The Crossing Church Sermons

Jesus ascends declaring His victory over our greatest enemy and in triumph gifts His people in order to join with Him in His mission to fill all things with Himself. 

In light of all God has done to redeem us and make us His people, we together as the church live as a humble, patient, and gentle people forbearing with each other in love. In doing this, we demonstrate the gospel to the world. 

God does more than we could ever imagine in and through His church for His own glory

Paul continues his prayer asking for us to be established in love, to comprehend the incomprehensible measureless love of God and for this to fill us with God's presence as we savor and enjoy Him and His love.

Paul returns to his prayer and falls on his knees in humble dependence for God to deepen His communion with His people by asking the Spirit to help them see that Jesus has come to dwell forever with them. 

Paul again refers to our union with Christ that gives us boldness and confidence as we live in the presence of God which also helps us have courage as we endure suffering. 

In Ephesians 3:8-11 we see the boundless riches of Christ and His beautiful church in how He is bringing in Gentiles to be a part of His revealed mystery. 

Paul saw the disappointing circumstances of imprisonment in light of God's sovereign goodness, for the good of others and His global mission to bring Gentiles into the church.

The 3rd metaphor for the church at the end of Ephesians 2 is that God has made us a living holy temple where God's presence dwells. This temple is built on the cornerstone that is Jesus Christ and those who have declared His gospel. 

Paul ends Chapter 2 of Ephesians with giving us 3 powerful metaphors to help us understand who we are as a church. Verse 19 reveals 2 of those images - we are citizens of the same kingdom and members of the same family. 

Through His work on the cross, Jesus provides the foundation for peace between all believers and the realization of peace between God and sinful humanity. Jesus proclaimed and proclaims this peace as well as provides access for us to God. 

In a shocking creation, Jesus takes Jews and Gentiles and makes something new - the Church. By His sacrifice, He accomplishes the impossible. 

After exploring the depths of the glory of our individual reconciliation with God in the first 10 verses of Ephesians 2, Paul now digs into the corporate reconciliation between Jew and Gentile and how they both needed to be brought near to God by the blood of Jesus. 

God has accomplished His good work in us so much that we, as part of the new creation, are a work of His that can display God's grace as we do His good works. 

How do we move from those who are spiritually dead, more allegient to Satan than God, under God's wrath to made alive by Christ, seated and raised with Christ? We are shown grace that leads to faith in Christ. This is all a gift of God for which we can worship and not boast.

We are not only made alive by Christ, we are also raised and seated with Christ so that God can display His grace and kindess through our salvation.

Before and without Christ, our natural spiritual human condition is bleak. Spiritually dead. More aligned with the kingdom of Satan than God. Humanity's greatest problem is this spiritual separation from God and thankfully God also provides His greatest remedy. 

On this Resurrection Sunday see the reality of God's Power as seen in Jesus' resurrection that is now in us because of our union with Christ. This is power enough to raise the dead, power that Jesus exerts as He rules over every earthly and spiritual ruler and it's a power that Jesus exerts FOR the church. So that we, His body, would accomplish our mission - to fill the earth with the fullness of...

As we celebrate Palm Sunday and enter Holy Week, we celebrate the coming Redeemer who has come to pay the price to make us His own through His blood and also provide forgiveness of sin all in accordance with God's rich and lavish grace. 

God's work of salvation in us is real as seen in faith in Jesus and love for all the Saints. But we can pray for a growing grasp of who we are that leads to a deeper intimacy and enjoyment of God.

When we hear the gospel and believe, the Spirit seals us as God's and becomes in the reality of our current and future redemption. God is to be praised and glorified in how He does this in us. 

God has created and executed a perfect plan that factored in everything necessary to make us His own possession, his children, through the work of Christ as we put our hope in Christ that we might live to praise His glory and grace!

In Ephesians 1:9-10 we see another amazing aspect of Paul's opening doxology - in His perfect timing Christ displayed a new reality, a mystery, the church. Made up of Jews and Gentiles. We are brought in, in Him, and are sent out to grow the family. This is part of God bringing all things together in Him - in Christ.