Mar 13, 2006
Wrestling with Paul
This Sunday's sermon turns to Ephesians 2:1-10. The easy sermon to preach here centers on v. 8, "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith". But I'm seeing a bigger picture. When you look at the passage as a whole (including considering chapter 1), Paul seems to be setting the individual experience within the greater context of God's redemptive work though time. It's a work that began at Gen. 3 and concludes in Revelation. The challenge of this angle seems to be finding a way to communicate the big picture in a way that moves the heart of a hyper-individualistic culture. Let's face it, we struggle to see ourselves as individual players in the greater picture of the Universal Church. How then do I broaden horizons so that we see ourselves not only as individual players in the Universal Church, but as part of the eternal redemptive plan, all of which is by grace?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Jim, you could always shoot for the meta-narrative angle. The idea that our choices and lives are a small part of the immense story of creation and redemption. It can be very inspiring because it helps show how our lives have meaning beyond our time, and where we fit in history. And it also highlights the importance of our individual efforts. I heard a speaker (I don't remember who) who followed a chain of redemption from Billy Sunday to Billy Graham to his father and him. And it all started with Billy's neighbor offering to drive him to the revival tent. A small, insignificant act with tremendous eternal effects.
Post a Comment