Stop and Marvel at the Love of God

6 · The pastor narrates hiking the Ron Coleman Trail in El Paso, choosing to press on to the summit where he saw Sierra Blanca Peak 150 miles away on a clear day

One of my first hikes in El Paso was over here in the Franklin Mountains State Park on the Ron Coleman Trail. This is the trail that you hike up the arroyo and through the ridgeline, or across the ridgeline, until you hit that really prominent feature that you can see from the west side of the mountain here called Mammoth Rock.

There's a window right there. And so this, while not a long hike, has a couple of tricky spots in it, which is why it appealed to me. And so it was different from any other hiking I had done. There are no trees, but there are tiny bushes. There are scorpions, there are painful cactuses, there are gigantic lizards, there are snakes and scorpions and huge spiders, oh my.

But you can see where you've come from and where you're going the entire time. It was mind-blowing to me. So I hiked this trail for the first time. I reached the window on South Franklin Mountain, and I was faced with a choice: be content with the view from there, which is great, it's beautiful, it's fine; hike through to McCalligan Canyon over here, which I wasn't planning on doing, and it's longer, and I probably wouldn't make it back; the other way before dinner, and that's important, dinner's important. And/or I could hike back to the car and be done, or I could hike to the summit.

So I chose to hike to the summit. Now, a couple of weeks before that, I had spent a little bit of time at White Sands for the first time. I had never seen White Sands for the first time, and I remember vividly standing in White Sands and looking out, and to my left was a big mountain with snow on it. Now, remember where I grew up. I didn't have snow-covered mountains.

If you grew up in Colorado, bear with me. This was the biggest mountain I had ever seen. Sierra Blanca Peak was 11,981 feet above sea level, and it had snow on it. And I learned from my vantage point in White Sands that that was 80 miles away. It blew my mind.

It was incredible. So back to my story. My hike a couple of weeks later at South Franklin Mountain. I get to the summit where all those towers are, and it's a bluebird day. I mean, not a cloud in the sky.

And I look to my left again, and I see that same snow-covered mountain, Sierra Blanca Peak, standing at 11,981 feet above sea level. And from my vantage point at just over 7,000 feet above sea level, I saw what I learned 150 miles away was that peak. It was breathtaking. Never in my life had I experienced a view like that. Usually what comes out in a moment like that is, "Wow, thank you, Lord." All I could do was stop and marvel and worship.

7 · The pastor transitions from the hiking illustration to the text by explaining that Paul has done the theological heavy lifting in Ephesians 1-3 and now pauses to marvel

Which brings us to our text today. Paul has worked really hard through the beginning of this letter to lay a strong theological foundation. He's done the heavy lifting of reminding the Ephesian church and us of the mystery and glory of our salvation. The salvation of both Jew and Gentile. The inheritance that those in Christ are a part of.

Paul has done the sweating, the teaching, the hiking to the summit of the truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone.

He's shown the Ephesian church and us the immeasurable riches of God's grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Paul has shown us the unity we are to strive for because of this mercy and grace in Jesus. Now it's time to stop and stare. This is where Paul takes the time at the top of the theological mountain to rest and marvel at the majesty of God's love in Christ. Point number 1, the reason We marvel.

As we enter our text today, let's let this from our friend Brian Chapel focus our attention. While I may have much knowledge to communicate regarding Christian obedience, thought, and duty, my greatest obligation is consistently and compassionately to fire a more profound love for God in those dear to Him. Without love, there will be no power to do what God requires, and only an overwhelming affection for Him will produce an overcoming power to defeat sin. Love is power. The Apostle Paul uses the truth that what we love motivates and enables our actions to summarize all the doctrine presented thus far in Ephesians, and in uniting spiritual strength to the believer's knowledge of God, love, the apostle tells us what we must take priority in ministry that will truly help others discover God's transforming power.

8 · The pastor reads verse 14 aloud and begins exposition of Paul's posture of kneeling before God the Father

Verse 14 says, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

9 · The pastor explains through John Stott and Brian Chappell that Paul's kneeling posture was unusual in the first century, indicating exceptional earnestness

Paul here hits his knees to pray, which is a unique posture in the first century. The common practice of the day was to stand for prayer. Jesus references this in Luke 18, but John Stott helpfully explains this: "Kneeling was unusual. It indicated an exceptional degree of earnestness, as when Ezra confessed Israel's sins of penitence, Jesus fell on his face to the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Stephen faced the ordeal of martyrdom." In drawing attention to the fact that he's kneeling, Paul is communicating the depth of the substance of his prayer.

Here's what's interesting. When Paul hits his knees, he's also praying, though, from a position of boldness. In humility and weakness, he's confident of the care and glory and power of God. Brian Chapel again says this, but curiously, with this posture of humility, there is also a striking boldness. Paul prays not only humbled by his heavenly King's glory, but also confident of his heavenly Father's care.

10 · The pastor vulnerably admits his own discomfort with kneeling, naming his feelings of vulnerability and lack of control

If I'm to be completely honest, this kind of makes me uncomfortable. A posture of weakness kneeling makes me feel vulnerable, like I'm weak and not in control. Even kneeling by myself in my room makes me feel odd sometimes. But as I was praying through this and reading through this this week, I was reminded of David in Psalm 3. Do you remember the story?

When David is running from his son, an army of thousands bent on his murder, he says, "I lay down and slept. I awoke again, for you sustained me." David was in a position of humility, trusting in the care of his heavenly Father.

I'm challenged by Paul's confidence in assuming a humble position. Realizing that the power in his humility is in God's strength.

11 · The pastor contrasts the God of Scripture with distant Greek deities, emphasizing that through Christ believers may draw near to God's throne with boldness and confidence

But it doesn't stop here. Paul has gone to great lengths to show us that we're not praying to a far-off deity who's separate from us. He's not saying, hey, it's like the Greek gods who come and visit every once in a while, right?

It's like just to check in and make sure they know how powerful we are. It's not that. We, being made in the image of God, are drawn to him and through Christ may draw near to the throne of grace. Paul focuses on the nearness of God by using what he's already said in verse 12, in that through Christ we have boldness and confidence to approach the Father.

12 · The pastor expounds the phrase 'every family' as referring to the whole family of believers—God is Father of all saints on earth and in heaven

This is where things get really interesting.

While Paul is personally relating to God as his Father, he's also reminding us of the foundational truth that God is our Father. Now forgive me, those Greek scholars in the room, for my pronunciation here, but the original language for every family in Greek is pasapatria and may be better translated the whole family or the whole family of believers. So it's not a bunch of individual family units, but an illustration that God is the Father of all believers on earth and in heaven. What a marvel, what a wonder. God is the Father of all believers on earth and in heaven.

So think about this for a minute. How did the Lord draw Paul to himself? You remember? Chuck did such a great job of illustrating that for us last week. He stopped him on the road to Damascus, this persecutor of Christians, struck him with blindness, and said, "Hey, you're going to be my tool to bring the gospel to the Gentiles and the ends of the earth." This rebel against God got stopped, saved, and sent.

13 · The pastor directly applies the doctrine of effectual calling by asking the congregation to recount how God drew them to himself

So here's the question for you, my first question for you: How did God draw you to himself? How did the Lord draw you to himself?

Don't just hear that question and move on. Think about it. How did the Lord draw you to himself? If you are in Christ, if you would call yourself a Christian, this is your story. You were dead.

Not sick. Not mostly dead. You were all dead in your sin. In terms of eternal life with Christ, the new heavens and the new earth, you were far off. You were not God's people.

You were far off. I was far off. You and I were in direct opposition to the plan of God.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that we would have eternal life. In giving his Son, here's what this means. Don't miss this, church. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, God incarnate, willingly bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, even while being rejected by us. He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.

His blood was the blood poured out as the final sacrifice to make us right with God. Perfect, sinless Jesus was nailed to the cross in the most humiliating and excruciating way for you and for me.

Pastor Dave Taylor reminded us of a quote from Jonathan Edwards at the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference this week when he said, do you know what you contributed to your salvation?

Your sin.

Do you know what you contributed to your salvation? Your sin.

14 · The pastor draws out the doctrinal implications of contributing only sin to salvation

This is so striking and convicting because what it means is that the effectual calling of God in Christ on my life was despite my sin, despite my rebellion, despite my my running. It had nothing to do with how many good works I did. It had nothing to do with how much money I've given to charity.

It had nothing to do with anything I've done. It had nothing to do with how good my quiet time was. It had nothing to do with how good a daddy I am. It had nothing to do with how good a husband I am. I bring nothing to my salvation.

Except my sin.

And yet, Paul says in the beginning of this letter that you and I were on the mind of Christ on the cross. In love, He predestined us for adoption as sons and daughters. Because of the great love with which He loved us, He made us alive together with Christ. It is by grace you are saved. Not of your own works.

Why? So that you can't boast. It is not your power that saves you. It is Christ's power that has saved you and has saved me.

15 · The pastor synthesizes the doctrine of effectual calling: God has drawn believers—Jew and Gentile—into the whole family of God

God has drawn us specifically to himself to make you and me and those in the Ephesian church, Jew, Gentile, a part of the whole family of God on earth and in heaven. Christian, no matter how you were saved, No matter what the Lord used to cause your eyes to go open to saving faith, your salvation was a miracle. If you were at your grandma's house at 5 years old when the Lord caused your eyes to go open, whether you've lived a life of sexual sin, of pride, Your salvation is a miracle. It is miraculous and breathtaking that the Lord would even save one. When one is saved, when one is brought to saving faith in Christ, the host of heaven rejoices.

Not because of what you've done, not because of what I've done, but what Christ has done. Because of his great love with which he loved us. This is why we marvel.

16 · Explicit structural signal marking the shift from the first major section (reason for marveling) to the second (effects of God's love)

And so we turn now to the effect of God's love on us.

17 · The pastor reads Ephesians 3:16-19 aloud, laying out the full structure of Paul's prayer for the effects of God's love: strength through the Spirit, Christ dwelling in hearts through faith, being rooted in love, comprehending Christ's multidimensional love, and being filled with God's fullness

Beginning in verse 16, Paul says this: that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

18 · The pastor commends Paul's pastoral wisdom in recognizing that theology requires application and that believers need divine power—not their own—to live out the implications of saving grace

Paul is such a good pastor as he prays for his people.

He knows that after all of this theology, the Ephesian church and us We may struggle to apply what all of this theology means in our life. What it means to walk out the implications of the theology of saving grace. So Paul prays for strength and love and knowledge and fullness of power, but not our power, the power of God in Christ.

19 · The pastor expounds 'according to the riches of his glory' using a bank account analogy—God's glory is an inexhaustible resource that never runs dry

He uses this prayer to walk us up a mountain of sorts, but before all that practical stuff, he says this. According to the riches of his glory.

The first effect of God's love is that he may grant you to be strengthened with power according to the riches of his glory. Don't let the riches of God's glory— that little phrase— pass by. The way that I think about this is this: God doesn't need to ration the riches of his glory. The bank account of the riches of God's glory is never-ending. The bank account of the riches of God's glory will never run dry.

The bank account of the riches of God's glory will never overdraft. It is never-ending. The riches of God's glory are endless.

Brian Chappell says this: The riches of God are his kindness and mercy provided through the blood of Christ, which has redeemed us from the debt of our sin. But the riches do not merely cancel debt, they are also so vast as to provide us the rights and privileges of the household of heaven. We may even call our God our Father.

20 · The pastor expands on the anthropological reality underlying Paul's prayer—we are weak, scared, and anxious beings who need divine power

He is not far off, He has drawn near to us in His love. When Paul prays that we would be strengthened in power, He understands that we are weak. We face weakness. We are scared beings. We are anxious beings.

So he prays that we would be strengthened with power, but not of our own spirit, of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God in Christ, knowing that we cannot do it ourselves. Again, Paul has already gone to great lengths to show us that our salvation is not of our own doing. It is a free gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast.

21 · The pastor articulates the purpose of being strengthened by the Spirit: so that Christ may dwell in believers' hearts through faith

So then, what's the point of wanting to be strengthened in power? It is this, that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.

Why are we strengthened in power, the power of the Holy Spirit? So that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. Because Christ dwells in us, our identity is no longer our own in the sight of heaven. It makes the inheritance of Christ our inheritance in the eyes of heaven, Christ's identity is our identity.

22 · Brief humorous aside acknowledging heavy reliance on Brian Chappell's commentary throughout the sermon and setting up further exposition from the pastor's own voice

Brian Chappell says this.

Just kidding, I skipped that. He's gonna say more to us later. Look, I rely on people smarter than me a lot, and so we're gonna go back to him in a minute. But this part's me.

23 · The pastor expounds the metaphors in 'rooted and grounded in love'—both a tree with deep and wide roots and a building with a firm foundation

Rooted, no, this is Paul actually. Rooted and grounded in love. Rooted and grounded in love. Another translation says this. Rooted and firmly established. There's both a natural and building metaphor here.

So when we say rooted, we think deep roots like a tree.

And I was reminded by somebody in the first service that the roots of a tree are deep, but they're also wide. So there's massive root systems. But we also think about the foundation of a building, one that is solid and firm, that the foundation and the deep root, the thing that will hold us when the hurricane comes, the thing that will be our strength when our strength fails is the love of God in Christ.

24 · The pastor defends the church's commitment to gospel-centrality, acknowledging they are 'preaching to the choir'—repeatedly proclaiming Christ crucified week after week

Now, you may be here and we are— I'm pushing hard on the gospel, right? We at this church have resolved to preach nothing but Christ and him crucified.

We are a one-song church. You come back next week, you're going to hear the same thing. Come back the week after that, you're going to hear the same thing. You go back in the archives and listen to sermons, you're going to hear the same thing. We are preaching to the choir.

25 · The pastor draws on his experience as a music teacher to illustrate that great ensembles succeed by obsessively focusing on fundamentals across every context—private practice, rehearsal, and performance

But here's the thing about choirs. I have been a music teacher for over a decade, and I have degrees in music, and I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what makes great ensembles great ensembles. And you know what the thing is that they all have in common? The focus on the fundamental part of the discipline. They know that whether they are in the practice room by themselves, in a private lesson, in a small group, in a group rehearsal, in a performance, the thing that will make them great is understanding an intimate and clear understanding of the fundamental aspects of their discipline.

So they spend time, sometimes inordinate amounts of time, making sure that they know the fundamental technique of their discipline.

26 · The pastor applies the music ensemble analogy directly: the fundamental of Christian discipline is God's love in Christ

So let me preach to you, choir, and remind you of the fundamental of our discipline: the love of God in Christ. God saved us to bring glory to himself because he loved us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Yes, God is angry at sin.

His wrath is great about sin. God cares about truth. God cares about justice, but because of his great love, these things matter. God cares about justice and truth because of his great love for us.

So, a hard question for you. Don't miss this. Do the exercise. Have you lost track of the fundamentals of salvation.

When the gospel is presented, how do you react? What is your posture before the living and holy God in light of all he's done? Take a moment and think about that for a minute.

27 · The pastor names Paul's desired posture—wonder at God's love

Paul would desire that the posture of our hearts would be wonder. Marveling at the breathtaking beauty of God's love and salvation. We pray with Paul that you would be rooted and grounded in love so that you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Here's Brian Chappell again. In Greek, these spatial dimensions are nouns, rather than adjectives: width, height, length, depth.

They are united together by a single article. The Greek text does not explicitly state an object of these spatial dimensions, so we might wonder, is it the width, length, height, and depth of God's power? Is it his salvation plan, his wisdom, or his love? Some commenters debate these options, including other possibilities, but the NIV rightly identifies the clearest reference as the love of Christ for us. This, church, is where the breathtaking nature of God's love really ramps up.

Paul has done a great job so far of emphasizing and describing the great length of the love of God. But here he admits that truly the love of Christ surpasses knowledge. So we don't have the vocabulary or the ability to understand how much Jesus loves his people. So Paul prays this, that we would have the power to comprehend what we can't comprehend.

28 · The pastor quotes John Stott at length to establish that comprehending Christ's love requires the whole people of God—no isolated Christian can grasp it alone

John Stott says this: "We shall have power to comprehend these dimensions of Christ's love," Paul adds, "only with all the saints." Don't miss this, church. "The isolated Christian can indeed know something of the love of Jesus, but his grasp of it is bound to be limited by his limited experience. It needs the whole people of God to understand the whole love of God. All the saints together, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, young and old, black and white, with all their varied backgrounds and experiences. Yet even then, although we may comprehend its dimensions to some extent with our minds, we cannot know it in our experience.

It is too broad, long, deep, and high even for all the saints together to grasp. It surpasses knowledge. Paul has already used this surpassing word of God's power and grace. Now he uses it of his love. Christ's love is as unknowable as his riches are unsearchable.

Doubtless we will spend eternity exploring the inexhaustible riches of His grace and love,

29 · The pastor transitions to the final effect of God's love—being filled with all the fullness of God

which brings us to the final effect of God's love for us, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Again, Brian Chappell, smarter than me, says this: The fullness of God is His sovereign power directed by His divine mercy. When we grasp the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, we are filled up with power that transforms our world for his sake. Let us make sure that we understand this: when we grasp the love of Christ, we are filled with the power of God.

30 · The pastor issues a direct personal application question with repetition and rhetorical space: Do you grasp Christ's love for you? When you hear the gospel refrain, what is your actual response—joy, wonder, indifference, anger? He presses for honest self-examination of posture toward God

So let me ask you this now, church: do you grasp the love of Christ for you?

Do you grasp the love of Christ for you?

When you hear the refrain of being saved by grace through faith, what's your response? Is it joy? Is it wonder? Gratefulness?

Is it indifference? Apathy? Anger? Sadness?

Joy? Wonder? Amazement? What is your posture towards God?

31 · The pastor addresses non-Christians or those uncertain of their faith, inviting them to rehearse the gospel

Maybe you're here today and you wouldn't call yourself a Christian. Maybe you don't know really if you are a Christian.

Rehearsethe gospel with me now.

32 · The pastor uses a children's book by Trillia Newbell to illustrate the four-movement gospel narrative: God made it, people ruined it, God rescued it, he will finish it

One of the joys of being a toddler dad is I get to read lots of toddler books. And there's this one book called God's Very Big Idea. Fully commend it. God's Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell.

And she sums it up like this for little ones. God made it. People ruined it. God rescued it. He will finish it.

What a joy! When I read that for the first time, I was like, "Wow!" Didn't expect that at bedtime at 8 o'clock or 7 o'clock or screaming children, whatever. God made it. People ruined it. God rescued it.

He will finish it. What a glorious truth that is. God made the world and it was good. He made people and we were very good. We ruined the world God made through our selfishness and sin.

God, because of the great love with which he loved us, rescued the world through Christ. It's by grace we have been saved. Jesus, the suffering servant, came according to the scriptures. Lived a perfect sinless life according to the scriptures, died a death that was meant for you and for me according to the scriptures because of our sin. Then he was raised to life, conquering sin, death, and the grave, and promises he will come back to finish what he started.

God is finishing His work and will finish His work drawing many to Himself and bringing the new heavens and the new earth where we will spend eternity in the presence of the triune God, worshiping and experiencing the fullness of God's love and glory for all time. What a joyful truth this is.

33 · The pastor gives two simultaneous applications with space for reflection: Christians should recount their salvation story as a present practice, while non-Christians should examine what is holding them back from faith and consider whether God is calling them today

So Christian, here's a practice for you right now where you are sitting. Take a minute and recount your salvation story. What was that miracle in your life?

How did God save you? While you're thinking about the miracle of your salvation by grace alone, if you're here today and you're not a Christian, my question for you is, why not?

What's holding you back? What are your hang-ups? When you hear of the love of God in Christ, what's stopping you from giving your life to him?

Might the Lord be calling you to himself even now, today?

34 · The pastor summarizes the second major section (effects of God's love) in compressed form and signals the structural shift to the third section (worship response)

The effect of God's love is that you are strengthened in power. Christ dwells in your heart. You comprehend with all the saints the love of God that surpasses knowledge, and are filled with all the fullness of God.

Which brings us to our response.

35 · The pastor introduces the third section and reads the doxology in Ephesians 3:20-21 aloud, framing worship as the overflow of marveling at God's love

Worship, the overflow of marveling. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

36 · The pastor establishes that Paul's response to God's love is doxology—worship and praise

What is a proper response for us in light of marveling at the love of God together today? What is Paul's response? Paul's response is doxology. It is worship. It is praise.

So I have to, again, if you're a Greek scholar in here, judge me later for my pronunciation. The translation of far more abundantly is what is known as a Pauline supersuperlative in Greek. Hyperperisseu means superabundantly or exceedingly abundantly. Paul had to make up a word to describe the overwhelming, unimaginable abundance of God's love. And in response to all that he has written in the first half of the letter, Paul pauses to marvel and give glory to God.

And he expresses, Paul does, that even after this whole letter explaining at length God's love in Christ, our knowledge of God pales in comparison to the reality of God's love. And so a proper response for us, church, is worship, is praise.

37 · The pastor defines the relationship between theology and doxology: theology is head knowledge of God, doxology is the heart's grateful overflow in response

The short version of this: if our theology is what we know about God in our heads, our doxology is the expression of gratefulness in praise in light of all we know about God. Our theology, what we know about God, must never live in a vacuum. It can't stay there.

Paul knows that, and he models it for us here. He's the guy who wrote half the New Testament, and he pauses and says, "I have to stop and sing for a minute." So why wouldn't that be our response?

If theology demonstrates what we know in our heads, doxology is the overflow of our hearts. In light of what we know about God.

38 · The pastor illustrates theology-to-doxology overflow by recounting the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference: 700+ pastors from around the world, deeply informed theologically and bearing pastoral burdens from years of joy and suffering, erupted in exuberant worship

So let me give you a practical example from this past week. This past week, a bunch of— all the pastors and a bunch of staff and our wives went to Florida to take part in the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference. And this brought pastors and their wives together from all over the world, literally all over the world.

It was such a joy. And there were people who literally numbered over 700 as we gathered for the first session on Tuesday night, all of these people with a great wealth of knowledge, with a firm understanding of theology, with an outstanding ability to defend the faith, erupted in thunderous praise of our Savior. This room was filled with people, church, who have held in tension the joy and sorrow of the last years. They've performed weddings celebrating the union of two people under Christ. And they've gone through funerals, preached at funerals, mourning the death of friends and loved ones.

They've lived hard life over the last number of years. They've held in tension the joy of these celebratory moments and the hard, the pain of church discipline and marital strife and sickness and death. So when I say the room erupted in thunderous praise, I mean that the people whose lives have been informed by deep theological truth gathered to rejoice and marvel at the love of God, shouting, clapping, singing at the top of their lungs, pumping their fists, hands raised high, and exploding with joy at the love of God.

39 · The pastor continues the conference illustration, describing spontaneous congregational clapping in sync with the drums during worship builds

I have to just say this for a moment because I didn't experience it until this week. You know how sometimes when we're singing, we like, we want the music to reflect the lyric, right?

So we sometimes will will go and the drums will kind of get going, right? Well, every single person in that conference room started just clapping along with the drums. Every time it was supposed to be a build, they're like, "Yes!" Because their hearts, the overflow of their knowledge became the overflow of their hearts and they couldn't help but explode with exuberant joy at the love of God. Demonstrated in Christ.

40 · The pastor vulnerably shares his own emotional response at the conference: he wept during worship and couldn't sing, being taught and encouraged by his wife and others around him

As I was writing this yesterday and recounting this, my heart leapt in my chest because what I told a couple of people already is half the time we were singing, I couldn't sing because I was weeping. I was grateful that I was being taught and admonished using psalms and hymns and spiritual songs by those around me— my sweet wife, singing, praising the Lord, encouraging me that knowledge of who God is and his love for me needed to overflow in gratefulness and thanks.

41 · The pastor crystallizes the argument in one sentence: worship is the proper response to marveling at God's love

Doxology worship is the proper response as we marvel at God's love for his people.

42 · The pastor returns to the reflective questions asked earlier in the sermon, now reframing them as application in light of the call to worship

So as we have stopped to marvel at the love of God, we reflect on these couple of questions I asked earlier. How did the Lord draw you to himself?

When you hear the refrain of being saved by grace through faith, what is your response? Not the one you think it should be. What is your response? How do you grasp the love of Christ for you?

What is your posture before the living and holy God in light of all he has done? If you're not a Christian yet, I ask you, why not? What's holding you back from responding to the gospel by giving your whole life to Jesus?

43 · The pastor gives concrete practices for the week: spend time in Ephesians 1-3, pray Paul's prayer asking God to help you marvel, prioritize Sunday gathering

Practically speaking, this week, spend time in the first 3 chapters of Ephesians. Then pray this prayer the way that Paul prays it.

Ask the Lord to help you marvel at his love. Ask the Lord to remind you of the miracle of salvation. Pray that you would be filled with wonder and astonishment at the unimaginable and inarticulable vastness of God's power and love.

Make the gathering of believers on Sunday a priority. My friend Andrew says it this way: We come to church to do the things together that we can't do apart. If you're struggling to marvel, let the the marveling of other people encourage your hearts as we gather on Sunday mornings. Make it a priority.

44 · The pastor applies the doxology in Ephesians 3:20 directly: pray regularly and often, remembering God's superabundant ability to do more than we can ask or think

Pray, pray regularly, pray often.

Talk to God and remember that he is able to do far more abundantly, super abundantly, exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or think.

45 · The pastor gives direct instruction about corporate singing: it's commanded, it connects head to heart, it's the primary way we marvel, it's not optional or just for talented singers, everyone participates

And church, sing songs. Sing songs together. We'll talk more about this in a couple months when we get to Ephesians 5, but God values singing and commands us to sing when we gather. Singing is a great and practical way for us to connect our heads to our hearts.

It's one of the main ways we are able to marvel at the love of God with wonder and astonishment. It's not an extra thing we do. It's not an optional thing we do. It's not a thing that you have to be good at to be effective at. It's not a thing We get to just let other people do.

It's a thing that you do, that I do, that we do together.

Grow deeply in your knowledge of God and praise passionately as an overflow in your heart in light of the knowledge you have in your head. Worship leader Michael Bleeker says this: We should be worshipers who know richly, feel deeply, and express passionately My hope and challenge for you is that you will savor the supremacy of the scriptures both in your personal life and in your corporate gatherings.

46 · The pastor synthesizes the sermon's main argument in one sentence: theology must lead to passionate doxology, following Paul's example

So church, as Paul does, let your theology lead to passionate doxology.

47 · The pastor returns to the hiking metaphor, recounting the Guadalupe Peak summit with two friends

One of the hardest hikes I've done to date— again, if you're from Colorado, don't judge me, don't judge me, it's fine— but it's the Guadalupe Peak, which is the highest point in Texas. I consider myself to be in relatively decent shape, but as I hiked with two other guys who were also in pretty good shape, we got to the summit of that mountain pretty exhausted. The snacks took a while to enjoy but were wonderful with the view. The view was breathtaking and we marveled together at the glory of God in creation. Part of what made that view so beautiful was the knowledge of what came before.

It to get to that view. I still look at pictures. I was looking at pictures this week from the summit and texted my buddies Scott and Jordan because the journey with them was also a gift. And the knowledge of the hard work and sweat that went into the hike led to further wonder and astonishment at the glory displayed in God's creation as we reached that summit together.

48 · The pastor previews the second half of Ephesians using the hiking metaphor: the work is only half done—now comes the descent with practical application on unity, speech, love, sexuality, honesty, singing, parenting, and spiritual warfare

Now let me give a quick encouragement as we look to the second half of Paul's letter starting next week.

The challenge of any hike is that once you reach the top, the work is only half done. You have to go back down the mountain, right? So Paul is going to take us back down the mountain. There's still some heavy lifting to do to get back home. So over the next few weeks, we'll walk together through Paul's very clear direction to the church about the implications of the theology he's laid out.

He'll push us hard on unity. Practical life transformation, the way we speak. He'll speak strongly about walking in love as imitators of God. He'll speak about sexuality, honesty, the way we act, why we must sing together, and he'll even tell kids, "Kids, obey your parents." And then he'll give us direction about how to live in light of all these applications. But for now, let's stop at the theological summit with Paul and marvel.

Marvel with wonder and astonishment at the love of the one who is able to do far more abundantly, superabundantly more than all we could ask or think. Let the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit fill you with all the fullness of God.

49 · The pastor transitions to communion by instructing the congregation to reflect on God's love in their salvation, ask forgiveness, marvel at Christ's continual forgiveness, and let theology spur their hearts to sing with full voice

Over the next few moments, as Ricky leads us through communion, reflect on the miracle of God's love. Directed toward you in your salvation. Ask forgiveness for your sins this week and today.

Marvel with wonder and astonishment at the fact that Christ forgave you your sins, forgives you your sins, and will continue to forgive you your sins as we press on to eternity. Then, with hearts informed by the deep theological roots of God's perfect, never-ending, never giving up, undeserved, astonishing love spur your hearts to song. Sing loudly with full heart and voice as we respond to the one who loves us more than we could ever hope to know. And as we approach the table together, staying in your seats but with full heart and voice, would you sing with me?

50 · The congregation sings the Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures here below. Praise him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father Your Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

Amen. Well, how kind of the Lord, knowing that we constantly need a reminder of the love of God. When we think about that, that Paul prays that we would feel and experience the love of God, presumably because we so quickly forget it. We so quickly drift from it. And so, God in his kindness gives us the Lord's table, the Lord's Supper, to help remind us regularly in the rhythm of the church of the love of God.

If you're a Christian, we would invite you to participate in the Lord's Supper with us. You're welcome to do that. If you're not a Christian, we'd ask that you refrain from partaking of the elements, but receive in this ordinance an invitation from God to today, even today, become a Christian and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Also, if you have a gluten intolerance, we do have some gluten-free communion on the back table if that would serve you.

1 John 4:10 says this: In this is love, Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation, or the substitute, for our sins.

51 · Ricky leads a prayer over the bread, asking that every believer would be reminded of God's love specifically for them and would see, feel, and experience God's love in Christ's broken body

So, if you would, church, please take the elements in your hand as we remember the love of God. And please take that small piece of bread, hold it in your hand, And, Lord, as we do this, we pray— I pray that every single brother or sister, son or daughter here would be reminded of your love specifically for them. Father, as we hold this element, it represents your body broken for us. Lord, may we in that broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ, see and feel and experience the love of God for us this morning.

Amen. You may take the bread.

52 · Ricky leads a prayer over the cup, asking that believers would feel, see, and experience God's love expressed in Christ's blood shed for them

Now please take the cup in your hands.

And Lord, as we hold this cup representing your blood shed for us, May we feel and see and experience the love of God.

No more perfect gift than the love of God expressed in the blood of the Son of God poured out for us. Lord, I pray for every son or daughter, brother and sister here, that they would feel and experience the love of God right now. As they behold you and what you've done for them. Please take the cup.

53 · Ricky invites the congregation to stand for a corporate worship response following communion

Now please stand as we respond.