3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
3:16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant
that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through
his Spirit,
3:17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you
are being rooted and grounded in love.
3:18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the
saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
3:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
3:20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to
accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,
3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Comments:
For about thirty years I have used Ephesians 3:14-21 from the
Jerusalem Bible as my benediction. Under my signature in letters I
write, Ephesians 3:14-21. Try this lesson in some liturgical way. It
works.
Oklahoma Irishman Ephesians 3:14-21 Jerusalem Bible.
I plan to focus on how we limit God in place of God's "power" to
"accomplish far more than we ask or imagine." Anyone else plan to
take this approach?
Mark in Tn.
I'm picking up on discipleship themes. Anybody have anything
interesting on "Taking His Name?"
Larry in Indy
If you want to see an interesting spin on this check out Eugene
Peterson's The Message. His translation maintains the power while
putting the thoughts in a much more everyday English
I use part of the passage to end some of my sermons (after all, if
human preaching somehow becomes the living word of God, that's a lot
to expect- not sure if for me it's a statement of faith or a prayer-
could it be both?)
To the individual looking for resources on Job: Barbara Brown Taylor
has an excellent sermon in her book "Home by Another Way." About
Ephesians text, I am looking at the primacy of love -- THAT is God's
fullness; THAT is the purpose (if you want to put it that way) of
Christ dwelling in us.
I keep thinking about Jesus, whose "power at work within us is able
to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or
imagine"...as is illustrated by the feeding of the crowd in John's
gospel. What does it mean to belong to a God who is able to increase
our resources?
revdlk in Nebraska
'. . .the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly
far more than all we can ask or imagine. . ..' Is there a tendency
to think of that power as something magical? ie - If we've got God
then he'll give us money, health, everything we could ever want and
more. I've been involved with a person who has 'fallen out with
God'. After a life time of suffering, a crisis of faith has set in
that seems irretrievable - a bitterness and hopelessness borne out
of a desire for healing. My prayer for myself is that God's power
would work in me to such an extent that I would be able to do the
unimaginable - that he would give me the grace to have faith when
all my outward crutches have been knocked away. For me, the
unimaginable is to know the love of Christ in such a way that it
sustains me in love for others even when everyone has abandonned me.
For me, the unimaginable is to be held in the love of Christ even
when all matierial and physical comforts have fled. For me the
unimaginable is to stand firm in faith even when I'm being
encouraged to curse God and die. Father, through the Spirit, give me
that strength in my inner being. Christ, dwell in me and cause my
roots to search out the Living Water and to discover my groundedness
is in you alone. Amen. A Canadian in Scotland.
In the same line of thought as Canadian in Scotland, I see a
connection between this text and NEXT week's gospel text in John
6:24-35. It was what they perceived as "magic' that the people
sought. They failed to see the REAL power of God in the feeding of
the 5000 - that God's grace and love are always more than enough.
When we partake of Jesus Christ ("eat his flesh"), we find
satisfaction in every situation, no matter how uncertain, dark, or
dire that situation is. Being imperfect humans, distracted by our
own uncertain and infirm thoughts, we don't always partake of the
feast available to us (I, to, my friend in Christ, have struggled
with chronic illness and crises of faith), but Christ is always
there for us, ready to feed us and renew us. One of my favorite
lines from the old Methodist Eucharistic rite is "take and eat, and
feed on him in your hearts through faith, with thanksgiving." I use
this line as I distribute the bread. Thank you for your insight of
faith, C in Sc. Ken in WV
I love this passage...always the affirmation that God can do more
than we can ask or imagine! Sets my imagination ahumming! Deborah
from Cananda
There is really a contrast between the writer of Ephesians and the
writer of Psalm 14. The writer of Ephesians say all families in
Heaven and Earth come from God, and the writer of the Psalm says
there is no one who is not evil.
Shalom, pasthersyl
What a gift Ephesians is to the Body of Christ! This will be the
third Sunday I'll preach from the Epistle lesson, allowing Paul the
opportunity to offer encouragement for our church. His prayer says
it all: prayers that we may be strengthened with power through the
Spirit, that Christ may dwell in our hearts, that we would be given
an appreciation of the breadth and length and height and depth of
Christ, that we may be filled with God's fullness, and my favorite,
that we may *know* the love of Christ that surpasses *knowledge*.
Our church is just in the beginning of a 'visioning' process as we
pray for discernment and guidance from God as a congregation. So
God's timing with these lectionary passages couldn't be better! We
are actively seeking for God to accomplish abundantly more in our
church than we can ask or even imagine!
Along with revdlk above, I see a direct connection to the loaves and
fishes, where Jesus takes the people's understanding of limitation
and scarcity and just explodes it, showing the abundance and the
wild generosity of God's giving. Which itself reminds me of the
beginning of Ephesians: "Blessed be God... who has blessed us in
Christ with *every* spiritual blessing..." (1:3) and "...the riches
of his grace that he *lavished* on us." (1:7-8)
*BKW in IL
Hope Petereo doesn't mind me reposting this hymn from the "previous
discussion" in 2000:
BOW YOUR KNEES (to Hymn to Joy)
Bow your knees before the Father
From whom families take their name.
God will grant you inner power
Though the Spirit be enflamed.
Make your hearts a holy dwelling
That through faith Christ lives within,
Grounded in God’s love you’ll flourish
Free to grow and free from sin.
With the saints that now surround you
Free the limits of your mind.
Know that Christ’s love is beyond
The bounds of all our space and time.
Be surprised at what will happen
With that power at work in you.
Praise Him through the church becoming
Ever open ever new.
*BKW in IL
Okay help if you can - PUHLEEEZE!
I have heard a song in one of the videos my children own that goes
something like:
Oh I wish I could fly, I wish I could touch the sky. . . It's not a
Ray Thomas song which is ALL I can get off a search - can anyone
help me??
I too am planning to speak on "visioning what we can become if we
truly believe . . ." but want to add the angle of how we often wish
we could do more than we can and couple that with the words found in
the epistle. ALL help appreciated!
Paul prays for the Christians to whom he writes, asking that God
will grant them inner strength and spiritual power as they continue
to grow in their understanding of the love of Christ.
Building on the comment, "by the power at work within us is able to
accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine." We have
a doxology in the Anglican Church of Canda, which is, "glory to God,
whose power working through us can do infinately more than we can
ask or imagine." I was thinking on how the OT lesson in Samuel of
David's sin and the feeding of the 5000 relate?? Then it came to me,
the bridge is in this Epistle. God's power working through us and
within us, regardless of sin and worth, can still do incredible
ministry in this world. God still was able to use David, Peter,
Saul(Paul). He can still work in and through us to do incredible
acts of ministry, such as feeding 5000. Christ said to us, that we
as the body of Christ will do more and greater things than he - this
all fits into the glory and power of God!
Padre Dwayne - Ontario.ca
Responding to the request for lyrics to a song stating "I Can Fly."
I believe you are referring to the song by R. Kelly "I Believe I Can
Fly." The lyrics include: I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch
the sky. I think about it every night and day Spread my wings and
fly away. I believe I can soar. I see me running through that open
door. I believe I can fly...etc. A search on www.musicsonglyrics.com
will reveal if this is your answer. Hope I helped. Mera
Friday afternoon (unless you're like me!) may be a litle late for
this, but ran across a quote from Kierkegaard that seems to fit:
"Now, with God's help, I shall become myself" Soren Kierkegaard,The
Prayers of Kierkegaard,ed. Perry Lefevre (Chicago;University of
Chicago Press, 1956) p.47
Also, the latest album from Matchbox Twenty has an interesting title
"More Than You Think You Are"
revgilmer in Texarkana
Just remembered something else;
Several years ago, I went to the Crystal Cathedral's School for
Church leaders. After very sermon (by Bruce Larson) Ken Medema would
instantly make up a song that would tie the worship service and
sermon together. Medema, who has been blind since birth, came up
with a song abut what he would ask God for. First, he would have
asked for his sight, then he would have asked for wisdom, but now,
he would only ask for what God wanted him to have.
We have to remember that God doing more than we could possibly
expect or imagine could mean that God will do something much greater
than, and sometimes very different from what we have asked.
Grace and Peace
revgilmer in texarkana
Paul gives us a good example of how to pray for our loved ones.
Sometimes we spend much of our time in prayer asking God to provide
for ourselvs and our loved one outwardly- position, power,
popularity, prosperity, health. There is nothing wrong with these
benefits but inner well being is even more important. If we are not
strong inwardly, the temptations and pressures of life will cause
our life to "collapse" in on us. Paul wrote that even when "our
outer nature is wasting awy, our inner nature is being renewed day
by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). This prayer is the very prayer we
should pray boldly for our life and the life of others.
Angelic Residue, OR
I have no valuable contribution, yet I have a question to those who
study Ephesians. In 3:19 what do you think is meant by "fulness"?
And how does it apply in everyday Christian life? Without
speculations, digging it from the text itself - what do you think it
means? a student in amsterdam
