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Ascension Day

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Texts & Discussion:

Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or Psalm 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

 

 Other Resources:
Commentary:
 Matthew Henry,    Wesley
Word Study:
Robertson		 This Week's Themes:

Ascension of our Lord
Exaltation of Christ
Promise of Christ's Return
Promise of the Spirit
 


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 Texts in Context | Commentary:   First Lesson;  Epistle;  Gospel Lesson
Prayer&Litanies |  Hymns & Songs | Children's Sermons | Sermons based on Texts

A Rich Inheritance, Ephesians 1:15-23, by Rev. Randy Quinn

It probably comes as no surprise to you, but I don’t speak Greek.  I don’t read it, either.  Since the New Testament was written in Greek, most of us rely upon translators to tell us what Paul writes in his letter to the church in Ephesus.  That’s part of why I like to use a variety of translations when I’m studying a text – and why I take the time to read what scholars have to say before writing a sermon.

One of the things I was surprisedto learn in my studies this weekwas that our text today – the entire passage – is one long sentence in Greek.I tried reading it in a couple of different translations; and there was not one I found where I could read it aloud with only one breath.

I know some people who take multiple breaths in the same sentence because the sentence is so long; but generally it’s because they are excited about something and don’t know when to put an exclamation point on it and stop talking.

Paul was apparently so exuberant that he didn’t know when to stop talking!  He is excited about what God has done – and is doing – in Ephesus; and he is excited about what the church is doing in response.  That church has become for him an example of what he has been preaching throughout the Roman Empire – it serves as a model of the church as the Body of Christ, through which Jesus is seen at work.

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