This is the first video in a series exploring the book of Ephesians. In this sermon, Peter looks at Ephesians 1:3-14. The emphasis is that God has blessed and adopted believers from both the Jews and the Gentiles. While the division between Jews and Gentiles no longer divides the church in the way it once did, the passage still has significance today. Rather, it shows us that God’s intention was always to call a diverse family of people. His love extends to every group of people, even the people I’m most uncomfortable with. So God’s desire is to save everyone, to see everyone blessed and adopted. As the text says, “To sum up the whole cosmos in the king.” This means that his love reaches out to those whose style, politics, and theology I disagree with. And it means that God loves the poor and those at the margins.

Questions For Reflection

1. What spiritual blessings can I identify that God has given me?
2. What people do I have the hardest time seeing as people God loves and wants to save?
3. How can we make space in our church for the poor and the marginalized?

Other Resources

Check out the Bible Project‘s video explaining the structure and themes of the book of Ephesians

Check out last week’s sermon on God’s faithfulness.