Appleton Gospel Church Appleton Gospel Church - David Parks

Keeping the Unity: Unity in the church (or any close relationship) doesn't just happen. It takes work...and lots of it! In the church, our union with Christ means we ought to have unity with each other. But staying united takes loads of humility, gentleness, and patience. This is not easy; is it worth it? Absolutely. Recorded on Jun 9, 2024, on Ephesians 4:1-6 by Pastor David Parks.















Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.















Sermon Transcript







We’ve been working through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. And today, as we start Chapter 4, we’re going to consider the unity we have as a church, that because of our union with Christ — which, we’ve seen is one of the main themes of Ephesians — but because of our union with Christ, we also have unity with everyone else who has this same union with Christ. This past week, Holly and I went back through a hard drive with all our old pictures, and I came across our old, grainy wedding video. Some of you know that Holly and I met when we were ten years old. So, even though we got married when we were young, it still felt like we knew everything about each other. Of course, that was far from true, but, you know, young love! But what that video captured was that on our wedding day, Holly and I were two who became one. And Holly and I were blessed not to have much conflict early on in our marriage. But do you know how hard we’ve had to work over the last hundred and fifty years of our marriage to stay one? Even in the best of circumstances, it takes a lot of work to keep a marriage healthy. But this is just a picture of the work needed to keep the relationships healthy that we have here in the church. There are many things that might be different about us or threaten to divide us, but we have been made one in Christ. But how can we keep our unity here in the church when there are so many forces that seek to pull us apart? If you have your Bible/app, please take it and open it to Eph 4:1. We’ll read through this and unpack it together.







Ephesians 4:1 (NIV), “1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” In Chapter 1, Paul made it clear that every believer is called in Christ — called into a relationship with God, called from death to life, called into hope, called into the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, called by the power of the Spirit, and so much more. In Chapter 2, we saw that this calling was a result of God’s gracious gift and because of God’s eternal love — not because of anything we had done or ever could do. Remember? “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” We’re not saved by works, but saving faith is faith that produces good works. Remember? “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” So, the way of salvation is not by works. But the Christian life is full of good works done because we’ve been saved. Now, it’s always important to make sure we get the order right. Otherwise, we can become confused and think that salvation depends on us. This is why Paul and other NT authors usually start with what the gospel is, but then they pivot to talking about what the gospel does in life...

The Presence of Christ: What would be the best thing for you? How about for the people you love? To have the spiritual power that comes from a growing knowledge and experience of the love of Christ. To be rooted and established in his love. And that his presence would be real to you in your inner being. Recorded on Jun 2, 2024, on Ephesians 3:14-21 by Pastor David Parks.















Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.















Sermon Transcript







For a little over a month now, we’ve been working through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. And today, as we finish chapter 3, we’re going to consider the second prayer of Paul in this letter, which is really one of the most expansive and powerful prayers in all of the Scriptures. The reason it’s so powerful is because Paul prays for what would be the absolute best thing for his friends there in Ephesus. Have you ever wondered what would be the best thing for you? Or what would be the best thing for someone you love? A parent or spouse or child or friend? A few years ago, I found myself thinking about that question a lot. We’d just moved our oldest son, Tyler, into his dorm room for his freshmen year at college. And Holly and I drove home with a bunch of empty bins in the back and a lot of feelings swirling around in our hearts — healthy pride in who he was and in his accomplishments, fears of what he might encounter, and everything in between. We realized that our relationship and our role as parents had seemingly changed overnight. Holly and I found ourselves feeling driven to pray for Tyler a lot that year. But what should we have prayed for? Should we have prayed that God would protect our son from negative influences? Should we have prayed that God would help him get good grades? or make friends? or that he would just be happy? What would be the best thing for him? What would be the best thing to ask God for? Well, today, we’re going to discover what would be the very best thing for all of us. Grab your Bibles/apps and open to Eph 3:14.







Ephesians 3:14–17a (NIV), “14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Paul starts this section with “For this reason…” which is the same way he started the text we looked at last week. It almost seems as if Paul interrupted the flow of his letter with an aside about his story and his suffering. But after considering how Paul’s story was changed in every way by the story of who God is and what God has done and is doing through his Son and Spirit — in other words, the story of the gospel — it doesn’t seem like that much of a tangent. In fact, his story as a Jewish man who became a Christian and then was commissioned by Jesus to be his apostle to the Gentiles fits the great theme of this letter of our union with Christ and, therefore, our unity with one another in him, Jew and Gentile. But after a brief stop in connecting his story to this theme of unity, Paul comes back to where he left off in Chapter 2 with another prayer. But what does he pray for? He says that he’s kneeling before God the Father in heaven, “from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

The Wisdom of God: If God is all-powerful and perfectly wise, how could he allow suffering to exist? People have always wrestled with this question, many Christians as well. According to the manifold wisdom of God and through the suffering of Christ, we can approach God with freedom and confidence in our time of need. Suffering is not the end of the story. Recorded on May 26, 2024, on Ephesians 3:1-13 by Pastor David Parks.















Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.















Sermon Transcript







For the last few weeks and for the next few months, we’ll be working through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. And today, as we start chapter 3, we’re going to consider the wisdom of God’s plan, hidden in the past, but now revealed to us in Christ. But there’s a mystery here. The mystery, what was really shocking, was that God’s plan included the immense suffering and humiliation of the cross of Christ. No one expected a dying messiah. Of course, Christians believe that after this suffering and death, on the third day, Jesus rose again from the dead as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. But still, God used the greatest tragedy to accomplish the greatest good. Almost no one would’ve thought this is what God’s plan would’ve looked like. However, even with this story of the suffering of the Son of God at the heart of the gospel, and even though the apostles and many of the first followers of Jesus suffered greatly for their faith, suffering is still shocking for many Christians today. Many Christians wonder if God is all-powerful, and if he is perfectly good, how could he allow suffering to exist? People have wrestled with this question as far back as we have a written record. Have you ever wondered how God could allow something evil or painful to intrude into your life? Have you ever prayed/cried out to God in tears/confusion because of the suffering in your life? What can we do in those dark days? What can we say when those difficult questions creep into our hearts? One of the things we can do is look to the stories of those who suffered in the Bible and learn from them. We might look to the stories of Joseph, Job, Naomi, or David and see how they dealt with suffering. But the Apostle Paul’s story is right up there — he suffered greatly because of his faith. And today, we’ll see how he talks about his experience, including the fact that he was an innocent man writing to the Ephesians from prison. But Paul’s perspective is radically different than the ways of this world. If so, grab a Bible/app and open it to Eph 3:1. We’ll unpack this text as we go.







Ephesians 3:1–3 (NIV), “1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.” In Chapter 1, Paul spelled out the truly cosmic nature of the gospel — that God was working from eternity to eternity to unite all things in/under Christ. In Chapter 2, Paul went on to remind the Ephesians of the radical unity that God has brought to Jews and Gentiles by grace through faith in Jesus. Now, here, he shares how his personal story relates to the unfolding story of God. And he starts by calling himself “the prisoner of Christ Jesus f...

A New Temple: Separation from God and from other people can be hopelessly painful. But the gospel destroys all barriers and puts to death all hostility. Why? Because God is building a new temple, made up of all kinds of people, whose lives are built on Christ and aligned with his word. Recorded on May 19, 2024, on Ephesians 2:11-22 by Justun Hart.















Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.

Saved By Grace: What does it actually mean to be “saved” in a Christian sense? The Biblical picture of life in this broken world is bleak — that apart from Christ, we are spiritually dead. Is there any hope? Yes! The gospel says that because of God's love and mercy, salvation is offered as a gracious gift to be received by faith. The gospel changes everything. Recorded on May 12, 2024, on Ephesians 2:1-10 by Pastor David Parks.















Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.















Sermon Transcript







Well, for the next few months, we’ll be working through a sermon series called The Gospel in Life from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in the Bible. If you missed either of the first few sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen to the podcast to catch up if you’d like. But today, we’re going to try and stare into the sun for the next 30 minutes or so. Today, from one of the most important passages in the whole Bible, we’re going to consider the heart of Christian salvation. What does it actually mean to be “saved” in a Christian sense? Just what is it that God saves us from? How has he saved us? And what has he saved us for? Well, in case you’re thinking, “I don’t really need this message. I’m already a Christian.” just remember, Paul is writing to Christians, to his brothers and sisters in Christ, in Ephesus. They’d already heard and believed the gospel. But today, in Ephesians 2, we’ll see that everybody needs the gospel, even Christians. We never graduate from our need for the gospel. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Ephesians 2:1.







Ephesians 2:1–2 (NIV), “1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” “As for you” probably refers to the gentile Christians in the church at Ephesus, but he’s not leaving himself or Paul’s fellow Jews from the need for the gospel, as we’ll see shortly. But here, Paul starts with the bad news. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” What does this mean? Well, a transgression simply means crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed. You commit a transgression when you drive your car through a guardrail on the highway — that never ends well. A moral transgression would be crossing a line that God has drawn, breaking a command of God, such as lying, cheating, stealing, coveting what isn’t yours, dishonoring your parents, and so on. These are all transgressions, but sin is very similar. The word for sin was originally an archery term meaning falling short of the mark. In Christian thought, sin means falling short of God’s standard for what is right in thought, word, or deed. Jesus taught that the whole Law could be summed up in two commands: first, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second, to love your neighbor as yourself. So sin means falling short in some way in our love for God or our love for others. Now, everyone knows that transgressions and sins are bad. God made human beings with a conscience. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to know right from wrong. But here’s the real problem: Paul says that if you cross a line you shouldn’t cross or if you fall short of what’s right, it’s not just that you’re guilty,

Incomparably Great Power: Do you want to grow in your faith, no matter what your circumstances are? You need to understand what you've been given in Christ. Paul prays the Ephesians would know the hope of their calling, the riches of their inheritance, and the incomparably great power they have been given in Christ. Recorded on May 5, 2024, on Ephesians 1:15-23 by Pastor David Parks.















Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.















Sermon Transcript







So, last week, we started a new sermon series called The Gospel in Life from the book of Ephesians in the Bible. And we started with the truth that the Christian life is, first and foremost, a life of worship. Today, we’ll consider the first of two prayers of Paul in his letter. In this first prayer, we see not only the fruit of what God is doing in their church but also how Paul prays for them to continue to grow in their faith. Do you want to know how to grow in your faith? Do you ever read the Bible and wonder, why doesn’t my life look more like this?? Do you want more hope and more spiritual power, no matter what your circumstances are? This message is for you. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Ephesians 1:15.







Ephesians 1:15–16 (NIV), “15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” So, the Apostle Paul is writing a letter here to his friends, who are mostly Gentile believers in the city of Ephesus. Paul had planted this church about ten years earlier and is now writing back to them when he was under house arrest in Rome. Last week, we saw that after the initial greeting, he started the body of the letter with a doxology or an invitation to worship. And we saw that the reason he was inviting the Ephesians to worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because of the gospel — which is the good news of who God is, what he’s done in the past, what he’s doing today, and what he’s promised for our future in Christ. We saw that this gospel reveals the truly cosmic nature of God’s plan, the only rational response being to live lives of worship to the praise of his glory. Here, in v. 15, Paul moves from doxology to prayer. “For this reason,” meaning, in light of the grand scope of the gospel, from eternity to eternity, Paul has not stopped giving thanks to God for the Ephesians, “remembering you in my prayers.” But why? Why is Paul so thankful? He says that he heard some good things about them. He heard about their “faith in the Lord Jesus.” Paul spent almost three years in Ephesus. He probably knew many of the people who were in the church there, except for those who came to faith after he left. And as a good shepherd, Paul would’ve cared deeply for them. Like a good mom or dad would want the best for their kids, so Paul would’ve wanted the best for them. At some point, someone brought him a report of their faith, and he was overjoyed. They do believe, Paul! They believe in the gospel, they trust in Jesus, and they follow his way — even in the mostly pagan city of Ephesus. How do you know? Because of their love for all God’s people. Now, the phrase “God’s people” here literally means “holy ones,” which is where, in church history, we got the term “the saints.” But saints in the Bible aren’t exceptional, superhero-like Christians.