Essentials (March/April 2022)

The New Testament book of Ephesians is a letter. It’s a letter from a founding pastor (the Apostle Paul) back to his former flock, they have a new pastor now. They are a stable and growing congregation. But, like all churches, they have problem. They seem a bit “stuck”. They are struggling to include people coming from different cultural backgrounds. They are having trouble with marriages, families, and working relationships. They need to grow up into God’s vision for their lives. Ephesians is a letter about growing up. How will they grow up? Not by trying harder. Not by using better techniques to build successful lives. Rather they would grow up by discovering or rediscovering the real “essentials of faith”! If we are going to “grow up” in our faith, then we need faith essentials, not good ideas or good goals, as great as those can be!...