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The Calling

The Calling. Ephesians 4: an Introduction. What is the Point?. DUUUUDE!. What is the Point?. Beech Home Church. What is the Point?. Identity Project 2011. What is the Point?. Come back to Cell Group!. Our Coolness: Zombieland. What is the Point?. “Stagnant Beliefs”.

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The Calling

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  1. The Calling Ephesians 4: an Introduction

  2. What is thePoint? DUUUUDE!

  3. What is thePoint? Beech Home Church

  4. What is thePoint? Identity Project 2011

  5. What is thePoint? Come back to Cell Group! Our Coolness: Zombieland

  6. What is thePoint? “Stagnant Beliefs” A ‘nice box’ Embracingthe Sloppiness

  7. What is thePoint? Does “Church” matter anymore? “I really like the emergent church movement. They are a breath of fresh air in what has become boring, stale Christian worship.” “The emergent church is much more experiential.”

  8. Remember: “The Calling” • The Foundation of Our Gathering Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…

  9. Remember: “The Calling” • The Foundation of Our Gathering • A great & worthy cause of muchsuffering. Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called… Ephesians 3:1,13 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus … I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations …

  10. Remember: “The Calling” • The Foundation of Our Gathering • A great & worthy cause of much suffering. • The hand of God at work on earth. Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called… "You could have no power except what is given you from above," John 19:11 “We look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are unseen" 2  Corinthians 4:18

  11. Remember: “The Calling” • The Foundation of Our Gathering • A great & worthy cause of much suffering. • The hand of God at work on earth. • The forgotten causeof our gathering! Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called…

  12. Remember: “The Calling” • The Foundation of Our Gathering • A great & worthy cause of much suffering. • The hand of God at work on earth. • The forgotten cause of our gathering! Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called…

  13. Remember: “The Calling” • The Foundation of Our Gathering • A great & worthy cause of much suffering. • The hand of God at work on earth. • The forgotten cause of our gathering! • Follow God’s strategy, not a shallow course! Ephesians 4:1 …walk in a manner worthy of the calling …

  14. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • The Surprising Truth About God’s Intentions Ephesians 1:9-10 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention…that is, the summing-up of all things in Christ…”

  15. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • The Surprising Truth About God’s Intentions Ephesians 1:9-10 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention…that is, the summing-up of all things in Christ…” It’s not a “Conversation”

  16. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • The Surprising Truth About God’s Intentions • An honor, a privilegeto know. Ephesians 3:8-10 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things

  17. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • The Surprising Truth About God’s Intentions • An honor, a privilegeto know. • Observed by the watching universe. Ephesians 3:8-10 ; so that the multi-faceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

  18. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • The Surprising Truth About God’s Intentions • An honor, a privilegeto know. • Observed by the watching universe. • God dwells inside humans, through Christ. Eph. 2:18 “being fitted together…growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

  19. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • The Fulfillment of God’s Eternal Intention Ephesians 3:11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus… 2 Corinthians 6:16 For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God , and they shall be my people.

  20. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • It is so much bigger than you or I… Ephesians 4:2-3 …with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

  21. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • It is so much bigger than you or I… • We have no time for petty squabbles! Ephesians 4:2-3 …being diligent to preserve the unity

  22. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • It is so much bigger than you or I… • We do not have time for petty squabbles! • We are demonstrating the greatness of God! Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

  23. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • It is so much bigger than you or I… • We do not have time for petty squabbles! • We are demonstrating the greatness of God! • Our lives are a stewardship. 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

  24. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… • It is so much bigger than you or I… • We do not have time for petty squabbles! • We are demonstrating the greatness of God! • Our lives are a stewardship. 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

  25. “The Mystery” Behind Our Calling Ephesians 4:1 …the calling with which you have been called… Have you met Jesus Christ? “…you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

  26. The Ultimate Question • The Myth of the Individual • The only “right” we have is to choose which master • The Word of God: the Ultimate Authority • The revelation of the mind of God • Superseded by none, unquestionable, verifiable • The reality test: God reveals life’s essentials, not found anywhere else; in all the libraries, universities, philosophies, religions.

  27. The Essentials • 1 Cor. 1 Hidden & Secret Wisdom • None of the “rulers of this age” can grasp • They make atrocious blunders, killing millions • Imparted to those possessed of the Spirit • The deep things of God • 1 Cor. 4:1 a Steward • Faithful & Trustworthy

  28. The Essentials • 1 Cor. 1 Hidden & Secret Wisdom • 1 Cor. 4:1 a Steward • Caretakers, dispensers, distributors for a waiting world. • We’re still subject to terrible forces, but we can find solutions. • How many Christians today are able to understand life? T.S. ELLIOT • It’s possible to lose life even while living, if you don’t know the mysteries • How much do you know, can you handle, can you impart? • Faithful & Trustworthy All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance, and all our ignorance brings us nearer to death, but nearness to death brings us no nearer to God. Where is the life that we have lost in living? TS Elliot:

  29. The Mysteries • Secrets, not unsolvable problems; • available to the inner circle, hidden from the general public • The Mystery of the Kingdom of God • God’s rule over human events • He is behind creation, He made nature. • There is no “mother nature”…philosophy tries to hide it • Without this, the older we grow, the less reason we have to live; life is worthless; without purpose. Only then do things fall into place; else we’re subject to existential dispair. • Bertrand Russell: brief and powerless is man’s life…blind to good and evil, omnipotent matter rolls its relentless way. • But that’s all you can see in this universe: a cold Kosmos. • But Jesus revealed a kind Father, aware of your hairs on your head • To translate this into our own experience at work, etc. • That’s what makes the difference between meaninglessness and meaning.

  30. The Mysteries • The mystery of lawlessness • How pervasive it is! • Malevolent beings intent on wrecking humanity • You’ll never understand the nature of conflict or history without understanding this; else you’ll be solving petting problems which always reappear.

  31. The Mysteries • The mystery of godliness • You don’t have to be defeated & torn apart! • The Mystery of the Gospel, and Christ and His Church • That man is the dwelling place of God. • That we have a way to deal with our impotence: God living in you. The greatest “secret” the world has ever heard of. • It’s waiting for Christians to demonstrate, so you don’t react like the non-Christians: retaliating, striking back, etc. • Have you ever felt a sense of guilt in the morning? Do you know how to handle it? • Otherwise, we become victims of life, not victors.

  32. The Mysteries • The mystery of the future • This is why we can take the afflictions of the present • That he will “gather all things unto Christ” • The mystery of God • 3 persons, 1 god • To live, die first;

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