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Ephesians--Notes and Outlines, Sermon Ideas
compiled and posted by Bob Young

General Themes

  • the church, the purpose of God, power, presence, fulness, love, unity, hope, calling, purity, marriage and family, Christian warfare, Christian armor

    Sermon Themes

  • Descriptions of the church
  • Importance of the church in God's plan
  • Importance of church to the world
  • Importance of church to Christians

    General Outline
    1-3 Who Are We? (Doctrinal, teaching)
    4-6 What Do We Do? (application)

    The Church that Glorifies God (Eph. 3:20-21)

  • 1. Is the church that accepts Jesus Christ as Lord [chapter 1]
  • 2. Is the church that understands the Grace of God [chapter 2]
  • 3. Is the church that makes known the wisdom of God [chapter 3]
  • 4. Is the church that lives in the unity of the Spirit [chapter 4]
  • 5. Is the church that stays pure for Christ [chapters 4-5]
  • 6. Is the church that fights the good right of faith with the armor of God [chapter 6]

    Textual Outlines

  • Chapter 1: Jesus Christ is Lord of creation, of purpose, of people
  • Chapter 1:3-9: God blessed us, chose us, predestined us to be adopted, made us accepted, redeemed us, revealed to us the mystery of his will
  • Chapter 1:9-23: The purpose of God, promise, possession, power, presence, pleroma (fulness)

    God's New People

    Eph. 1:18, Paul's ThreeFold Prayer

  • Calling, 2:1-10
  • Inheritance, 2:11-3:6
  • Power, 3:7-21

    Eph. 1:18, Our Identity is Certain because of God's...

  • God's Mercy and Our Creation for Good Works, 2:1-10
  • God's Grace and Our Faith, 2:5-10
  • God's Unity and Our Peace, 2:11-22
  • God's Revelation and Our Reception of the Promise through the Gospel, 3:1-7
  • God's Purpose and and Our Security and Access by Faith, 3:7-13
  • God's Indwelling Power and Our Lives that bring Him Glory, 3:14-21

    Eph. 1:15-23, Living the Christian Life

  • 1. contains a tremendous challenge, 1:15-18a
  • 2. is based on our calling, 18-21
  • 3. results in changed lives, 19ff

    Eph. 1:15-23, The Church

  • 1. Called, ekklesia
  • 2. Community, the body of Christ
  • 3. Christ's presence in this world, the "overflowing" of Christ

    The Centrality of the Resurrection

  • 1. Christ has been raised by God's power, 1:19-20
  • 2. We have been raised
    >>If there is no resurrection--
  • a. there is no restoring power to give us hope
  • b. there is no unifying power to unite us
  • c. there is no basis for our belief
    >>If there is no resurrection--
  • There is no basis for our identity--we are not church, not body, not fulness
  • Therefore we have no purpose, no life, no power
  • We are directionless, dead, empty

    Why do we not expect God to do great things? [Ephesians 3:20-21]

  • We are just dabbling, we know we are not serious
  • We are disappointed with God, past problems stand in our way
  • We are discreetly sinning
  • We believe that the church and its doctrine do not really matter, or false doctrine has entered
  • We believe God cannot be experienced in the way described in these verses

    The Purpose and Result of Leaders [Ephesians 4:11-16]

  • To equip, prepare, edify the church so the church can be involved in the work of ministry
  • The edification of the body of Christ
  • Unity
  • Knowledge of the Son of God
  • Christian maturity
  • Doctrinal stability
  • A mature, fully-functioning church
  • A growing, active, united, involved church

    How a Christian lives--
    "To walk" is often used in the sense of "to live" (4:1,17; 5:2,8,15)

  • 4:1, walk worthy of your calling
  • 4:17, do not walk as the other Gentiles that walk in emptiness of mind
  • 5:2, in love
  • 5:8, in light, as children of light
  • 5:15, with diligence, not as fools but as wise, in wisdom

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    Last updated March 23, 2014