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Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Ephesians 1:1-2
Two weeks ago we launched a sermon series on the book of Ephesians. Here's a clip from the first message on Ephesians 1:1-2. My goal was to illustrate the Apostle Paul's intention to help us see the "big picture" of God's purpose for the Church and the rich spiritual blessings believers enjoy in Christ.
Yesterday I preached from Ephesians 1:3-14. You can access the audio here.
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Pilgrim's Progress Musical: Pilgrim is a modern musical adaptation of John Bunyan's classic work, Pilgrim's Progress. It was performed in spring 2009 by the high school students at my church. They did a great job. The script is by theatre professionals (and members of our church) Janice Mays and Cathy Mays. The music is by various artists, including Bob Kauflin, Zach Jones and Mark Altrogge. You can order a DVD of the production here.
Give Me An Answer Highschool Conference: I'm looking forward to joining Al Mohler, Russell Moore, Shane & Shane and hip-hop artist Flame at the SBTS conference for highschool students next spring. Details.
Stephen Altrogge Reviews Dug Down Deep: Over at the Blazing Center blog they've posted a very generous review of the book. Read it.
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Comments (5)
Wow I needed that...I'll be checking out the full audio later after work.
Such a sovereign hand is on our lives that leads us from one mercy to the next. Thanks for being a faithful portal of that grace.
Praise Jesus.
Posted by Josiah Faas | September 22, 2008 1:52 PM
This sermon was a great blessing, I can't wait to hear the next part in the Ephesians series!
Posted by katherine | September 22, 2008 5:24 PM
Hey! That was a great sermon. :)
Kelsey
Posted by Kelsey Canafax | September 22, 2008 7:16 PM
I just wanted to say that what I heard in this video really encouraged me...that's a message I really needed to hear, as so often I struggle with "seeing the bigger picture" in my spiritual life..thank you so much for your ministry, Josh!
Posted by Jordan | September 23, 2008 7:20 PM
I agree with everything you said in your message. I'd also like to add something else. To flip your phrase, I have seen many times when people dont see the trees for the forest. They are so wrapped up in the 'big picture' that they never stop to marvel at what we as christians have the blessing of through Christ. I have found in my life that sometimes we are so wrapped up in 'being a christian', that we dont stop and look at what that really means. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. These are what it means to be living a life in Christ.
Please do not take what I am saying as a contradiction or disagreement with what you said. I think its the other side of the coin, only once we have 'seen the forest' of living as God wants us to, can we even begin to see the trees that make up the forest that he wants our life to be.
Posted by KeraSeru | November 23, 2008 7:45 PM