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Nov 20, 2022

Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground

Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground

Passage: Ephesians 3:1-13

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Song & Dance - The Gospel Melody that Moves in Ephesians

Keywords: stewardship, powers, mystery, take heart

Blues music vents the deepest struggles of human experience as it liberates the musician from the sorrows the music testifies to. In all Paul’s towering and pointed letter so far it perhaps escapes us he writes to his recipients from prison. The work he’d been commissioned to do now (and often) runs aground of expectations and necessarily invites the question, “have I been forgotten.” Not only is he tempted to sorrow but, so, too, those he writes to. All that separates us from disorientation and melancholy is time. What do we cling to so that we don’t lose heart?

Readings & Scripture

PREPARATION: Psalm 145: 18-19, 21
LEADER: The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

PEOPLE: He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.

LEADER: My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,

ALL: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH/SCRIPTURE READING/CORPORATE PRAYER:) Hebrews 4:12-16
LEADER: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

ALL: Thanks be to God. 

CENTRAL TEXT: Ephesians 3:1-13
Eph. 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Eph. 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

CONFESSION OF SIN:
ALL: The longer we live, the more we know: life, so often, is a heartbeat from sorrow. But no matter how much we remember that, we build so much on what can be taken so quickly. Forgive us for our presumption. Forgive us for trying to save ourselves. Forgive us for seeing each other as triflings and inconveniences. Forgive us for walking in pride by refusing to cast our blues and burdens on you.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON Ephesians 2:13-14
LEADER: now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace. . . .

ALL: Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION: 1 Corinthians 1:30-31
LEADER: and because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written,

ALL: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Amen

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • Acts 4:31
  • 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
  • 2 Corinthians 12:9-12
  • Philippians 1:12-14
  • Philippians 1:20
  • Philippians 4:6-7
  • Colossians 1:24
  • Hebrews 4:12-16
  • Hebrews 10:19-25
  • 1 Peter 1:12
  • 1 Peter 5:5-12

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. The last time, or some time, you were afraid or sorrowful: how did you face the moment? How did you seek to take courage (even if your effort proved ineffective)?
  2. We tend to associate the word “mystery” with Alfred Hitchcock. Take note of the three times Paul uses the word in our passage. What would you say he means by it?
  3. What hints do we have in the Old Testament of what Paul now says has come fully to light with Jesus?
  4. Many moments and events feel perfectly random–without cause or purpose. How might the claim of our share in God’s inheritance, community, and promise help rescue us from thinking we are only at the mercy of random occurrences? 
  5. As otherworldly as it is to think of your life in the church as somehow a beacon to the spiritual realm unseen, how does that idea encourage ennoble your participation in the life and ministry of the church?
  6. When we fail someone we automatically feel apprehensive of being in their presence, much less of asking them to help. How is our access to God, through Christ, of a different character than our ordinary human relationships? How does God see us, relate to us, in our failures? Why so? Does God hear the prayers of sinners? Does God hear your prayers when you sin? 

QUOTES:

Dark was the night, and cold the ground
On which the Lord was laid;
His sweat like drops of blood ran down;
In agony he prayed.

"Father, remove this bitter cup,
If such Thy sacred will;
If not, content to drink it up
Thy pleasure I fulfill."

Go to the garden, sinner, see
Those precious drops that flow;
The heavy load He bore for thee;
For thee he lies so low.

Then learn of Him the cross to bear;
Thy Father's will obey;
And when temptations press thee near,
Awake to watch and pray.
“Dark was the night, cold was the ground,” Blind Willie Johnson

About the Koinonia Community led by Clarence Jordan

 

  • Faith is not belief in spite of the evidence, but a life in scorn of the consequences. Clarence Jordan
  • as the culture slides deeper into post-Christianity, and as the church struggles to hold the attention of the younger generations, the more the church drifts into describing itself as a non-profit the more it contributes to its own disenchantment. All that is spooky, strange, supernatural and weird about the church is stripped away and all that is left behind is a collection of social initiatives. And many of those community needs being met by the church are often already being addressed by local non-profits, and frequently more effectively. . . .The church is viewed as a crappy non-profit, so why mess with it?  Richard Beck
  • A therapeutic church has, in this way, lost its nerve. It simply does not believe what it says it believes, what it is supposed to be preaching. It does not believe that the God revealed in Jesus Christ is the best possible news on planet earth, meant for every soul under heaven. It does not believe that the problems of people today, as at all times, have their final answer and ultimate fulfillment in the Word made flesh. Or, to the extent that it does believe this, it is scared to say so, because the folks in the pews do not want to hear that. They want to be affirmed in their identities, in their desires, in their blemishes and failures and foibles. They do not want to be judged by God. They do not want to be told they need saving by God. They do not want to learn that their plight is so dire that the God who created the universe had to die for their sins on a cross. They want to be told: I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay—so long as we accept our imperfections and refuse the siren songs of guilt and shame. They want, in a word, to be heard, to be seen, and to be accepted just as they are. Brad East

 

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