The Power of God's Mission.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] So we’re in Ephesians chapter 3 now and what we’ve been doing for the past 8 weeks is we’re [0:07] making our way through this book in its entirety and right now we’re halfway through chapter [0:11] 3. We’re going to finish up in chapter 3 today and what we’ve been looking at and what the [0:16] book of Ephesians does is it is really God’s blueprint for what the gospel is, how he brought [0:23] it to be and the effect that it has on our lives. And at the end of chapter 3, what we’re [0:30] looking at in the second half of chapter 3 is it’s almost like Paul kind of pauses

[0:34] for a second and he reminds us of everything that we’ve done so far. Because beginning [0:41] in chapter 4 he’s really going to shift and talk about all of the implications that the [0:47] work of the gospel is going to have on our lives. Because so far he’s set up what God [0:52] has done through Jesus, how he did it and the fact that what he’s actually doing is [0:58] he’s building a church and through the church God’s sending this great gospel throughout [1:03] the world. But starting in chapter 4 what he’s going to do is he’s going to begin to

[1:08] unfold what it looks like specifically in your life to be the church as well as to [1:15] be a part of God’s church throughout the world. So at the end of chapter 3 it’s like he stops [1:22] and then says, by the way, everything that I’m about to say is going to jump right off [1:28] this other stuff so do not forget it. It’s a great reminder from Paul because so often [1:35] in our lives what we do, especially with the scriptures, is we’re tempted to kind of move [1:40] from verse to verse, from chapter to chapter and try to start off fresh when we forget

[1:46] that everything that we’re reading is based on something else in the Bible. Nothing in [1:51] the Bible stands on its own. Nothing does. Everything in scripture is built and comes [1:59] out of the foundation and the context of other scripture. And when you’re in a specific book [2:05] of the Bible such as we are right now in the book of Ephesians, the greatest thing that [2:09] you can do as you’re reading is compare that which comes later in the book to what came [2:15] first. And so that’s what Paul is really going to remind us of in the fact that the

[2:22] unity that he’s going to begin to talk about in chapter 4, how the church needs to be [2:27] united under one God and as one people, it has a foundation on which it is built upon. [2:35] We are not seeking unity for the sake of unity. We’re seeking unity on the foundation of [2:42] God’s eternal mission in the gospel. And so join me in verse 14 and we’ll just begin [2:49] unpacking it. For this reason, if you notice this is an echo of how he started chapter [2:56] 3. In chapter 3 verse 1 he says, for this reason, talking about the church, that because

[3:03] God is building this great church, he’s taking sinners, making them saints, and then building [3:09] for himself a holy temple out of people who are at one time in rebellion against him. [3:15] And then in verse 14 he jumps off of the fact that through the church the world is going [3:20] to know the gospel. He says, for this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom [3:27] every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, [3:34] he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.

[3:44] There’s a huge task that’s kind of unfolded for us right there. And what he’s saying [3:52] is that your life will never be what it was designed by God to be unless you live in [4:03] the power of God. That you were created for a specific purpose. You were created to live [4:14] a specific mission in your life. And what you live by as you’re walking into the life [4:22] that God has designed for you to live is by the very power that God himself will give [4:30] you. But Paul kind of gives us this inclination here that that power is not something that’s

[4:37] going to come naturally. It is only going to come through a certain posture of submission [4:45] in your life. Notice the terminology that he uses. He says, I bow my knees before the [4:51] Father. What he’s doing there is he’s recounting to us that he is spending time in the posture [4:57] of prayer asking God specifically that he will empower the church at Ephesus to live [5:05] everything that he’s been talking about for the previous three chapters. And what he’s [5:12] wanting you to understand is that the only way in which you can possibly live that vision

[5:20] is if God himself has intervened in your life and given you the capability to live that [5:27] ability through his power to do it. But the fact of the matter is that the power of God [5:35] then is revealed in a life submitted to his purposes. If you’ve spent any time in church, [5:45] one thing that we do that’s great because it’s all throughout the scripture is that [5:49] we ask for God’s power to move in our lives. I’ve never met anyone that believes in God [5:54] and wants to have God involved in his or her life that doesn’t want the power of God

[6:00] to be involved in life. But the problem that we have is in not realizing that the power [6:06] of God requires a certain posture in our lives and it requires a certain amount of [6:11] submission to our lives. Because oftentimes what we do is we have our life circumstances, [6:17] we have the life that we’re living, and we don’t want a budge from that. We don’t really [6:22] have any desire for that to change because oftentimes we get comfortable, we get relaxed, [6:27] even if life is hard, we don’t want the way in which we’re living to change but rather

[6:32] we just want the circumstances surrounding that life to change. And what Paul is kind [6:37] of unpacking for us here is that the power of God is only going to come and be active [6:43] in your life if you live life into submission to his purpose, not yours. And so then that [6:52] begs the question, what is his purpose? Well if you notice in verse 16 that he says he’s [7:01] asked God to give power and then he says that according to the riches of his glory [7:05] he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit. Well has he, you have

[7:10] to ask yourself the question, when you see a phrase like that, it’s kind of one of those [7:13] magnificent phrases in scripture, it’s like wow, the riches of his glory. Has he already [7:19] used that terminology in the book of Ephesians? The answer is yes. If you go back to chapter [7:24] 1 beginning in verse 7, he gives it to us. He says when he’s recounting what God has [7:31] done through Jesus, he says in him, Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, the [7:38] forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished

[7:43] upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of what? His will. [7:50] So he has lavished us with the riches of his grace, the same terminology used in chapter [7:56] 3, but in that he’s also revealed his wisdom as well as the mystery of his will according [8:04] to what? His purpose, which he set forth in who? Christ. As a plan for the fullness of [8:12] time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven, and things on earth. So if you [8:18] have received the riches of the grace and the glory of God, the power that he is giving

[8:26] you, the strength which he wants to put into your life is specifically for his mission [8:34] of redemption through Jesus. So what Paul is really unveiling to us is that not only [8:42] does God want to give us his power, but he wants to give it to us for a specific purpose, [8:50] and that is to further the gospel of redemption through Jesus to others. That his power exists [8:59] for that. So it’s not that his power is limited, it is that his power is specific, and he [9:09] desires to put it in your life for a specific reason. But here’s what often times we desire

[9:15] to have happen. We desire to see God’s power and then we’ll live for his purpose. But [9:25] it’s only if he gives us his power first. I’m kind of on the fly here, it just came [9:34] to my head. Be afraid when that happens. It’s kind of like the story of Peter in the [9:40] boat when Jesus begins to walk towards him on the water. I don’t know about you, but [9:47] that will freak anybody out. Jesus is coming, walking on water towards the boat that they’re [9:53] in, and Peter and the rest of the disciples, they think a ghost is coming at them, and

[9:57] Jesus looks at them and he says, hey, by the way, it’s me. I just missed the boat, so I’m [10:02] having to walk to it. And when you’re God, you can just do that. And Peter says, can [10:08] I come to you? And he does. I mean, Peter gets to experience, we focus so much on the [10:14] fact that Peter later sinks that we forget to realize that even if for a split second, [10:21] Peter experiences something that I’ve never experienced, and that is he’s walking on water.

[10:27] But does Peter feel the power by which he is able to walk on water while he is in the [10:36] boat? No. He does not experience the power until his feet are on the water and he is [10:46] not sinking. And a man named John Ortberg wrote a book at one point, and it’s literally [10:52] called, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. And too often, [10:59] the barter that we try to make with God is this, God, move in mighty ways throughout [11:05] all of my life, fix all of my problems, heal all of my hurts, make all of my relationships

[11:11] work the way that I want them to, give me absolute, complete comfort, and then I will [11:17] live your mission. That is not how God designed his power to work in your life. God desires [11:28] for you to trust him with your life and for you to begin walking on a journey of following [11:36] him into his life of mission, and then his power will be unfolded in mighty ways around [11:45] you. And it comes from a lack of perspective in our lives when we see it any other way. [11:52] Because here is how we often see it. As long as everything is comfortable in my life and

[11:58] everything is going pretty good and I don’t seem to really have that many problems, well [12:02] clearly God’s power is working in my life. If his power wasn’t working in my life, I [12:08] would be like the people down the street that have all the turmoil, all the problems, all [12:12] the situations going on in their lives, when Paul, right before this, has set a scene for [12:18] us to know that that is antithetical to the way the power of God is working in Paul’s [12:22] life. No one would ever question reading through the scriptures with the things that Paul experienced

[12:28] that God was not working in Paul’s life. But right before this, in Ephesians chapter 3,

[12:37] verse 13, he says, so I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which [12:43] is your glory. Now that begs the question, what was Paul suffering? Well, as Paul writes [12:48] the book of Ephesians, he’s actually beginning to near the end stages of his life. Because [12:53] he’s in prison while he writes this. Why is he in prison? He’s in prison because he kind [12:58] of had a suicide mission, that he went into Jerusalem, the hotbed for Christian persecution [13:02] in that day, and he went to the temple and preached the gospel. And while he’s preaching

[13:09] the gospel, a riot breaks out and he’s immediately arrested and he’s taken to Rome, who was in [13:15] power in that day, and he lived under house arrest for a while, in prison for a while, [13:19] and then ultimately he’s beheaded. He’s martyred for his faith. But what we see is Paul writes [13:28] to them that what he is suffering actually serves as glory. So Paul is actually looking [13:36] at us and he’s saying, I am in the midst of suffering and my suffering is evidence of [13:43] the power of God in my life. But that’s not how we look at it. Oftentimes in our culture,

[13:55] we look at suffering as anything but the power of God. Sometimes we even look at it [14:01] and say, this must be the judgment of God. And sometimes it may be. If you’re living [14:08] a life for everything but the purpose and mission of God, well the hand of God is not [14:13] going to be active in your life. But what Paul is saying here is that he’s working [14:19] and he’s moving and he’s living for the mission of Jesus. And the suffering that comes into [14:24] his life does not count as a detraction from the power in his life, but the power of God

[14:31] in his life makes him go through that suffering realizing that the worst that these people [14:36] can possibly do to him is kill him, but if he’s killed, he’ll be in the presence of [14:41] God. That’s why Paul says crazy things like for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain. [14:49] He says things like to be absent from the body, that’s to be present with the Lord, [14:53] and that’s better for me. Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 12 says don’t fear a man who [15:02] can kill you and after that can’t do anything. I’ll tell you who to fear. Fear him who after

[15:08] killing your body can condemn your very soul. Fear him. Speaking of himself. So we have [15:19] it all mixed up where we’re attempting to experience the glory of eternity with God [15:25] in this life when in all actuality this life exists to proclaim the greatness of God to [15:33] an unbelieving world and then in the next life we’ve been promised ultimate satisfaction [15:39] for eternity. Because Revelation 22 says we will see his face. And that’s why we’re [15:49] praying. If you want to experience the power of God it will only come through submission

[15:56] to his purposes. And that is what prayer is. Oftentimes our struggle with prayer is because [16:06] we don’t come into it with an attitude that we are dependent on God for any move of good [16:11] in our lives. And what Paul is unpacking right here is that prayer is literally a possible [16:19] posture that God I need you. God I am incapable of any good apart from you. God my life is [16:31] meaningless without you in it. God I cannot live without your presence and your power [16:38] and your strength in my life. But we have experienced life apart from the power of God

[16:45] for so long that we often convince ourselves that meaninglessness is all right because [16:54] we can handle it. That everything seems all right under my own power so why do I need [17:00] you? Because we see everything from our perspective. What did we see in Ephesians chapter 2? We [17:07] saw that our perspective is corrupt because of sin. Our perspective leads to nothing but [17:12] death because of our rebellion. Our perspective is like the rest of mankind which are children [17:17] of wrath. We must realize that because Ephesians 2.10 tells us that through Jesus, through

[17:28] the grace that has been brought into our lives, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus [17:34] for what? Good works prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We should walk in [17:42] them. Now what are those good works? Did Paul specify what those good works are? Because [17:49] often times here is what we do. We say all right I am following Jesus so clearly I need [17:55] to do some good deeds. So we run around trying to do our good deeds for the day. Often times [18:00] one has nothing to do with the other one. We gave a guy a breath mint and we are like

[18:06] man I am nice. Look at the grace and mercy I have to the world. That is step one to [18:14] just ending hunger around the world if everybody would just give everybody a breath mint. We [18:22] laugh but often times don’t we have that mentality. And then we will do another nice thing for [18:29] somebody else completely disjointed from that nice thing and we are just doing all these [18:34] really nice things for people. You know somebody cuts us off. Well I didn’t shoot him the bird. [18:40] What a good person am I? But our good deeds often times never have an end game. They never

[18:52] have a specific course on where they are set. It is like you are running a race that has [18:57] no finish line. God did not design that which is good and holy in your life to never have [19:05] a focus. To never have a finish line. The main difference between a Christian and a [19:12] non-Christian in the way in which we are able to do loving things is motivation. We live [19:22] by a different motivation than other people because I think quite often times we think [19:26] that our good it has to look a lot different than everybody else’s good. Well if unbelievers

[19:32] can go and help the hungry well I guess we shouldn’t. If an unbeliever can help his [19:38] neighbor with yard work well I guess I shouldn’t. I need to look for something crazy that an [19:42] unbeliever can’t do and then you never find it so you never actually do anything. The [19:48] difference often times begins and some of them are going to be far different because [19:51] the conclusion is going to be far different but when it begins it is motivation. Your [19:57] motivation is worship. Ultimately an unbeliever’s motivation is self-worship. Look how good

[20:05] I am. But our motivation is I need to point them to how good God is. In the end game though [20:15] of all the good that we do in this life the goal is the church which leads to God’s glory [20:24] and you say how do you know that. Look back in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 17 he says so [20:32] that so in other words we are living under the power of Christ we are living under the [20:38] power of his glory so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being [20:45] rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with who. All the saints what

[20:53] is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses [21:01] knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now very quickly go back [21:09] to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 because remember this section is all about reminders. In Ephesians [21:14] chapter 3 verse 10 he says that we live doing good to people preaching to people taking [21:20] grace to people so that through what the church the manifold witness of God might now be made [21:28] known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places and then come back down to

[21:33] verse 18 that may comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and height and [21:38] length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that [21:43] you may be filled with what the fullness of God. Now the question is has God designed [21:52] something in this world that is to reveal the fullness of God to everyone around them. [22:02] The answer to that is yes it is the church. So in this life all that God has given us [22:12] to do through preaching the gospel through serving others through loving other people

[22:18] the end game of it for us in the here and the now is to connect them to the hope that [22:26] is found in the church because the church has been designed to reveal the manifold [22:34] or multifaceted wisdom of God to the entire world. So if and here’s a big statement if [22:45] the good that you do for other people does not ultimately serve to bring them into the [22:53] fellowship of the church then it is not fully loving. It’s not. It’s not. Those are two [23:06] words for some reason I made them one. You’ll get that later. Some of you got it right now

[23:12] and I thank you for laughing. Notice verse 18 he says excuse me verse 17 he says that [23:21] the power of God serves as the assurance of Christ’s presence in your heart and then [23:29] he says that you being rooted and grounded in what love love may have strength to comprehend [23:37] with all the saints the universal church for all time what is the breadth and length and [23:43] height and depth of what love. In other words the assurance of God serves [23:51] the only people in this world that can comprehend what love in all of its fullness is is the

[24:03] church. Why? Because Jesus used to say phrases like greater love has no one then he laid [24:11] down his life for his friend and he says you are my friends. You see in the church we not [24:19] only have an absolute definition of what truth is because we have all of our truth [24:25] flows from the reality of God but also we’re the only people that can build a culture [24:32] on what is truly love and that is the cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore if you are going [24:42] to truly love any man or woman you cannot fully express it and that is not the truth

[24:49] they cannot fully understand what love is unless you live with the ultimate purpose [24:56] of connecting them to faith in the cross. You cannot do it. Any good deed done less [25:04] than for the purpose of the cross is not fully good because only what Christ has done on [25:10] the cross serves as a proclamation of what is good in this life of what we are incapable [25:15] of because in our sin we are incapable of fully loving because what does it mean to [25:20] fully love? It means to be completely unselfish towards another individual. Only the cross

[25:29] does that. Only in the cross do we see someone who owed no debt to no man, who owed no debt [25:37] to God, who owed nothing to anyone, had full righteousness on his account, only he stepped [25:44] down and took the penalty of that which was unrighteous of what we had and gave that [25:50] which was his, that which he owned, that which he deserved and he gives it and he places [25:55] on us and says now you have the ability to actually go and give that type of selfless [26:01] love to others. But the destination of all that which you will do in this life must be

[26:08] the cross and that which flows out of the cross, Paul makes it clear, is the church. [26:17] So when we live life in rejection of the church, when we live life not loving God’s church, [26:26] when we live life not submitting to God’s purpose in the church, we are living life [26:32] apart from God’s very design and the only thing that can be called is sin and distrust [26:41] in God. Because notice back in verse 17 when Paul writes and he says that the riches of [26:50] God’s glory that through that he may grant to you to be strengthened with power through

[26:55] his spirit in your inner being, I want to focus on this key phrase that he uses in verse [26:59] 17. He says so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. What Paul is giving [27:07] us here is he is saying God has made clear according to what we saw in chapter 1 the [27:13] mystery of his will being revealed through what Jesus did, according to all that what [27:18] we see is the fact that God has made his specific design for life, his specific purpose for [27:25] you in redemption, he has made it clear that Jesus is it. Stop looking for anything else,

[27:34] it’s in him, he is sufficient and his mission is life. What Paul is saying here is that [27:42] the only source of power is there. The only source of good is there. The only source [27:50] of God’s strength is there. So when we live for other things, when we try to find our [27:57] identity in other things, it is not revealing faith in God, it is actually revealing the [28:06] antithesis of faith, it’s revealing sin in your heart. Paul does not write this just [28:14] so that he can give you something to say well I don’t know if I’m living that. He’s giving

[28:19] you this so that you can have a definition for what faith is. Faith has a look, faith [28:28] has a feel, faith has a tangible reality in your life. Faith is not something that is [28:36] just this pie in the sky dream that you can’t really nail down. Faith is trusting that [28:42] God has redeemed you from your sin and believing that he has put you on a path that leads [28:47] to his glory and believing that he has actually said what that looks like and then doing [28:54] it. That’s why James in chapter 2 of his book is able to say faith without works is dead,

[29:04] it’s meaningless, it’s not real, it’s fake, it’s not faith at all. But then Paul makes [29:10] it even more specific here and he’s saying those works then also have a destination [29:16] and it’s the glory of God through the building of his church in this age, in this life.

[29:24] Redemption leads to mission, it doesn’t lead anywhere else. It leads to a missional life. [29:34] Every gift, every belief, every joy, every love in our lives are connected specifically [29:43] and fully to the mission of Jesus and we use that phrase so much here. But the reason [29:53] is that we are so quick to forget his mission. We are so quick to have our eyes turned to [30:04] other things, to other identities, to other purposes. John Calvin said that the human [30:11] heart is an idle factory. We create false gods constantly from money to relationships,

[30:20] to anything, I mean name it. But God has designed and defined how he wants to be worshiped [30:32] in this life and it is through the example that his son gave in this world and that [30:39] he is to seek and to save that which was lost. Real power from God is revealed in [30:48] unwavering commitment and faithfulness to a life in which we trust and live even in [30:55] uncomfortable times by loving each other for the gospel and urging each other to grow in [31:02] the mission of Jesus. When we join forces then the mission of Jesus will go further

[31:07] than we ever thought that it would. Why do you think God brings us into community? Just

[31:19] for fun? Just to form a club? No! The community of God in the church that we are forming exists [31:30] so that we will not forget mission. It exists so that we can urge one another. Live! Live! [31:39] So that we can teach one another from God’s word. There is no true community without [31:46] the word of God. It doesn’t exist. We are incapable of being authoritative by ourselves. [31:54] God’s revelation serves as authority and he unfolds and unveils over and over his beauty [32:03] and his greatness and he proclaims, live because I have freed you two. We are freed

[32:11] from the bondage of sin given the privilege to live for his mission. Why would we live [32:18] for anything else? Quite often we do because we fall into the deception that this world [32:27] has something else to offer. That this world has something new. That this world has something [32:34] apart from the greatness of God that will satisfy me. God has dug a well through the [32:40] work of his son Jesus that brings ultimate satisfaction. Just like he said to the woman [32:45] at the well, if you knew who I was you would ask me for water and I would give you water

[32:50] and you would never thirst again. Because the only satisfaction that we can find in [32:56] this life that will carry us through the pains of this life is the satisfaction of [33:01] knowing the future hope that we have in God through Jesus Christ. That he has paid it [33:07] all so that we may live for him. I want to spend maybe five minutes just casting a vision [33:20] for what God desires in our lives. But I want to go to Ephesians chapter 3 again. Look [33:27] in verse 20. Paul at the end of chapter 3 prays. As he says, I bow on my knees before

[33:37] heaven and he offers this prayer of absolute dependence on God that we must have vision [33:42] for in our lives and he says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all [33:48] that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the [33:55] church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. He closes [34:03] and he changes to the next section. But I want you to understand that in that section [34:10] where he says to him who is able to do far more abundantly than we could ever ask, we

[34:15] could ever want, we could ever know, he is unveiling a great truth about God. And that [34:22] great truth is that we serve a big God who demands a big vision. And I think that is [34:32] what we fear the most in our lives and that is that if we go all in on this thing called [34:39] faith, if we truly live with trust, then God will unsettle the life that I am currently [34:46] living in and he will ask me for more than I am capable of. And he would never do that [34:52] would he? Read the Bible. He has nothing but a history of asking people to do more than

[35:00] they are capable of doing. Because how else would he get glory? If I am capable of doing [35:09] it, how does he get the people? How does he get the glory? If I can do it under my [35:15] own power, how does he receive the worship? If you read through the book of Acts, what [35:23] you see is the first church, church in the first century, the first people, most of [35:28] them had seen Jesus face to face. In Acts chapter 2, you get up here, you talk, things [35:37] chapter 2, you see this great unveiling of the mission of God as he sends the Holy Spirit

[35:44] who at one time would go from one prophet to the next. And through Jesus though, we [35:51] receive ultimate forgiveness, the sacrifice for all time. And the Holy Spirit comes to [35:56] all who believe. And great things are done. The mission of Jesus is pushed forward more [36:03] and more into more and more lives. And for the last 2000, more than that, years, the [36:14] good news of Jesus Christ has gone from life to life. The Spirit has gone into new life [36:21] after new life, transforming us, making people His workmanship, giving His life to those

[36:30] who believe. And at some point, that work that God has done through His Spirit, do [36:36] you realize over 2000 years, at one point, even if it’s today for the first time, that [36:44] message came to you. Do you know that? That it’s the same message, that it’s the same [36:54] God, that it’s the same Spirit through the work of the same Jesus. And that the apostles [37:03] in the New Testament, they were normal people just like you. That those who gave their [37:11] very lives for a mission that was greater than all of them, they’re just like me and

[37:17] you. But they experienced the power of the living God. We have that same opportunity [37:31] in our lives. The same mission that God gave the church in the book of Ephesians and throughout [37:39] the entire scripture is the same mission that we have. The same God who redeemed is the [37:47] same God. And He desires to empower you to live for a mission that is the same mission [37:57] that did the same things in the New Testament today in this world, right here, right now, [38:04] so that we first can know what is the height, what is the length, what is the depth, what

[38:11] is the width of God’s love. And we may be changed by that and so that we can actually [38:17] show other people through our lives what it looks like. Believing that and trusting in [38:28] that, it changes you. It changes you. And if you’re in here and it hasn’t, my friend, [38:39] you haven’t believed it. You haven’t believed it. A pastor by the name of Tim Kiziar made [38:49] a quote that’s quoted in a book that’s very popular by Francis Chan. Chan quotes him [38:57] and he says, our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure.

[39:03] Never fear that. But of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter. It will [39:14] shake you to your core because it makes you look at your life and say what am I doing?

[39:25] Does the life that I am living reflect a vision as big as God for that? And I’m not [39:33] going to say the purposes that God has unfolded in his mission. Because God not only said [39:40] my vision is huge, he said this is what it is. Friends, I don’t want to waste my life.

[39:50] It’s my greatest fear. But through Jesus, I don’t have to be afraid of it anymore. But [39:57] here’s the key. Neither do you. You don’t have to waste your life. It’s a scary thing [40:08] though to look at your life and find places that you’re wasting it. Don’t think I don’t [40:16] understand that. I do. Who wants to admit such a thing? Who wakes up in the morning [40:22] and says, well I’m wasting my life. It’s not a fun thing to admit. But here’s the key.

[40:29] Trusting in Jesus requires it. But on the other side you find nothing but greatness. [40:34] You find nothing but fullness. You find nothing but a wholeness. You find a life in which [40:42] you get real answers. You find a life in which truth can be known. You find a life in which [40:48] you have power that you never knew. You find a life in which you can face the scariest [40:53] things in your life. The most frightening diagnosis. The most frightening people. Some [40:58] people are scary. You face the most frightening of circumstances. And you have this one realization.

[41:07] I am not alone. I have power from one high. But that’s not it. I have power from one high. [41:18] You also have a divine brotherhood. And that’s the church. Friends, what would happen? What [41:33] would happen? What could God’s power do if just this crowd right here, because he started [41:40] with twelve. What could God’s power do if just this crowd right here commended him? [41:48] Committed to wholly living for his mission through building his church. What could he [41:56] do? Right here in Ephesians chapter 3 it says that God can do far more abundantly than we

[42:04] would ever even ask. Let’s find out what God could do together. Let’s do this. Let’s live [42:17] for his mission. Let’s love people with the love of Jesus. Let’s do good and have a purpose [42:24] behind it and a destination for it. Remember the mission of Jesus tomorrow morning as [42:35] much as you are remembering it right now.