We Are Appreciated, 26 January 2014
Big Idea: We are appreciated…by God!
Ephesians 1:15-23
When did you most feel appreciated? Why?
When did you recently express appreciation to someone? Why? What did you do? How did it make you feel?
We all like to be appreciated. We may intellectually know that God loves us, but it’s quite another thing to hear the words “thank you” or receive a gift of appreciation.
Two things
There’s two things I want you to know: I appreciate you and God appreciates you.
Did it surprise you when I said God appreciates you? When I recently heard those words, I wasn’t so sure. God is God. I appreciate Him, but could He possibly appreciate me? He loves me, He died for me, but He appreciates me?
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. (1:15-16)
Paul is writing to a church, a church he started in the city of Ephesus. He likely was speaking to a broader audience, however, since this letter was circulated among many churches…and has continued to be read by churches around the planet for the past 2000 years!
The church was filled with faith in Jesus and love for people. Those are the two most important things according to Jesus—love God and love people. Period. That’s the goal. That’s the litmus test. That’s success.
Do you love God? Really? How do you know? Does God know?
Do you love people? Really? How do you know? Do they know?
We often equate love with what’s in our head. It’s easy to say we love something but action is entirely different.
This past week I read that a restaurant I loved closed. I loved their food. I loved their atmosphere. I loved the service I received.
I dined there once! My love in my head did not translate into action. They closed. Can I blame them for closing?
Paul was saying that these people genuinely loved God and others. Their faith was visible, not just intellectual. He says that these people are in his prayers and he appreciates them and continually gives thanks to God for them.
I love that! He’s a great pastor. Remember, he’s writing from prison. He can’t exactly bring them gifts or FaceTime them. He uses the only tools he has—prayer and letters—to communicate his appreciation and love.
In Revelation chapter two we learn that the church in Ephesus was a great church.
Paul could’ve used the precious ink and paper to complain about the conditions in prison and to ask them to pray for him. That’s what I would’ve likely done! I’d write, “Help! Pray for God to miraculously release me from prison again!”
How many of your prayers are cries for help? God loves any honest prayer, but like any Father—like any person—He loves to receive thanks, too. This is a prayer of thanksgiving. We don’t need to wait until November to give thanks!
Are you thankful to God for anyone? Take some time and pray prayers of Thanksgiving.
Paul appreciates these people, but he also speaks for God as he writes scripture. He appreciates them but so does God.
Scio, God appreciates you. He loves it when you obey Him, love others, and pray.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (1:17)
Paul gives thanks but also prays for them—and us—to know God better. There’s nothing more important than knowing God. Nothing. We were created to know God.
Here's another beautiful depiction of the Trinity. We see Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Paul asks God to give them wisdom and revelation in order to know Him better.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (1:18-21)
That’s a mouthful! Paul had a habit of writing run-on sentences!
The eyes of your heart, not mind. Intelligence does not guarantee understanding of spiritual truth. There are some things only the Spirit can teach us.
Paul does not pray for material things but spiritual blessings. He wants them to know hope, their inheritance, and His power.
If we truly understood God’s power, I believe our prayers and our lives would be radically different.
This month we have learned about the power of wind and cold and snow. The Detroit News headline on Friday said, “Enough already!” We often think about God’s power in creation or storms or the resurrection, but His power has been unleashed in other ways such as the ascension of Jesus into heaven. Can you imagine seeing Jesus lift off the ground into the sky?
The first three chapters of Ephesians are largely filled with doctrine and truths about God while the final three chapters provide practical instruction about how to apply the doctrine and live God-honoring lives. What I want you to see here is the vivid portrait of God.
This chapter ends with a reference to us, the church.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (1:22-23)
We are the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the church. Since we are in Christ, the Father views us as He views Jesus.
He loves Jesus. He loves us.
He appreciates Jesus. He appreciates us.
He loves to hear the voice of Jesus. He loves to hear our voices.
He will spend eternity with Jesus. He will spend eternity with us.
Daddy is nuts about you! He loves you! He appreciates you!
Credits:
Some ideas from
Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are (book and podcast series)
J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, http://thruthebible.ca
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.
Ephesians 1:15-23
When did you most feel appreciated? Why?
When did you recently express appreciation to someone? Why? What did you do? How did it make you feel?
We all like to be appreciated. We may intellectually know that God loves us, but it’s quite another thing to hear the words “thank you” or receive a gift of appreciation.
Two things
There’s two things I want you to know: I appreciate you and God appreciates you.
Did it surprise you when I said God appreciates you? When I recently heard those words, I wasn’t so sure. God is God. I appreciate Him, but could He possibly appreciate me? He loves me, He died for me, but He appreciates me?
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. (1:15-16)
Paul is writing to a church, a church he started in the city of Ephesus. He likely was speaking to a broader audience, however, since this letter was circulated among many churches…and has continued to be read by churches around the planet for the past 2000 years!
The church was filled with faith in Jesus and love for people. Those are the two most important things according to Jesus—love God and love people. Period. That’s the goal. That’s the litmus test. That’s success.
Do you love God? Really? How do you know? Does God know?
Do you love people? Really? How do you know? Do they know?
We often equate love with what’s in our head. It’s easy to say we love something but action is entirely different.
This past week I read that a restaurant I loved closed. I loved their food. I loved their atmosphere. I loved the service I received.
I dined there once! My love in my head did not translate into action. They closed. Can I blame them for closing?
Paul was saying that these people genuinely loved God and others. Their faith was visible, not just intellectual. He says that these people are in his prayers and he appreciates them and continually gives thanks to God for them.
I love that! He’s a great pastor. Remember, he’s writing from prison. He can’t exactly bring them gifts or FaceTime them. He uses the only tools he has—prayer and letters—to communicate his appreciation and love.
In Revelation chapter two we learn that the church in Ephesus was a great church.
Paul could’ve used the precious ink and paper to complain about the conditions in prison and to ask them to pray for him. That’s what I would’ve likely done! I’d write, “Help! Pray for God to miraculously release me from prison again!”
How many of your prayers are cries for help? God loves any honest prayer, but like any Father—like any person—He loves to receive thanks, too. This is a prayer of thanksgiving. We don’t need to wait until November to give thanks!
Are you thankful to God for anyone? Take some time and pray prayers of Thanksgiving.
Paul appreciates these people, but he also speaks for God as he writes scripture. He appreciates them but so does God.
Scio, God appreciates you. He loves it when you obey Him, love others, and pray.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (1:17)
Paul gives thanks but also prays for them—and us—to know God better. There’s nothing more important than knowing God. Nothing. We were created to know God.
Here's another beautiful depiction of the Trinity. We see Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Paul asks God to give them wisdom and revelation in order to know Him better.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (1:18-21)
That’s a mouthful! Paul had a habit of writing run-on sentences!
The eyes of your heart, not mind. Intelligence does not guarantee understanding of spiritual truth. There are some things only the Spirit can teach us.
Paul does not pray for material things but spiritual blessings. He wants them to know hope, their inheritance, and His power.
If we truly understood God’s power, I believe our prayers and our lives would be radically different.
This month we have learned about the power of wind and cold and snow. The Detroit News headline on Friday said, “Enough already!” We often think about God’s power in creation or storms or the resurrection, but His power has been unleashed in other ways such as the ascension of Jesus into heaven. Can you imagine seeing Jesus lift off the ground into the sky?
The first three chapters of Ephesians are largely filled with doctrine and truths about God while the final three chapters provide practical instruction about how to apply the doctrine and live God-honoring lives. What I want you to see here is the vivid portrait of God.
This chapter ends with a reference to us, the church.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (1:22-23)
We are the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the church. Since we are in Christ, the Father views us as He views Jesus.
He loves Jesus. He loves us.
He appreciates Jesus. He appreciates us.
He loves to hear the voice of Jesus. He loves to hear our voices.
He will spend eternity with Jesus. He will spend eternity with us.
Daddy is nuts about you! He loves you! He appreciates you!
Credits:
Some ideas from
Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are (book and podcast series)
J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, http://thruthebible.ca
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.