Ephesians 1:15-23

Prayer for Spiritual Insight

¹⁵ This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,^[a] would give you a spirit^[b] of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the perception of your mind^[c] may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

God’s Power in Christ

²⁰ He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens— ²¹ far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given,^[d] not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put everything under His feet^[e] and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.

1.       Why does this chapter start off with “why’? Emma

2.      Why should we pray for the spirit of wisdom? Selah

3.      Why should we pray for revelation in the knowledge of Him? Emma

4.      What is the hope of His calling? Emma

5.      Why does Paul talk about Jesus’ position with God? Selah

Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:
To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.^[a]2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Rich Blessings
³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. ⁴ For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight.^[b] In love^[c] 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, ⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.
⁷ We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him ¹⁰ for the administration^[d] of the days of fulfillment^[e]—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.
¹¹ We have also received an inheritance^[f] in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, ¹² so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
¹³ When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. ¹⁴ He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession,^[g] to the praise of His glory.

1.       We are Saints and believe in Christ Jesus; what is the overarching spiritual blessing from the heavens?
2.       What does it mean to be adopted?
3.       What does predestined mean?
4.       We need to praise God.  How can we praise Him?
5.       What does redemption mean?
6.       What is an inheritance?
7.       We are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Can the Holy Spirit leave you if you are a believer?

Serve Day

Join the FCA team for a day of service!

                                                          Saturday Sort Day

Saturday, December 7, 8:00AM-11:00AM

3403 E. Central Ave. Fresno, CA

·         Join the Fresno Food Bank sort food and pack meal boxes

·         Children as young as 5 can volunteer, they just need a parent or guardian with them.

·         Wear jeans (there is lots of dirt and even more moving things around) closed toed shoe are REQUIRED!

ALL ARE WELCOME, you do not have to be a member of FCA –Please come!

Let us know if you can join us! Text or call Kerri Curtis at 579-8096

“Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Eph 6:7

Ephesians 1:1-14

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.[a]2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.God’s Rich Blessings3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight.[b] In love[c] 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.
7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him 10 for the administration[d] of the days of fulfillment[e]—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.
11 We have also received an inheritance[f] in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
¹³ When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. ¹⁴ He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession,^[g] to the praise of His glory.

The Theme: God’s eternal purpose to establish and complete His body, the church of Christ.  Listen for continuing words like: in Him, in Christ, His glory, His body, through Him, His Spirit, and just as Christ.
Paul visited Ephesus on his first missionary journey, then stayed there for about 3 years on his second missionary journey.  Timothy and the Apostle John were in charge of the church in Ephesus after Paul left. 

What does it mean to be a Saint?What are our blessing?What does adopted mean?what does predestined mean?He sealed us with a promise... what does that mean?

Summary of 2 Peter

2 Peter 1:1-11  (Ryan)

Peter is talking to people who believe in Christ Jesus.  These verses are about our belief in Jesus not being just about our words but also our actions.  Peter challenges us believers to grow in their faith.

2 Peter 1:12-21  (Matthew)

Peter wants the church to remember everything he had taught them about Jesus Christ, salvation, and the blessings of salvation because he knew he was going to die and come back to save the earth.  Peter also wanted to remind the church that what he taught them was not made up stories because he was an eye witness to Christ. 

2 Peter 2:1-10  (Carson)

Peter first explains that false teachers follow the path of the unrighteous, and are of this world.  They will deny God the Father, and will bring destruction on themselves.  They ignore the one who created them, so they separate themselves from God.  Peter gives several examples of righteous people being saved from the ungodly.  Angels, Noah, and Lot were all saved from extremely ungodly people.  God will save his people. 

2 Peter 2:11-22  (Patrick)

Peter is telling us to walk the path with God, and don’t go the other way.  He is talking about Christians who are doing very horrible things.  We don’t want to be a pig going back to the mud after our bath, or a dog that returns to its vomit.  We need to be Christians who follow Jesus and preach his word.

2 Peter 3:1-7  (Emma)

Peter is saying don’t be shocked when people mock you for believing that Jesus is coming back by saying, ”Nobody has ever come back from the dead, and nobody ever will.”  What they willfully ignore is that things don’t always happen the same way every time.  By God’s command dry land rose above the earth’s water.  God later used earth’s water to destroy everyone but Noah’s family.  Someday, after He returns, he will use fire to destroy all those who have not put their faith in Him. 

2 Peter 3:8-18  (Luke and Selah)

The Lord has given us time to tell others about the good news of Christ.  The day will come when He returned, but no one knows when that day will come.  Make every effort to be found righteous in front of the Lord.  Follow the Bible and repent of our sins.  Grow is grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.