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DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 4:17-24

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 4:17-24

Ephesians 4:17-24

v17-21: “Converted Gentiles must not live like unconverted Gentiles.” At one time we were devoid of all saving knowledge and ignorant of many things about God “because we wanted to be so.” Preferring the darkness to the light and having “a dislike and aversion to a life of holiness,” we made it our “common practice to commit all kinds of immorality.” But not anymore. When we came to know Christ, we were “saved from the darkness and defilement” and are now “obliged to lead better lives.”

v22-24: Our old self, “this corrupt nature innate in us,” inherited from Adam and which we brought into the world with us must be taken off and put to death, and the new self must be put on. The new self enables a person to live a new life, the life of righteousness toward people and holiness toward God they are required to live.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 4:1-16

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 4:1-16

Ephesians 4:1-16

v1: The remainder of this letter is all about what God requires of us.  It is a section that is practical, “intended to give us direction in our lives and how we lead them.” Paul’s concern is that those who are called Christians, “fulfil that name and live as Christians.”  This is something he thinks is worth suffering for and we should give his teaching “serious attention and dutiful observance.”

v2-3: To maintain unity, the first step is having humble thoughts of ourselves, because without humility, “there will be no gentleness or patience, and without these there is no unity.”

v4-6: Those who belong to Christ should be one.  One because we belong to the same body of Christ and are motivated by the same Spirit.  One because we are called to the same hope of eternal life.  One because we saved by the same faith.  One because we are baptised in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  One because the one God and Father acknowledges all of us who are part of the church as his children.

v7-10: Everyone in the church has been given by Christ gifts and graces to be used to love one another.

v11-13: Both extraordinary gifts (apostles and prophets) and ordinary gifts (evangelists and pastor-teachers) have been given to the church by Jesus.  While the extraordinary gifts are no longer needed with the completion of Scripture and the establishment of the church, the ordinary gifts of these teachers who preach the gospel and instruct God’s people continue to be given in order to build up the church and prepare us for heaven.  “How kind Christ is to his church!  How much he cares for it and its teaching!” 

v14-16: God’s intention is that the ministry of those who have been given to the church to teach God’s Word will lead to His people being “no longer children in knowledge, weak in faith and fickle in judgments, easily giving in to every temptation.”  Instead, we would “come to know Christ and to increase our faith in him, our love for him, and dependence on him.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

LATEST LINKS

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10 links to check out over the weekend…

(Photo: Ryan McGuire)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 3:14-21

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 3:14-21

Ephesians 3:14-21

v14-16: Paul asks God to give the Ephesians Christians spiritual blessings, “which are the best blessings and should be most wholeheartedly sought and prayed for by each one of us, both for ourselves and for our friends.” He prays that they would be given the spiritual power and ability that comes from the Holy Spirit “to fulfil their duty, resist temptations, and endure persecution.”

v17-19: “The dimensions of [Christ’s] redeeming love are wonderful.” Its breadth extends to “all ages, nations, and ranks of people.” Its length continues “from eternity to eternity.” Its depth stoops “down to the lowest condition of humanity, with the intention of helping and saving those who have sunk into the depths of sin and misery.” Its height raises us up “to heavenly happiness and glory.” Oh that we would know this love, experience this love, and be assured of this love. Let’s pray that we would “more clearly grasp and more firmly believe” this wonderful love that Christ has for His people.

v20-21: God is “able to do more, abundantly more, exceedingly abundantly more” that we may ask or think of asking for. We can never exhaust His grace and mercy with our prayers. “When we turn to God, we should encourage our faith by considering his all-sufficiency and almighty power.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 3:8-13

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 3:8-13

Ephesians 3:8-13

v8-9: “There is a vast treasure of mercy, grace, and love stored in Christ Jesus for both Jews and Gentiles.”  This treasure is to be made known and offered to the whole world, and those who “are not made rich with these riches” only have themselves to blame for remaining poor by not responding with faith to the preaching of the gospel.

v10-13: The wisdom of God is “revealed in the many different ways and methods he uses in organising his church in its various ages” and especially in the way the Gentiles have been gathered into it. All that has been accomplished in and through Jesus Christ “in the great matter of human redemption was according to the Father’s eternal decree about that matter.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

TRAUMA CARE AFTER COVID WEBINAR

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Notes from FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on ‘Trauma Care after COVID’ with John Stevens, Jonathan Thomas, and Catherine Haddow.

1. Our ministry is primarily a ministry of proclamation.  Our fundamental task is to be those who dare to tell the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2).  The gospel is good news about Jesus Himself.  It is a message about a person and what that person has done.  Jesus, the Son of God, who came from heaven, died and rose, will return in judgment and who rescues us from the coming wrath against us because of our sin.  This is the message we are to dare to tell in the face of opposition from those who hate the gospel and don’t want to hear it (both inside and outside the church) and we are able to do this with the help of God.

2. A few challenges churches are facing coming out of lockdown are a) communal worship because not being able to sing indoors; b) community because of the restrictions over the last year preventing being able to meet together; c) capacity of venue with social distancing in place.

3. Lockdown Update:
– Reality is that we are living in a period of uncertainty where we do not know whether step 4 is going to come into effect on 21 June.
– Speculation that a delay is seriously being considered which means we need to prepare in our thinking for a 2 or 4 week delay.
– It is unlikely that we will be going back from step 3 so we will be able to carry n doing what we are currently able to.
– The only step 4 implication that was guaranteed for churches was allowance of mixing and mingling indoors for greater numbers than groups of 6 or 2 households.
– There had been no commitment that guidance regarding social distancing and singing, and rule concerning face coverings would end.
– It could be that in step 4 wearing face coverings moves from law to guidance in churches and managing this could be a challenge for church leaders if there are a variety of sensitivities within the congregation.
– Don’t get caught up in guessing about the future.  Instead focus on what we can do today.

4. Why do we need to think about trauma care after COVID?  Because people in our churches are experiencing trauma now and or will do in the future because of the pandemic and it is easy for us to cause further harm and re-traumatise the survivors.

5. Trauma is a wound or injury.  It is both an event and an experience that overwhelms the survivor.

6. The COVID pandemic may cause both PTSD and cPTSD.  PTSD as people are overwhelmed by exposure to suffering (medics), losing a loved one, going through surgery or difficult childbirth without the usual care support in place etc.  cPTSD as people suffer for example systematic spiritual abuse, domestic abuse, sexual abuse that they have been unable to escape from.  There may be survivors in the church family who are silently experiencing this.

7. PTSD compared to cPTSD.
– PTSD is caused by a single event with a distinct end.  It is often public, open and shared.  Help is usually available.  It often occurs in adulthood.  Safety can be established for recovery time.  The brain is usually developed.  The person have stable, trusted, caring relationships.
– cPTSD is caused by repeated and ongoing events.  It is private, secret, shameful and isolating.  Those suffering cPTSD are unable or too afraid to get help.  It usually begins in childhood.  It is repeated and there is no escape for recover time.  The brain of the individual is growing and development can be affected.  The harm was caused in a care relationship.

8. Symptoms of PTSD: stuck in time, altered memory processing, hyper-vigilance, sleep issues, strong emotions or lack of emotions, triggers and flashbacks, avoidance, negative self-perceptions, (unhelpful coping strategies).  In addition to these symptoms of cPTSD: mood severity and regulation more severe, catastrophic mental health episode more likely, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts more common, many unexplained physical symptoms, intimacy and trust issues in relationships, heightened risk of further destructive relationships, ongoing disassociation, ongoing social and developmental issues.

9. The effects of trauma is that it silences, removes choice, isolates and shames, causes immense confusion (of who they are and who God is), and fractures relationships.

10. One sufferers experience of trauma is not the same as another’s (even if there are similarities).  We give survivors dignity when we remember this.

11. What are some frequent pastoral care errors?
– Trauma silences so we need to be careful we don’t rush and assume rather than listen and learn their story.  We need to be careful that we don’t inadvertently trigger flashbacks.
– Trauma removes choice so we need to be careful that we don’t tell them what to do.  We need to be careful that we don’t reject or overly embrace secular help.
– Trauma isolates and shames so we need to be careful that we are self-aware of our limits and make sure we help in community and not on our own.
– Trauma confuses so we need to be careful we don’t address the sin instead of the suffering and we don’t rush in with Scripture.
– Trauma fractures relationships so we need to be careful we don’t pressure them to forgive or try to be their saviour.

12. How can we show redemptive care to survivors?
– We gently encourage and help them to speak (to reverse silence).
– We always emphasis and respect their choice (to reverse helplessness and despair).
– We slowly build a healthy community around them (to reverse isolation).
– We compassionately offer a better truth (to reverse the confusion and lies they have believed or been told).
– We patiently build trust (to reverse mistrust and betrayal) and we lovingly show them the promises and presence of a Saviour who cares.

13. Sign up for the Church as a Refuge conference and read everything by Dr Diane Langberg.

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 3:1-7

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 3:1-7

Ephesians 3:1-7

v1: Paul is suffering in prison and yet he is praying to God on behalf of the Ephesian Christians. A lesson we can take from this is “that no particular sufferings of our own should make us so concerned about ourselves as to neglect the situations of others in our supplications and speaking to God.”

v2: “What God calls people to, he equips them for, and he does so with his almighty power.” God equipped Paul for his work, “and as he did his work God gave him the appropriate help — all necessary gifts and graces, both ordinary and extraordinary, by the effectual working of his power.”

v3-7: The mystery that “was not so fully and clearly revealed in the generations before Christ as it is now revealed,” is that Gentiles along with believing Jews would be members of the church of Christ and enjoy all the blessings of salvation, “especially the great promise of the Spirit.” The salvation of Gentiles is a reminder “not to despair of the worst, or the worst people and the worst nations. Nothing is too hard for divine grace to accomplish,” and “no one is so unworthy that God may not be pleased to lavish his great grace on them.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 2:11-22

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 2:11-22

Ephesians 2:11-22

v11-12: It is good for us to consider what we were by nature. We had no knowledge of Christ and no saving relationship with Him. We did not belong to God’s people and had no hope of eternal life.

v13: But now by faith we have been united to Christ and brought near to Him, to His church, to His promises, to the hope of eternal life, and to God Himself. “Every believing sinner owes their closeness to God and their enjoyment of his favour to the death and sacrifice of Christ.”

v14-15: Jesus Christ by His death has reconciled Jews and Gentiles to each other by removing the “cause of hostility and distance between them,” by being the fulfilment of the ceremonial laws. The church is a new community of believers in Christ, “whether they had been Jews or Gentiles before.”

v16-18: We can draw near to God through Jesus Christ and by the help of the Spirit. “Christ purchased for us permission to come to God, and the Spirit gives us a heart and strength to come.”

v19-22: Every believer in Christ is a temple which God lives in through the Holy Spirit. “His living with them now is a pledge of their living with him to eternity.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 2:4-10

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 2:4-10

Ephesians 2:4-10

v4-7: We who were spiritually dead, cut off from God, are now spiritually alive with Christ.  We have been saved from sin and wrath because of God’s great love for us and mercy towards us.  “Our believing in order to be saved and our obtaining salvation through faith are entirely owing to divine help and grace.”

v8-9: Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation are gracious gifts from God.  They do not come to us because of anything we have done, or “of any natural abilities or of any merits of our own,”  and so “all boasting is excluded.”

v10: We are saved and given new life for a purpose.  We are to glorify God by living “an exemplary life and by our perseverance in holiness.” These are good works that God has prepared for us to do beforehand, and He will help us to do them by the “influence and activity” of His Spirit.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

LATEST LINKS

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10 links to check out over the weekend…

(Photo: Ryan McGuire)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 2:1-3

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Ephesians 2:1-3

Ephesians 2:1-3

v1-2: As those who are born dead in our trespasses and sins, we are by nature children of disobedience. Cut off from God, the source of all life, “we follow the course of this world” and conform our “lives and actions to the will and pleasure of Satan” walking “according to his suggestions and in compliance with his temptations.” This is what we were like before God stepped in and saved us.

v3: “All people, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath.” God’s wrath and anger is what we deserve and what we will eternally face, if He did not intervene. This description of the condition of humanity as dead, depraved, and damned is “enough to awaken and alarm those who are still in their sins and make them move quickly out of that state” by turning to Christ.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – EPHESIANS 1:20-23

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Read Ephesians 1:20-23

Ephesians 1:20-23

v20-21: Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, in authority over all things, both in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, all creatures are subject to Him and must either give Him their obedience or they will be condemned by Him.

v22-23: Christ is ruling over all things for the church, for her progress and her health. As His body, we can be sure that He loves us and will care for us.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)