Ephesians
67 results found.
Protecting people with words
Excellent Christian preaching names and explores the shadows in order to declare that the light shines in the darkness.
Why discipleship is not like the Olympics
There are lots of ways to talk about the relationship between sports and religion.
The opening scene of Bull Durham comes to mind. As does the cultic quality of America’s obsession with football.
Sport as the center of personal and communal piety has a long history in many cultures, with the U.S. perhaps—to keep the competition motif alive here—winning the prize for the world’s most zealous devotees of the faith.
Sunday, July 29, 2012: 2 Samuel 11:1-15; Ephesians 3:14-21
David stares at us out of a mirror and shows us our capacity for sinning.
After adoption
Dhini didn’t ask to be adopted. That's the way grace works.
A hopeful universalism
God's "consuming fire" is the fire of holy love. It doesn't await sinners in the future; it burns up sin itself.
It ain't about works
There must have been some Lutherans sitting in that conference room when the Revised Common Lectionary was birthed. That is the only explanation that I can come up with for Ephesians 2:1-10 having a role on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B.
By Steve Pankey
The wall of hostility has come down
Christ "has broken down the dividing wall. . . . that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it."
The armor of God: Ephesians 6:10-20
Our armor always loses because our weapons are consistently one step ahead of our protection.
The manna story (John 6:24-35; Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Ephesians 4:1-16)
What is manna? Is it a Hebrew pun on mah hu, or as Everett Fox suggests, “Whaddayacallit”? Is it mountains of sweet insect excrement, as proposed by some scholars, or the stuff of legend?
Ordinary 19B (John 6:35, 41-51; 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2)
For decades, my students have failed to grasp the resurrection of the body as an article of faith.
Ordinary 19B (John 6:35, 41-51; 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2)
For decades, my students have failed to grasp the resurrection of the body as an article of faith.
The gospel vs. self-reliance
This week the lectionary offers foundational verses of our faith. But the faith cannot live on a couple verses alone.
Capital T: Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29
The other day I was sitting in a coffee shop and couldn’t help overhearing an interesting and intense debate on the other side of the room. An older gentleman was trying his best to aid an inquisitive college student who had some hard-hitting questions. She asked about scripture, about authority and about the church. One question kept popping up: “What is the difference between truth for you, truth for me and truth with a capital T?”
Wrecking crew: Ephesians 2:11-22
The world is full of walls. Everywhere we go, there are fences, gates, partitions and other ingeniously constructed barriers—all aimed at keeping something or someone in and keeping something or someone else out. We need walls.
The life force (Ephesians 2:1-10)
As much as we might like to make the faith about spiritual enlightenment or ethical ideals or the broad love of God that inspires tolerance, the fact of the matter is that the gospel is at root a rescue story.
Move on: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
Samuel, the Billy Graham of his day, was adviser to the political leader Saul, the Pete Rose of ancient Israel. Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel. But soon (to quote James Thurber), “confusion got its foot in the door” and went through the entire “system.” Samuel observed Saul disobeying the explicit word of God, and it became Samuel’s job to inform Saul that God had rejected him as king.
Kingly presence: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12
Because we know almost nothing about the wise men, our imaginations take wing. If we were brought up in the Christian faith, these characters have ridden across our minds and hearts ever since we were taken to our first Sunday school pageant.
Roll call: Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69
Jesus called the Twelve together and put the question to them with unsettling directness: Do you also wish to go away? I wonder sometimes how I would have responded to the question. Because at times the truth is I do wish to go away.