laughed about how I always seem to have these random nuggets of "useless" knowledge to share. I must admit that given a random time and place, these trivia bits of knowledge have useless, but I believe that everything has a time and place. I believe that there is no such thing as trivial knowledge. This curiosity for knowledge has served me well when I apply that same curiosity to God’s Word. I discovered something profound: even the smallest details, the seemingly trivial ones, have a purpose and significance in Scripture. The Bible isn’t just words on a page; it’s life itself. It’s God’s grand story, and every word has weight and meaning. And I discover the sovereign hand of God working in this world throughout human history.

Introduction

In our journey of spiritual growth, it’s essential to cultivate a right and healthy understanding of our own value as it is revealed in the Word of God. Today’s reading from Ephesians 2:8-10 reminds us that by grace, through faith, we have been saved. This gift is not by our works but through God’s grace. Verse 10 calls us “His workmanship,” or as translated in some versions, “His masterpiece,” crafted by God Himself with excellence and purpose. We must remember and declare: “I am God’s masterpiece.”

Introduction

I was asked the question: There are people who have been good all their lives (including Christians), so why does God make them suffer?

My first response would be: What do you mean by “good”? How do you define that? If you are able to make a definition of good that is infallible, then how do you know they’ve been “good” all their lives. You might vouch for a person because you know this person. I understand your confidence, but that’s hardly evidence of how you would know if they’ve been good their entire life.

What do you mean by good? Do you mean a person who has never spoken a bad word? A person who has never done harm to another person or a creature or to the environment? A person who hasn’t committed a crime. I saw a granny the other day jaywalking, jaywalking is a crime, does that disqualify her? You were caught speeding. You could have potentially hurt someone but didn’t. You did break the law, so does that disqualify you as a good person? Or do you reserve the bad category for crimes like murder, theft, and adultery? What do you mean by good? Do you consider yourself to be a good person? Can a person who is good become bad, or a bad person become good? It would seem by the logic of the original question asked that both would be disqualified from being good because obviously they are no long “good” their entire life.

Introduction

The book of Ephesians was written around 62 AD by Paul while he was in prison. This is of course beyond the last chapter of the book of Acts. Paul established the Corinthian church with Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18) and they would arrive in Ephesus (Acts 18:19) where Paul would leave them to continue the ministry while he went ahead to other churches to strengthen them. At the beginning of Acts 19, Paul returns to Ephesus a year later to firmly establish the Ephesian church and he would spend the next 2.5 years preaching in Ephesus and through Asia Minor. This is also where Paul would run into trouble with an angry mob led by a silversmith named Demetrius who was unhappy because Paul was persuading people away from their pagan gods – Demetrius and many others made their profit from selling idols.

            Ephesus was a portside city in the province of Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey, and it was a center of transportation and commerce. It was also the location of the Temple of Artemis, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. This temple also served as a bank and so much of life in Ephesus revolved around this temple. Ephesus was also keen on magic, the occult, and pagan worship rituals of their pagan gods.

            The first half of book of Ephesians is more theological, while the latter half is more practical. Ephesians can be summarized as “living the Christian life in a manner worthy of the calling by God to faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:1).” This brings us to Ephesians 5:18 because we cannot live the true Christian life without being filled by the Spirit.  

Introduction

New Hope Fellowship DT believes that God has given us a new direction and vision to grow as a multigenerational church, but is this biblical? Is this in accordance with God’s will as revealed in Scripture? Yes. The value and idea of a multigeneration community or church found throughout Scripture and it originates from the very nature of our triune God.