Latest / Doxa Student Ministry Sermon Files / Christ-Centered Living - Ephesians 3:1-13 - 10/18/26

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Christ-Centered Living - Ephesians 3:1-13 - 10/18/26 · Doxa Student Ministry Sermon Files

0:00
SPEAKER_01: To worship Christ in front of your peers.
0:02
SPEAKER_01: How many get it?
0:03
SPEAKER_01: Give me a bearing here.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: How many of you guys are in public school?
0:06
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand.
0:07
SPEAKER_01: You're in a public school scenario.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: All right.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: What about Christian school?
0:10
SPEAKER_01: You guys go to a Christian school?
0:11
SPEAKER_01: All right.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: And where are my homeschool people at?
0:14
SPEAKER_01: All right, there we are.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: All right.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Regardless of where you're at, what school you go to, what neighborhood you live in, I just want to say that it is really exciting for me to see you guys coming here with a desire to want to grow.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: Grow in your relationship with the Lord.
0:30
SPEAKER_01: Grow in what it means to be together as a Christ community and students.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: So DSM, Doxa Student Ministry.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty dope, man.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for you guys that you guys are on mission together.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: So, all right, open your Bibles, Ephesians chapter 3.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and do that.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: We're going to continue on in the series you guys are in the middle of right now, going uh verse by verse through the book of Ephesians.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: And I want to begin really by invoking your imagination.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: All right.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: How many of you all would say you have more of a vivid imagination than uh other people?
1:01
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: Um put that test to uh to action here.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Let's see if that's true.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: Um how many of you all believe?
1:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, let me just say it this way, if I were to give you keys to a Lamborghini, would you believe that I had the keys to begin with?
1:19
unknown: Why?
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm poor?
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Is that what you're thinking of?
1:22
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
1:23
SPEAKER_01: But let's imagine, okay, let's imagine today I actually gave you keys to a Lamborghini, much like the picture on the screen behind me.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: All right.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: Like I had keys and I'm bringing this.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: Is not a uh a toy, this is not a rental, but it's a brand new Lamborghini, and I give you the keys to this car because I want it to be yours.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: It's a gift from me to you.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: That would be awesome, all right?
1:45
SPEAKER_01: I'd have to be like a billionaire to pull that off, uh, which unfortunately I'm not.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: But think about that.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: Here's the caveat, though.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: There's one condition.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: This Lamborghini will be yours.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: However, you are never permitted to drive the Lamborghini.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: Right?
2:00
SPEAKER_01: That's the that's the trade-off, right?
2:02
SPEAKER_01: You you can't you can't take it on the highway.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: How many of you guys are 16 years old or higher or above that?
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: All right, so specifically you guys, you would not be able to get in the car, you would not be able to start the engine, you couldn't take it on the highway, you couldn't invite your friends to ride down 65 on a Lamborghini, all right?
2:19
SPEAKER_01: You can't do it.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: The only thing you can do is you can keep this Lamborghini tucked away neatly in your garage for the rest of your life.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: That would suck, wouldn't it?
2:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that would be horrible.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't want the Lamborghini, right?
2:35
SPEAKER_01: If that's the case, what are you gonna show everybody?
2:37
SPEAKER_01: Pet my Lamborghini.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: It's really nice to pet it.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: Nobody wants to do that.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: You want to ride in it.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, here's the thing.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: Think about this.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: I asked the question what's what's the point of having something that incredible if it never gets put to use?
2:54
SPEAKER_01: That would be crazy.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: But here's what might be even crazier.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: What if God has done something incredible in your lives, but you've never considered what he wants to do through your lives?
3:10
SPEAKER_01: That to me is even crazier.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: What do I mean by that?
3:15
SPEAKER_01: What if God didn't just save you from something?
3:20
SPEAKER_01: All right?
3:21
SPEAKER_01: What if God actually saved you for something?
3:25
SPEAKER_01: Because I believe that's what Paul is teaching us in this letter to the Ephesians.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: This is what the whole letter is really about.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: It's helping us understand what God has done in our lives and the reason why he's done it.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Now, where you guys left off, this was a while back ago, right?
3:41
SPEAKER_01: So over two weeks ago, you guys were in Ephesians chapter 2.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: I want to kind of bring you up to speed with where you've been at, where you were left off with in that chapter.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: If you remember, Paul was explaining how God's grace has radically changed his life.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: How many of you have already, I mean, you you know for sure that you are saved?
4:02
SPEAKER_01: Like you know for sure you've trusted Christ to be your savior.
4:05
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: So you have been radically changed by the grace of God.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: Paul, chapter two, was unpacking that.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: He was celebrating that.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: But now we come to chapter three, and he turns the dial a little bit, and he puts his emphasis on not so much of the grace that changed his life.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: Now he's very excited that he has this grace that God has given to him to entirely alter the course of the rest of his life.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: So he's got grace that changed him.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: Now he stirred up to explain how this gospel grace has called him to give up a new purpose for his life.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I want you to, I want you to walk away understanding tonight.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: If we give you the big idea, if you've got the handout, you'll see it in your handout.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I want you to see.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: In chapter three, Paul's gonna help us understand that God's grace at work in me should lead to God's glory through me.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: So what he's gonna unpack for us in these first 13 verses.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: This is the exact opposite of what you call a self-centered life.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: All right?
5:15
SPEAKER_01: This is the opposite, right?
5:16
SPEAKER_01: This is what you call a Christ-centered life.
5:19
SPEAKER_01: So what I'm about to read to you is Paul's testimony.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: All right, the Apostle Paul, he's sharing, listen, the same grace that radically changed me has done something in my life so that I can now, I'm called to step into a new purpose.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not just, I don't just want you to hear Paul's testimony, y'all.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Like this letter was written so that you and I, as Christ followers, would recognize what we have been invited into.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: So your public schools, your your Christian schools, your homeschool, your neighborhood, like this is the life, this is the grace that is in you, so now you can step into what it looks like to have a Christ-centered life.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: Let's be done with the self-centered life, like the the selfies and all that.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's okay to take a selfie, but if your life is all about yourself, oh wow, you have missed it.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: Like salvation came to you so you could experience a totally different purpose.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: And you're like teenagers.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: Like, can you imagine what God will do through your life?
6:24
SPEAKER_01: Bump that.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: What God wants to do through your life, as a teenager, preparing you to be propelled to spend your life, not waste your life, on Him and not on yourselves.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: Say, well, I mean, I kind of have plans for my life, right?
6:43
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I got plans to be a doctor, I want to be a vet, I want to be, I mean, oh, I want to be an accountant.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: Hey, those are all great goals.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: And by all means, pursue them.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: But don't waste your life thinking that that's it.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: God may want you to be a veterinarian for his glory.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Or God may want you to be a doctor or a lawyer for his kingdom.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about that.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: What has to happen in our lives to get from self-centeredness as a teenager, as an adult, right, into a Christ-centeredness, to where we're thinking and we're living in such a way that we're focused on living for Christ in his kingdom.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: How does that happen?
7:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, Paul's going to show us in this particular chapter, chapter number three.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: In fact, he's going to give us five marks of what it looks like to actually have or be a Christ-centered follower of the Lord.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: So if you're ready to jump into God's Word, I like to do this because I believe it keeps us on mission.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: Uh, say let's go.
7:44
unknown: Let's go.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right, let's do it.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: We're jumping right into Scripture, Ephesians chapter number three.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: I'll begin reading in verse one.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: He says this, for this reason, okay, what reason?
7:54
SPEAKER_01: The fact that I've been radically changed by the gospel.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: That reason, okay?
7:58
SPEAKER_01: For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: You see, when you when you read this, you can perceive, you can kind of tell my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: But this mystery, here it is.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: The reason why I'm giving my life, here's what I'm giving my life to, is that the Gentiles, can y'all say us?
8:44
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we're the Gentiles, the non-Jews, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: Like you got an inheritance, all right?
8:52
SPEAKER_01: Fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: And for this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: Now, to me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: Well, what's the grace he was given?
9:19
SPEAKER_01: To preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: In other words, to make Christ known and to bring to light for everyone.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: What is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Let me rephrase that.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: So that through the church, local, and through DSM church, think of an you are a small microcosm of the church.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: Through DSM, God wants to make known to the rulers and spiritual places, like the places you and I can't see, like the spiritual realm.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: God's using you.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Come on, y'all.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: He's using DSM to literally trample down demonic forces.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: How?
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Well, keep reading.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: He says, for the eternal, for the re realize he has realized in Christ Jesus and Lord, verse 12, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Jesus.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: Alright, let me pray.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: Let me pray and ask God for wisdom because we just unpacked a ton.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: All right, and I want to slow it up, I'm gonna chop it up, and I want you to walk out of here understanding what Paul is declaring to us.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Five marks of a Christ-centered life.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I thank you so much for your word.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: God, I thank you that Paul wrote this thousands of years ago.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: And here we are in a building in southeast Indianapolis, and we're reading a letter that you have preserved for us tonight.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you so much for the students that are represented in this room right now.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: And I pray, Lord, that you would open the eyes of our hearts.
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SPEAKER_01: Help us to hear and see what Paul was so moved by.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: And then, Lord, I pray that through the power of your spirit, you will move in us the same way that you did in Paul.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: God, we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ and for his glory alone.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: All right, let's talk about these five marks.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: Y'all ready to do this?
11:48
SPEAKER_01: Come on, here we go.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: Take some notes here.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the first mark that I want you to pay attention to that indicates that you and I are actually living a Christ-centered life is simply this.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: We follow Christ today.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: I want you to pay attention to verse number one.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: Paul says very plainly, for this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's stop there.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: If Paul is saying that he's a prisoner for Christ, that means that he is literally writing this letter from a prison cell in the first century of Rome.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: Let me show you a picture of what is believed to be uh Paul's prison cell that he most likely wrote from when he wrote you and I this letter from Scripture.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: He wrote this to Ephesus, but here we are reading it today.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: This is it.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: This is the prison cell.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: One access of light from the ceiling that lets in daylight in a dark, dungeon-like prison cell with chains.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: This is what is believed he was in.
12:56
SPEAKER_01: So here's what I want you to see.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Paul woke up this day when he wrote this letter from that prison cell.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to imagine that.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about it.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: Because this letter to the Ephesians is one of four prison letters.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: He had to make a choice.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: Paul is saying in verse number one, I made a choice this morning while I'm in this prison cell, that I'm going to follow Jesus.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: Now, what did it look like for Paul to follow Jesus in a prison cell?
13:31
SPEAKER_01: It looked like him picking up a pen and writing a letter to the church in Ephesus.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: That's what following Jesus meant for Paul in the first century when he wrote this letter.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: And here he's telling us, he's like, look, I'm not anxious, toiling, uh, and wondering whether or not I'm gonna escape from prison or if I'm gonna be delivered from prison today.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: I'm not thinking about that.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: What I'm thinking about is helping you know who Christ is.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing to me.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Following Jesus from a prison cell looked like picking up a pen and writing a letter to the church in Ephesus, but I wonder, hear me, what does following Jesus look like for you today?
14:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously you're not writing from a prison cell, thank the Lord.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: But what does it look like as a middle schooler?
14:19
SPEAKER_01: Do I have anybody from Beach Grove in here?
14:21
SPEAKER_01: Beachgrove middle schoolers?
14:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I got one.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: How about uh Clark Pleasant?
14:24
SPEAKER_01: Anybody Clark Pleasant?
14:26
SPEAKER_01: Nobody?
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Two people?
14:28
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: Greenwood, I got several of you, all right.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: And then how about Franklin Township?
14:32
SPEAKER_01: That's like the home base here around here, right?
14:34
SPEAKER_01: All right, think about this.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: And the homeschool crowd, right?
14:37
SPEAKER_01: You, all of you, your day, every single day, starts, and the next thing that happens is you go to school.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: What does it look like for you to follow Jesus as a middle school or a high school student?
14:53
SPEAKER_01: Paul in prison looked like picking up a pin, but I want to ask you in a in a in a way that generates answers tonight.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like for you to follow Jesus to school or at school tomorrow?
15:08
SPEAKER_01: Give me some answers.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: From your mouths, what does it look like to follow Jesus?
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Rattle them off.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: First thing that comes to your mind.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna gossip.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
15:22
SPEAKER_01: What else?
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna work at my schoolwork when I'm going to school with all my heart.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's what following Jesus.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: Okay, what else?
15:41
SPEAKER_01: Be kind to the people around you.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: Great answer.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: Praying for the people who annoy the crap out of you, alright?
15:49
SPEAKER_01: At school, right?
15:50
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm not gonna argue and fight with other people.
15:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, being a light, a gospel witness.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: All great answers.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: And I want you thinking about that.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: So whether you're following Jesus as a school student or as a band member or as an athlete, okay, Paul meant, for Paul, it meant following Jesus was picking up a pen, writing a letter.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: But what about us?
16:19
SPEAKER_01: You see, the driving question for me as I was reading this letter, and again, we're just gonna continue to work our way through this, is what actually caused Paul to want to follow Jesus in prison?
16:30
SPEAKER_01: Like what caused him to want to pick up a pen and write a letter to begin with?
16:33
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's pretty clear in the next couple of verses that Paul never got over the wonder of the gospel.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: He never lost it.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: Can I ask you a direct question?
16:45
SPEAKER_01: Would you say right now, in your in your relationship with God, that your faith has gotten stagnant?
16:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm not asking you as a judgment, I'm asking you to search your heart.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: Have you become complacent and casual about the wonder of the gospel?
17:02
SPEAKER_01: Like listen, listen to what he says next.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: And this is what I think is the second mark of a Christ-centered or Christ-centered life.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: It's this we treasure the gospel.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: You see, when Christ is at the center of our lives, there is a treasuring of the gospel message.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 2.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read this to you.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: It says, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how this mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I've written briefly.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: So he's in verse 4, he says, There's a mystery that was made known to me.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: In other words, Paul was able to understand something that the Old Testament saints didn't quite get.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, you know what it is?
17:47
SPEAKER_01: It's the fact that, verse number six, he said the fact that this good news of Jesus Christ coming into the world to save sinners, people who are outsiders, are welcomed into the family of God through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: Like that message grips me when I wake up.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: That's what's driving me to pick up my pen and write a letter to you eyes.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's saying.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: So when you think about your following Jesus tomorrow morning, when you remember the gospel in your own heart, think about, okay, the gospel.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: What is the gospel?
18:25
SPEAKER_01: Just put simple, simple terms.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is the fact that it's the good news that God saves sinners through Jesus' death, his life, and his resurrection.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus comes into the world to rescue sinners.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Can y'all say us?
18:46
SPEAKER_01: Alright, so he rescues everyone who is a lost sinner that looks to him for salvation.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Now, can I what's he rescuing us from?
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Rattle that off.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: What do you think he's rescuing us from?
19:01
SPEAKER_01: According to the Bible, what is Jesus?
19:03
SPEAKER_01: Why did he come to rescue us from our sin?
19:08
SPEAKER_01: Say that again?
19:09
SPEAKER_01: One more time.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: How often do you slow down enough to think about hell?
19:22
SPEAKER_01: The place where God is going to allow people to be faced with their own judgment.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: Hell was never created for humanity.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that hell was created for the demons and for Satan.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: But because of their manipulation, the wool over their eyes and pulling them away from God, people are blindly being led into a place of judgment.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: But you, you are rescued from hell.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: You are rescued from the place of God's wrath.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: And not just rescued from hell, you are rescued into a relationship with the creator of the universe.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: Like he wants you, he accepts you, he is madly in love with you.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: Like when you think about that, it should warm your heart.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: Stagnation begins to fall away, breaks apart when you just slow down and you think about what Jesus has done for you.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Paul's saying.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm treasuring, like God made known to me this incredible mystery of the fact that Gentiles, unbelieving non-Jews, are welcomed into God's family tree.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: We talked about that this morning.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: I lost my mind this morning, accelerating that reality.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't believe that I am in Jesus' family tree, y'all.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's crazy.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: So are you.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: So Paul never got over the gospel in his life.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: And so as a result of that, it it caused him to get up every day to follow the Lord.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Now, notice this also.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: He continues by explaining how the gospel motivated him.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: He wanted to be not just someone who experiences and treasures the gospel, but he also wants to be a partaker of the gospel.
21:29
SPEAKER_01: Like he wanted to get involved in the gospel.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: And this is the third mark.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: I'll say this.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: If you're taking notes, a Christ-centered life is one that is motivated by God's grace.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: Now in verse number seven, Paul says, he says that he was made a minister.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: Some people think of a minister and they think of a pastor, right?
21:53
SPEAKER_01: They think of a a guy or a priest, you know.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: They have the white collar and they have that little, the little, the black collar and the white little thing.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Here, you know what I'm talking about?
22:01
SPEAKER_01: Or opposite, whatever it is.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then they, you know, they go to the, they do the whole, what is the name of that thing?
22:06
SPEAKER_01: When you do this, you know, you know what the name of that is called?
22:08
SPEAKER_01: I know it crossed yourself.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: There's a name for it.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: I know it, there's a never mind.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, some people think of a minister as someone who's like a pastor in a church.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: But what would you say if I told you that that specific word that Paul is using here is actually a word for anyone that is serving other people.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: It's the idea of a deacon or a servant.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh Paul's saying, I was made a servant for uh for the gospel's sake.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And he says, I wasn't forced against my will to become a servant.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: But I wasn't forced by compulsion.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: Watch this.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: I was saying I was forced by an irresistible longing.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: I want to be a partaker.
22:53
SPEAKER_01: I want to not just experience the gospel, I want to be involved and seeing the gospel flourish all around me.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's saying here.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: As we read verse 7, let me read it to you again.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh he says, Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: In other words, God put me in the game, y'all.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's saying.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: Which was given to me.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: It was an opportunity.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: He was given to me by the working of his power.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: All right, let me ask you this.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: How many of you guys play sports?
23:25
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: All right.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: Does anybody uh does anybody sit on the bench more than play in the game?
23:30
SPEAKER_01: You want to raise your hand for that?
23:31
SPEAKER_01: Anyone want to do that?
23:32
SPEAKER_01: Okay, didn't think so.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I was that kid.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: All right.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: I was I was the kid who was never good enough uh to play to be a starter in the game.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: I played football growing up in high school and I was in Florida.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: Everybody was super fast and they were super ripped and had six-pack coming out the womb, all right?
23:45
SPEAKER_01: That was the kind of culture I grew up in.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: And so that as a as a kid, I never was a starter.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: I never got on a team.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: I was also a little, you know, anyway, I'll say that.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: So I didn't make it a team.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: But the coach oftentimes may not have let me start the game, but he would let me finish the game.
24:01
SPEAKER_01: Okay, come on, y'all.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty awesome, right?
24:03
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: The finisher, the closers are the closers, closure is for is for uh I'll shut up.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay, keep going.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: All right, I was a closer, all right.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: That's the idea.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: So here's the thing.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: Um this is what Paul is saying in regards to like I don't, God actually called me like a coach, called me into the game.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: Hey, hey, Paul, get off the bench, bro.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: It's time for you to get involved in what I'm doing around you.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: And hear this that's exactly what God is doing in your life.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: That's doing for all of his children.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: Like, he doesn't just want to rescue you to just sit on a bench, he's inviting you into a ministry, something that is supernatural.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: And now you're thinking, well, you know, I want to play in the game, right?
24:45
SPEAKER_01: And I want to, but maybe you're like Joe Catronio and you think, well, shoot, I ain't that good.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this guy's super fast.
24:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm not very strong, he's much stronger than I am.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you think, okay, I want to be in the game at school, or I want to, I want to live on mission, partake of the gospel, where I live and what I do.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: But to be honest, I don't feel like I'm strong enough as a Christian.
25:06
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't, I'm not smart enough as a Christian.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know that I have everything that I need to have in order to partake in what God is doing around me.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: Look at your Bible again in verse number seven.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Paul explains where this grace was coming from.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: He says, this which which was given me by the working of his power.
25:33
SPEAKER_01: Underline that in your Bibles.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: You see, God is, guys, God is calling you to engage with him, partake with him in this incredible work that's happening all around you.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: And he's going to give you the power to be able to do it.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: That's incredibly motivating.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: And so, again, a Christ-centered life is one that is motivated by God's grace to live for Christ, and we experience the power of God to follow him.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: Now, in verse number eight, Paul explains what this ministry specifically was that he was being motivated to engage in.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's the fourth mark of a Christ-centered life, and I want you to write it down.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: See, Christ-centered people tell others about Christ.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: Very obvious, and you can see it in the text.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: He says, For to me, though I am the very least, right, though I'm not very strong, though I am not the smartest guy on the team, God invited me into the game, and he says this, that the this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: You see, a Christ-centered life is one that is focused on telling other people about Christ.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: See, we know, we know we're truly living for Christ when we're not ashamed to speak of Christ.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: Again, this is this comes from the power of God at work in us.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the clearest indicators, by the way, that you have been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: How many of you ever wondered about the Holy Spirit?
27:28
SPEAKER_01: Like, what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit before?
27:30
SPEAKER_01: You ever wondered that?
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, is that like kind of weird stuff you see on TV?
27:33
SPEAKER_01: You ever seen those people on TV?
27:35
SPEAKER_01: Like they're they are like dancing, you know, then they get dancing and they or and they go around slapping people in the head and they fall over, like be healed, all this crazy, I mean, excitable stuff.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, okay, is that what the what it means to be filled with the spirit?
27:49
SPEAKER_01: Is that what it's about?
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Am I supposed to have like some goosebumps and then and I'm gonna walk on water and do some incredible things?
27:57
SPEAKER_01: No.
27:57
SPEAKER_01: Here's what's amazing.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: Eight times in the book of Acts, almost every single time that the phrase the disciples or the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, the very next phrase says that they spoke, they proclaimed the gospel.
28:18
SPEAKER_01: Eight different times.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they boldly spoke.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: They were filled and spoke.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: That's what you see over and over and over again.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: It goes back to Paul experienced the power of God's Spirit, and they were enabled to speak of Christ to other people.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: That's what we're seeing here.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: And Paul is explaining.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: Like, he didn't just put me in the game, he gave me the power to actually do it.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: To do what?
28:47
SPEAKER_01: To speak of Christ to other people.
28:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's a supernatural boldness to speak of Christ, but did you know it's also quite natural?
28:57
SPEAKER_01: Here's why I say that.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Because we naturally talk about the things we're excited about, don't we?
29:08
SPEAKER_01: All right, so how many of you all like is for you fall is your favorite season of the year?
29:12
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, okay.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: All right, so when you see fall, when you see the weather uh starting to change the color of the leaves, right?
29:20
SPEAKER_01: And you have a beautiful tree, you see a beautiful tree.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: When you see a beautiful tree, it's changed its colors, what do you do?
29:28
SPEAKER_01: What do you typically do?
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Those of you get excited about the trees, what do you typically do?
29:33
SPEAKER_01: You look at it.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Take a picture.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Why let me ask you that why do you take a picture of that?
29:38
unknown: It's beautiful.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful, okay.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: All right, what else?
29:41
unknown: I tell my family about it.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: You tell your family about it.
29:44
SPEAKER_01: You gotta, you bro, bro, get your jammies off.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: Let's go and look at these trees.
29:50
SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: This is amazing.
29:52
SPEAKER_01: Listen, if you're if you're kind of excited about that kind of thing, like that's your thing, all right, you're gonna talk about it.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: If you're excited about Florida State Seminoles like I am, you talk about it when they win.
30:01
SPEAKER_01: Not when they lose, but when they win.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: I won't bring up by you, but we're gonna skip over that.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: But the idea is when you're excited about something, you naturally talk about it.
30:09
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's interesting though.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: The same is true for us as we follow Jesus, right?
30:15
SPEAKER_01: When we naturally, when we are following Jesus and we're treasuring the gospel, and we're motivated by God's grace as we participate in the game of making Christ known, we're not, we can't help but naturally tell others about Jesus.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: God's Spirit gives us the boldness to do so as well.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to notice the progression, right?
30:38
SPEAKER_01: We don't, hear me very carefully.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: You are not going to naturally just get up in the morning and go want to tell everybody about Christ at your school.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: That's not how it works.
30:46
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: We start by following Jesus in the morning.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: Remember the pattern.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: We follow Jesus in the morning, which allows us to treasure the gospel.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: Now, treasuring the gospel, when you see what Christ has done for you, you're gonna be motivated to want to actually partake of the gospel.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: And that motivation is gonna stir your heart, Lord, give me the power to actually make this known.
31:10
SPEAKER_01: And next thing you know, you are talking about Christ.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: This pattern, this progress that we've just walked through in Ephesians chapter 3 is on purpose.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: You don't just wake up in the morning and say, I'm gonna tell others about Jesus.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: No, it starts by you being like Paul, picking up your pen and following Jesus, whatever that looks like for you that day.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: Now, interesting, we're gonna come into this fifth mark and I'm gonna be done.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: Paul explains that this is actually something that that we do, that we don't do by ourselves.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: He reveals this fifth mark, which is uh that Christ-centered, a Christ-centered life is that we participate with the church, the local church.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: It's a key indicator of a Christ-centered life.
31:57
SPEAKER_01: You see, we're not called to just participate in the kingdom life individually.
32:05
SPEAKER_01: We're called to participate in the kingdom life as a local church.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: Through the church.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 10, he says this.
32:12
SPEAKER_01: So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
32:21
SPEAKER_01: Through the church.
32:23
SPEAKER_01: This telling others about Jesus isn't just you, isn't just a you thing.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: It's actually a we thing, a DSM thing.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: The church is where people hear the gospel story and see the gospel story on full display.
32:37
SPEAKER_01: All right, listen, everyone in this room has friends that are unbelievers.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Most of you do, I should say.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, what would it look like for you to invite your unbelieving friends to join you for a Sunday youth group event, a student group event?
32:55
SPEAKER_01: Say, well, that would never come.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: But what if you start following Jesus in the morning, tomorrow morning, and you, as you're spending time with the Lord, your heart is being stirred, right?
33:08
SPEAKER_01: You're treasuring the gospel, you're being motivated to be a part of what God is doing, and God actually uses you to invite your friend to come to student ministry.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: You have no idea what's going on in that in your friend's life separately alone in their bedroom at home.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: You don't know what they're dealing with in their family.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: You don't know the argument that they just heard the night before between their parents when they said that their parents are gonna get a divorce.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: But yet God sent you to your friend to be a friend, to be kind.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: And you invite them to join you at student ministry.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: And you bring them here.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: Why should you invite them to come to student ministry?
33:45
SPEAKER_01: Because I mean, after all, aren't you supposed to be the witness for Christ?
33:48
SPEAKER_01: You're supposed to tell other people about Jesus.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: Why should you consider bringing your friend who's an unbeliever to student ministry?
33:55
SPEAKER_01: Because here, listen, when you guys gather together as a student ministry, they are not just going to hear the gospel, they're actually going to see the gospel on full display.
34:08
SPEAKER_01: As you look out in this group, there is a ton of ethnic diversity here.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: All of you are coming from different backgrounds.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: Some of you grew up in a Christian home.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: Others of you, you've been your parents aren't believers.
34:22
SPEAKER_01: You're coming on your own.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: Others of you don't even live with your parents.
34:26
SPEAKER_01: You're living with grandparents.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: But yet you're here.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: And yet, do you know what has bonded you guys together in one accord?
34:35
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ.
34:36
SPEAKER_01: The same Spirit of God that rose Jesus from the grave is actually alive in you.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: And when you bring an unbeliever here, and you guys are prayed up and asking God to use you to show and tell the gospel, they're going to see the body of Jesus alive through you.
34:56
SPEAKER_01: That is super awesome.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: This is where I'm, you're literally getting off the bench and getting into the game.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: Like you're playing, you're playing the game.
35:07
SPEAKER_01: And it's talking about, I'm talking about living on mission for Christ.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: This is so cool to me.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to see, again, DSM, this local expression is but a small example of a much bigger body that meets here on a Sunday morning.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: Some of you come to Doxa.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: Great.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: Love that.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: You're a part of the DOXA family.
35:30
SPEAKER_01: Others of you come from different churches.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: Great.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: But you're a part of that local church.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: You, loved ones, are a part of that body.
35:38
SPEAKER_01: Not just your parents, right?
35:41
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times students think, well, I'm just, my parents go to that church, I don't go to that church.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I go, but I don't, I'm not really a part of it.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: Can I challenge you with something?
35:50
SPEAKER_01: Would you ever consider yourself a contributor to the local church where you are showing and telling the gospel?
35:58
SPEAKER_01: Are you if you are in Christ, really the critical question is, are you functioning as a part of that body of Christ?
36:08
SPEAKER_01: Are you contributing to showing and telling the gospel at your local church?
36:13
SPEAKER_01: Are you on a ministry team somewhere?
36:16
SPEAKER_01: Well, to kind of end the whole thing, and we're gonna come to closing here, I simply want to bring you back to that starting place where I began with that illustration.
36:26
SPEAKER_01: Remember the Lamborghini?
36:28
SPEAKER_01: Remember, I encourage you to imagine having something so incredible but yet never putting it to use?
36:34
SPEAKER_01: And I told you how much of a waste it would be.
36:37
SPEAKER_01: Listen, God didn't save you just to give you a place in heaven someday.
36:43
SPEAKER_01: He saved you to give you a purpose on earth today.
36:49
SPEAKER_01: And you don't have to wait until you're older.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to wait till you graduate high school or become a pastor or a missionary someday.
36:58
SPEAKER_01: You can live for the glory of God right where you are at.
37:02
SPEAKER_01: Right now.
37:04
SPEAKER_01: And the question I want to leave you with is are you?
37:09
SPEAKER_01: Or are you have you really settled?
37:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, can I I want everyone to look at me for just a minute.
37:14
SPEAKER_01: Direct eye contact.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: Are you really settling for just casual Christianity?
37:21
SPEAKER_01: And if so, how's that going?
37:25
SPEAKER_01: Because I guarantee you, I can read your mind.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: It sucks.
37:30
SPEAKER_01: It's pathetic, it's a waste.
37:33
SPEAKER_01: But if you want to know what it's like to experience the real power of the Christian life, the Spirit of God alive in you, calling you into something far greater than just your life, then join in on what God's wanting to do in and through your life.
37:51
SPEAKER_01: Like tomorrow morning, get up and follow Jesus.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: Whatever that looks like to you and for you.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: And watch what God does.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: Treasure the gospel that changed your life.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: Be motivated by the grace of God.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: Tell other people about Jesus with courage and participate as a faith community and advancing the gospel.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: If God's grace has radically changed your life, is anyone else able to notice it?
38:23
SPEAKER_01: Remember, God's grace at work in me should lead to God's glory through me.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul's saying in Ephesians chapter 3.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I thank you so much for this time that we're able to slowly unpack this passage.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I thank you for this encouragement that we receive, God, from Paul, who wrote this thousands of years ago, Lord, and he just explained so clearly, Lord, that we have been granted access as a faith family, together, united in Christ, into something so much greater than what we realize.
39:03
SPEAKER_01: My prayer is that, Lord, you will help us every single day this week to increasingly become more aware of the incredible invitation to be partakers of the gospel work you're doing around us.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: May we move from self-centered living to Christ-centered living.
39:23
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Jesus' name.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: Amen.