April 19 2026

Series in Ephesians              

April 19, 2026

Havasu Christian Church

“Paul just jumps right in!

INTRO: As we begin our study of the book of Ephesians, it’s probably a good idea to know a little about what’s going on.

        Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus. He has been there before. In fact, he planted the Church there. Then he was run out of town. 

        Paul made a brief visit to Ephesus that we read about in Acts 18:19-21. 

        In Acts 19 we read that Paul returns to Ephesus, and winds up staying there for about 2 years. He even rents a space (The School of Tyrannus) and reaches people from all over that area.

        In the end of Acts 19, we read about “a riot, being held in Paul’s honor.” He is forced to leave.

        In Acts chapter 20 we read about Paul traveling past Ephesus. He knows that if he goes into the city, bad things might happen. So he sends for the Elders to meet him at a nearby town. A tearful greeting and farewell are made, and he travels on.

At some point, he even fought “wild beasts” there. 1 Corinthians 15:32

In I Corinthians 16, Paul writes that he is going to stay in Ephesus for a while, because “a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (1 Corinthians 16:9)

At one point, Paul leaves Timothy behind to continue working in Ephesus, and later, he also sends Tychicus there to work.

Paul has a long and fruitful relationship with the Church in Ephesus, so it is no great shock that he takes the time to send this letter.

Ephesians 1:1-12 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:

2   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4   just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love

5   He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

6   to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

7   In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

8   which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight

9   He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him

10   with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him

11   also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

12   to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

1. What’s going on with Paul as he writes this?
2. He’s in Prison!
3. Not a place most of us would want to be.
4. Paul has actually been imprisoned for a long time.

• Luke only records a single night in Philippi (Acts 16:19-40), two years in Caesarea (Acts 23:23; 24:23-27) and two years in Rome. (Acts 25:10-12; 28:14, 30-31) Paul was likely imprisoned on other occasions as well that Luke does not mention. Clement of Rome, for example, specifically speaks about Paul and says, “Seven times he bore chains.”

1. Paul most likely writes his “Prison letters, during his imprisonment in Rome.
2. He is allowed a measure of freedom
3. The Churches he has planted have had time to grow and need some questions answered.
4. The young men he sent out are in need of instruction and encouragement.
5. In spite of his various imprisonments, he has managed to stay busy!
6. He writes several “prison epistles.”
7. Paul is a Prisoner, but God is using his imprisonment in a mighty way!
8. Paul doesn’t stop, in spite of being imprisoned.

Philippians 1:12–14 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 

     13   so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 

     14   and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

1. What does Paul have to say to the Church in Ephesus?
2. Paul calls them Saints!
3. Not in the Catholic church, “Pray to them so they will do things for you” kind of way.
4. Saint = a living person, set aside for (separated, dedicated) to the service of God.
5. This isn’t some “Special class” of Christian.
6. ALL CHRISTIANS ARE SAINTS!
7. Paul calls them Faithful!
8. Faith is a verb, not a noun.
9. It’s not so much something you have, it’s something you do!
10. These people have chosen to live their lives in obedience to Jesus. To “take up their cross and follow Jesus!”
11. Paul calls them Blessed!
12. This word literally means “to speak well of, to request good for, or to do good to.”
13. How are they blessed?
14. Is this proof of “God the heavenly vending machine?” “Just put in the right prayer, and out comes whatever you want!” RIGHT? Certainly not!
15. They are blessed with “Spiritual blessings.”
16. They may not have all the physical comforts and things that they want, but they are blessed in other ways.

Let’s list these Spiritual blessings.

• God chose them (and us) in Christ
• God WANTS them to be His!
• In love, God predestined them to adoption as sons.
• God knows they will choose to follow Jesus, and he decided ahead of time that they would be His adopted children.
• With all the rights, responsibilities and privileges of being sons.
• God richly demonstrated His grace to them (and us).
• Definition: “Grace is often described as God's "unmerited favor," meaning it is a gift given to humans despite not being earned.”
• We don’t deserve it!
• We didn’t earn it!
• We aren’t even that cute and cuddly!
• God just decided that if we chose to follow His Son, He would give us forgiveness!
• God Lavishes this grace on us!
• God gives them (and us) redemption!
• To buy back.
• When we were innocent babies, we were His!
• At some point, we Chose to sin and separated ourselves from Him!
• Sin Separates us from God!
• It even separated Jesus from the Father, when He took our sins on Himself.

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

• God gives them (and us) forgiveness!
• “Forgiveness is a conscious, voluntary decision to release resentment, anger, and vengeance toward someone who caused harm, regardless of whether they deserve it.”
• God gives them (and us) eternal hope!
• Regardless of what happens in this life, Eternity is going to be AWESOME!
• God seals them (and us) in Christ!
• (He marks them as His own!)
• He gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit!

1. Paul calls them (and us) Chosen!
2. Isn’t it nice to be chosen?
3. For a team
4. For a job
5. For a marriage
6. With God, Christians are “His Pick!”
7. Paul calls them (and us) Holy!
8. Set apart for God’s special use!
9. Paul calls them (and us) Blameless!
10. Not because they have lived a blameless, (sinless) life, but because Jesus’ sacrifice made us so!
11. Paul says they (and we) have an inheritance!
12. We have a future where what belongs to God, will also belong to US!
13. We have no idea how large the Universe is!
14. The more we look, the more we see!

From: esahubble.org/

One of the most fundamental questions in astronomy is that of just how many galaxies the Universe contains. The Hubble Deep Field images, captured in the mid 1990s, gave the first real insight into this. Myriad faint galaxies were revealed, and it was estimated that the observable Universe contains between 100 to 200 billion galaxies. Now, an international team, led by Christopher Conselice from the University of Nottingham, UK, have shown that this figure is at least ten times too low.

100,000,000,000 X 10 = 1,000,000,000,000

Time: One trillion seconds is nearly 32,000 years.

      Two trillion seconds is nearly 64,000 years.

1. Paul says that they (and we) will, because of our Hope in Christ, cause God to be given Praise and Glory!

1. What does all this mean to us?
2. GOD REALLY, REALLY, LOVES US!
3. So much that He has sent Jesus to be the Sacrifice that made all the rest of this even possible!
4. I don’t deserve what Jesus did for me!
5. You don’t deserve what Jesus did for you!
6. No-one Deserves what Jesus did for US!
7. God could have intervened in Jesus’ suffering… but He didn’t!
8. He Chose to allow Jesus to suffer!
9. God made this plan, clear back in the beginning.
10. This choosing of us in Him, happened “before the foundation of the world”
11. WHY?
12. God wanted us to be His Children!
13. When we talk about “the family of God” we really mean it!
14. We are Children of God!

1 John 3:1–3 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1. God gives us proof of all this by giving us the “gift of the Holy Spirit” living in us!
2. We need to pay attention to His direction!
3. God does not promise a perfect earthly life!
4. In fact, Scripture is very plain that our following Jesus will cost us!
5. But God DOES promise us an indescribable, incredible, eternity!

Conclusion:

• If I’m a Christian,
• I need to listen to the Holy Spirit!
• I need to realize that this earthly life is a time for me to serve Jesus!
• I need to look to the future for my “retirement.”
• That retirement, begins when I die!
• I can also count on the fact that God will have plenty for me to do in the next life.
• I won’t be “looking around heaven’s dump for old furniture to fix!”
• If I’m not a Christian,
• WHY NOT?
• We’ve just looked at all these wonderful things that God does in the life of a Christian!
• Why wouldn’t I want to be one?
• Why wouldn’t I want the people I love to come to Jesus?

Why wouldn’t I want EVERYONE to give their life to Jesus?