Join us this week in our new series "Ephesians" For any other information you can visit our website coastlinensb.com or email us at hello@coastlinensb.com
Coastline Church NSB Podcast
Ephesians Week 4
Welcome to the coastline podcast. We exist as a church to help connect you to God and the people around you, to help you grow in your faith, and to challenge you to go into your community sharing the love of Christ. Three things. Connect. Grow. Go. If you'd like information on what is going on at coastline, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, or email us at hello@coastlinensb.com. Today, before we jump in, I want to let you know we're continuing on in this series. We started just a few weeks ago called Ephesians, and we've been just going through this letter from Paul, the apostle of God to the church and Ephesus. And we've been going chapter and verse and kind of like open ourselves and letting the Holy Spirit speak through Paul to us. As Paul's writing to the early church, we're a church that's only seven, eight years old. We're still young church ourselves and so kind of listening in and seeing how we should adjust ourselves as we continue to lead this church, as we continue to lead our families, as we continue to follow Christ. And so we're going to continue that in here today. I'm going to pray for us and then we're going to jump into it. Heavenly Father, as you are the good Father, God, as you are worthy of it all over praise, this morning, God, we ask you, as the good Father, to teach us your sons and your daughters. I pray that the Holy Spirit would come in and would minister to us, that you would allow us to focus on the things that you would want us to focus on in this moment, that we want to think about the tensions of what we got to do come Monday or of what we missed on Thursday or Friday, but right now that we would look towards you and we would see in truth and in love the things that you have for us, that we would not hear these words from Paul and feel condemnation, but that we would understand this is a message of peace, this is a message of freedom that your son died on the cross. So we're able to be freed from sin and the shame that comes with it. And I thank you for that. I pray that we would hear it and receive it and rejoice as you work in our lives. And I believe that the best is still yet to come, amen, and amen. Yeah, before we jump in, I do want to take a quick second and dismiss the middle schoolers. We've got a great group of middle school students that they're going to go and to their class, I love the fact that they get a worship with us for a little bit and then they're going to go with their peers and learn about Jesus on their level and hang out and be able to talk about it and ask questions, which is really cool. Also, I want to let you know that if you've got a small kid, man, this is a great opportunity to take him over to the kids' ministry. Man, we've got a kick butt kids' ministry. I'm super thankful for our team and the effort that they put in. I promise your kid is not too difficult for them. Ms. Marsha Q, she's raised up a couple of great kids on her own and it doesn't matter how stubborn or how much attention they need, she would be happy to love on them and help you out if you got any special needs. And so, we're going to dismiss students at this point and then today, we're going to jump into, oh, and also real quick, I want to welcome all the people doing church online. I understand as it's summertime, we've got a lot of families that they use this time to travel and go have some adventures with their family, which I think is a great thing to do. I love making memories with my family and if that's you, if you're out traveling, if you're watching online, I want to thank you so much for tuning in, doing church online with us. Man, we heard some stories of people last week that are even watching out of the country that they've taken their family and gone on vacation. They're watching from out of the country. That's pretty cool. Go ahead and leave in the comment section where you're watching from. I thank you so much for doing church with us online today. We're going to start in Ephesians chapter five. And again, I give you guys a little bit of a preface on this before that, that Paul, the author of this letter to the church is a promoter of Jesus. He is someone that is communicating of what Jesus did and that Jesus is the answer and that we need to follow him. He's specifically writing to this church and helping them understand the things that they should adjust or the things that they should focus on in living in the mission out as the church. But I love the story of Paul because Paul didn't start out as a promoter. He didn't start out as a church planner. He actually started out as someone who persecuted the church. Imagine like modern day today. Imagine a prosecutor, someone that would literally go after followers of Jesus. They called them followers of the way. He would go after this movement of the followers of the way and who would persecute them, throw them in prison. The Bible said that he would persecute them even unto death. So this is a guy that literally that he's definitely got his lines crossed, doesn't understand what he's doing. Jesus has an interaction with them that changes his life forever. That totally puts him 180 degrees different in a different direction and he goes from being a prosecutor of Jesus Christ's followers to now he is promoting it. I can't help but think that that's an incredible, powerful story of of and gives us hope for the people in our lives that are far from Jesus. That Jesus could step in, that Jesus might even use us, might use an opportunity that doesn't look like it might be the right opportunity but gives us an opportunity in which they might see him through us and their lives might be changed. So Paul goes and he's writing this letter and he's specific to the church. We're going to pick up today in chapter 5 verse 1 through 2. It says this, it says, "imitate God therefore in everything that you do because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God." The beginning of that sentence says, "imitate God." When I read this this past week, I couldn't help but think of my kids, Olivia and Ben, I've got a 10 year old and a 7 year old. And if you were asked people around us when it comes to who acts like who, there's a very specific distinction that when it comes to Olivia, Olivia acts a lot like I acted when I was 10 years old. I remember my mom telling me when I married Erica, she said, "I hope that you have a son one day that acts just like you acted when you were my kid." I said, "Well, nobody needs that. I know what I did. That was not a good time. What do you know what God blessed me with a little mini me and Olivia? I think she's smarter than why I was at 10, but doing the same things, almost same exact behaviors. Then you got Ben on the other hand who isn't like me at all, where I was like rebellious, rambunctious, throwing stuff, never listening to my mom. Benjamin's a lot more like Erica. Erica's a rule follower. Erica's, she feels the emotion of the people around. That's definitely Benjamin. I'm going to tell you what, I've never had a really stern talking to my son at all. Most of the time that I've seen him cry, it's been when his sister's getting in trouble. He's got that much love and he's just like, "I don't want her to get in trouble." I was like, "I don't want her to get in trouble either." But he's saying they're crying about it. He's a rule follower, he's a sweet boy, much like his mama, a super thankful form. But they reflect our characteristics. Things might be a little bit different, but they reflect what we've instilled into them. Here specifically, the Apostle Paul is telling us that when it comes to us as followers of God, when it comes to us as followers of Jesus Christ, that we should reflect the character of God. Now when it comes to following Jesus, that our actions should be similar to that of what Jesus would do. I remember being in a middle school and seeing, there was this huge movement of people wearing these bracelets that said, "WWJD on them." How many of you guys saw those bracelets? A couple of people, how many of you guys wore them? Yeah, a couple of people did. "WJD, what would Jesus do?" I think it's a question we should ask more often. I think it's a question we should ask when we're going down the highway and the person in front of us is driving too slow, right? Well, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus honk at them and tell them they're number one as they go past them? Probably not. Probably not, that's not how Jesus would act. When you're at the boat ramp and the guy in front of you is just hogging the boat ramp, doesn't know what the heck he's doing. Jesus wouldn't go tell him what to do, would he? No, he'd love on him, he'd give him some grace. When it comes to, when it comes to your spouse and, you know, Erica loves it when I leave my shoes all over the kitchen floor. Big fan of that. Would Jesus jump on? No, Jesus would do things just a little bit differently. I think in life when it comes to the people that we work with and the people that we work for, sometimes we need to ask ourselves a question a lot more of what would Jesus do in this situation and we need to reflect that. So the apostle Paul says he says you need to imitate God, you need to live like Jesus. Now here's the thing, this is something that's a lot easier for us to say than it is for us to do, right? I would much rather just wear the WWJD bracelet 24/7 than actually have to like try to live that out. It's a tough thing. And the apostle Paul says, man, this is what it means to be like Christ. And if you break down even the word Christian, it literally means little Christ or like Christ. When you partner that with the Bible saying that they will see who he is, they will see the love of Christ by how we love one another. It starts painting this beautiful picture of what Christianity is supposed to be like. So the apostle Paul says hey you need to imitate God, you need to be like Christ. But then he goes on and he says there needs to be a separation in your understanding between what culture says is okay, you need to have separation between what is kingdom-minded and what is culture-minded and that we shouldn't just convert ourselves or conform ourselves to what culture says is okay, but that we should stand apart. He says this in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 5, he goes on and he says, let there be no sexual immorality, impurity or greed among you. Such sin have no place among God's people, obscene stories, foolish talk and coarse jokes. These are not for you. Instead, that word right there, instead that's key because you got to understand he's saying there's a flip side to the coin. He says instead of being following the culture of the world, he says instead there needs to be a difference. He says instead let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral and pure or greedy person will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of the kingdom of Christ and of God for greedy person is an idolatier worshiping the things of this world. He says there needs to be a difference that something should change. Paul says create some separation in yourself between these two things. To follow a life I would say what would Jesus do, not what would everyone else do. Paul goes on to communicate about the importance of this, of how the cultural relevance can create this moral erosion, this moral decay of who we are supposed to be. This morning I was at the Sunrise Service at about seven o'clock and if you ever take a walk on the beach nowadays you'll see that there's a lot and lots of construction projects going on right now currently to rebuild the sea walls. Sea walls all the way up and down from Bethune Beach all the way to the Inlet are trying to be rebuilt because of the past hurricanes and how much erosion happened to the beach. There was so much erosion that people's homes and even some homes did get lots of damage. Many of them were at risk of destruction because of the erosion of the beach that happened so close to the ocean. I believe when it comes to our spirit, I believe when it comes to us, when it comes to our morality, when it comes to being like Christ, that many times if we continue to conform to just what culture says is appropriate, we experience spiritual and moral erosion in our own lives. Here the Apostle Paul is trying to communicate to the church, he said, "Hey, be set apart. It's okay to be different. Let people see Jesus, by the way, that you treat one another." Jesus chapter 5 verse 6 says, "Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him. Don't participate in these things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light, for this light within you produces only what is good and what is right and what is true. Simply determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of the evil and darkness. Instead expose them, it is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret." Verse 13 it says, "But their evil intentions will be exposed, and the light shines on them. For the light makes everything visible. This is why it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light, awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Set yourself apart. It's okay to be different. It doesn't mean you're better. Don't get me wrong. Let me be very clear, because your follower of Christ does not make you better than anybody else around you, but set yourself apart and let people see Jesus through you. It's okay to be different. I remember being in school, and I felt like one of the most important things that I wanted to do while I was in grade school was just to fit in. I just wanted to be like everybody else. I didn't want to be picked on. I don't want to stand out. I just want to be like everybody else." I hear the Apostle Paul says, "Stand out. Stand out for what's good. Be humble, be like Jesus. Choose humility, but stand out." Paul continues to communicate. He said, "Rather being fueled by the culture that is around us," he said, "that we should look for fuel from some thousands, that we should look for the drive to come from the Holy Spirit of God." In Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15 to 20, "So be careful how you live. Live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don't be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing the songs and hymns and spiritual songs amongst yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts, and give thanks for everything to God, the Father, and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, part of the reason that we come together every Sunday to worship, it's not to have like a good Christian concert. Super thankful for Calum, thankful for TJ, and Max, and Nehemiah, and Hunter, and Jordan, and our incredible tech team that put on a fantastic worship experience. But more importantly than hitting all the right notes and seeing all the right songs, there's something spiritual about us all coming together and raising our voices as one, and singing these songs as a church family. The reason it's loud isn't because we want everyone to hear the band, the reason it's loud is because mostly it's because I don't want anybody to hear me, dude, I'm singing so off key in the front row, that's why I can't get in the second row. Someone comes in the front row, man, I'm going to be a distraction, it's going to be bad. I shouldn't be singing anywhere, but the front row and maybe my shower. And Erica says, not even the shower sometimes, but there's something about, there's something that is healing in your spirit, there's something that grows you, there's something else coming together, this is the thing that will fuel us, this is a big deal, this is to be led by the spirit, walk in the light. I'm going to be kind of transparent with you guys on something real quick. I'm 39 years old, about ready to be 40, August 30th, I'm going to be 40 years old, right? It's all downhill from here, I don't know, like things are already hurting that I didn't even know I had, like it's bad. 40 years old, I get up in the morning to go to sunrise service, and I walk into the garage, close the door behind me, and because it's before sunrise, it's pitch black. 300 pounds, 40 years old, I step into my garage, pitch black, I close the door, and I'm immediately afraid of the dark. Can I just be honest with you for saying I'm like, oh, I got it, where's the light? Like I'm panicking, because it's like a new house, you're like, you know, it's a new smell, you're like, oh my gosh, where's the light switch or whatever, I'm doing that thing. Something about darkness, I'm not a big darkness guy. Someone barges into my house, I'm liable to throw Erica at him or something, I don't know, I don't know, Erica, that's what we call her if it's too early or too late. Erica, she'll get you, but as soon as you flip the light switch on, everything's fine. You ever notice that when it comes to turning lights on, or even if you pull your phone out in darkness, like the darkness can't like overcome the light. There's never a place in which you come in, and there's like so much darkness that it just, it beats out the light, any little bit of light, the darkness has got to flee. I think when it comes to the world that we live in, if we'll let the light of Jesus shine through us by how we love one another, how we treat one another, I think that has the ability to have an incredible impact on the darkness in our world. It's not about a sign that says you're doing it wrong or whatever, or you're going to hell, it's not about saying it in a mean way, it's about being a light in the dark world, it's about being like Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul is telling in the early church. This is what he's telling us. He said this is what church is about, not just about us coming together and connecting with one another, but going out into the world and being a light in the darkness. At the end of this chapter, right before he gets into the last section of this letter to the church, Paul switches gears and he stops talking about just the church and he starts talking about the individual families. He starts talking about the importance that our families are to one another. You know, I think it's great that all our families come together and we get dressed up and wear nice skinny jeans and good Columbia shirt, we come to church and we hang out with one another. I think that's good, but I spend way more time with my family in my home than I do with you guys. And so he shifts gears a little bit to talk about specifically the time that you spend with your family. And what it should look like and what the connections should be like. So specifically he talks about, he first addresses husbands and wives. Verse 21 of chapter 5, he says, "And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." So he's specifically talking about marriage in this case, he's talking about a husband and a wife coming together and he says, "Submit to one another out of reference for Christ." Now when you read what comes next, you need to understand that the things that come out first from Paul's letter is the foundation for everything that comes after that. So the thing that this is all built on is first, first priority, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. And then comes next, this. Verse 22, "For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Your husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is a savior of his body, the church, and as the church submits to Christ, so your wives should submit to your husbands and everything. Wives. If your husband ever pulls this out of the Bible to win an argument with you, my number is on the website. You give me a call because we're going to have a conversation about this really quick. I love when Eric and I are doing, we might be doing marriage classes or something like that, or what do you call it? That's it. Pre-marriage counseling. And someone brings this up, like, "This is what my wife is supposed to submit to me." Like, brother, you got a long way to go. I'm going to pray for you now. We're going to start praying now because you're going to need it. Because first things first, Paul says, "Submit to one another." Before he ever talks to wives, he says, "You're supposed to submit to one another." And then after this, after he talks to wives, he communicates this to husbands. He says, "For husbands, this means love your wives just as Christ, love the church." He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed for the cleansing of God's Word. He did this to present her to herself as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies for the man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds it and cares for it. He says, "Christ cares for the church, and we are members of his body." So Paul says, "Submit to one another." He says, "Wives submit to your husbands," but then he says, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ, love the church," which he died for. Now this is a big deal because this isn't like I love my wife like I love fishing. That's not what this is. This isn't I love my wife like I like going to the beacon restaurant. No, this is like I love my wife, I love why I love my wife and my life. I love both. I love my wife to the point, not that I would just die for her, not that you would just take a bullet for her, but that you would serve her and help her and build her up. See a lot of guys you get to the point where like, "I'd take a bullet for my wife right now." Yes. Okay. But would you work on your honeydew list for your wife right now? All the wives said amen, right, amen? Hey, let me tell you what I do. This is a little helpful hand. This is none of the Bible. My wife and I, we have iPhones because I'm too stupid to understand Android stuff. It keeps changing so much. And there's this little reminders app and Erica has one for us that says honeydew list. Or I think it says Erica's list, doesn't it? And magically on her phone, she can put in the things that I need to do, like what's on my honeydew list? Hang curtains. That one might have been there for a couple of weeks, guys. I don't know if you caught the drift on that, but hang curtains, right? Hang some pictures, fix the drains and the sink or something like that. Cut the grat. There's honeydew list things. There's something about just hitting the check mark and saying it's completed. I know that when it comes to my wife, if I want to show her love, my wife does not love when I give her hugs or I try to touch her and show her love. That's not it. She's not a big touching person when it comes to love. She is a big acts of service. I'm going to tell you what, if I want my wife to show me affection and love me, if I go out and cut the grass, if I edge the sidewalk, oh, there's something about running the edge water, the edge, the edge, the girl's love, the edge of the gentleman I'm going to tell you right now, go get your edge on, okay? I'm going to help you. Let me help you help you. Go work on your honeydew list. Me I love hearing words of affirmation when my wife tells me, man, I love the way, you know, you work so hard, you're doing so well, if I go tell my wife, you're a great mom. That does nothing for her. But quality time, if I'll love her the way that she needs to be left, if I will submit myself to not what I want, but what she needs, when the world is a happier place, and she understands the same for me. So when it comes to marriage, marriage isn't about as my wife's submitting to me, or my love, it's about this mutual submission of leaning on one another, to the point where it's not, can I get what I need out of this person, but can I give what I have to help this person. It's like two, two by four, if I had two, two by fours up here right now and I tried to balance both of them by themselves, it would be pretty tough to get them into balance. And if I did, they might not stay for a long time, but if I came up here and I leaned them against each other, much like a bridge connects with the pylons next to it, and they put the weight and the pressure, and they help each other, they don't just stand alone, they'll help my wife, and she helps me as we lean on each other as we submit to one another. There's this beautiful thing that can happen in this unity where the Bible says the two become one. Just love your wives the way that Christ loved the church. Submit to one another, lean on one another, don't just take, give. I think that is as just as important as if when you come all together as we are the church. I think if you can do that at home first, man, it's a recipe for success. Paul goes on to communicate what a perfect marriage or the description of marriage should be. He says in Ephesians 5 verse 31, he says, "Man leaves his father and his mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." It's this great mystery, but it's an illustration of the way that Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. And then lastly, he communicates to children, this product of what this godly marriage is. He says, "Children obey your parents because you belong to the Lord." For this is the right thing to do, honor your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. If you honor your father and mother, things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger by the way that you treat them, rather bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. As I read that, I thought about my own family and the kids that I'm raising up and that I'm teaching. And I thought about the time that I spent under the teaching of my father and my mother. I thought about as a child, what does it look like for me to honor them, but even beyond that. For some of us today, I think when we read this verse, it's not about, "Did you do your childhood correctly?" Because some of us were at a point now where our fathers and mothers are still in our lives. Are we still honoring them? Brian, you don't know what I went through with my mom and my dad. I'm at a point in life now where I understand that my parents aren't perfect. Just like every other human in this world, they've got issues that they're dealing with that they dealt with. I know they did the best that they could. And even if I don't agree with all their ideas or all their opinions, I still think that here Apostle Paul is telling the church and telling us that we should honor them and that we should love them. I think just like the culture that we live in, if we'll allow the light of Jesus to reflect from us into the relationships that we have with our mothers and our fathers and our brothers and our sisters and our co-workers and our employees and our neighbors, will be the reflection of the love of Christ, if we'll ask ourselves in this situation, what would Jesus do? I think we have the ability to beat back the darkness in our culture, to beat back the darkness that creeps into our homes, for the evil that caused destruction and erosion to reflect the love of Jesus in your life. And I believe that if we do that, the best is still yet to come. Amen? Let me pray for us. If you're here today and you feel like you're far from Jesus, if you're here today and you feel like you need to take a step towards Him, I want you to pray this prayer after me. Maybe pray it to yourself. Maybe you pray something similar like this on your ride home, but today you want to take a step in your relationship with Him for the first time or maybe you need to renew a relationship with Him. I want you to pray something like this, Jesus, you know all that I am, you know all that I've done, every sin that I've ever committed, anything that would separate me from you. Today I confess it all to you, ask you to forgive me and watch me pure as snow. I commit my life to you. I declare that you are my own Lord and Savior. Show me what's next and let me draw closer to you. Amen. Let me pray for us as a church and as our families. God, as a good father that you are, I thank you for being the good coach. Thank you for sending Paul and the fact that we have access to this letter of how we should continue on as the church, how we should continue on as the leads of our family, as the spouse that we need to be to our spouse, the parents that we need to be to our kids and the children that we need to be to our parents. I pray that in all these things that you would show us and give us more opportunities to reflect your love in these areas. God, I pray for marriages right now in our church, I pray that there would be mutual submission, that they would lean on one another, that when times get tough, that they would not turn to fight each other, God, but that husbands and wives would understand that they are one, they are one same team that will fight with each other alongside each other, that will help each other and give allowances for one another. God, I pray that you would strengthen the families in our church. I believe that as we continue to follow you in our homes, in our church, and individually, I believe the best is yet to come and I thank you in advance for it. In Jesus' name we pray, everybody said. As always, coastline, know that you are loved and that the best is yet to come. [MUSIC PLAYING]