"The Spirit Unites" - Ephesians 2: 11-22

All right, so we're going to finish our series on the action, the spirit of action that we have been unpacking for the past several weeks.

We spent most of this series working through the book of Acts and taking a look at passages where the spirit of God is depicted as at work in the early versions of the church, and then Last week, we deviated from Acts and jumped into Romans chapter 12.

We're going to close today by visiting a passage in Ephesians that shares a lot of similarities with Romans, but comes at it from a little bit different perspective.

So I want to read this passage to you, and let's pray, and then I'll share with you what I'm noticing.

about this passage as we wrap up this series.

It's Ephesians chapter two, verses 11 through 22.

If you have your Bibles, if you don't, we'll put the words up on the screen as always.

It says this, so then remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth called the uncircumcision by those who are called the circumcision, a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands.

Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope of and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace.

In his flesh, he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall that is the hostility between us.

He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace.

And might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

For through him, both of us have access in one spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens." but your citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

In him, the whole structure is joined together.

and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Man, there's a lot there, right? So we don't have lunch for you today.

I'm going to try to keep this, you know, to the usual 25 minutes or so.

But there's a lot for us to unpack here.

And a few things that I think are especially interesting, just given the perspective that we have uncovered on the spirit of action.

So would you just pray with me and then we'll jump in.

God, we thank you again for today, for this opportunity for us to gather, for us as a church to come together and be challenged and stretched by these words, to lift our voices together in worship, to pray together, to encourage each other We ask that this time would be a sacred space, and that you would use it to both comfort and discomfort us, to reconcile us and call us to change.

And we ask that you'd give us the courage to do that work, in Jesus' name.