Closing Walls & Ticking Clocks

Ephesians 5:15-18 February 5, 2023 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis Christians must carefully and intentionally live Spirit-filled lives that are radically distinct from the world, because what is at stake is not only our own faithfulness but the gospel witness to those around us.

Series

Ephesians

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidacticprophetic

Method

grammatical-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

23 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #10

"Calls for concrete daily practice: pausing at the beginning and end of the day to pray, consult God's word, and ask for His presence. Uses the chairlift metaphor to illustrate the danger of drifting into the day without intentionality."

Doctrinal loci· 10 surfaced

Sanctification · 8 Ethics / Moral Theology · 6 Ecclesiology · 5 Soteriology · 5 Pastoral Theology · 4 Pneumatology · 4 Christology · 3 Hamartiology · 3 Covenant Theology · 1 Eschatology · 1

Bible citations· 12

Theological claims· 4

Any level of substance use—alcohol or drugs—that impairs judgment or lowers inhibitions leading to sin is biblically wrong. unit #5
Paul is not against fullness or joy—he is contrasting fullness that produces shame with fullness that produces joy, and we must choose which we will pursue. unit #8
Paul lays out two paths—one thoughtless and regret-filled, the other Spirit-filled and faithful—and we must choose which path we will walk. unit #12
What is at stake is not just our own faithfulness but the gospel witness to the world, because our distinct lives are meant to be light in darkness. unit #14

Quotations· 4

"Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom." — Psalm 90:12 (unit #17)

"for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death. Until he comes." — 1 Corinthians 11 (unit #19)

"For I received from the Lord what I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" — Paul (unit #20)

"This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." — Jesus (unit #21)

Read it

Full transcript

17,201 characters 23 units ~19 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · The introduction sets up the sermon's urgency by pointing to cultural chaos and the human inability to control or escape it

That is what I'm asking. Because look at the headlines. It's like crazy. There's a lot of stuff going on in the world. There's a lot of things going on in the world.

And I'm just curious, like, you know, if you could talk to the general public about what's going on in the world, what would you say?

100% forward. So this is a good setup. There is no path out of this. You can't stop. You can't stop.

You can't stop. You're going to have to keep stopping.

I remember this.

What happened in the past, it is worth accepting it all the more firmly that you are certain of what happened in the past, knowing that you don't know anything, knowing that you can't change anything, knowing that you are best guess based on advice. Look carefully at this situation. I know people have poured over this episode carefully, but you have to look at it for yourself.

1 · This transition pivots from the problem to the question of purpose: why is careful living essential, and not just for external witness but for our own spiritual health?

then how, in a sense, what's the point of all of that? Why is it so critical and important that we learn to do that? Not just for the world around us, but for ourselves.

2 · Introduces the primary text's puzzling contrast between drunkenness and Spirit-filling

Well, Paul states this in what at first seems a strange contrast. He contrasts, and before he's been contrasting lack of wisdom, wisdom, understand God's will, be foolish.

And then this last contrast seems strange. Don't be drunk with wine, be filled with the Spirit. At first, those things seem like they have nothing to do with each other.

3 · Unpacks the straightforward meaning of the prohibition against drunkenness

Now, first, let's take the contrast, the negative. "do not be drunk with wine." Now this is fun because I don't know when the last time we talked about alcohol at Cross of Grace was.

So this should be exciting. I see you all, former Baptists, we love you. And Presbyterians, I see you too. Okay, so the two extremes there. Do not be drunk with wine.

What does that mean? Well, first it means— don't get drunk with alcohol. Does that make sense? Everybody tracking that so far? Everybody together on that?

It's pretty clear. Everybody can agree on that very clearly.

4 · Establishes the cultural context of Ephesus—a city saturated with cultic prostitution and ritual drunkenness—to show why Paul's prohibition was urgent

There was a specific application Paul had in mind in Ephesus because this was a city of debauchery. Remember, this is a city with cultic prostitution. And so pagan rituals often involved alcohol and sexual promiscuity.

You get in the picture, and sometimes Christians in America are like, man, nobody in history would understand how crazy and messed up our culture is. It's just never happened before. And the Ephesians are like, yep, I got you, bro. There were constant cultic, drunken, immoral rituals happening at the temple regularly by both residents and tourists. That's the culture they're in.

And so as a result, all of— The city's culture flowed downstream from that. And so drunkenness was not a remarkable thing in the city of Ephesus. And Paul is clear. He steps in and he clearly says, "Drunkenness is not right or biblical. It is a sin." Now, you may be thinking, "Well, wait a minute, how can Paul say that?" This is the same Paul that in one of his letters to Timothy tells Timothy, "Hey, Timothy, I know you have some ailments.

I want you to make sure to take— and this is literally in Timothy— I want you to take some wine for the sake of your frequent ailments. So Paul is the same Paul who's saying this and saying that, right? And we don't know exactly what Timothy's situation is. I don't want anybody taking the 'take some wine for the sake of your frequent ailments' and going like, amen, brother. You know, like, that's not— Paul's intent?

It's not Paul's intent, but he does say both those things.

5 · Articulates the biblical principle underlying the prohibition: any substance that impairs judgment or lowers inhibitions leading to sin is sinful

So what then is the point? What is he trying to say? Well, this is, I believe, what Scripture would say in Paul and throughout the Bible. Any level of alcohol that impairs your judgment or lowers your inhibitions leading to sin is wrong.

And sinful. And that applies not just to alcohol but to drug use as well, right? You might think, well, drugs aren't in the Bible. Yes, they are, right here. And notice that it says— it talks about wine that leads to debauchery, meaning the connection between the act itself and lowering your inhibitions and impairing your judgment often leads very clearly to other types of sin.

Course, joking, foolish talk, immorality, all that stuff. Paul sees the connection clearly, and he's warning them, don't do it.

6 · Applies the principle of impaired judgment to contemporary contexts: drug use, gambling, video games, movies, and especially social media

And what is clearly in view here is this kind of lifestyle in Ephesus where you fill yourself up with alcohol, and then out of you comes these sinful things. And he's saying, Brothers and sisters, what are you doing? You can't live like this.

And it applies to us in a variety of ways. The principle should apply in a variety of ways, not just alcohol use, but to drug use. And I would even say there are implications for other types of compulsive behavior that lower our inhibitions and impair our judgment, such as gambling or video game and movie binges without self-control. Or I would even say, I think this raises a solid yellow flag even over our use of social media. Social media is documented to be extremely addictive, to lead to depression, to lead to making unwise decisions at different points.

Now, it's not the same as alcohol. I'm not saying social media equals alcohol. What I'm saying is anything in that ballpark that lowers our inhibitions and reduces our self-control, we must use extreme caution with.

7 · Expounds the positive command to be filled with the Spirit by tracing the redemptive arc from Ephesians 2—from separation to reconciliation to being filled with God's presence

But the contrast here is instructive. Don't be filled with wine. "but be filled with the Spirit." Now, we're gonna take a whole week next week to talk about this theme of being filled with the Spirit, but notice how extraordinary what Paul is saying is here. In Ephesians 2, we start off far from God, separated eternally from God, but then through Christ, we are reconciled to God. But notice how we're reconciled to God. We're not reconciled to be in the ballpark. We're not reconciled to be kind of close.

We're not even reconciled to God so that we now sit next to one another. We're reconciled to God on such a level that through the Spirit's work, the presence of God now fills our hearts. Like, that is theologically unbelievable given our starting point. We've gone all the way from far off to being filled with the very presence of God. And that's extraordinary.

8 · Clarifies that Paul is not advocating joyless asceticism but rather contrasting two kinds of fullness: one leading to regret and shame, the other to joy, gratitude, and right relationships

And so what Paul is saying is not, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, nobody have any fun over here. Everybody try not to like anything and just be kind of, kind of like Vulcany and logical about everything. Don't enjoy things. Don't be filled up with anything." No, no, that's not what Paul says. Paul says you're filled with the wrong thing.

You're overflowing with the wrong thing. Meaning don't be filled with something that leads to regret and shame. Be filled with the very presence of God, which will then overflow. And what it says here is overflows in singing, overflows in gratefulness, overflows in relating to one another rightly. And so Paul is contrasting these two things.

This thing, you overflow with sin. This thing, you overflow with joy, thankfulness, grace, peace. Peace, like, which one do you want to be filled with? Which would you rather choose? And be clear, it is a choice.

It is a choice. Which will you lean into and give yourself to?

9 · Explains the paradox of the command to be filled with the Spirit—we cannot fill ourselves, yet we are commanded to be filled

Now, how does this happen? Well, they're going to talk about that next week, but let me just say this. I think in the context of Ephesians, being filled with the Spirit is a— the command to be filled with the Spirit is a paradoxical command.

Because we can't fill ourselves with the presence of God. The language here is filled with the Spirit, with the presence of God. And we can't make that happen, but we're commanded to do it, which is like, that doesn't make any sense. Make sure your cup is full, but you don't control the faucet, right? Like, how am I supposed to do that?

Put the cup under the faucet. That's the command, right? Put the cup under the faucet, meaning obey the things that God has told you to do, and you will be met by the power of God. And follow Paul's example. Have you noticed him praying throughout the book?

Have you noticed that he's constantly praying throughout the book? And he's praying in a specific way. He's praying that the church would grasp the love of God so that they could be filled with the fullness of God and presence of God in their lives. So what Paul is doing is he's encouraging the church, act and ask. Act and ask, right?

Act in the ways that God has commanded you to act, and you'll be met with the power of the Spirit, and ask for God to show you his love and fill you with his power and his presence, right? Act and ask. That's what it means to lean into the power of the Spirit.

10 · Calls for concrete daily practice: pausing at the beginning and end of the day to pray, consult God's word, and ask for His presence

And so let me just ask you, at the beginning and end of the day, which is what we're working on today, the beginning and the end of the day, are you leaning in to encountering the presence of God? Right?

You just start your day. Okay. And listen, I listen. If you're one of those people that you wake up, some people wake up and they pop off the pillow like my son. One of my sons is like that.

Just wake up, boom, ready to go. That is not my experience. If that is your experience, we thank God for you. There's also a proverb about a friend that is too loud in the morning that you need to read.

But we thank God for you. But if you're one of those people who's like, man, I don't know, too often we wake up fatigued, roll into our routine, and just begin doing things. And there is no pause in our lives where we do what Paul Paul has modeled for us to do, where we pause, we think about how am I going to invest my time today, we ask, we look at God's word for wisdom, Lord, how should I invest my time today? And then we say, Lord, help me to act as you've called me to in my word, in your word, and help me to go through my day asking for more of you as I do all these things. That pause should be a part of the life of every Christian.

Otherwise, we simply drift into— otherwise, what we're doing is we're just lining up, getting in the chairlift, and going to the top of the mountain. And only halfway through the day do we realize, uh-oh, I don't know if I want to get on this chairlift, right? Look carefully, think carefully, pause, ask.

11 · Extends the application to end-of-day reflection and prayer

And at the end of the day, maybe you have no control in the morning. Maybe it's the end of the day that you spend time pausing, reviewing the day.

Lord, how did I do? What did I invest my time in? Help me. Show me with your word, give me more of yourself, fill me with your presence so that sin has no allure or good taste. Look, the command here is basically God saying, stop wasting your life on the cheap stuff.

Stop wasting your life when you have something better to drink. Stop filling yourself with empty carbs that are gonna make you feel gross in like an hour. Instead, pull your chair up to the feast of God and the presence of God. That's his plea here.

12 · Synthesizes the sermon by presenting two contrasting life paths: one thoughtless, drifting, full of regret; the other careful, Spirit-filled, faithful

Now, in conclusion, let me just encourage you to see the two paths that Paul lays out here.

There's one path and there's one kind of person on that path. There's a person who lives thoughtlessly. They're just carried along by the current of the world. They waste their opportunities in this life as the years tick by. They end up making foolish decisions and mistakes that follow them throughout their life.

They give themselves to whatever feels good in the moment, but their judgment is clouded and impaired and causes harm. And in the end, they feel burnt out and frustrated and full of regret, carrying around a low-grade sense of uneasiness about meeting God at the end of life. Or there is another path and another person laid out in Ephesians 5. A person who carefully considers how they live They're not pushed and pulled around by the world's current. They think carefully about what they give their time and attention to in life.

They spend time understanding how the world works according to God's created order through his word. They try to honor God and live well. They give themselves to the presence of God and lean into it, asking for more of it. And as a result, they are joyful, thankful, honoring people who others love to be around. And in the end, They look back on a life that was not perfect, but it was faithful.

13 · A pastoral reassurance that perfection is not the standard—faithfulness is

Look, brothers and sisters, that's what we're aiming for. None of us will perfectly invest our time, will make a wise decision in every respect, not this side of heaven. What we're aiming, though, for is faithfulness. That we'd be able to, to the best of our abilities, to look at how we've spent those years of our life, those minutes, those hours, and say, you know what, I did my best to invest them wisely, and I did my best to lean into the presence of God, not the pleasures of the world. And I can meet the Lord now.

14 · Elevates the stakes by connecting personal faithfulness to gospel witness

And as we end, let me just remind you once again that what's at stake here is not just us. What Paul has been saying is that we as Christians are to live different than the people around us. That verse, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you," that is meant to be us. A light to the people around us. And so what's at stake is not just our lives, but really the fate of the world, if I could state it that way, because I think it's biblical that others would look at our lives and see something different.

15 · Concludes by affirming that Christian distinctiveness will appear strange to the world but is precisely the point—our difference is where gospel light shines

I'm not going to lie, our lives will be weird and inscrutable to the people around us because we will invest our time very differently than other people will.

We will make decisions very differently than others will. We will pursue things like the presence of God instead of the pleasure of sin. Unlike others, but that difference is where the light shines through. That difference is that pinprick of light in the middle of the darkness that others around us go, "Why? Why is that different?" And if we lose our distinctiveness, we lose the mission that Jesus has given us in the world.

16 · Brief transition introducing the closing Scripture quotation

So let me end with Psalm 90, verse 12, which says,

17 · Closes the sermon with Psalm 90:12, a prayer for wisdom in the use of time, perfectly summarizing the sermon's urgent plea

Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

18 · Pastoral prayer addressing three groups: non-Christians, discouraged Christians, and those doing well spiritually

Let's pray, and then we're going to end with communion. And Lord, we pray right now that as we're about to end, Lord, I pray for anyone today that does not know you, does consider themselves a Christian, Lord, that you would speak to them, you'd reveal yourself to them, Lord, that you would send the presence of God to be with them, Lord, that they would that you would grow in their heart an earnestness and a desire to answer the big questions of life. Lord, I pray that they would sense today that they were made for a purpose. They were made for a creator that their heart longs for, and they were made for a purpose that is eternal.

I pray that you would reveal yourself to them. And I pray for us in Christ, Lord. I pray for anyone that maybe as we went through this feels a bit condemned or feels, man, I have not been spending my time well or wisely. Lord, I pray that they would be met this morning by the grace of God as we're about to take communion, that they would receive the grace of God and the forgiveness of God as we remember your forgiveness given to us on the cross. And I pray for anyone who feels as though they're doing well.

Lord, may we not react out of arrogance, but let us remember we are never beyond the reach of God's grace. We'll never outgrow our need for it, and we ask for grace then. To continue the path. May this, for some, be just an encouragement today, that the things they're giving themselves to, although the world may think they're strange, in light of the wisdom of God, they are the best things. Amen.

19 · Introduces communion by explaining its theological significance: the cross proclaims the Lord's death, purchases us, makes the Spirit's filling possible, and calls us to live as those who have been bought

Well, please take the communion elements in your hand. If you are a Christian, we invite you to participate with us, and if you're not a Christian, we'd love for you to refrain. We'd ask for you to refrain from partaking of the elements, but we'd love for you to see the invitation of God extended to you through this act. And if you would, I'd love for you to take that, the bread in your hand and the cup in your hand, Christians, because in communion we are given reminders every week. 1 Corinthians 11 says, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death.

Until he comes. We are reminded, brothers and sisters, that the sacrifice of Jesus has purchased us, and that our response then is that our lives are not our own, that we offer them as God has offered himself freely to us. We offer ourselves freely back to the Lord. We are reminded that the cross of Christ seems foolish to the world when in reality it is the wisdom of God.

So maybe resolve that if God calls us to live strangely in a way that seems foolish to the world, and we do remember that is simply the way of the cross. And we are reminded that restoring us to relationship with God was God's purpose in and behind the cross. It is a miracle then that we can be met by and filled with the Spirit of God. Because of what Jesus has done.

20 · First half of the communion liturgy: the words of institution for the bread, followed by partaking

For I received from the Lord what I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me." Please take the bread.

21 · Second half of the communion liturgy: the words of institution for the cup, followed by partaking

In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Please take the cup.

22 · Transition to closing worship

Now please stand and join us in singing.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Jan 1, 2023

New Year, New You, New Clothes

Jan 8, 2023

I Wanna Know What Love Is

Because we are beloved children of God, we are called to imitate God by walking in love—understanding love not as a feeling to pursue but as sacrificial action modeled after Christ, expressed within God's wise boundaries for our good and his glory.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Jan 29, 2023

2023 Core Four

The grace of God creates the church, and the church expresses that grace through four core commitments: gathering for worship, living in community, pursuing discipleship, and sharing the gospel with the world.

Ephesians 2:8-10

February 5 · This sermon

Closing Walls & Ticking Clocks

Christians must carefully and intentionally live Spirit-filled lives that are radically distinct from the world, because what is at stake is not only our own faithfulness but the gospel witness to those around us.

Ephesians 5:15-18

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Ephesians 5:15-18, Paul tells us to 'look carefully' at how we live. What does it mean to 'look carefully' at your own life, and what spe…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on Paul's call to careful, Spirit-filled living in Ephesians 5—moving from the foundation of our new identity in Christ, through the daily discipline of seeking His presence, to the urgent reality that our distinctive lives are the gospel's witness to the world.

Prayer

Spirit-Filled and Awake

Father, we come before you this week aware that our lives are watched—not by a condemning world, but by a world that needs to see the gospel…

Family table

Walking Carefully, Living Awake

This prompt invites kids to notice the difference between drifting through the day on autopilot and living with intention. You might start b…

Couples

Spirit-Filled & Wide Awake Together

Where did you feel the sermon's call to 'look carefully' at your own life this week—what habits or patterns did it surface for you?…

Memorize

Ephesians 5:15-16

This verse is the theological hinge of the entire sermon—Paul's command to 'look carefully' is the call to intentional, Spirit-filled living that distinguishes the Christian from the world. It anchors both the diagnosis (thoughtless living in evil days) and the remedy (careful, wise stewardship of time as a gospel witness).

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Ephesians 5:15-18, Paul tells us to 'look carefully' at how we live. What does it mean to 'look carefully' at your own life, and what specific areas of your daily routine would benefit most from this kind of intentional pause?

Ephesians 5:15

→ Can you name one decision or habit you make without much thought—scrolling, eating, speaking—that might be worth examining more carefully?
Paul contrasts being 'filled with wine, which leads to debauchery' with being 'filled with the Spirit.' What does Paul mean by 'fullness' in each case, and how are these two kinds of fullness fundamentally different in what they produce?

Ephesians 5:18
The sermon names several contemporary ways we can become 'impaired' or lose control of our judgment—social media, gambling, entertainment binges, substances. Which of these (or others) do you see Christians around you struggling with, and what makes them spiritually dangerous?

→ Why do you think we often don't call these things what they are—forms of being 'filled' with something other than the Spirit?
According to the sermon, what is the connection between being 'filled with the Spirit' and the specific practices Paul mentions next—singing, giving thanks, submitting to one another? How does Spirit-fullness lead to these relational outcomes?

Ephesians 5:18-19
The sermon emphasizes that our distinctiveness as Spirit-filled believers is not just about our own faithfulness, but about our witness to the world. How does living carefully and soberly—avoiding the world's cheap pleasures—actually become a form of gospel witness in your neighborhood or workplace?

Ephesians 5:14

→ Can you think of a time when someone's distinct way of living actually made you curious about their faith?
If you took seriously the call to 'look carefully' at how you spend your time and energy, and to be 'filled with the Spirit' rather than drifting thoughtlessly, what would have to change in your week—and what would you need from God to make that change?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Ephesians 2

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 that we were once lost and enslaved to the world's way of thinking. But Christ has raised us up and seated us in the heavenlies. This is why his command in chapter 5 to "look carefully" at how we live is not a burden imposed from outside—it is an appeal to live out the identity we already possess. We are not trying to earn favor; we are living as those who have already been transformed.

Tuesday Psalm 90:12

"Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom." In a world that pulls us toward constant distraction, Moses' prayer is Paul's echo: look carefully. Count your hours. Ask yourself whether you are awake to the time you have been given or sleepwalking through it. The Spirit-filled life begins with the simple discipline of noticing—of pausing at dawn and dusk to ask, "How am I spending the days I will never get back?"

Wednesday 1 Corinthians 11

Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians carries the same logic as Ephesians 5: fullness matters, but *which fullness* matters most. When we yield control of our minds and bodies to wine, substances, or compulsive behaviors—scrolling until midnight, binge-watching until our eyes blur, gambling until our reason clouds—we are choosing a different kind of fullness. The Spirit asks for our alertness, our presence, our willingness to be filled with something that leads to joy and gratitude, not regret.

Thursday Proverbs (about a friend too loud in the morning)

The Proverb captures something painfully real: the person who has spent the night in excess wakes to a friend's innocent greeting and finds it unbearable. Shame lives in thoughtlessness. By contrast, Paul says the Spirit-filled life produces singing, thanksgiving, and submission to one another—a life where you can face the morning without wincing. This is not judgment; it is freedom. The Spirit-filled path is the path where joy and conscience align.

Friday 1 Timothy (letter to Timothy about wine)

Paul's instructions to Timothy about sobriety and careful living are not arbitrary rules. They are a plea for visibility—for Timothy's life to shine in a chaotic culture and prove that there is a better way. The same is true for us. When the world sees a Christian who is awake, joyful, wise with time, and free from the cheap pleasures that numb everyone else, they are seeing something they have no other vocabulary for. Your careful, Spirit-filled life is preaching the gospel to someone who needs to hear it.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Spirit-Filled and Awake

Father, we come before you this week aware that our lives are watched—not by a condemning world, but by a world that needs to see the gospel made visible in flesh and time and choice. We thank you that you have not left us to drift thoughtlessly through our days, filling ourselves with whatever numbs or distracts. You have called us to look carefully, to wake up, to be filled not with wine or the cheap pleasures of a culture bent on impairment, but with your Spirit, who alone produces the joy and gratitude and right relationships our souls were made for (Ephesians 5:15-18).

We confess that we often live as if we have endless time, as if our choices are small, as if no one is watching. We numb ourselves with scrolling and binging and habits that lower our guard and cloud our judgment. We wake each morning and drift into our routines without pausing to ask for your presence or to consult your word. We fill ourselves with lesser things—the world's cheap fullness—and wonder why we feel empty and ashamed. Forgive us for squandering the days you have given us, for living as though what we do in secret has no witness.

But here is the good news: you have given us your Spirit, and his fullness produces not regret but joy, not isolation but community, not darkness but light. When we are filled with you—when we pause and pray, when we ask for wisdom, when we feast on your presence instead of the world's empty table—we become living proof that there is a better way. Our distinct lives, our careful choices, our Spirit-filled joy become a gospel witness to those around us (Ephesians 5:14).

So we ask you this week: give us courage to look carefully at how we live. Slow us down at the start of each day and at the end of it. Show us where we are being impaired—not by one substance alone, but by any habit that clouds our judgment or leads us into sin. Fill us with your Spirit so that we might sing and give thanks and submit to one another in love, and so that our lives might shine as light in a darkening world. Let us not waste the time you have given us. Let us be awake, and alive, and radically distinct—for the sake of the gospel and the souls around us who need to see it.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

Walking Carefully, Living Awake

For the parent

This prompt invites kids to notice the difference between drifting through the day on autopilot and living with intention. You might start by asking the prompt, then share one example from your own day—a time you were either sleepy/distracted or fully present—to model the kind of honesty you're inviting.

In the sermon, Pastor Ricky talked about how Paul tells us to 'look carefully' at how we live—to pay attention instead of just drifting through our days. Can you tell about a time today when you were really paying attention to what you were doing, or a time when you were kind of just going through the motions? What was different?

Works for ages 6+. Younger kids can answer simply ('I was paying attention when I ate lunch' or 'I wasn't paying attention during math'). Older kids and teens can reflect on bigger patterns and habits.

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Spirit-Filled & Wide Awake Together

Where did you feel the sermon's call to 'look carefully' at your own life this week—what habits or patterns did it surface for you?
As a couple, where are we drifting thoughtlessly together, and where is the Spirit inviting us to wake up and choose intentionality—in how we spend our evenings, our time, our attention?
What is one way we can pray for each other to live more distinctly as light in this world—not perfectly, but faithfully?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Ephesians 5:15-16

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Why this verse: This verse is the theological hinge of the entire sermon—Paul's command to 'look carefully' is the call to intentional, Spirit-filled living that distinguishes the Christian from the world. It anchors both the diagnosis (thoughtless living in evil days) and the remedy (careful, wise stewardship of time as a gospel witness).

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

Plan a visit →

Crawler & AI-search policy · view robots.txt and llms.txt

This sermon page is intentionally optimized for search engines and AI assistants. We've opted into being crawled by both. The crawler-config files at the domain root:

/robots.txt

User-agent: *
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Google-Extended
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://sermonsteward.com/sitemap.xml

/llms.txt

# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [New Year, New You, New Clothes (2023-01-01)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2023/01/new-year-new-you-new-clothes)
- [I Wanna Know What Love Is (Ephesians 5:1-2, 2023-01-08)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2023/01/i-wanna-know-what-love-is)
- [2023 Core Four (Ephesians 2:8-10, 2023-01-29)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2023/01/2023-core-four)
- [Closing Walls & Ticking Clocks (Ephesians 5:15-18, 2023-02-05)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2023/02/closing-walls-ticking-clocks)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

The page itself ships with Schema.org Article + Church markup, Open Graph + Twitter cards for share previews, and a canonical URL. Transcripts are server-rendered HTML — no JS dependency for the readable body.