Learning from an Apostle’s Prayer for Us

Have you thought about how we all have different ways of communicating how we might evaluate something we have purchased, a meal that we ate or an experience that we all had together?

I am still continuing to learn the new phrases I need to know in order to know in order to understand my daughters. They are very good about communicating with me in ways I understand, but sometimes I overhear or see a text string and need interpretation.

But so as to not go too far down that rabbit hole, I’ll stick with phrases I actually understand…

Sometimes when we go somewhere or do something, it did not live up to what we expected…I think back to how the kids described a trip to Legoland when they were younger. All of our kids were excited, but Tim, well…it was Legos, that set the expectation pretty high…then when they got there, nothing was quite as big as anticipated, nothing was quite as elaborate as expected and just based on the sun, most displays were faded and looking pretty old…so it think the phrase that was used was simply, that was underwhelming…just a different way of saying they were disappointed and they felt a little let done.

Now when that is not the experience, you might hear people say something like “that did not disappoint”.

• Like at a restaurant – We tried that new Greek place – did not disappoint

• Or we went to the Gatlinburg TN – did not disappoint

Truthfully, when I hear that, I am not quite sure is that high praise, or simply better than underwhelming

But what about when someone says that something exceeded all expectations?

• That’s better right

• We have an Airbnb reserved for Florida, next week when we go down for our daughter’s wedding. The pictures make the house and neighborhood look like a lot of fun….

I will reserve the right to tell you later if it was underwhelming, it did not disappoint or if it exceeded all expectations

By now you are wondering, where is the pastor going with all of this. I don’t want to disappoint, so let’s get to today’s question at hand…

When you think about God…What He does for you…what He is able and wiling to do for us…

• How do you evaluate God’s work in your life?

• Does your evaluation look at God as underwhelming? At least he did not disappoint? Of does He exceed all of our expectations?

With that in mind, please open with me to Ephesians chapter 3. You will find that on page 117X in the bibles available in your chairs…

Our theme this year is Building on our Heritage and I don’t know about you, I am loving the time looking at how God has so tremendously blessed our church and to think about what is possible for us going forward…I would say it exceeds my expectations.

It is quite the story of God’s faithfulness and the commitment of the men and women who have served Him sacrificially and have served Him well.

• We had some choices regarding our theme and one of the other options we considered was to choose “celebrating our heritage” and that would have been a blessing as well, but I am thankful that we are looking forward…building on our heritage…as compared to just looking back.

• It helps us focus on the future and what the Lord wants to do in and through our church family in the days ahead

• We are thankful for the founders of Faith Church, the first generation of members and leaders…they built a tremendous heritage on the foundation of Christ and now it our turn to continue that building

• One day, we to will have to give an account for what we are doing…we won’t be able to just take credit for the past which reminds me of

1 Cor 3:10-15 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

How we answer the question about how evaluating God’s work in our lives will have a dramatic impact on how we build

• If we see God as underwhelming…if that is how we see the past 60 years of the church, why would I want to be building on that?

• If God at least did not disappoint us – Do I really want to jump onto the mediocre train

• Or would you say that God has exceeded every expectation, year after year after year?

Fundamentally, we are talking about your personal Theology Proper…your view of God

As a church, we are talking about our corporate theology proper…our view of God

• The way that we think about God historically will dramatically impact the way we look to God for the future.

We see this trend historically with the people of Israel, when they had forgotten what God had done in the past, they would choose not to look to Him for the future and all I can say about that…their choices were less than underwhelming, they were outright catastrophic…

Thankfully, God knew that and would send his prophets to help them remember our God who exceeds every expectation. Even in the New Testament, The Holy Spirit inspired the writers to help us to see God’s work in our lives

The verses we will cover today are just for that purpose to help us see the wonder about that which the Lord has chosen to do here in our midst…

READ EPH 3:14-21

This morning as we consider the words in his letter to the Ephesians, what we are talking about is

Learning from an Apostle’s Prayer for Us

And in the time that we have together, I want us to look for

3 Responses to Paul’s petitions for Christ’s Church

TO start, let’s begin by seeking to

I. Understand the Foundation of Paul’s Prayer – 3:14-16a

And to understand the foundation of the prayer, we must also consider the circumstances of Paul’s situation.

A. A prayerful apostle during a time of personal suffering

- Ephesians 3:14 - For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

This is the second time in the letter that Paul has chosen to share the content of his prayers for the church to whom he is writing.

• Think about it though, this is one of the letters Paul wrote while he was imprisoned in Rome, yet who is he praying for?

• What if this was you or I? How different do you think our prayers might have been?

• Would I have been praying for my release from jail, because of the injustice against my righteousness?

• Would I have been praying simply for the conditions in jail? Could we at least get some decent food? Or the time it is taking the magistrate to hear my case? Why is my file not in the center of his desk?

• But it is not too much of a stretch to picture Paul, either writing himself, or dictating his prayers for men and women just like you and me…

• Now if you have read ahead in Ephesians, you might be pushing back…because Paul prays for himself too…is he really that selfless? At a minimum, I can say that he is not like me, because his prayer for himself is not about his conditions or his release…He asks others to

Ephesians 6:19–20 - and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

In all truthfulness, he is not really praying for himself was he?

This is where we can find a question for ourselves on Sunday and an application to grow in on Monday…

• How often do we pray for the church?

• How often do we pray for one another?

• Do we pray over the ministries that have been entrusted to us?

When we think about building on our heritage…what could be a more important building block than that?

Then another aspect of understanding the foundation would be in seeing how Paul was…

B. Amazed by the nature of the church

- Now if you have been following along in the text, I realize you might be asking where did Rod get that?

Ephesians 3:14 - For this reason

To understand God’s word for all that it is worth, there are some simple question I would want you to ask and this is one of them… “For what reason?”

That takes us back further in the chapter…look at verse 1…

[Eph 3 with circles around “for this reason”] same as PV

When I talked about the Mystery of the gospel 2 weeks ago, I described that passage as being like the idea that just pops into your head that you describe, and then you go back to your original thought…

That is what we have here…

Paul begins his thought – For this reason – but unlike me, this is not just a distraction, Paul has an important thought he needed to convey about the mystery of the gospel in that through Christ, that the Gentiles are included in God’s kingdom…if you want to revisit that, the sermon from two weeks ago is available on line…

But now we need to get back to the question… “For what reason?”

But rather than me explaining…I am going to bring in John MacArthur to help…

For this reason picks up after the parenthesis of 3:2–13, and begins by repeating the words of verse one. The reason about which Paul speaks is therefore found in chapter 2. Christ makes us spiritually alive in Him (2:5), we are “His workmanship” (v. 10), “no longer strangers and aliens, but … fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (v. 19), “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (v. 20), and “are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (v. 22). For this reason, therefore (that our new identity makes us the dwelling place of God), Paul prays for the Ephesians to use the power that their great status in Christ provides. Because God’s power is in those believers, Paul prays that God would enable them to employ the fullness of that power. Because believers are the habitation of the triune, all-powerful God of the universe, Paul prays that their unlimited energy from Him would be manifested (John MacArthur, Ephesians, p. 100).

No wonder Paul would pray for the church if that is what we are… “being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

• Paul was amazed by that…I hope you are too

• Can you see how that is what god has been doing around here for the past 60 years?

• God has been building us, his church, into a place where he dwells

When I meet people at Biblical counseling conferences or groups who come to visit the community center, it is not unusual to hear a question asking how Faith does so much?

• But the answer doesn’t rest in me…

• The answer, our God has chosen to dwell among us…because we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb…he is making us into His dwelling place.

• I have been a part of many churches before coming to Faith. I have been a part of many good churches with lots of good people. I cannot explain why things are different here…because there is no human explanation for what is happening and how it has all come about…

• That can only be explained by God choosing to make his dwelling among us.

But looking at Paul’s prayer, He is amazed by the nature of the church and he is

C. Focused on the diversity of the body

Ephesians 3:15 - from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

That points back to Chapter 2 as well…the incredible mystery that Jews and Gentiles alike are brought together in the church…

• Every redeemed family will be bonded together because of the common bond in Jesus Christ

• Abraham is our father, Mary is our sister, we are related to the Philippian Jailer and his family, to the woman at the well, Rahab the prostitute,

• It also means the Hutton’s are joined to the Mora’s, the Malenchiks, the Trents…the (name some of the families in church)…to all of us who are members of this church…

Think back to the way the church was born

• Jesus described how the church would be born after Israel had rejected their Messiah…and Peter made the beautiful profession that Jesus was the Christ – the Son of the Living God

Matthew 16:18 - I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Jesus came back to this theme after His death, burial, and resurrection in the beginning of the book of Acts when He said…

Acts 1:8 - but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

that was in part an ethnic statement…where every family in heaven and on earth would derive its name…

and what happened ten days later on the day of Pentecost?...

Acts 2:1–4 - When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

- and if you say – what did that mean?...all we have to do is to keep reading…

Acts 2:5-13 - Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

So what do we see in the church – every ethnicity, every nationality – all of them included.

• Consider what we see of the ethnic tensions occurring in the Middle East today and the spillover of tension around the world with protests and conflict.

• Who could possibly bring peace and reconciliation and oneness to a situation like that? The Prince of Peace – The Lord Jesus Christ

• So here is what all this means for us…when others watch our church family… despite all of our differences…all of our quirks and idiosyncrasies…when they see that we worship and serve the One Lord together? How can that be explained?

• The answer - God is dwelling among them…from whom every family in heaven and on earth is deriving it’s name

• And how is that possible?

D. Based on our Father’s endless and glorious resources

Ephesians 3:16 - that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory…

Paul loved the church and I hope that you do to…that we are more than just a destination on Sunday morning, but that you want to be a part of what God is doing as he chooses to dwell among His people

Because that becomes the foundation of our prayer…

And with the foundation of Paul’s prayer, we might them choose to

II. Pursue the Content of Paul’s Prayer – 3:16b – 19

Paul’s prayer requests for the Ephesians are truly timeless…

• The first century church needed this

• And the 21^st century church needs this every bit as much

• And I hope that we would all say that our church wants it every bit as much and even that we depend upon it every bit as much…

Such that we might be

A. That we would be strengthened with power

Ephesians 3:16 - …to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…

When we look at all that God has entrusted to our church in terms of ministry opportunities and ministry responsibilities, I can feel overwhelmed at times just considering the ministries that I have the opportunity to lead and then I see the even bigger picture…

Jerry Jamison, some of you know him…He is the longest standing member of Faith, almost the full 60 years…a phase he would use to describe this might be that God keeps moving the decimal point. That is a good description when we consider how and when each of these ministries has been added to the church.

And that requires a great deal of faith and discipline to not become anxious or overwhelmed when we look at the size of these budgets or the projects in comparison to our own checkbooks, our own households…it is big…complex…and maybe even frightening…

That is one of the reasons Paul was praying for his brothers and sisters

And why I would be asking you to pray for your brothers and sisters…that we would be strengthened with power through His Spirit…

When I look at these ministries – I don’t know about you…but I see multiple times where something only got started because God is who He says that He is…

And we can take Him at His word, even when we are placed at the tip of the spear, in front of the greatest needs where there may be risk or even danger…how then should we pray

To be strengthened with power in His Spirit in the inner man…

I would like to highlight 2 ministries that I would ask you to be especially in prayer for regularly…

First – Please be in prayer for our Community Development Corporation

• The Mayor and the city asked Faith to consider working in the north end…I have come to love this part of town but there are also a fair number of needs around us…

• one of those issues was and is affordable housing…

• and there is a federal program that addresses that challenge but it has to be led by a non-profit…

• and those funds were being left on the table because no one at the time was able or willing to do the work…

• that was certainly not good for our city so we accepted that responsibility…

• and we’ve been able to successfully complete a number of projects and help a number of families and make some modest improvements…and we’re glad for all of that…

Lori Walters did a wonderful job helping us launch the CDC and now Pastor Ross Reeder is providing excellent leadership

• but there are 2 significant challenges with all of that…

• many of the houses that might be in serious need of renovation…far more than a private investor would want to take on because he/she would have to spend more money than they could recover…

• those houses are considered by the government to be of historic significance…so you can’t just remove windows or doors or trim, etc. –

• the other issue is lead based paint – which almost all of the homes we would potentially work on contain…

• you used to be able to paint over that with a kind of sealing product and be fine…but now we’re not allowed to do that…it has to be professionally removed and there are practically no companies or people in the state who are willing to do that kind of work…

• so CDC’s around the country are facing the issue of – what is required to receive the funding… costs much more than is offset by the funding…

So the question is – should we be looking at ways to serve our friends in the Northend that don’t include this particular program?...

• - what should people like you and me do?...

• - pray that we would be

Ephesians 3:16 - …to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…

A second ministry that I also personally covet your prayer for would be Vision of Hope

The Story of God’s mighty provision to bring this ministry into existence is incredible…it exceeds every expectation…

This afternoon we are going to have the joy, which will likely also include some tears as we celebrate the graduation of 7 of our sisters in Christ who came to find the hope and help that resides only in the power of the gospel. Today’s graduation is an open invitation. I can promise you one thing…you will walk away encouraged.

Since stepping into the role as Executive Director, I have been blessed to see what has been built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ through the prior directors, Jocelyn Wallace, Mark Shaw and Dr. Charlie Hodges as well as the faithful serving of women like Heather Starkweather, Nikki Barnheizer and Heather Putney…

This ministry has many unique challenges as we seek to make the ministry available to anyone who has need. That includes making the care as affordable as possible…while at the same time, we must acknowledge that it is an expensive ministry to operate.

Should we run away from that because the numbers don’t line up right now?

Is that what our church should do? Is that what our church has done for the past 60 years?

Can I ask that you would pray that we be

Ephesians 3:16 - …to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…

And I ask, that if you are in a position to prayerfully consider financial support, VOH is our ministry division that is in our greatest need.

So I would offer – come to the graduation today that you might be encouraged…and then I ask you to be an encouragement to VOH through your prayer and support.

As we continue to pursue the content of Paul’s prayer, we also want to pursue

B. That we would be indwelt by the Savior

Ephesians 3:17a - so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…

I expect that what I just shared about these two ministries might make you concerned, maybe even nervous.

But would I surprise you if I said that there are plenty of other challenges in any direction you look? Because we are a sin-cursed people living in a sin-cursed world…

And if we look at all the ministries and all the potential problems and all the possible risks…What might we conclude?

We are in big trouble…Unless…God is who He says He is

Because if Christ is dwelling in our hearts through faith…how much room is left for worry, fear, apathy, or selfishness?

We could talk about this at so many levels – including in our personal lives.

As a counselor, I am humbled to be able to help individuals or couples walking through some deep trials…marriage or family issues that are heart-breaking…

many times I find myself back in Psalm 34 to see God’s heart for us…If you have not meditated on Psalm 34 recently…I would encourage you to spend your devotional time there…look at what god says to us…

Psalm 34:4 - I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:6–7 - This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.

Psalm 34:8 - O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:18–19 - The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

These verses help me to be able to pray for them and to ask them to pray for me, that God is where we would seek our refuge and give thanks that He is near the broken-hearted as His child who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit

The comfort of the indwelling is a part of Paul’s prayer for us

As well as

C. That our understanding of God’s love would be ever increasing

Paul prays

Ephesians 3:17b –19a - …and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge

Would you be surprised if I said that so much of what gets done in and by the church has nothing to do with the pastors, programs or facilities?

• It is simply the day to day informal life of brothers and sisters we as seek to grow and serve together.

• Often when I am calling to check up on a Faith North member who is dealing with a trial, they are thankful for the call and they tell me about how their Faith Group has helped or another member in the church had already visited…

• What would you call that?

• Brothers and Sisters who know the love of Christ and are living answers to the very prayer in ways that benefit others practically and powerfully

• Reflecting why we then continue our prayer

D. That we would be filled with the fullness of God

Ephesians 3:19b - …that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

This can all go back to the questions about what we should do as a church…

• How much risk should we take on? How many things should we do? How much is too much? There needs to be wisdom in these decisions

• While at the same time, we have to be careful not to choose to live so comfortably, so safe that we insulate ourselves from the opportunity to rely on the fullness of God

• This goes to the question for this year…

• Are we Building on our Heritage?

• Or are we resting on our laurels?

• The first option puts us on our knees to pray…the second…well that’s something else.

• I pray that we would choose to be dependent on the fullness of God in our ministries.

Then if that is where we find ourselves, I believe we would find our final response to be to

III. Celebrate the Implications of Paul’s Prayer

Sometimes, when the ministries are already in place, they might just seem like that is what is, was and always will be…but truly they are the evidence that

A. Our God wishes to do more than we can ever imagine

Ephesians 3:20a - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…

Sometimes, when we spend the majority of our time at one location, we may lose the awe and wonder of what God has done to expand His reach in Lafayette…We have been given 5 ministry platforms…

I love the opportunity to walk folks through these, and I am careful not to showcase Faith – look what we have done…rather, I just want to celebrate what God has done – to His glory

While at the same time, I should be careful in how I use the phrase ministry platform, because that is not about facilities, because in a sense, every follower of Jesus Christ is a ministry platform wherever you go…in your home or in your community…24 and 7.

As we seek to learn from the Apostles prayer for us…can I recommend a prayer scavenger hunt…

• Load up your car with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Take a copy of God’s Word, put some praise music on the radio…

• Then stop at each Ministry location

• Get out of your car, walk and pray for the ministries that are there

• Stop and marvel what God has done

• How could we, of all people, ever doubt the truth of Eph 3:20

Ephesians 3:20a - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…

• Then pray about how that impacts our thinking for the future and Building on our Heritage

Because

B. Our God wants to powerfully work in us

Ephesians 3:20b - …according to the power that works within us,

We are so much more than the collective human strength of all our church members

It is not about “there’s strength in numbers…” no, there’s strength in the Lord…which is why we long for this to be true…

And in this we can fulfill our purpose such that

C. Our God can be glorified by us

Ephesians 3:21a - to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus…

Such that through all of this we can believe that

D. Our God’s work can have generational impact

Ephesians 3:21b - to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

I have loved being part of churches where we see multiple generations worshipping together and I can only imagine the days when our children will bring their children to step into the Northend Community Center, or into Faith Christian School and they might be a part of the worship team, or in a drama production walking in the footsteps of the prior generations as they hear the stories and singing the praises of God

Now they might describe it in phrases different from what we would say…but I would expect that it would mean – this is beyond all of our expectations -

or maybe, just maybe they will be thinking of these verses that we have studied today…

Ephesians 3:20–21 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.