Sermon06142020-"Depth Over Distance"
Series: The Comeback
June 14, 2020
Sterling Edwards
Many years ago, I went out for a jog. I ran down the sidewalk in front of our house to our local park. From there, I began jogging down a trail inside of the park. I jogged along the trail for a while, but realized I was in unfamiliar territory. I was not really worried, thinking that all that I needed to do was to turnaround and retrace my steps. Soon, my jog turned into a walk. I noticed some houses and a nearby street. I decided to abandon the trail, fully believing I now knew my surroundings. It did not take me too long to figure out that I had no idea where I was. I also wondered how I could have possibly become lost so quickly. My phone was in my pocket. All that I needed to do was make one phone call and Jenna would have immediately come to pick me up. But, some of us have to do things the hard way. Some of us can be a little hard-headed. Some of us can be pretty stubborn. I pressed on, believing that any moment I would become familiar with my location. I kept walking and walking. It had been hours since I set out for my early morning run. Reluctantly, when I realized just how lost I was, I called Jenna. Through additional walking down some main roads, we were finally able to determine my location. 20 minutes later, Jenna was there to pick me up. Eventually, I was able to determine that I had wandered six miles away from our home. It did not look that far on a map, but I felt very far away. Maybe you have had a similar experience. We start out thinking we know we are and we know where we are going. We run into some circumstances and places that we did not intend, but we think that we are still in control. We think we still have this. We think we can turn around at any time and retrace out steps. We think that eventually we will find our way. Yet, as time continues, we wonder if we have gone too far. We wonder if we can even find our way. We wonder if we are too late. This coming Sunday, we will be continuing our “Comeback” Teaching Series with a sermon entitled “Depth Over Distance”. Please join us this coming Sunday in person at 9:30 am. or 11:00 am. Or, join us on Facebook Live at 11:00 am. It’s not too late and you are never too far away. Sterling
Episode Notes
“DEPTH OVER DISTANCE”
June 14, 2020
Sterling Edwards
Ephesians 3:7-21
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
1. The Transition That Makes Us Move From Discouragement To Dependence
A. The Mystery Of God’s Ways Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
B. God’s Multi-Faceted Wisdom 1 Corinthians 1:25
25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
2. The Trust That Motivates Us To Move From Doubting To Dwelling
A. The Misunderstanding Of Our Wants
James 4:1-6
4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
B. The Meditation Of God’s Word
Romans 12:1-2
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3. The Truth That Moves Our Measurement From Distance To Depth
A. The Myth Of Our Works Ephesians 2:6-10
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:7-10 (The Message)
7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
B. The Marvelous Wealth Of God’s Mercy Ephesians 3:14-21
Former NASA astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, is now also the first woman to reach the deepest point in the ocean.
Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space in a 1984 mission on the space shuttle Challenger and later left NASA to become administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to NASA.
She traveled to the deepest point in the ocean, located in the Western Pacific Ocean, on a submersible called the Limiting Factor piloted by Victor Vescovo of Caladan Oceanic before returning to its mothership the Pressure Drop. Vescovo, who has also piloted the Limiting Factor on a recent dive to the Titanic, became the fourth person to reach Challenger Deep last year.
The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench[1] is located in the western Pacific Ocean about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about 2,550 km (1,580 mi) in length and 69 km (43 mi) in width. The maximum known depth is 10,984 metres (36,037 ft) (± 25 metres [82 ft]) (6.825 miles) at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep.[2] However, some unrepeated measurements place the deepest portion at 11,034 metres (36,201 ft).[3] By comparison: if Mount Everest were placed into the trench at this point, its peak would still be over two kilometres (1.2 mi) under water.[a]
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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