Put Peace into Practice
Ephesians 4:2
Matthew Raley (1-29-12)

Everyone wants more love – for themselves.  When people complain that a church, for instance, is not “loving”, they are often really talking about the ways they wish they would be treated.  They are not usually talking about the actions they themselves are going to take to do love in that church.  Love-talk is very often a disguised drive to control other people.  This is not what Ephesians is about.  In today’s message we will ask:  how can we find a way to love others that is genuinely Christ-like?

Jan 29, 2012

"The Dove," Pablo Picasso, 1949, MoMA

Put Peace into Practice
Ephesians 4:2
Matthew Raley (1-22-12)

In Ephesians 4:2 we find that the first ways Paul mentions for us to walk worthy of our calling are with humility and meekness.  By way of reminder, Paul is speaking from an ancient mindset, one which accepts that there are expectations outside of ourselves which we need to meet to be considered worthy.  He is saying that humility and meekness are two of those expectations in Christ.  Further, we will learn in today’s sermon that Paul is speaking from the perspective of bonds between people – the fact that some relationships must be held as holy.  The relationship between believers is holy in Christ, and must be treated with special care.

Jan 22, 2012

An orchestra has many players, sometimes eighty individuals, playing instruments of all sizes and shapes, making very different sounds.  How can such a large, diverse group, all with parts that differ, make a common sound?  Well, it all starts with one pitch, an “A” played by an oboe.  Once the players make their instruments agree on that pitch, they have a chance to make music.  And good musicians are very fussy about pitch because there are only two relationships you can have with it: in-tune and out-of-tune.

Likewise, a church is filled with diverse people.  In today’s message we will see that in order for all those people to work together, they have to tune themselves to the right pitch.

January 15, 2012

Put Peace into Practice
Ephesians 4:1-6
Matthew Raley (1-8-12)

"boom," Gary Simmons, 2003, MoMA

My early experiences in ministry were filled with out-of-control conflicts fueled by lies, grudges, power-plays, and secret sins.  All these things led to endless fighting, and lots of destruction.  These experiences taught me the high priority of peace as God’s tool for cleansing his people, and forced me to learn the nuts-and-bolts of building peace.

Today we begin a series about the core of Ephesians, the Gospel of peace by which Jesus Christ rules his church.

Jan 8, 2012