Podcasts about Ephesus

When seven sons of a Jewish priest try to mimic Paul’s miracles by invoking Jesus' name without faith, they face the wrath of a demon who knows Jesus and Paul but dismisses them, leaving the entire city of Ephesus shaken by the power of the true gospel.In Ephesus, Paul teaches about the Holy Spirit and performs miracles, but the seven sons of Sceva, seeking their own fame, attempt to cast out a demon in the name of "the Jesus whom Paul preaches"—only to be violently overpowered by the demon, exposing their lack of true faith and authority. This terrifying event strengthens the believers' trust in Paul’s teaching and the power of Jesus, spreading fear and reverence throughout the city.Today's Bible verse is John 14:13, from the King James Version.Download the Pray.com app for more Christian content including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Pray.com is the digital destination for faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you know what God actually designed the church to do? In Part 3 of the Ephesus series, Pastor Daniel Hayworth walks through Ephesians 3 and lays out seven clear purposes God has given to His church—and to you personally as a believer.Listen as he explains why the local church is the greatest treasure in the heart of God, how your spiritual life impacts realms you cannot see, and why the life of faith is meant to be walked one step at a time.You'll Learn:✅ Seven biblical purposes every church and Christian is called to fulfill✅ Why God prunes you slowly—and what happens if He doesn't✅ The three commands Jesus gave His disciples after the resurrection✅ How to move from convert to disciple to Spirit-empowered witnessPerfect for your morning commute or workout. Hit follow so you never miss an episode—new ones drop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 AM CT.

"Paul, writing from Ephesus, where he stayed for more than two years... [to] the Christian church at Corinth, which was then the largest town in Greece... It would have been full of a cosmopolitan crowd, and even in those days a byword for immorality." From the introduction. 

“The goddess is not a myth of the past, but a living presence within us, reminding us to honor our wildness, wisdom, and endurance in everyday life.”Welcome to Awakening Aphrodite — the podcast that helps you reconnect with your feminine energy and power, reclaim your vitality, and live in harmony with your body, mind, and spirit.In each episode, holistic health expert Amy Fournier shares inspiring conversations with expert guests, blending ancient wisdom and modern science to offer practical tools that help you thrive in today's fast-paced world.Featured Guest: Dr. Carla IonescuDr. Carla Ionescu is an ancient historian and leading authority on the goddess Artemis, known for her deep, interdisciplinary research on sacred feminine archetypes and their place in both myth and lived history. She is the founder of The Artemis Center and host of The Goddess Project, where she explores how ancient goddesses continue to shape modern spiritual and psychological life. She is also the author of works examining Artemis, temple cultures, and the enduring power of goddess traditions in contemporary times.Dr. Carla is not only a scholar but also a passionate storyteller and bridge-builder between academia and embodied spirituality. Born in Romania and later educated in North America, her personal journey of migration, identity, and belonging informs her devotion to recovering the lost voices of women and the divine feminine in history. Through her lectures, writings, and workshops, she helps women reclaim their wild, instinctual wisdom and reconnect with the sacred cycles of nature. She currently splits her time between teaching, research, and guiding seekers who feel called to walk with Artemis and the living goddess within.Be sure to hop on Amy's email list to be notified when her online course and membership community, Goddess Rising, Thriving Through the 4 Stages of Womanhood is open for enrollment: https://amyfournier.com/ebooks-shopCheck out Amy's newest product: Heart & Sacral Guided Meditation: https://amyfournier.com/heart-sacral-meditation/For All Amy's Approved Products: https://amyfournier.com/recommended-products/Timestamps:00:00 Intro16:21 Reading History26:17 Faith To Artemis30:37 Sacred Feminine38:47 Ancient Rituals Today44:20 Gods & Zeus Debate58:28 Academic Bias01:03:22 Rethinking Artemis01:09:45 Artemis & Mary01:20:12 Signs & Stags01:29:01 Artemis Energy01:39:22 Resources & CloseIf you enjoyed this episode be sure to check out:176. Fast Friday: Messages from the Divine Feminine Oracle of Sekhmet and Diana/Artemis, Part III⁠244. How Venus, Vestia, Persephone & Other Mythological Archetypes Can Help Us Today with Letao Wang260. Exploring Female Archetypes with Barbara McNally83. Awakening Aphrodite With Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, Author Of Goddesses In Everywoman229. The Wild Woman: Nourishing your Goddess Instincts, Passion and Beauty with Dr. Stacey ShelbyStay Connected & Support the ShowIf this episode inspired or helped you, it would mean the world to us if you would leave a 5-star rating and review — it really helps us and thank you!Join Amy's Email List for holistic health tips, updates & exclusive content: https://amyfournier.com/contact/Be the first to hear when Amy's upcoming online course & community, Goddess Rising: Thriving In The 4 Stages of Womanhood is open for applications: https://amyfournier.com/contact/Connect With AmyWebsite: https://amyfournier.com​YouTube: Awakening Aphrodite Podcast / FitAmyTV​Instagram: @fitamytv​Facebook: Amy Fournier​Email: amy@amyfournier.comContact CarlaWebsite: www.artemisresearchcentre.com Instagram & TikTok: @artemisexpert YouTube: The Goddess Project New Book: She Who Endures: The Cult and Iconography of Artemis of Ephesus

Today, we are focusing on how the sword of theSpirit—the Word of God—is our greatest defense against the false teaching ofthe cults and heresies that are so prevalent in the world today. This is veryimportant. At the same time it is our best weapon against the false teachingthat Paul warned would take place in the last days (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy3:1-9). Thebest answer to secular humanism is the Word of God. If there was ever a daywhen secular humanism has infiltrated even Christianity, it is today. Sadly, weare witnessing what A.W. Tozer called a humanistic Christianity. How true thatis. It becomes all about me—what I feel, what I can have, what is in it forme—instead of asking, What do we learn about God? How can we be holy like God? TheApostle Paul warned even the young church at Ephesus. You must understand thatfalse teaching has been present since the very beginning of the early church.It was already creeping in. Peter dealt with it. The Apostle John dealt withit. We find Paul addressing it as well when he spoke to the elders of thechurch at Ephesus In Acts 20:29-32. He said: “For I know this, that after mydeparture savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also,from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw awaythe disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for threeyears I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now,brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able tobuild you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” God's Word, Paul said, is what will build you up, set you apart, and give you courage and wisdom to deal with the false teachers. Today,people are not asking, “What does God say?” Instead, they are asking, “What doI feel?” We hear phrases like, “Follow your heart.” “What does your heart tellyou?” “What do you think the Bible is saying to you?” But that is not the mostimportant thing. The most important question is: “What is God saying”? Period.Godhas spoken. Whether you believe it or not, His Word is settled. Yet todaypeople ask, “What do I prefer? What do I think is true?” Paul warned that inthe last days people would have itching ears—they want their ears scratched andtickled (2 Timothy 4:3-5). They want to hear things that are not true but makethem feel good. Peterwrote in 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and alwaysbe ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope thatis in you with meekness and fear.” John also warned in 2 John 7–8: “Formany deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ ascoming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”  Theirreligion is a do-good religion. Do the best you can and you'll get to heaven.Try to keep the Ten Commandments. Then there's good God, good devil, goodeverybody. All you have to do is do what you feel like is the best thing foryou to do. In the end, God will have mercy on you and we're all going to get toheaven one day. I've actually heard these pastors quote Romans 8:35-39 atfunerals telling the people that “nothing can separate us from the love of Godthat's in Christ Jesus our Lord. Everybody's going to end up in heaven one daybecause nothing can separate us from His love”. Myfriend, these are lies of the devil. That's why Jude also warned in Jude verse3, "... I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contendearnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Forcertain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for thiscondemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and denythe only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."  Myfriend, we must know the Word of God! It is our best weapon against the falseteachers and their heresy. Jesus said, "Sanctify them through thytruth. Thy word is truth" (John 17:17).

From Outsiders to One: The Ministry of Reconciliation (Ephesians 2) In this message at Journey during a series through Ephesians, JonnyMac invites the church to reflect on times they've felt like an outsider and connects that experience to an “us vs. them” culture. Teaching from Ephesians 2:11–18, he explains the historical divide between Jews and Gentiles, how a “Jesus plus” system of traditions created barriers, and how Christ's death broke down the wall of hostility and brought peace, uniting two groups into one and reconciling people to God. He illustrates the challenge of reconciliation with the story of the Prodigal Son, focusing on the older brother's anger and how people can love the idea of God's grace while resisting the “guest list.” The message emphasizes that reconciliation is not only between individuals and God but also a calling for believers, with the church meant to lead in reconciliation in a divided world. Practical next steps begin with prayer, referencing Isaiah 56:7 and Jesus' words about God's house being a house of prayer for all nations, and Matthew 5:44 about praying for enemies. The speaker shares examples of reconciliation seen in a diverse Louisville coffee shop community and a personal story of repairing a broken relationship with a former coworker through ownership, prayer, grace, and restored friendship. The talk concludes with an invitation to use the church's prayer wall to pray for reconciliation and to remember in communion that believers were once outsiders but have been brought near through Christ. 00:00 Welcome to Journey + Springtime Small Talk 00:17 Icebreaker: When Was the Last Time You Felt Like an Outsider? 02:55 Why Outsider Stories Matter: Living in an ‘Us vs. Them' Culture 03:55 Ephesians 2 Setup: Paul, Ephesus, and Reading the Passage 07:22 Gentiles, Israel, and How the Wall of Hostility Got Built 10:07 The ‘Jesus Plus' Problem: Traditions That Keep People Out 12:07 Jesus Breaks Down the Wall: Peace and One New People 14:04 Prodigal Son & the Older Brother: Loving the Party, Hating the Guest List 19:17 Our Calling: The Church as a Ministry of Reconciliation 24:08 How to Begin: Prayer, a House of Prayer for All Nations 27:52 A Personal Reconciliation Story (and a Call to the Prayer Wall) 31:53 Communion & Closing Prayer: Remember You Were Brought Near

Paul says goodbye to the elders at Ephesus. How do you say goodbye to a group you've spent three years with? Let's find out together as we read Acts 20:17-38 and Joshua 24.#PaulSaysGoodbye #Acts20 #EphesianElders #Joshua24 #ThreeYearsTogether #BiblicalGoodbyes #Acts2017 #FarewellSpeech #PaulTheMissionary #ChurchElders #LetsFindOutTogether #DailyDevotional #BibleStudy #BookOfActs #ActsOfTheApostles #PaulsMinistry #ChristianLeadership #GoodbyesInFaith

This week, we will be looking at some of the prayers and teachings about prayer from Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus. In his letter, Paul prays for the Ephesian believers “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit” in their inner beings. Paul was praying a Prayer of Fortification for them.…

Join us as we continue through the Book of 1 Timothy! This weekend, embrace the tension of Paul's advice for Timothy as he navigates many conflicts and cultural issues in Ephesus.

Acts 19:1-10 - This message recaps the final week of the All Hands on Deck series, using Acts 19 where Paul finds disciples in Ephesus, equips them with the fullness of the gospel, and builds a movement that spreads the Word throughout Asia in two years. It challenges believers to know the church's mission and to live out their faith with intentional disciple-making, not just religious attendance.

The Christian life is a spiritual battle. In Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus to withstand the attacks of the enemy and the spiritual hosts of wickedness. Believers are to be strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10) and put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11) to stand against Satan's schemes. Our battle is spiritual, not physical (Ephesians 6:12). This armor allows believers to stand firm in the faith (Ephesians 6:13).Christians must equip themselves with the whole armor of God. This armor includes such elements as truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.

Ephesians 1:1-2. In tracing the journeys of Paul, we discover how he came to know the Ephesians, how the church began in Ephesus and why Paul wrote this letter to them from prison. Paul speaks of the church, and each believer, as being “in Christ”, accepted and unified in the Saviour Christ forever. How crucial […]

THE SEAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT I'm reading from the discussion group session two weeks ago from Ephesians 1:11 Ephesians 1:11. In him we have obtained an inheritance (kleroo-share of possession), having been predestined according to the purpose (prothesis-set plan) of him who works all things according to the counsel (boul??- deliberate decision) of his will (thel??ma – what he delights to do). 12. So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory, (People who live it first then share it with others, for them to also believe so that their lives too will bring glory to God, not themselves)  Paul goes on to say… 13. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,  14. who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. We had discussed earlier (in Ephesians 1:3) that the Father predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself. And here in verse 11 today we see Jesus obtaining for us another predestined blessing from the Father - his inheritance, his dominion over all things, which he shares fully with us. I have two major questions for discussion regarding today's reading. 1. What is the predestined Inheritance? 2. What are the roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our receiving the inheritance? The predestined inheritance  For those who believe, the Inheritance is sharing in the dominion over all things that Jesus has inherited from the Father, both on the personal level and the utmost level of all things in the heavens and on the earth. It is important to realise that that includes our authority over all the powers of darkness. That has huge significance and consequence for our walk of faith. Furthermore, this inheritance is a legal and binding declaration. We will come to that shortly…Now we come to the second question. The roles of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit There is a pattern of the work of the Trinity in this first chapter of Ephesians in the bestowing of all of these spiritual blessings that we receive. The Father is the origin of every blessing and the one who adopted us into his family, and Jesus is the beloved Son, in and through whom the blessings are shared with us. Jesus brought us in as being as accepted as he is in God's family, and Jesus is also the one who obtains for us the Inheritance, his inheritance that we now share with him.  The Holy Spirit, is the one who stamps his seal upon all our ‘Spiritual blessings'. (Ephesians 1: 3,14). He is the one who seals God's Covenant bond with us, as the guarantee and guarantor, giving us a foretaste of the fulfillment of all that God has in store for us  As mentioned earlier, the inheritance is a legal and binding declaration. In the terms of a Covenant of agreement between two parties, there is a contractual arrangement where one person makes a promise of something of value to the other person for a certain cost or sacrifice. They agree on those terms and the transaction occurs. However, another essential ingredient to the terms of agreement is that the Covenant is sealed with a unique seal or personal signature that guarantees full possession of the promise with binding power. In the Old Testament (Covenant) the promise made by God to Israel his  Holy Nation included their deliverance from slavery to the Egyptians and ongoing deliverance and protection from any enemies that oppose them. It also included God's countless  miracle material blessings and favour, and finally, occupation of the Promised Land.  The sacrifice or cost to Israel was their obedience to the Law and Commandments and the sacrificial offerings offered by the priests.) The seal of the Old Covenant of Moses as the Sabbath rest (It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel Exodus 31). It was obeyed on a weekly basis on the seventh day but it was disobeyed totally in the failure to observe the Sabbath rest of one year in every seven years (Leviticus Ch.25), and this was the Sabbath of consequence that God judged Israel for. They disobeyed it for 490years since the reign of Saul and it had the drastic consequence of Israel being defeated in battle and taken into bondage in Babylon for seventy years (490÷7=70) Israel failed to sign off on the seal of that Sabbath rest of faith and failed to pay the Covenant cost or sacrifice of obedience to the law.  Our sabbath rest is now the rest of faith. Note that the Scriptures make it clear that the legal Covenantal sign of the Sabbath and obedience to the Law no longer apply to the terms of our new Covenant relationship with God as his Holy Nation through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel (Exodus 31). The Bible says that we are to obey the spiritual rest of faith, and enter into the rest of the finished work of Christ – Every Day - (Hebrews 4:1,8) Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it…There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his own works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience In the New Covenant the Promise is summed up in the promises of all the spiritual blessings that we see here in Ephesians and also elsewhere, as in the gift of reconciliation and mercy and forgiveness and the Law being written on our New hearts. (2Corinthians 5, Romans 5, Hebrews 8 and 10, ++).  The sacrifice or cost of those promises has been fully paid by Jesus Christ in his sinless death upon the cross and his resurrection and ascension. The sign or seal of the New Covenant is the receiving of the Holy Spirit of Promise by someone who believes, as we read in verses 13 and 14. All of this is not just as a blessing to us but also through us to glorify God. 13. In him also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14. who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Jesus said in Acts… Acts 1: 4 Wait for my Father's promised gift, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:8 you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The Book of Acts also tells the story of Paul arriving at Ephesus and finding people there who claimed to be disciples and believers. Something prompted Paul to `question them concerning their spirituality, and he said ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they replied No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.  Tongues is not the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit by faith, but simply ONEsign, like prophecy, along with other faith assurances ranging from quiet serenity to joyful exuberance. In the mid-seventies I was once sharing about the Baptism of the holy Spirit and a few of us would then pray for people to receive it, and many people spoke in tongues upon receiving it as that had also been mentioned. I prayed for one man who was a strong Christian and loved God's Word, and when I prayed, he did not speak in tongues but began to joyously laugh and I felt a witness in my spirit that he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But the deacon standing next to me said that the man had not received the Holy Spirit because he didn't speak in tongues and he was taught that tongues was the evidence. I had to disagree, saying that the Bible did not say that tongues was the evidence, but that it was just a sign (1Corinthians 14:22). There are many signs and this fellow's joyous laughter was a sure sign - and he laughed from that day on whenever we were gathered together in worship or whenever he was touched by the Holy Spirit. Some of you will remember him. Now and again someone would say I should have told him to stop laughing but I never did – it was real. The activity of the Holy Spirit of promise is a seal of the promises of the New Covenant for a believer. However Jesus taught about another prior activity of the Holy Spirit for unbelievers, which was the Holy Spirit of conviction, which works in every person who comes into the world. Jesus taught the disciples that when he left them he would send the Holy Spirit into the world (not just the church) John 16:8.But if I go, I will send The New Helper (The Holy Spirit). And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. Conviction of sin is the truth about the sin of unbelief – guilt doesn't convict or change people, conviction does, and righteousness is about the grace to becoming aligned with God's will (righteousness), otherwise it's self-righteousness –  and the truth of Satan being judged is about having freedom from the bondage of darkness and the overcoming of Satan – as that is the other spirit that is at work in the world (Ephesians Ch.2). The Bible says that the people loved hiding and covering up in darkness more than coming into the light (who has never been there? John 3:19). However, the Bible also says that where sin abounds grace does much more abound (Romans 5:20). So no matter how darkness may abound in these days, the more we can abound in the grace and truth that the Holy Spirit works in us through the Gospel of the love and goodness of God towards. One person working in the simplicity of that grace and truth will affect everything and everyone in their sphere of the world around them. That is the Holy Spirit's work.  

It's the 10-year anniversary of the Back to Jerusalem Podcast and Eugene is recording it the same way he's recorded every other episode... alone, on his phone, mid-hike, somewhere inside the borders of..... Eugene reflects on a decade of sharing from the underground church, the critics who called him out, the stranger in Ephesus who recognized his voice, and why he's still doing it the same way he did it on day one. All the while, standing on the same beaches where missionary Robert Morrison landed 200 years ago and on the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale illegally smuggling the Bible into England.

In about 50 A.D., twenty years after Jesus Death Resurrection and Ascension Paul of Tarsus, one sent with authority by Jesus the Lord, to preach the Good News to the nations arrived in the City of Corinth, a prominent city of the Roman empire located on the trade route connecting the Aegean and Ionian seas. He immediately began announcing the Good News: "The Crucified Jesus is the True Lord of the world."  Those believing the message were shepherded into house churches.  Then Paul preached, taught and pastored in Corinth for 18 months before moving on to other cities of the empire. See Acts 18 In 53 A.D. Paul, now in Ephesus, receives letters from the Church at Corinth and from the household of a woman named Chloe, a leader in the church.  These letters revealed alarming divisions, cliques, sexual immorality, lawsuits against fellow members, abuse of the Lord's supper, unbelief in the resurrection of Jesus, and much more within the Corinthian church.  Making things worse, Paul was being mocked as a phony apostle by members of the church in Corinth. Paul writes the 1st letter to Corinth from Ephesus in 53 A.D. to address the beliefs and behaviors of this charismatic, but grossly immature and divided church. Those today who seek to build "new creation" churches within the American empire will be blessed by this great letter.  We will make a special point of discerning in 1 Corinthians the character of wisdom and foolishness, freedom and license, as well as spiritual and childish. Come join us in this series of Podcasts on "Freedom and the Corinthians" as we "eat Corinthians" together, growing in maturity in Christ together.

In this engaging conversation, Jeanine Blount shares her journey of faith, leadership, and the challenges and opportunities for women in ministry. She discusses her upbringing in a Christian home, her experiences in different church traditions, and her eventual role as a senior pastor in the Vineyard movement.

This weekend enter the Lenten season. The Sundays in Lent are not actually a part of Lent, but are mini celebrations of the resurrection of Jesus DURING Lent. One of the main Biblical themes which we will consider this weekend in our worship is the theme of Grace.   That theme is beautifully described by Philip Doddridge in "Grace Has a Thrilling Sound" (TLH 374; WS 778). This hymn is based on Paul's words to the believers in Ephesus:  "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:4-10). God's grace has accomplished our salvation, from beginning to end. Our election is by His grace. Our faith is by His grace. Our Christian lives are lived by His grace. Our entrance into Heaven is by His grace. Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith!  Grace is indeed a thrilling sound in the ear of a believer! When we know our sin and what we deserve because of it, we can't help but be joyful when we hear God's message of grace in Christ! Rejoice in that grace! Praise Him, this weekend and always!

What "First Love" had the Church of Ephesus lost or more correctly, abandoned. Thirty years after Paul's founding of the church in Ephesus in 60 AD and the ongoing teaching by Apollos, Timothy, and John, the Lord commends this church for its intense ongoing spiritual labor unto weariness in serving the Lord. The Lord offers no criticism of their actions and spiritual lives with respect to these activities, except for the "nevertheless" of verse 4…. Nevertheless, literally "despite all," emphasizes a very strong word against them. This busy, industrious, laboring, discerning, persevering church that hated what the Lord hated apparently abandoned their "first love" of Him! In fact they had not merely lost their first love as if it was something lost by accident and could not be found; rather this was a deliberate action on their part to turn their back and walk away from their first love. Using the clues in the passage this video will define the "First Love." all believers should all their lives. 0:00 Church at Ephesus 4:40 Things "which are" 13:00 Commendation of Ephesus 23:02 The "First Love" - That Which was Lacking 23:24 The first of 5 clues as to what "First Love" is 36:23 Defining "First Love"

Pope Leo was one of the great bastions of Orthodoxy during the time of the monophysite heresy and its offshoots. 'According to some, this Saint was born in Rome, but according to others in Tyrrenia (Tuscany), and was consecrated to the archiepiscopal throne of Rome in 440. In 448, when St Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople [also commemorated today], summoned Eutyches, an archimandrite in Constantinople, to give account for his teaching that there was only one nature in Christ after the Incarnation, Eutyches appealed to St Leo in Rome. After St Leo had carefully examined Eutyches' teachings, he wrote an epistle to St Flavian, setting forth the Orthodox teaching of the person of Christ, and His two natures, and also counseling Flavian that, should Eutyches sincerely repent of his error, he should be received back with all good will. At the Council held in Ephesus in 449, which was presided over by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria (and which Saint Leo, in a letter to the holy Empress Pulcheria in 451, was the first to call "The Robber Council"), Dioscorus, having military might behind him, did not allow Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian to be read, although repeatedly asked to do so; even before the Robber Council was held, Dioscorus had uncanonically received the unrepentant Eutyches back into communion. Because Saint Leo had many cares in Rome owing to the wars of Attila the Hun and other barbarians, in 451 he sent four delegates to the Fourth Ecumenical Council, where 630 Fathers gathered in Chalcedon during the reign of Marcian, to condemn the teachings of Eutyches and those who supported him. Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian was read at the Fourth Council, and was confirmed by the Holy Fathers as the Orthodox teaching on the incarnate Person of our Lord; it is also called the "Tome of Leo." The Saint wrote many works in Latin; he reposed in 461.'(Great Horologion).   St Leo is remembered for saving Rome from conquest by Attila the Hun. When Attila drew near to Rome, preparing to pillage the city, St Leo went out to him in his episcopal vestments and enjoined him to turn back. For reasons unknown to worldly historians, the pitiless Attila with all his troops abandoned their attack and returned the way they had come.

Today we return to our exciting study of Revelation. We'll start by looking at the Lord's postcard to the church in Ephesus. While they were commended for some things, they had left their first love. It happened to the Ephesians and it's still happening to Christians today. If things aren't where they used to be in your relationship with Jesus, today's message will show you how to get back on track. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1459/29?v=20251111

In this episode of the Neue Thing Podcast, we walk through Ephesians 1:15–23 and a recorded prayer for the believers in Ephesus. Their faith and love deeply encouraged him, and it moved him to pray boldly for them. Instead of praying for surface-level needs, Paul prayed for something deeper: that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened, and that they would truly know the hope they have in Christ. This passage reminds us that we are God's inheritance. We are cherished, eagerly awaited, and deeply loved. If you've ever felt stuck in prayer, this Scripture offers a powerful framework for how to pray beyond symptoms and into spiritual depth.WHAT IS NEUE THING?Neue Thing is a non-profit ministry, founded by Cherie Wagner, that exists to equip women with the Word of God. Cherie's life-long passion is two-fold: knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known. Author of Found On My Knees, Awake O Sleeper, Rest, Hope, Psalms for Life, and Knowing Your Name, Cherie writes Bible studies for women that will encourage them to know and believe God's Word, equip them to live it, and empower them to take it and transform this generation for Jesus Christ.CONNECT Website: https://neuething.org/Email Subscription link:https://neuething.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neuethinginc/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neuethingGive to Neue Thing: https://neuething.org/give/RESOURCESAwake O Sleeper: EphesiansProverbs: The Wise, The Fool, The WickedKnowing Your NameFound On My Knees: The Journey from Brokenness to BlessingRest: 30 Days of Exploring God's Invitation to RestHope: Tethered to an Unwavering GodPsalms for Life

Today we begin a look at the first of seven letters Jesus gave to seven different churches in Revelation. What do you suppose Jesus would say if He stopped by for a visit to your church? Would He commend you and say keep that up? Or would He offer some words of correction? The church at Ephesus received both. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1459/29?v=20251111

This week, we start a new series, "Letters to the Church." Join us as we learn that we must embrace ALL of Jesus, we must cling to both truth AND love, and that if we refuse to repent, God will remove our lamp-stand.

Hello and welcome to the Transforming Lives Together Podcast.The word “culture” is used often in our discourse today. You may have heard people talk about a “culture war,” or about things that are “counterculture,” or there being a “lack of culture,” say in an organization. This emphasis of, and concern over, culture points to the importance of having a common set of values, a shared vision of what it means to live the good life that our lives and our communities can be rooted in. Much like in the parable of the tares, when other interests, especially those that are immoral, are sown into the culture we're growing, some of the fruit becomes tangled up and choked. This is what we will see as we turn our attention to Christ's letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor, beginning with the church in Ephesus.The Transforming Lives Together podcast is a ministry of St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church in Tonawanda, NY.To learn more about our church please visit: stbartston.org You can also connect with St. Bartholomew's on Facebook and Instagram through the handle: @stbartsanglicanchurch And you can connect with this podcast on Facebook through @transforminglivestogethercast

Justin Hibbard continues our series on the 21 Ecumenical Councils by exploring the uprising against the Catholic Church in Europe known as the Protestant Reformation. But was it really a reformation, or was it a revolution? Who were the key players in this movement, and did the movement ultimately succeed in its goals?SOCIAL LINKS* Follow Why Catholic on Instagram.* Subscribe to Why Catholic on YouTube.* Follow Justin on Facebook.SOURCES:* The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History by Joseph Kelly* Video: General Councils 13: Lateran V and Trent - Fr Timothy Matkin - St Francis Dallas* 95 Theses - Martin Luther* Papal Encyclicals Online: Exsurge Domine - Condemning the Errors of Martin Luther - Pope Leo X - 1520* Papal Encyclicals Online: Decet Romanum Pontificem - Papal Bull of Excommunication of Martin Luther and his followers - Pope Leo X - 1521* Episode 56: Indulgences - The Most Misunderstood Catholic Doctrine* Episode 120: The Deuterocanonicals and Protestant Budget BiblesPREVIOUS EPISODES IN THIS SERIES* Episode 146: Introduction to the 21 Ecumenical Councils* Episode 147: The World that Led to the Council of Nicaea* Episode 148: The First Council of Nicaea (325)* Episode 149: From Nicaea to Constantinople* Episode 150: The First Council of Constantinople (381)* Episode 151: The Council of Ephesus (431)* Episode 152: The Council of Chalcedon (451)* Episode 153: The Second Council of Constantinople (553)* Episode 154: War Among the Monotheists* Episode 155: The Third Council of Constantinople (680-681)* Episode 156: The Second Council of Nicaea (787)* Episode 157: Reflections on the First Seven Ecumenical Councils* Episode 158: The Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870)* Episode 159: The Great Schism* Episode 160: The First Lateran Council (1123)* Episode 161: The Second Lateran Council (1139)* Episode 162: The Third Lateran Council (1179)* Episode 163: The Fourth Lateran Council (1215)* Episode 164: The First Council of Lyon (1245)* Episode 165: The Second Council of Lyon (1274)* Episode 166: The Council of Vienne (1311-1312)* Episode 167: The Avignon Papacy & The Great Western Schism* Episode 168: The Council of Constance (1414-1418)* Episode 169: The Council of Florence (1431-1445) * Episode 170: The Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517) Get full access to Why Catholic? at whycatholic.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Fr. John and Mary continue their series on Jesus' words to the 7 Churches in the Book of Revelation — Churches that are at one and the same time real places and symbolic of the Church in every age. Today, they look at Jesus' words to the Church in Ephesus and see what it might mean for us. Connect with us and our community on our websites and social media. Or simply reach us via email at [mission@actsxxix.org](mailto: mission@actsxxix.org) ACTS XXIX - Mobilizing for Mission Web: https://www.actsxxix.org Instagram: @acts.xxix Facebook: @ACTSXXIXmission The Rescue Project Web: https://rescueproject.us Instagram: @the.rescue.project Our Streaming Channels Web: https://watch.actsxxix.org/browse YouTube: @actsxxix (https://youtube.com/actsxxix)

In this message, Pastor James walks through Acts 20 and Paul's farewell to the leaders in Ephesus. He explains why Ephesus was such a strategic, influential city and why Paul chose to invest deeply there before continuing his journey. Focusing on Paul's example, James highlights practical themes like humility, clear teaching, repentance, sacrifice, generosity, and guarding the truth in a culture filled with competing voices. The core takeaway is simple: in a pluralistic and often volatile world, stay grounded in the message of Jesus and reflect His character in the way you live and lead.Subscribe to AfterWords on  Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Download a copy of the One More Series JournalVisit us online: rivchurch.comFollow us on InstagramSend us feedback: podcast@rivchurch.com

“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicia.” -Revelation 1:11   Welcome to The Adoption & Foster Care Journey—a podcast to encourage, educate and equip you as you care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care and kinship care.   On this episode, host Sandra Flach, talks with Alice H. Murray—a retired adoption attorney, who pursues her passion for writing with a weekly blog and faith column, articles, and online and print devotions. Her writing also appears in numerous compilations publications such as Guideposts and Chicken Soup For the Soul.    Alice recently released her second book, God Adopted Us First: Faith Lessons From An Adoption Attorneys Adventures.   Listen to Sandra's encouraging conversation with Alice Murray on Episode 519 wherever you get your podcasts.   Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.   Links mentioned in this episode: The Adoption & Foster Care Journey AFCJ on YouTube justicefororphansny.org justicefororphansny.org/hope-community     Email:  sandraflach@justicefororphansny.org sandraflach.com Soul Care Saturday—52 Devotions for Foster and Adoptive Moms Orphans No More—A Journey Back to the Father book on Amazon Mobilize Ohio ReNew Retreat in NC Alice H. Murray - Website

Ephesians 2: From Death to Life — Remember Your Before Story (But God) In this message from Ephesians 2:1–3, the speaker urges the audience to open the Bible text and confront the reality of their “before story” apart from Jesus: being spiritually dead because of disobedience and sin. Using conversations with addiction recovery ministry leaders, he explains how recovery communities don't debate the seriousness of their past, while many Christians tend to edit their own stories, compare themselves to others, and place people in buckets. He connects Paul's words to the context of Ephesus in Acts 19, where believers turned from sorcery and idol worship, then emphasizes Paul's leveling statement, “all of us,” showing everyone shared the same condition outside of God. The sermon warns that forgetting why Jesus was needed leads to lost urgency and diminished evangelism. It highlights the turning point in the passage—“but God”—and the role of grace: salvation as God's gift, not earned by good works, described as both pardon from sin and power to obey. The message closes with two reflection questions—where listeners are still trying to earn what God has already given and where they are editing their story—and an invitation to changed life through Jesus, followed by prayer. 00:00 Wake Up, Journey: Phones Out & Open to Ephesians 2 01:02 A Recovery Ministry Story: No One Argues They Were ‘Dead' 03:19 Stop Editing Your Before Story: We're All in the Same Bucket 05:00 Read Ephesians 2:1–3 — ‘Once You Were Dead' 06:53 What ‘Dead' Really Means: More Than Physical or Eternal 11:15 Ephesus Context: Sorcery, Artemis, and the Power of Darkness 14:14 The Recovery Relapse Spiral: Layers of Death Unpacked 17:36 ‘All of Us' — The Level Ground & Why Forgetting Is Dangerous 20:48 The Turning Point: ‘But God' Mercy, Grace, and New Life 23:20 Grace Explained: Gift, Not Reward — Pardon & Power to Obey 25:54 Two Gut-Check Questions: Earning vs. Editing Your Story 29:13 Invitation to Jesus & Closing Prayer

Mike Harrelson - February 15th 2026 Drift is quiet — but repentance restores joy and sends us back on mission. This week, Mike walks us through the life of King David (2 Samuel 11–12; Psalm 51; Revelation 2), exposing the subtle danger of spiritual drift. Like a surfer slowly carried away from the lifeguard tower, drift rarely feels dramatic — it's gradual, quiet, and often disguised as comfort, busyness, or even religious activity. Mike shows how David's greatest failure didn't begin with adultery or murder — it began with absence. He stayed home when kings went to war. From there, one quiet compromise led to devastating consequences that affected everyone around him. Drift is never private. But the story doesn't end there. Through Psalm 51, we hear what real repentance sounds like — confession, humility, a broken spirit, and a desperate plea: “Restore the joy of your salvation to me.” David models that restoration begins not with activity, but with a humble heart. When joy is restored, mission follows. The message closes with a powerful reminder from Revelation 2: Jesus calls His people to remember, repent, and return to their first love. Our hope is not in drifting less — it is in fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Son of David, who never drifted and now intercedes for us. As a church stepping intentionally into mission (including Alpha), this sermon asks two honest questions: How's your joy? And, Who in your life is God pursuing — and how can you join Him? Learn more about our church: https://restoredtemecula.church Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restoredtemecula and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restoredtemecula #KingAndHisKingdom #SpiritualDrift #Psalm51 #David #Repentance #Mission #Alpha #RestoredTemecula Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. Chapters (00:00:00) - Wonders Welcome(00:00:46) - Prayer for the Day(00:02:00) - David's drift(00:06:36) - What is Spiritual Drift?(00:11:01) - David's Fall From Grace(00:17:01) - 3. Drift affects those around me(00:22:25) - David Was Absurdly Held Accountable in the Season(00:28:48) - Psalm 51: What Does God Want From Me?(00:34:26) - David drifted away from the joy of his salvation(00:35:21) - God Rescued David(00:40:46) - God's love for Ephesus(00:43:30) - Revelation 2:2-5(00:47:10) - Mission Week 6(00:50:42) - Enjoying the Mission(00:53:44) - God's Prayer for Those Who Are Drift In This Season

Love God and love others... these are the greatest biblical commands.  While 1 Corinthians 13 is probably the most familiar scripture about love, are we missing - or even misunderstanding - it's true meaning? How does God want us to love Him and love others both in the world and in the church? 

But God! Ephesians 2:1-10 by William Klock Earlier this week Veronica and I watched an episode of the X Files that unintentionally had some pretty sound theology embedded in the story.  Agents Mulder and Scully were called to investigate some strange goings-on in a small town—as usual.  As it turned out, a guy cleaning out an abandoned storage locker found a genie.  And the genie gave him three wishes.  As you would expect, it didn't go well.  He wished to be able to make himself invisible so that he could spy on people.  And not being terribly bright, he prompted got killed crossing the street, because he was…invisible.  His brother claimed the genie and didn't fare any better.  His wish ended up blowing up his house with him in it.  And so Mulder ended up, unexpectedly, with the genie and three wishes.  And he asked the genie why the wishing thing always ends in disaster and the genie told him that it's because people are stupid and selfish.  So Mulder thought long and hard and in his best effort at altruism, he wished for world peace.  St. Paul would call it shalom.  And he went outside to discover that he was the only person left on earth.  Because the genie knew fallen human nature and getting rid of all of us was the only way to bring world peace.  Thankfully, Mulder had two more wishes so he could undo the first and set the genie free with the third. And I thought that St. Paul would probably have a bit of a chuckle at that.  Because Paul knew the same thing the genie knew: we are all sinners, idolaters who worship anything and everything but the God who created us and loves us.  And, like Agent Mulder, but unlike the genie, Paul also knew that there is no shalom without human beings in our rightful place.  Creation groans in eager longing for the day God will finally set us to rights, he says in Romans, Creation waits for the day when God restores us to our position as his stewards, to rule creation and to serve him in his temple.  That, Brothers and Sisters, is shalom, peace.  Creation can never be complete without us in our proper place—filling the vocation God created us for in the first place.  That's why God doesn't just “Deal with evil” like so many people want him to.  Like the genie, he'd just have to remove us all from creation—and that's not how creation is supposed to be.  This is why Paul practically shouts out ho de Theos, at the beginning of Ephesians 2:4: “But God!”  Because he knew that in setting creation to rights, God can and will, first, set us and our fallen, sinful hearts to rights—something no genie could ever do. And so far, in Ephesians 1, Paul has begun with a great shout of praise for what God has done in Jesus the Messiah and then he's told the Ephesians how he prays for them—that they would know, that they would understand this great story of redemption, the power behind it to renew creation, so that they can be part of this story that ends with the knowledge of the glory of God filling the earth.  Remember at the end of chapter one, closing his prayer for them, he wrote about the church, united with Jesus and full of the Spirit being the “fullness of the one who fills all in all.”  It's a prayer that God, that Jesus, that the Spirit, that the scriptures would form and shape them and truly make them the church.  And while we might miss the significance of Paul's language of filling and fullness and being all in all, it was not lost on the Ephesians.  This was temple language. It's the language of God coming to dwell with his people.  The way he did with Adam and Eve in the garden.  The story ever since has pointing in that direction.  The restoration of God's temple, the return of his presence, and God dwelling with his people forever.  This is what the Exodus was all about.  God rescued and created a people, he gave them a law to make and to keep them pure and holy, so that he could take up his residence in their midst—so that he could tabernacle with them.  It wasn't perfect.  The people needed to offer sacrifices repeatedly so that they could be purified by that blood.  A veil separated them from the direct presence of the Almighty.  But this model of new creation pointed forward to the day when God would set his people and his creation fully to rights.  The long exile, first from the promised land and the temple, then from the presence of God, primed Israel with hope for that coming day.  And now Paul's ready to explain to the church that they—that we—are the beginning of that fulfilment.  In us, God has established a new temple.  By the blood of Jesus he has purified us.  Through the gift of his Spirit he has taken up his dwelling in us.  He has begun the work of setting our hearts to rights.  And in that, he has made us the working model of his new creation and stewards of his good news—that we might, to use the language he used with Adam and Eve, that we might be fruitful and multiply, spreading the gospel, until the earth is filled with the knowledge of his glory. Brothers and Sisters, this is the story we need to inhabit.  Too often Christians have got it backwards.  We think the gospel story is a story of escape from creation—that in Jesus, God forgives our sins, so that someday he can take us away from earth and up to heaven to live with him.  But it's really just the opposite.  Through the blood of Jesus he has purified us and made us fit to be his holy temple, so that he can dwell with us.  Jesus is the model, Immanuel, God with us.  This is the story Paul wants to get across in Ephesians 2.  Ideally we'd cover the whole chapter all at once, but we'll have to break it into two halves.  This temple story will jump out at us in the second half.  The first half begins with our sin problem. How did these mostly Gentile Christians in Ephesus find themselves in this oh so Jewish story?  He writes beginning at verse 1, “Well, you were dead because of your offenses and sins in which you used to walk, keeping in step with the world's ‘present age'; in step, too, with the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is, even now, amongst the children of disobedience.” “You”—he's addressing them as Gentiles.  In verse 3 he'll link them with “us”—the Jews.  You were dead.  Because you walked—there's that great word peripateo again—you walked, you lived a life of offense and sin against God.  And we can't hear these two words sin and death together without it taking us back to Genesis.  And if we go back to Genesis 3 and Adam and Eve's choice to listen to the serpent's lie, not just to disobey God, but to reject their vocation as priests of God's temple and to try to become gods themselves, if go way back to the beginning of the story there, we should understand that sin and death aren't about God just setting up a bunch of rules and then condemning the people who disobey them.  Sin, and especially “offence”, are what we call it when human beings, created to bear God's image—that means to be his priests and his representatives in the temple, in creation—sin and offence are what we call it when we reject that vocation.  When we try to take the temple for ourselves.  And death is not an arbitrary punishment, but the natural result of turning away from the God who is the source of life.  That's why the wages of sin is death. And, of course, once humanity chose that path of disobedience and death it just snowballed.  Human culture and even those unseen powers that God had put in place to oversee the nations went horribly wrong.  The Jews called it the present evil age, because they lived in hope of the age to come when God would set creation to rights.  But the Gentiles had no hope.  They just went with the sinful flow.  We see it today as the world rejects Christianity.  Jeffrey Epstein and his cabal of degenerate, paedophile friends would have been right at home in pagan Greece or Rome and they're exactly what you get when a people rejects God.  The devil didn't just tempt the man and woman to reject God.  He and his cronies continue to steer and influence fallen humanity.  Paul will have more to say about this later when he writes about “principalities and powers”.  In our baptismal rite, we put this in terms of the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. All these forces work together to keep humanity lost in idolatry and sin.  And so far as this goes, Paul is just restating the standard Jewish analysis of the Gentiles.  But then in verse 3 Paul goes on and writes, “We all used to live this way, in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of flesh and mind.  We, too—he means he and his fellow Jews—were by nature children of wrath, just like everyone else.”  Paul recognised that even though his own people had the torah, God's law, and were trying to live by it, they were suffering the same problem as the Gentiles.  The corrupt desires of flesh and mind had just as much a grip on Israel as they did the peoples of the nations.  The whole world, all of humanity was mired in darkness, Jew and gentile alike. And this where, at the beginning of verse 4 Paul interjects this powerful, earth shattering: “But God!”  Into the darkness, into the hopelessness, into the condemnation, into the death, God intervenes to bring light, to bring hope, to bring deliverance, to bring life.  “But God,” Paul writes, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, he took us at the very point where we were dead through our offenses, and made us alive together with the Messiah.  Yes, by grace you are saved!” Israel knew about God's mercy and love.  The story they told of their history with God was full of mercy and grace.  And occasionally some gentile would hear that story and be drawn to it, because the God of Israel was unlike any of the other gods.  Zeus and Poseidon and Hades, Aphrodite and Artemis, people might believe all sorts of things about them, but no one ever believed that the gods loved them.  The gods served themselves.  If they sometimes showed favour to this person or to that city, it wasn't because of love; it was to further their own schemes and ambitions.  No Greek or Roman—no Egyptian or Persian, for that matter—would have ever said of their gods anything even remotely like what Paul says here of the God of Israel: that he is rich in mercy, that he loves us with a great love, or that he has shown us kindness.  Zeus and Hera, Osiris and Isis, they were all purely transactional.  If you did something good for them and you were lucky, they might do something nice for you.  We need to be careful, because Christians can fall into the same pagan way of thinking about God—making deals with him or treating him like a divine vending machine.  But Paul makes it clear that the God of Israel isn't like that.  Instead, he's full of mercy and love and kindness.  Yes, his purpose is to fill the earth with his glory, but he is glorious precisely because he is unlike the gods humans dream up.  He is full of mercy and love. And Paul reminds the Ephesians: By his grace, God has taken what he did for Jesus when he raised him from death, and has made it true of us.  If we are “in the Messiah”, then we are alive together with him.  He goes on in verse 6: “He raised us up with him and made us sit with him, in the heavenly places in Messiah Jesus.  This was so that in the ages to come he could show just how unbelievably rich his grace is, the kindness he has shown us in Messiah Jesus.”  This is how God reveals his glory.  Not merely with a show of strength or power, but by showing his grace. Again, what is true of Jesus is true of the church—of the Ephesians Christians, and of us.  And it's not just Jesus' resurrection, his being made alive again.  Paul has said that before.  But here he also stresses that Jesus' ascension is somehow true of us too.  God didn't just make us alive with Jesus the King; he's made us alive in order to sit us with the Messiah, with the King in the heavenly places.  So Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of his Father.  He's the King and that's what kings do: they take their thrones and they rule.  But Paul is saying that if we are “in the Messiah”, then we're right there with him. The resurrection part of that, the being made alive with Jesus probably isn't too hard for us to wrap our heads around.  In Jesus, God has made us a promise.  Even though we'll die, because we are in the Messiah, he will raise us to life again just as he did with Jesus.  If we have any doubts, Paul would remind us that God has filled us with his Spirit to give us a taste of and downpayment on resurrection life with him.  That part I think we can pretty well wrap our heads around.  But what does it mean to be seated with him in the heavenlies? This is where we need to make sure we've got the story right.  Because if we understand the climax of the story as someday escaping from earth, as escaping our bodies, to live a sort of disembodied spiritual life forever in heaven, we're going to miss Paul's point.  Again, the story isn't about us going up; it's about God making us fit, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, to be his temple—so that he can come down—to us. Consider: Jesus has already done this.  Remember the end of Chapter 1, where Paul said that Jesus is the one in whom heaven and earth—all of creation—are summed up, are brought together, are unified, the way it was in the beginning: heaven and earth overlapping, God and human beings dwelling together.  That's how it began and that's the ending towards which God is taking history—to set his broken, sin-sundered creation to rights.  Jesus is the prototype, the signpost who points us to, who shows us what God's future will be like.  In him, God has joined our nature to his own.  In him, heaven and earth have been brought back together.  Think of that great Ascension Day hymns, “See the Conqueror Mounts in Triumph”: He has raised our human nature, on the clouds to God's right hand; there we sit in heavenly places, there with him in glory stand.”  Brothers and Sisters, Jesus is the temple in person.  And Jesus is the whole of creation—heaven and earth—in miniature. And what is true of him is equally true of those who are united with him by God's grace.  As we'll see in the second half of the chapter, the church—the Ephesian Christians and you and me—we are also that temple and if we have any doubts, all we need to remember is that God has come to dwell in us in the person of his Spirit.  And remember the goal, the one promised by the prophets so long before, the goal is for the knowledge of the glory of God to fill the earth.  The church is his means of making that happen.  He didn't just send his son to be the on-earth-as-in-heaven man, through his son and through his Spirit he has created a whole community of on-earth-as-in-heaven people to do just that: to live out in our lives, in our relationships, in our community heaven on earth—to be a people who show the world God's love and mercy and grace and kindness.  To be a working model of his new creation and to give the world a taste of that future right now.  To reveal the glory and the beauty and goodness of God in our lives and in our own proclamation so that everyone around us will know his glory and be drawn to him. This is then what Paul gets at in verses 8-10.  He writes, “For you have been saved by grace, through faith. This is not of your own doing; it is God's gift.  It isn't on the basis of works, so no one is able to boast.  You see, we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Jesus for the good works that he prepared, ahead of time, so that we should walk in them.”  What does he mean?  Well, Paul's reminding them that there was a time when Jews and gentiles were separated by the law, by torah.  God poured out his grace on Israel, set them apart with his law as a way to teach them how to love him and to love their neighbours, so that they could be a light to the gentiles—so they could make his glory known in the earth.  Israel failed in that mission, but God acted in grace again.  He gave his son to be the faithful Israelite and in Jesus, Israel's mission to witness the grace and glory of God was fulfilled.  And now these gentile Ephesians who have encountered the risen Jesus, who have heard the gospel, and been filled with God's Spirit—they've been united together with faithful Jews in Messiah Jesus.  In them, God's promises—all the way back to Abraham and even to Adam—are being fulfilled.  In them, God's glory is on display before the nations.  And there is no longer a need for the division that had been given by torah.  Now the Spirit is teaching them and enabling them to love God and to love each other for all the world to see.  In Jesus and the Spirit, God has made them a people who are fulfilling the very thing that torah was meant to do, not just because we keep a set of rules or live according to a certain moral code—there's a sense in which we actually do do that—but because, through Jesus and the Spirit we actually live out and put on display the new creation, God's future that is breaking into the world in the midst of the old. Paul puts it beautifully, but in a way we might miss in English translation, when he says that we—the church—are God's “workmanship”.  The Greek word is poiema.  We get our word “poem” from it.  The Greek word doesn't mean “poem”—maybe we could almost say it means “artwork”.  In the Old Testament it's often used to describe the creative work of God.  In other places it's used to describe things that are carefully and meticulously crafted for his use, like the garments of the priests or the vessels of the tabernacle.  Brothers and Sisters, we—the church—are God's carefully, purposefully, and wonderfully created masterpiece.  He's given his son and he's given his Spirit to craft, to create, to work us into something good—to restore his broken creation in us.  And, Paul sums up, God has done this work in us so that in our own lives and in the life of the church together, we can do such good work too.  Not doing good works to please him or to earn his favour.  That would be like going back to the pagan world of people doing things to manipulate the gods.  God is pleased by our good works, but he's created and enabled us to do good works as a way of showing his new creation to the world, a way of fulfilling the law he had given to Israel, as a way of loving him and loving each other—ultimately as a way to restore us to that vocation as his image bearers, to be the priests of his temple who steward his goodness and his good rule for the sake of creation. Brothers and Sisters, this is the story that God has written for us.  The story of our priesthood, reject and lost, but now restored through Jesus and the Spirit, a story of renewal and a story of hope—as it points us toward the day when God finishes his great work of bringing heaven and earth back together, of the day when he will return to dwell with us as he did in the beginning.  This the story that reminds what Jesus and the Spirit have made us.  It's the story that reminds us of our vocation as the church—that we're not just the people who long for things to be on earth as they are in heaven; we're the people who find our very identity in Jesus, the heaven-and-earth Messiah, and who are, ourselves, called to be the heaven-on-earth people—a people who reflect back to the world God's love and grace, his justice and goodness, who are by our very redemption witnesses of his faithfulness and, above all, his glory.  We are his workmanship.  May the world, by God's grace, see his glory in us and in our life together. Let's pray: Heavenly Father, our Collect today reminded us that without love, nothing we do is worth anything.  Fill us with your grace, that we might truly love.  Love you.  Love our neighbours.  Making us the heaven-on-earth people you intend for us to be, so that the world may see your glory on display in your church.  Through Jesus we pray.  Amen.

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." 12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[a] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. 19 "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[b] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Colossians 2:18-19 and the Danger of Being Beguiled The message focuses on Colossians 2:18-19, warning against being beguiled and losing one’s reward. Colossians 2:18-19: “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head from which all the body, by joints and bands having nourishment, ministered and knit together, increases with the increase of God.” Being beguiled is likened to Eve being deceived by the serpent in Genesis. The serpent beguiled Eve, leading to consequences. The reward at stake is salvation. Matthew 10:22: Enduring to the end is necessary for salvation. “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Endurance is crucial, like in an Enduro motorcycle race, requiring persistence to reach the destination. Enduring means continuing to do what one should, even when facing opposition. Example: Continuing to profess Jesus even when facing opposition. The Colossian church faced various theories about God and worship, including Gnosticism. Gnostics believed Jesus was not truly a man but a spirit. Many churches today are not focused on the blood of Jesus, salvation, sanctification, or separation from the world. Instead, they seek worldly things. If there is no discernible difference between the behavior of the world and that of church members, something is wrong. Those walking with God should hate what they once loved and love what they once hated, with Jesus being central. Revelation 2 and the Church of Ephesus Revelation 2:1-7 is referenced, focusing on God’s potential “awe” (displeasure) against the church. Revelation 2:1-7: Addresses the church in Ephesus, acknowledging their works, labor, and patience, but noting they have forsaken their first love. The church in Ephesus is commended for not tolerating evil and for exposing false apostles as liars. Many who start strong in faith eventually fade away, leaving behind only the faithful members who were already committed. Example: Some television ministries and churches initially appear to have revivals but later prove to be superficial. It’s important to make the Bible personal, as if God is speaking directly to the individual. This involves recognizing God’s word, mind, and character and assessing whether one is aligned with them. Works alone are not enough; faith with works is essential. Being “washed in the blood” makes one a “first draft pick” and puts them on the front line. Being on God’s team requires prioritizing His business and what He considers important. It’s not comfortable when the world hates you for your faith. One must endure and be found faithful, not compromising with worldly influences. Attending church should be a purposeful act of seeking heavenly manna to sustain the soul. Heavenly food (God’s word) clears the mind and encourages one to persevere in prayer, even when the world is discouraging. Jesus cleansed the temple, driving out the money changers and declaring it a house of prayer. He then healed and ministered in the temple, and children praised Him. Those who didn’t leave or get run out questioned Jesus about the children’s praise, but He did not answer, acknowledging their praise. Revelation warns to “let him that hath an ear hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.” Overcoming leads to eating from the tree of life in paradise. One must surrender to God as their master and not be beguiled by the world. The remedy for losing one’s first love is to repent and return to it. If one has not been born again, these concepts may be a mystery. Born-again believers need to return to their initial zeal and get right with God. Remembering one’s former state helps one appreciate the transformation God has made. The Example of Eli and His Sons The story of Eli and his sons in 1 Samuel 4 is used as a cautionary tale. Eli was beguiled and profited from his position, while his sons were ungodly. God will intervene if people do not address unrighteousness. Eli’s sons took the Ark of the Covenant into battle, thinking it would solve their problems, but they were defeated and died. Relying on religious rituals or leaders without personal righteousness is futile. One must personally repent and get right with God. The news of the defeat and the death of his sons led to Eli’s death. Eli’s daughter-in-law named her son Ichabod, meaning “the glory has departed.” It’s a dire situation when God’s glory departs from someone. One needs to rekindle the fire of their initial salvation experience. David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.”

The Apostle Paul prays for the church in Ephesus to grow as a group, in their awareness of God’s amazing love and the power it gives. We can learn from this prayer the importance of being fully engaged with our God. The post Life Changing Love (Eph 3.14-21) appeared first on PLEASANT HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH.

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast! On this February 13th episode, join your host Hunter as we step together into Day 44 of our year-long journey through the Bible. Whether you're brand new or a long-time listener, you'll find a warm invitation into a community focused on simply reading scripture—and encountering the God who is present and who is love. Today's episode features readings from Leviticus chapters 20 through 22, exploring God's call to holiness and distinctiveness for the Israelites and their priests, as well as a passage from Acts 20, where Paul, with a pastor's heart, shares his farewell and encouragement to the elders of the church in Ephesus. We'll reflect on Paul's message of grace—a word meant to build us up in every season, whether we face storms or calm. In addition to scripture and reflection, Hunter leads us in thoughtful prayers, inviting us to seek God's purpose and peace for ourselves, our families, and the world. Stick around for gratitude and encouragement from Hunter, as he thanks supporters and reminds us of the strength found in God's joy—and of the truth that we are deeply loved. So grab your Bible, settle in, and let's journey through God's word—together. TODAY'S DEVOTION: Paul's a good pastor. We see his pastor heart here in Acts 20. He's calling together the elders of the church in Ephesus. He spent three years pouring his life into these people. Paul senses something in his spirit, and he gathers the elders together to share with them what the Holy Spirit is telling him. The winds are changing. He has suffering ahead, jail to endure. Paul knows it. These elders are gathered together with him for the last time. He knows that they too are on a journey. He's letting them know that they too have hardships coming. There'll be a time coming when the church that they love, that they adore, have worked so hard for, will divide. There'll be some among them that'll distort the truth. They will make it all about themselves and not about God. Paul sees this. He knows it's coming. He knows the winds are changing, not just in his life but in the lives of those in his church. In our journey, the winds change as well. Sometimes there's flat calm, and sometimes there's a gale blowing. I don't know where you're at right now. Maybe you're in a storm. Maybe you're wondering if you're going to make it. Maybe you feel it in your bones that there's more suffering that awaits you, like Paul did. Maybe things are good and you're in a sweet season in your life. Maybe you're somewhere in between. I don't know this. I don't claim to be like Paul. But whatever the season you're facing, or however the seas might appear, there's something you will need, something we all need. It's the message Paul was so desperate to preach. It's the last thing Paul wanted to say to them, and it's the first message we need to hear to get ourselves through the storm, to endure suffering patiently, or just to get through the day. That message is this, found in verse 32: And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself. It's the message of grace. It builds you up from God's heart to Paul's heart to your heart. It's a message of grace. Grace builds up. That's the message God has for your soul today. It's the message Paul spent three years pouring into the people of Ephesus. That's the message God is pouring into your life every day if you'll receive it. It's a message of grace that is able to build you up. Receive that blessing from God today. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 18-19; Psalm 13; Acts 19 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast for February 12th, 2026! In today's episode, your host Hunter invites us to join him on day 43 of our journey through the Bible. We tackle the challenging passages of Leviticus 18 and 19, exploring God's call to holiness, justice, and care for others—even when the text feels mysterious or difficult to comprehend. The episode moves through Psalm 13's heartfelt cries for God's presence and then dives into Acts 19, where Paul boldly proclaims the arrival of God's kingdom in Ephesus, stirring both transformation and turmoil. Hunter reminds us of the importance of curiosity, perseverance, and faith, calling us to let God's agenda rule our lives. The episode closes with uplifting prayers for peace, unity, and strength, encouraging us to keep pressing on—even through the hard parts of scripture. Join Hunter as we warm our hearts by the fires of God's love, learn together, and remember: you are loved, no doubt about it. TODAY'S DEVOTION: The message hasn't changed. The kingdom of God is here. That's what Paul was persistently preaching in Ephesus, and it's what we need to hear again today. Hunter points us to Acts 19, where Paul boldly argues about the kingdom of God—not just for a moment, but for months, even years, so that all who would listen, Jew and Greek alike, might understand. What is this kingdom that Paul proclaims? It's the reality that the King has come—Jesus. His arrival signals the breaking in of something new, a kingdom not built on the agendas of this world, not subject to its idols, not content to serve anyone's interests but God's own. In Ephesus, Paul's message disrupted more than religious routines; it overturned business interests, social orders, and deeply held allegiances. Like Demetrius the silversmith observed, this news, this gospel, this announcement wasn't just an add-on to the existing way of things. It threatened to derail the very agenda of Artemis—of the competing gods and pursuits of the world. And here's the truth: God has an agenda for your life too, and it isn't always easy or comfortable. It might mean things get turned over, that familiar structures come undone, and that priorities are rearranged. When God invades, things don't stay the same. But He is fully committed: committed to His own purpose, yes, but also to you—rooting you deeply in the circle of His love, bringing you into the Kingdom for which you were made. The invitation, then, is to let His agenda become your own, to step into the joy, freedom, and purpose found only in the reign of King Jesus. This is where barriers come down, lives are changed, and communities are renewed. This is the place of true belonging, adoption, forgiveness, and love. That's my prayer for myself, for my family, for you. May we all see His kingdom come in every part of our lives. May the joy, freedom, and love of Christ rule in us. May we live as citizens of His Kingdom, knowing that in all things—we are loved. No doubt about it. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is 1 Corinthians 4:17. Some people talk a good game. Timothy lived one. Paul had a big problem in Corinth—a proud, divided church drifting from the way of Christ. So he doesn't just write another paragraph. He doesn't send a rebuke. He sends a person. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. — 1 Corinthians 4:17 Timothy wasn't a random choice. He was the right man, in the right moment, with the right life. History of Timothy: Paul met him in Lystra as a young man known for sincere faith (Acts 16:1–2). He was raised by a godly mother and grandmother (2 Tim. 1:5). Paul invited him into ministry early (Acts 16:1–3). Timothy proved faithful through suffering, travel, pressure, and conflict (Phil. 2:19–22). Paul trusted him so deeply that he sent him to tough churches—Philippi, Thessalonica, Ephesus… and now Corinth (1 Thess. 3:1–2). So why send him? Because Timothy didn't just know Paul's teaching—he knew Paul's ways. He lived the gospel Paul preached. Timothy is who Paul would be if Paul were standing in the room. The Corinthians didn't need more clarity. They needed more example. A humble one. A faithful one. A consistent one. A fellow worth following. We all need examples like Timothy… and we're all called to become examples like Timothy. Not perfect. Just faithful. Steady. Growing. Becoming the kind of person who makes it easier for others to follow Jesus. Be a fellow worth following. And here's the truth: You can be. Not by being impressive. Not by being flawless. But by walking closely with Christ until your life naturally points others toward Him. God can shape you into the kind of person others look to for strength, courage, and clarity. The kind of person who lifts prayer burdens, speaks truth gently, and carries the presence of Christ into every space. You don't need a platform. You don't need a title. You just need a faithful life. Let God form you into a fellow worth following. DO THIS: Choose one area of your life where you want to grow into someone "worth following." Invite God to shape you—and someone you trust to sharpen you. ASK THIS: Why did Paul trust Timothy so deeply? What qualities in Timothy do I need to grow in? Does my life help others follow Christ more clearly? PRAY THIS: Lord, form in me the kind of life others can follow. Make me faithful, steady, humble, and true—like Timothy. Shape me into a fellow worth following. Amen. PLAY THIS: "Lead Me to the Cross"

Ephesus 55 A.D. - through the faithfulness of one man, filled with the Holy Spirit, obedient and on mission - revival breaks out Suit up - time for our obedience, the passionate fulfillment of our God-given purpose...Revival! Starting in the NFL? Acts 19.8-12

In this message, Noel Heikkinen explores Acts 19 and the total disruption that occurs when the Gospel takes root in a major city. Drawing a parallel to the chaos and reconstruction of Lansing's highway system, he describes how Paul's two-year ministry in Ephesus didn't just add a new religious option, but fundamentally destabilized the city's economy and social order. The sermon highlights the dramatic shift from the worship of the goddess Artemis and the practice of magic to a submission to the "kingly power" of Jesus.Subscribe to AfterWords on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Download a copy of the Exodus JournalVisit us online: rivchurch.comFollow us on InstagramSend us feedback: podcast@rivchurch.comSubscribe to AfterWords on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Visit us online: rivchurch.comFollow us on InstagramSend us feedback: podcast@rivchurch.com

What happens when a church does all the right things but with the wrong motivation?  In this message, Pastor Eric Robertson shares our necessary response. Ultimately, the Book of Revelation is about a problem that is only solved when God's people wake up, repent, and faithfully wait on the return of Jesus.One of the worst problems is the one you don't know you have.Even worse are the problems you can see but don't recognize.Ephesus: HistoryEphesus was an influential city in the Roman world: a major port city in Asia Minor—economically powerful, culturally diverse, and religiously pluralistic. Faithfulness required constant discernment.The city was defined by idol worship. The Temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Converting to Christianity meant rejecting the city's spiritual identity and economic system (Acts 19).Though the church seemed to be doing well, there was a glaring problem that John addressed.What Did It Mean: Revelation 2:1–7Each letter follows the criticism sandwich: (Good)(Bad)(Good).Jesus gives this critique while walking among the lampstands—the churches that illuminate Christ to the world.They served well, worked hard, corrected the wicked, removed toxic leaders, suffered faithfully, and didn't grow weary. Ephesus was a hard-working church.Imagine hearing: "You're great—but you don't love me."The letters were written to specific churches, but meant for all churches.What Does It Mean?This passage is often preached as a call to return to passion, but Jesus doesn't critique their passion.Paul once said of them: "Your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people" (Eph. 1:15–16).The problem wasn't their works, but their why. They disconnected from the reason they exist.Returning to your first love is remembering why you do what you do: to love God and love others.When a church forgets its why, it doesn't stop working—it stops breathing.Our vision is Belong, Believe, Become, but Ephesus drifted into Believe, Become, Belong.When love is no longer the motivation, we build walls instead of bridges and become known for what we're against instead of Who we're for.How Do We Respond?1. Remember – "Consider how far you have fallen."Remember where you were when God found you and why the church exists.2. Repent – "Repent."Recognize how far you've drifted. The church illuminates Jesus, not itself.3. Return – "Do the things you did at first."Matthew 22:37–40: Love God and love your neighbor.If you don't love your neighbor, you don't have love at all.Closing: Revelation 2:7Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.Returning to our first love is a return to paradise—the life God intended.If we fail to hear, our lampstand will be removed.The church at Ephesus no longer exists—only ruins remain.Have we fallen from our first love?

On the Road Again | Week 6 | Mitchell Dorris--This will be Paul's third missionary journey. We will examine the three years in he spent in Ephesus. The themes and doctrines found in 1 & 2 Corinthians will shed light on some of the issues he was having to deal with.--Notes

In this message regarding the letter to Ephesus in Revelation 2, Andrew illustrates how spiritual passion, like a dying fire, requires intentional effort to be rekindled . The book of Revelation serves as a practical guide for following Jesus and resisting the seductive drift of "Babylon," represented today by the distractions of secular culture. While the church in Ephesus is commended for its hard work, perseverance, and refusal to tolerate evil amidst a pagan society, it faces a critical rebuke for abandoning its "first love". This loss of relational intimacy threatens to turn religious service into joyless drudgery, even if a believer's doctrine remains sound. To restore this relationship, the text prescribes a three-step process: remembering one's former state, repenting, and returning to the "deeds done at first". By auditing how time and resources are spent to identify competing idols, believers can clear the way to re-engage in spiritual rhythms and receive the ultimate promise of paradise restored.

Understanding Ephesians: A Journey Through Identity and Faith In this episode, we transition from discussing new beginnings to embarking on a six-week series on the Book of Ephesians. We'll delve into each chapter week by week, exploring the historical context of Ephesus, a powerhouse of trade, intellectual ideas, and religious practices under the Roman Empire. Ephesians, written by the Apostle Paul, is analyzed to reveal its timeless relevance, examining how ancient challenges of identity, fear, and societal fragmentation mirror our current struggles. Discover the profound impact of being 'in Christ' and understand how Paul's message of identity and grace was both revolutionary then and remains so today. Join us as we uncover the theological richness, practical lessons, and transformative power of Ephesians. 00:00 Introduction to the Series on Ephesians 01:13 Historical Context of Ephesus 06:59 Paul's Arrival and Impact in Ephesus 10:10 Paul's Letter from Prison 11:11 The Core Message of Ephesians 14:13 Identity in Christ 17:07 Paul's Revolutionary Approach 21:23 Spiritual Blessings in Christ 24:49 Paul's Reminder of Holiness and Blamelessness 26:21 The True Meaning of Adoption in Roman Culture 30:19 The Concept of Civil Death and New Identity 34:36 Redemption and Its Economic Implications 37:23 Living from Acceptance, Not for Acceptance 40:59 The Importance of Identity in Christ 42:20 Concluding Prayer and Reflection

JP taught that spiritual drift isn't usually rebellion but routine, doing the right things while losing real desire for God. Jesus' message to Ephesus shows the answer isn't trying harder but repenting and returning to our first love. When we rebuild rhythms that stir our affection for Him, our faith becomes real again.Discipline without desire leads to drift Lost love is restored through repentance Return to rhythms that stir affectionsLife Group Discussion:What spiritual habits do you keep out of routine rather than relationship?How could admitting drift strengthen your relationship with God instead of producing shame?What specific practices or environments help you feel closest to God?

JP taught that spiritual drift isn't usually rebellion but routine, doing the right things while losing real desire for God. Jesus' message to Ephesus shows the answer isn't trying harder but repenting and returning to our first love. When we rebuild rhythms that stir our affection for Him, our faith becomes real again.Discipline without desire leads to drift Lost love is restored through repentance Return to rhythms that stir affectionsLife Group Discussion:What spiritual habits do you keep out of routine rather than relationship?How could admitting drift strengthen your relationship with God instead of producing shame?What specific practices or environments help you feel closest to God?