Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. – Ephesians 5:1 ESV

GREEK
μιμηταὶ/mimētai: An imitator, follower

CONSIDER
What do silent street performers and viral videos of grouchy cats have in common? True, they may both cause us to roll our eyes, but the words mime and meme also both have their origin in today’s Greek noun. Paul wants us to be mimētai (imitators, followers) of God, which seems logical because God is the perfect, all-powerful, loving creator. But this word specifically implies studying one’s life, the way a student would with a mentor they admired and respected. So we don’t simply become mimētai of God by trying to behave the best we can; rather, we are required to study God’s character and attributes, investigating who he is so that we can learn to be like Him. This little directive in verse 1 quickly becomes the theme of the rest of the book, as we are invited to love deeply, serve compassionately, and live wisely in our study and imitation of God. And as we begin this final series in Ephesians, we do so not by performing more ardently, but by gazing at the beauty of our creator more deeply.

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Where do I need to begin walking in love?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1 ESV

GREEK
ἀγάπῃ/agapē: (love that focuses on divine preference; what God prefers)

CONSIDER
Songs have been written about it. Quotes about it have been hung as household decor. Relationships have been both healed and broken as a result of it. Chances are, sometime in our lives we’ve been taught this concept: love is a verb. When we talk about this idea, we typically do so in the context of showing love to someone through our actions. “The proof of your love is in what you do for me!” we explain, as though action is the only way we can know for sure that we are loved. But can love really be boiled down to activity?
The primary definition of love in our English dictionary – and the Greek word we are studying today – is in noun form. For Paul, his command to walk in agapē(what God prefers) is anchored in knowing God personally. Agapē was used throughout antiquity to refer to something (noun) that someone preferred, be it a person, a meal, a place to live, etc. However, when the New Testament writers use the word, they always do so with divine preference in mind. When we neglect the implications of love as a noun, we run the risk of believing that God can only be loving if his actions align with our ideas and feelings of love. But Biblical agapē is quite the opposite. Knowing the character and attributes of God will cause us to love in a way that aligns our preferences with His own.
Maybe you still need proof of his love, and knowing God himself is a step you haven’t taken quite yet. Maybe you want to know if you can trust this God before you set out to prefer what he prefers. Thankfully, the cross of Christ shows us that God chose to act on our behalf, preferring the shame of crucifixion to an eternity apart from you and me. As a result, by walking in agapē, we are living to value what God values, favor what God favors, and love what God loves.

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Where do I need to begin walking in love?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:2 ESV

GREEK
θυσίαν/thysian: an official sacrifice prescribed by God

CONSIDER
Where do I need to begin walking in love? As we consider how to apply this particular passage of scripture, it’s easy to spot Paul’s motivation for this action. We are to walk in love because Christ loved us. And one of the ways he showed his love for us was by becoming a thysian (an official sacrifice prescribed by God). When we were at our worst, Jesus took our place and gave himself up for us, doing what we were incapable of doing on our own.
Now, you may be thinking, “But wait, I thysian all the time for God! I spend time in prayer when I’d rather binge watch TV, I donate to worthy causes, and I give up my Sundays to get to church.” All of those things are noble, and are to even be commended. But in using the Greek noun thysian, Paul is referring to something far greater than simply doing something you’d rather not do. Thysian specifically refers to a sacrifice the Lord accepts because it was offered on his terms. This begs the question, “So, what exactly are his terms?” In a word, perfection. A holy, sinless, perfect God could only allow holy, sinless, perfect people into his presence. And because Jesus is the only human ever born that has ever (and will ever!) fit that description, he needed to become the very sacrifice the rest of humanity required. May this truth remind us that walking in love is a result of fixing our eyes on Jesus more than it is about mustering up the motivation to love the people around us.

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Where do I need to begin walking in love?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. – Ephesians 5:4 ESV

GREEK
εὐχαριστία/eucharistia: thankful language, language of blessing

CONSIDER
The mission of Centerway is to cultivate a movement in which people become Gospel-centered influencers in every sphere of life. There is a subtle, yet important truth that is found in this sentence. Namely that we are all influencers; what our influence is centered around is up to us. We can choose to center our influence around finances, politics, social causes, recreation, and a host of other things. But when our lives are truly centered around Christ, the Gospel cannot help but impact those around us. That’s one reason why Paul teaches that filthiness, foolish talk or crude joking are out of place for a believer. These things do not help to center our lives on Jesus. Instead, we are told that there should be eucharistia (thankful language). Why is this true? Because at the heart of the gospel is the fact that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was the only way we could be made right with God! We had no ability or skill within us to earn this righteousness, so the work that Jesus accomplished on our behalf is a gift. That’s the gospel in a nutshell, and this reality rightly understood will lead us to eucharistia. Yes, we will experience the internal emotion of thankfulness, but this reality will also lead to a change in the language we use as Gospel-centered influencers.

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What will repentance look like in my life?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. – Ephesians 5:3 ESV

GREEK
πρέπει/prepei: lit. towered up; that which stands out, conspicuous

CONSIDER
For thousands of years the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure on the planet. Still standing today, the oldest of the ancient world wonders weighs roughly 6 million tons and is clearly an incredible feat of engineering. And even though it only rises to 481 feet – paltry in comparison with today’s modern structures – the Great Pyramid would have been impossible to ignore on the Egyptian landscape for millenia.
When Ephesians instructs us to remain pure in body and mind, it describes this behavior as being prepei (that which stands out, conspicuous) among saints. This verb literally translated means “towered up,” as in to tower above anything else in the vicinity. Much like the Great Pyramid of Giza, our refusal to participate in today’s immorality, impurity, and covetousness will cause us to stand out on the landscape of our generation. We may even get the sense that we’re being singled out or treated differently for the stance we take in the prepei honoring of God. Are we willing to journey down roads less traveled to follow Jesus and walk in love? If the answer is yes, we can take comfort in the fact that we are being led by the One who was willing to be lifted up on a cross to show his love for us.

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What will repentance look like in my life?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. – Ephesians 5:6 ESV

GREEK
κενοῖς/kenois: amounting to zero, hollow, empty

CONSIDER
In Mark 12, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who rented his vineyard to tenants so that they could tend it in his absence. Instead of providing the servant of the owner with a portion of the fruit that was rightfully his, the tenants sent him away kenois (amounting to zero, hollow, empty). This servant should have expected to return to his master with a bounty, but his expectations were left unfulfilled. And as a result of their refusal to provide what they were hired to, the landowner had to return to the vineyard and execute his judgment.
While the underlying issues in today’s text are different from Mark’s Gospel, we find the same Greek word and similar themes (emptiness, deception, wrath). Scholars believe that the issue Paul is referring to in today’s verse of Ephesians is Gnosticism. The false teachers of this heresy believed that a person’s salvation was not dependent upon the work of Jesus. They espoused that because the body is separate from the soul, we could commit any bodily sin we wanted and not have it impact our soul. Paul’s emphatic response? Do not be deceived by them. Their kenois words activate the wrath of God, because they work to deceive those that fully expect to receive something significant from them. Instead, those that hear these gnostic teachers will, like the servant from the parable, walk away unfulfilled, with nothing. Any plan of salvation that centers around something other than Christ will prove to be kenois. By treating sin as insignificant, we are both minimizing its impact and Christ’s work on our behalf. May we be quick to recognize when we hear the kenois words of a Gospel-less teaching.

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What will repentance look like in my life?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light – Ephesians 5:8 ESV

GREEK
φῶς/phós: light; specifically divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ

CONSIDER
By its very definition, identity is an extremely personal construct. We develop who we are through a lifetime of experiences, relationships, and decisions. And if we’re honest, our identity is not only shaped by these things, but it shapes the way we see the world we were created to live in. Paul speaks to this truth in Ephesians 5 when he says, “at one time you were darkness, but now you are phós (light, divine illumination) in the Lord.” Notice that he uses the language of identity – we were darkness but now we are light in the Lord. This isn’t just what we do; because of Jesus, it is who we are. So as we embark on the study of this key passage, it is also important to assess whether or not the phós of Christ is central to what makes us “us.” Let us prayerfully consider the implications of how our identity as phós in the Lord shapes our view of the world.

APPLY
Where is God leading me to reflect light?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. – Ephesians 5:10 ESV

GREEK
δοκιμάζοντες/dokimazontes: approve something by testing

CONSIDER
In the first few centuries after Jesus’ resurrection, Christians tried all kinds of ways to simplify the distinction between God the Father and God the Son. One of the metaphors that helped people understand their relationship was a flame and its light. These two things are clearly connected and yet somehow they are distinct. Much like the Father and the Son, there is a mystery to the way they are simultaneously the same and different. A person could meditate on the nature of Christ for the rest of their lives and still find it incredibly mystifying.
Thankfully, when it comes to what is pleasing to the Lord, things are far less baffling. In fact, it doesn’t take much investigation to be able to dokimazontes(approve something by testing) what pleases him, because his heart, character, and nature are revealed in scripture. This Greek word is actually a verb, which reveals that Paul wants us to become active in putting things to the test that would please the Lord. That means his will doesn’t need to be passively meditated on while we hope our thinking is correct. Our attempts to dokimazontes what pleases him will involve using our hands and feet as we are led by the Spirit. Let this short verse be a call to action as we tangibly express our desire to bring delight to our God!

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Where is God leading me to reflect light?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, – Ephesians 5:13 ESV

GREEK
ἐλεγχόμενα/elenchomena: to convince to change with solid, compelling evidence, especially to expose

CONSIDER
Where is God leading me to reflect light? When Paul shares with his readers that when anything is elenchomena (convinced to change with solid evidence) by the light it becomes visible, he is making a profound statement. Not only does the light reveal what is hidden in the dark, it also causes it to change. This verb is unique because we typically think of light as an agent of revelation, but for Paul, the true light of God does more than that.
There’s a phrase that educators, counselors, and family members alike say to a person who is making unwise decisions: “I love you so I can’t let you make the choices you’re making.” This statement is a way to communicate that real love does not give another person whatever they want if it isn’t healthy or safe. The first party doesn’t merely point out the flaws and dangers of the second party’s actions, they also are honest about why these actions can no longer continue. This is the heart behind Ephesians 5:13. The purpose of reflecting the light so that evil is elenchomena isn’t to point the finger or become “holier than thou.” It’s to cause those behaviors to change through solid, grace-filled evidence. When this is the case, we show love to the people in our world in a way that believes in their potential and isn’t content with watching it go to waste.

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Where is God leading me to reflect light?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  – Ephesians 5:17 ESV

GREEK
συνίετε/syniete: put the pieces together about, connect the dots regarding

CONSIDER
“Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). When it came to the will of God, Jesus made it priority #1. But if it’s that important, why does God’s will sometimes seem so hard to discern? Partly, this can be because we want God to directly and specifically tell us what we should and shouldn’t do and where we should and shouldn’t go. But in Ephesians 5, we see Paul contrasting foolishness with being able to syniete (put the pieces together, connect the dots regarding) the will of God. This verb reveals that we have a part to play in the discovery of his will, even though God doesn’t design his will on the basis of our merit or skill. Much like a jigsaw puzzle, the original Greek implies the act of fitting together various elements to create a whole picture. So God’s desire is that we reflect on what he’s done, pay attention to what he’s doing, and connect the dots from our experiences, his word, and the voice of the Spirit to best syniete what’s next for us. We may be taking the road less traveled, but our willingness to syniete what the will of the Lord is will be an effective strategy for steering clear of foolishness.

APPLY
When I want to disengage this week I will turn to prayer and/or scripture.

(Like we heard in the message, the wallpaper resources will be an especially helpful tool as we apply the text this week!)

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, – Ephesians 5:18 ESV

GREEK
ἀσωτία/asōtia: wastefulness; a spoiling of potential

CONSIDER
There are roughly 7,100 languages spoken in the world today, so when a person wants to communicate information from one language to another, eventually something is bound to be lost in translation. Mercedes Benz chose their market name in China to be “Bensi,” which when translated means “rush to die.”  Coors attempted to translate their slogan “Turn it Loose” into Spanish, but their efforts interpreted this into the catch phrase “Suffer from Diarrhea.”
The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, so the work of translation is not always as straightforward as one might assume. Some of the more than 100 English translations of the Bible focus on readability, others on precision, and still others on tradition. So when Paul describes getting drunk with wine as asōtia (wastefulness, a spoiling of potential) we might miss the full scope of his intention if we don’t dig a little deeper. Ephesians 5:18 contrasts being filled with the Spirit with being drunk with wine. The reason given for not getting drunk is that it would be asōtia. This word has been translated as debauchery, dissipation, and excess, which all rightly speak to the moral corruption of this act. However the Greek uses this noun to express the truth that being drunk robs us of our potential and wastes our full ability. This is why being filled with the Spirit is presented as the opposite of drunkenness. When we allow the Spirit of God to inhabit and realign our lives, it fills our days with promise and unlocks the potential of true and lasting joy.

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When I want to disengage this week I will turn to prayer and/or scripture.

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, – Ephesians 5:20 ESV

GREEK
πάντοτε/pantote: always; lit. at every when

CONSIDER
In 2022, the average American with a cell phone will spend 2 hours and 54 minutes each day scrolling posts, checking sports scores, responding to texts, and a whole host of other activities. Our smartphones have become our go-to gadgets for when we want to escape reality and get lost in just about anything else. They give us the capacity to become productive juggernauts or epic procrastinators. So when we want to disengage this week, it’s critical that we recognize that urge for what it is, and counter it with what matters most.
In Ephesians 5, Paul connects the work of being wise with the willingness to give thanks to God pantote (always) and for everything. This little adverb has big implications, as it literally means at every when. This means that if you should ask, “Should I praise God even when…?” the answer will be a resounding yes every time! There is never an occasion when giving thanks is a bad idea, even though we may not enjoy every circumstance we experience. But much like the choice to war against disengaging from the reality of life, the choice to give thanks to God can and will have a far-reaching impact on the way we live. We only get a finite amount of time to spend. By pantote giving thanks, we ensure that we will spend that time the wisest way possible.

APPLY
When I want to disengage this week I will turn to prayer and/or scripture.

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. – Ephesians 5:21 ESV

GREEK
Ὑποτασσόμενοι/Hypotassomenoi: willingly continue subordinating all of you, keep deferring

CONSIDER
In Luke 2, the Gospel writer shares a story of Jesus as a boy when his family took their yearly trip to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. Unbeknown to his parents, Jesus stayed behind and was found in the temple three days later, asking questions of the teachers there. Mary and Joseph were justifiably upset, although Jesus assured them that he needed to be in his Father’s house. But when they all traveled back to Nazareth, Luke points out that Jesus was submissive to them. Interestingly, the verb Luke uses for this is the singular form of the plural Hypotassomenoi (continue subordinating all of you, keep deferring) that Paul uses in today’s verse. Now, Jesus’ willingness to submit to his parents shows us a few things about what Hypotassomenoi does and doesn’t mean. It can’t mean that when we begin Hypotassomenoi to one another out of reverence for Christ, we must relinquish our authority in every area, nor can it mean that the person we are submitting to is always going to be wiser, smarter, or more capable than we are. Rather, the principle Paul lays out is that submission reflects the humility and gentleness of Christ himself. When we defer to others, we honor both the other party and Jesus as well. How? By reflecting the humility our Savior displayed through his life, death, and resurrection. With this truth in mind, Hypotassomenoi is shown to be less about the willingness to be dominated by another, and more about the desire to deliberately and reverently model Christ’s selfless character.

APPLY
Who will I show humility toward in my reverence of Christ?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. – Ephesians 5:27 ESV

GREEK
σπίλον/spilon: spot, stain, fault

CONSIDER
In 2021, a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card, graded by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) as a Mint 9, shattered baseball card records and sold for a whopping $5.2 million. According to PSA, there are only nine PSA 9 cards left in existence. However, in April of 2022, a similar 1952 Mantle rookie card sold for $31,200. That’s roughly 180 times less than record setting Mantle. The difference? The Mantle that sold in 2022 was a PSA 1 graded card. One is pristine, crisp and centered, while the other is spotted and looks as though it spent its days in the spokes of a bicycle. And while it still sold for quite a bit of money, the PSA 1 set no records and was not nearly as newsworthy.
Left to our own devices, the Bible tells us that sin creates blemishes on our souls that no amount of hard work can remove. We are unable to cleanse its stain through our own efforts, leaving us broken and deserving of death. However, because Jesus sacrificed his own life for us – His church – we are now robed in splendor without spilon (spot, stain, fault) or wrinkle. The church is now purified and new, and presented to Christ in mint condition! The curse of sin may have left us contaminated and polluted, but the Gospel reminds us that every spilon has been cleansed and we are priceless to the One who was willing to pay it all for us. And because Jesus has given us unimaginable value and none of us are able to boast in his gift of grace, we are free to live in humility toward every single person we encounter this week.

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Who will I show humility toward in my reverence of Christ?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, – Ephesians 5:29 ESV

GREEK
θάλπει/thalpei: warms, comforts

CONSIDER
The Great St. Bernard pass between Italy and Switzerland was known as the most dangerous route in the Western Alps for over 1,000 years. At 8,000 feet above sea level, this pass is free of snow for only a few short weeks out of the year. It was in this treacherous environment that the monks of Great St. Bernard Hospice began raising the breed of mastiff dogs that came to be known as the Saint Bernard. These canines are bred for rescue in the cold – they have an incredible sense of smell, easily break a trail in the snow with their wide bodies, and can sense where people are trapped under several feet of powder. Saint Bernards have been credited for rescuing over 2,000 people in this mountain pass by digging through the snow and laying on their injured bodies to ensure they stay warm enough to survive.
Jesus loves His bride, the Church, so much that Paul uses a similar illustration to describe Christ’s care for us. Ephesians 5 shows that the way a person nourishes and thalpei (warms, comforts) their body is the way Christ does the church. This Greek verb literally means to warm up, as in revive to full health. Therefore when a person thalpei their own body, they are prioritizing their health. Jesus thalpei the church, willingly accomplishing the work of salvation for her health and vitality. When sin had left us out in the cold and hopeless, Christ found us, enveloped us with his love and leveraged His broken body for our warmth and comfort. And now we have both the opportunity and responsibility to share Christ with all who are navigating even the most dangerous mountain passes of life.

APPLY
Who will I show humility toward in my reverence of Christ?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), – Ephesians 6:3 ESV

GREEK
Τίμα/Tima: to fix the value, to price highly

CONSIDER
It’s purple, it’s stuffed, it’s 25 years old, and it’s worth upwards of $10,000. One of the most expensive Beanie Babies ever created is Princess the Bear, named for Princess Diana and sold six months after her tragic death. Besides a white flower on the bear’s chest, this collector’s item doesn’t stand out among the millions of stuffed animals in the world. However, because a rare version of the bear was stuffed with PVC beads and marked with a unique tag, collectors are constantly on the lookout for those Beanie Babies that they know to be of great value. It’s interesting to note that even when a person possesses the basic, common version of the collectible, many have difficulty letting go of it. To those owners, the value of Princess the Bear doesn’t come from its beads or tag; it’s intrinsically valuable simply because they say it is!
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach us the benefit to us when we Tima (fix the value of, price highly) our father and mother. As we heard in Sunday’s gathering, our willingness to Tima our parents can often provide physical and spiritual protection as they instruct us in how to live well. And while the verse following is proverbial, meaning that a long life isn’t guaranteed for following the command, there is certainly wisdom in highly valuing our father and mother. Will they always make perfect decisions and give flawless commands to obey? Not even close. But if we choose to highly fix the value of those God has entrusted to care for us, we are acknowledging that what we really find valuable is obedience to His word.

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What do I need to begin doing for the Lord?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, – Ephesians 6:5 ESV

GREEK
ἁπλότητι/haplotēti: singleness of, lit. “without folds”

CONSIDER
“Because he first loved us we value LOVE FIRST therefore we say ‘come as you are’ and welcome people to belong before they believe. Because we truly love people, we will speak the truth in love.”
Centerway’s Because and Therefore statement displays the truth that loving people results from God loving us first. His love isn’t convoluted; it’s not contingent on how much we do and isn’t reserved for society’s elite. You could say that the love we reflect from God is uncomplicated because we love people with no strings attached.
This is the concept that Ephesians 6 communicates to bondservants as they relate to their earthly masters. As we heard in our gathering, this relationship most closely resembles an employer-employee connection in today’s culture. Paul is commanding us to care for our boss with a haplotēti (singleness of) heart. This Greek word derives from the textile industry, when a garment would be stretched out and unfolded. Haplotēti literally translates to “without folds,” meaning an uncomplicated and straightforward kind of heart. In other words, we are instructed to have the proper attitude toward our employer without letting how we feel about their leadership, capability, competence, or qualifications complicate things. And because Paul asks us to do so as we would Christ, he gives us a poignant reminder that our motivation for a job well done comes from approaching work like Jesus is our employer. In today’s climate, listening to our supervisor with a haplotēti heart will likely be one of the most concrete ways for us to display the Gospel with our lives.

APPLY
What do I need to begin doing for the Lord?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. – Ephesians 6:9 ESV

GREEK
προσωπολημψία/prosōpolēmpsia: favoritism

CONSIDER
Albert Einstein’s ideas of time dilation set out in his Theory of Special Relativity can be pretty intense. He postulated that time itself slows down based on factors such as speed and gravity, and that these have the capacity to change our perspective on something that we assume is static. As mind-blowing as it sounds, to Einstein a second doesn’t have to last a second and an hour might not last an hour!
For so many of us, changing perspective is something that is far more difficult than modifying the way we look at life. It’s fine to believe that the difference between complaining that rose bushes have thorns and rejoicing that thorns have roses is a matter of perspective, but that’s not what Ephesians 6 is challenging us to do. In the world that Paul was writing in, the gap between employer and worker was incredibly wide. In fact, having more money and power was seen as proof that God preferred one person over another with less wealth and influence. So when he declares that God shows no prosōpolēmpsia (favoritism) between master and servant, Paul is teaching something publicly controversial and culturally disruptive. For many in Ephesus, this shift in perspective would have been as difficult to comprehend as time dilation can be to us. It was clear to them that masters could treat servants anyway they wanted. I mean, God has proven who he loves most by the position he gives people in the community, right? But Paul claims otherwise. In fact, the Gospel celebrates the truth that the ultimate act of love was performed for the benefit of every strata of society! We won’t be shown prosōpolēmpsia because of our wisdom, ability, or bank account, and rejoice that the gospel changes our perspective so effortlessly.

APPLY
What do I need to begin doing for the Lord?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. – Ephesians 6:10 ESV

GREEK
Τοῦ λοιποῦ/Tou loipou: Henceforth, from this time moving forward

CONSIDER
This week we are wrapping up an incredible season going through the book of Ephesians. Through three series and twenty-five weeks, we have studied how the gospel transforms every facet of our lives as individuals and as a community. And as we approach this final pericope in his letter to the church at Ephesus, we can hear the heart of this pastor loud and clear. He invites us tou loipou (Henceforth; from this time forward), be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Paul desires his readers to remain spiritually safe and protected from this point onward, and gives us a strategy to do so. The armor of God gives us a way to focus on the spiritual battle we are engaged in and, if we take a closer look, we can pick up on several themes from previous chapters that comprise this armor. Paul has already connected the gospel with truth (ch.4-5), peace (ch. 4), and faith (ch. 2-4), and now it’s as if he’s reminding us that these elements can and should be utilized everyday as we live out our calling to glorify God. Now that we have been shown the beauty of Christ’s work on our behalf, may we tou loipou stand fearless in his protection and provision.

As you apply the text this week, we’re providing a resource to help you. Hard copies were available in the gathering (and will be for the next couple weeks), and on this page is a digital version for you to use/print.

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Commit to praying through the Armor of God for you and your family.

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. – Ephesians 6:11 ESV

GREEK
μεθοδείας/methodeias: methods; predictable and organized evil-doing

CONSIDER
For fans of the Miami Dolphins, it’s simply known as The Clock play. In 1994, quarterback Dan Marino and his Dolphins were losing by three points late in the game to the New York Jets. Marino yelled “clock clock clock!” to indicate what the Jets assumed would be a spike, thus stopping the clock in order to make a plan for one final play. Instead, with the defense relaxed and unsuspecting, wide receiver Mark Ingram, Sr. broke to the end zone, where Marino hit him for a game-winning touchdown. It was an effective trick play that left Miami celebrating and their opponents in shocked disbelief.
One of the things that becomes quite clear as we wrap up Ephesians is that the roads we travel are often lined with spiritual opponents. Paul teaches that we are in a battle with spiritual forces of evil (6:12). But rather than allow this reality to frighten us, we are instructed to put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the methodeias (methods; predictable and organized evil-doing) of the devil. This Greek noun is where we get our English word methods, and yet methodeias is meant to convey a much deeper truth. True, our adversary has an army of evil forces arrayed against us, and they would love nothing more than to see those who follow Jesus fall victim to their schemes. But these forces are working from a predictable playbook, and their methods are able to be thwarted when we utilize every piece of the armor of God. There isn’t a Clock Play or any other method the evil one can devise that truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God can’t combat in victory! And when we stand firm with the gift of God’s armor fastened to us, we can rest knowing that no methodeias designed to stop His work in our lives will be able to penetrate it.

As you apply the text this week, we’re providing a resource to help. Hard copies were available in the gathering (and will be for the next couple weeks), and below is a digital version for you to reference/print.

APPLY
Commit to praying through the Armor of God for you and your family.

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. – Ephesians 6:13 ESV

GREEK
πανοπλίαν/panoplian: full and complete armor; panoply

CONSIDER
Heavily armed Greek foot soldiers known as hoplites were some of the most intimidating warriors to ever step onto the battlefield. It wasn’t because they were bigger, stronger, or faster than their foes; the fear they instilled came from their formation. Hoplites would dutifully form a phalanx – rows of deeply ranked soldiers closely and precisely stationed – and for generations, this arrangement proved successful against a more antiquated approach to battle. To their enemy, the phalanx seemed impenetrable and without visible weak spots.
But what if the hoplites arranged themselves in a phalanx wearing only a helmet? Or what if they came wielding a sword but not clothed with armor? Suddenly the phalanx would be a little more porous. This is what Paul conveys when he instructs us to take up the panoplian (full and complete armor; panoply) of God. In the spiritual battle we are engaged in, our enemy will exploit any vulnerability he can find. The panoplian was designed for soldiers like the hoplites to safeguard against every form of attack the opponent would try, and if any piece was missing or damaged, it was the obvious place for them to assault. So one of the most encouraging things about Ephesians 6 is that the panoplian is ours as a free gift from God! We don’t need to worry about earning a shield, forging a breastplate, or crafting a sword. Every piece we need to be protected from spiritual enemies is available to us and those we love.

APPLY
Commit to praying through the Armor of God for you and your family.

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!