The City Gates Church

Part four of a four-part series on what Christians believe.

Part three of a four-part series on what Christians believe.

Part two of a four-part series on what Christians believe.

A four-part series on what Christians believe. In this first study we ask who is God, and find seven practical answers.

Teaches us that we need to attempt to live peaceably with people both inside and outside the church, avoiding unnecessary conflict wherever possible and to rest in the knowledge of what God has done for us and what lies ahead.

God is calling men, women, young, old, workers and bosses, to live a life of integrity, purpose, and commitment to God and others instead of ourselves.

Every Christian, regardless of title, should desire to be more like Christ and these verses spell out some of what that looks like.

We may be the children of God, but we live on a battleground, not a playground. There is a spiritual reality to the physical world we live in.

The things we're going to see in Scripture today can have an immediate impact on the work you do tomorrow: how you see it, how you approach it.

Christian families and how they should run and how children should respond to their parents, and how parents should treat their kids. It's practical stuff. It's simple to understand, but painful to apply.

Christian husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loves the church. But what does that mean? You can't show this kind of love unless you know it.

Are Christian wives really called to submit to their husbands? And what does that mean anyway? We find our answers in God's Word.

As Paul continues to encourage us regarding how to live as Christians, we see three specific examples of how Christians should live differently.

As Christians there are things that we should never do, things that should “not even be named among us.” They include sins that reflect corrupt desires in our heart and foul things that come out of our mouths. Is there any evidence of these things in your life? God is calling you to come away from them.

At Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the new birth, but after we're born we still need to grow up spiritually. Paul gives us some very practical areas to work on.

A line is drawn in the sand and Christians are told there MUST be a difference between in their lives as they put off their old identity and put on the identity of Christ.

Pastors are supposed to 'equip the saints for the work of ministry' but what is ministry? What does it produce? And how do you know what ministry you're called to? We find answers to all these questions and more.

God has given specific leadership gifts to the church for the express purpose of building up all Christians. Is it working? Do you know what God has called you to, and are you being equipped for it? Are you being built up in your faith?

The life of a healthy Christian should be framed by humility, love, and unity that is based in our position in God. If there is only one faith, one Lord, one God and Father of all, how can we be in conflict with others who are also in Christ?

God is living inside of each Christian, and he's also stacking Christians together in a community called the church. We have both an individual and a corporate relationship with God.

Paul says he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles. How does he respond to being in prison, and how what can we learn about enduring trials for the sake of the gospel? Is it possible that God might be calling us to suffer?

Do you realize how amazing it is that people from all over planet earth worship the God of the Jews? Paul encourages the Ephesians, and us, to remember how amazing it is that Jesus drew us near to Himself from the ends of the earth.

There is a difference between those who have been saved by Christ and those who have not, do we care about the destiny of the unsaved? And, what are the good works that God has prepared for Christians? What do they look like? The answer and at times, they look like work.

We've already noticed the theme of his prayer: that God would make Himself even more known to the Christians in Ephesus, this morning we're going to wrap up our examination of exactly how Paul prayed that might happen

Paul begins to list three specific prayer requests for the church and the first is that we would know the hope the we have in God's calling. So, what is hope and how does it affect our lives?