In Christianity, God does not give spiritual gifts to some and leave the rest. He gives spiritual gifts to everyone through His Holy Spirit, for His glory and for the benefit of others. Spiritual gifts are meant for stewardship by serving God and serving others.
The world’s definition of unity and the practice of it is very different from that of the Bible. Christian unity is very radical, in that, it transcends beyond cultural and economical boundaries. In this passage of Ephesians, Paul directs our thoughts on why pursuing unity matters for believers and how to practice it.
Every human being judges another person’s character, or food, places, jobs etc. This is true because God made us in His image, which means we are called to evaluate everything around us, and make good use of our discernment. But Jesus prohibits one kind of judgment which we are prone to commit, listen to the sermon to learn more on this topic.
In the Bible, even though God opposes the proud or the one who rejects Him, God still expects His people to show love towards unbelievers because He himself is merciful and benevolent towards them. In this passage, we learn how to love unbelievers and also those people who intentionally persecute us.
In Matthew 5:37, Jesus says – “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (ESV) What does that look like in our daily lives? What value do our words have, and why it matters? Listen to the sermon to learn more on this.
Every local church is a collection of individual church members. Therefore, fostering a healthy church depends in some measure on fostering healthy church members who understand the centrality of living and working together as one body for the glory of God. Most importantly, it requires members of the church to live out the implications of the gospel within the context of a local community.
We don’t often hear people talking about being content today. When we do, it’s often in terms of what would be ideal rather than characteristic of our lives. In this passage, Paul gives an explanation of how he has labored for contentment in Christ and in the worst of circumstances he can have joy, since his circumstances could never give him the fulfillment he seeks anyway, he seeks to be content in the person of Jesus Christ.
In the Bible, to be Holy means always to be set apart. Children of God are regarded as holy because they were set apart for God to live for His glory and also to become more like Jesus Christ. Christian life in that sense, is all about pursing holiness. In this passage, we learn what it means to pursue holiness so that we become like our Heavenly Father and also like our Lord Jesus Christ.