The document discusses the importance of maintaining focus on spiritual matters as the new year begins, emphasizing the need to stay anchored in God's word amidst distractions. It encourages the Lindley Christian Church to reflect on their purpose and mission, drawing insights from the book of Ephesians about unity, evangelism, and living a life reflective of Christian values. Additionally, it challenges individuals to evaluate their personal commitment to God and the impact of their faith on daily living.

2. Psalms 90:12 NIV Teach us to number our
days aright, that we may gain a heart of
wisdom.
At the beginning of a new year, we must be
reminded of our purpose as a church to not
become distracted.
Paul can encourage the Lindley Christian
church as he did the Ephesians by
reminding us who we are and what we are
to be doing.

3. There was once an absent-minded
professor who became so absorbed in his
work that he forgot the simplest details.
One morning his wife said, "Now
Henry, remember, we are moving today.
Here, I'm putting this note in your pocket.
Don't forget."

4. The day passed by and the man came
home to his house. He entered the front
door, and found the place empty.
Distraught, he walked out to the curb and
sat down. A young boy walked up to
him, and he asked him, "Little boy, do you
know the people who used to live here?"
The boy replied, "Sure, Dad, mother told me
you'd forget."

5. How often do we become so absorbed in
"the little things of this world" that we forget
who we are and whose we are and where
we are going. As we navigate through this
life do we steer off course because
something shiny takes our attention away
from the route we should be on?
Distractions are all around us all the
time, aren’t they?

6. How many of you have been shocked back
into reality when your vehicle’s tires roll over
the grated strips down the middle or edge of
highway 65 because you became
distracted?
Sometimes distractions can be just a little
annoying...a child whining at you while
you’re trying to talk to someone on the
phone…a new kitty crying out & walking on
the keyboard while you’re trying to work on
this sermon.

7. Sometimes distractions can cause you to
lose concentration when you’re doing any
number of things.
Reading, studying, working, praying, or
even something as simple as watching TV.
Maybe it just happens to me due to my
head injury, but I have trouble following the
story when someone is talking. Many times
I have paused or hit reverse so I could
figure out what was going on.

8. But sometimes distractions can be
downright dangerous! You hear about
legislation to discourage the use of cell
phones while driving. I don’t know if more
laws are the answer, but I know there are
many accidents credited to cell phone use.

9. Remember those two pilots who told
investigators they became distracted as
they were working on their laptop
computers and flew past their destination of
Minneapolis, MN, by 150 miles. They
claimed to lose concentration while flying.
They did not steer, navigate, the plane to its
intended destination. Becoming distracted
can be fatal not only to you, but others as
well!

10. I bring up “Distractions” today because I am
concerned that we might allow various
“distractions” to take our eyes off of our
focus... Seeking, Serving and Sharing
Jesus Christ!
What could these distractions be?
Maybe something or someone new has
come into your life. The new addition to you
life could be a blessing to you.
BUT…

11. Do you spend so much time or effort
enjoying or thinking about it or them that
you get distracted from navigating the life
God has laid out for you?
If a church or Christian is on fire for the Lord
and about the business of the
kingdom, SATAN doesn’t like it! And you
can bet that he’ll begin attacking! But we
can’t allow this to take our eyes off of what it
is we are to be about as God’s church!

12. As we begin 2012, I want us to ask 5 very
important questions to help us maintain our
focus...
1. Will we be anchored
in God’s Word?
I’m not smart enough to stand before you
each week and give you spiritual direction
or ANYTHING ELSE for that matter that
might be useful...from myself!

13. I very much see my role as opening the
text; helping us explore its meaning
together and finally coming to some kind of
conclusion about what that means to my life
& yours.
2 Peter 1:3 NIV His divine power has given
us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who called us
by his own glory and goodness.

14. I want us to begin 2012 in the book of
Ephesians to answer the two most
important questions we could ask:
Who are We?
What are we to do about it?
Ephesians is the Word of God and is one of
the most compelling, spiritually
challenging and important books for
the church in all of Scripture!

15. Ephesians 1:1 NIV Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ
Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

16. In this standard greeting of 1st century
letters, we see that Paul is very clearly the
writer -the same Paul who had at one time
dedicated his life to eradicating Christianity
(& Christians themselves!) But on that
Damascus road in Acts 9 had an
experience that forever changed his life!
NOW he is an apostle, not by his own
choice, but by the will of God - a point he’ll
continue making!

17. By the time he writes this letter, he is in
prison suffering for the cause of
Christ, referred to in Chapter 3! Scholars
aren’t certain when he wrote it, because he
spent so much time in jail! The reference
books I refered to inticate Paul most likely
wrote it during his Roman imprisonment-
approx. 63-64 AD. Some date it as early as
58 AD.
We don’t know.

18. But in that we can get a sense of the
determination that Paul had in his ministry
to spread the gospel.
No other book in the N.T. provides more
insightful thinking on the N.T. church as a
whole.
Paul discusses the imagery of the church
as a body, a temple, a family, – images
which combine to stress
interrelatedness, belonging, connection, fell
owship!

19. This is a message we need so much! Our
world today is SO fractured by
racism, individualism. The religious world is
fragmented by denominationalism. EVEN
within Christian Churches there are bitter
divisions– some churches not fellowshipping
with other churches, some actively working
against others.
BUT Ephesians holds up another model! One
that destroys sectarianism & division! It tells of
God’s providing a wholeness that binds us
together as believers!

20. If you’re not plugged into the power source
there’s no wonder you may be feeling
spiritually dry or empty this morning! If
you’re not spending a few moments each
day in God’s Word, you’re not receiving or
hearing from God! How can you have a
meaningful relationship with God if you
never allow him to speak to you?

21. This New Year is a good time to ask
yourself and re-evaluate the question- is
MY life anchored in God’s Word? Do I look
to it for direction?
For inspiration? For instruction?
We’re going to spend the next few weeks
going through this book...once again
anchoring everything we do here as a
church and as individual Christians in a
textual study of the Word of God!

22. Paul talks more about Grace than any other
NT writer. Paul knows that it is by Grace
that he has been saved, not by works, BUT
Paul also says that a life saved by Grace is
a life that is forever CHANGED!
Ephesians demonstrates that change!

23. Ephesians 5:1 NIV Be imitators of
God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2
and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us
and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among
you there must not be even a hint of sexual
immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of
greed, because these are improper for
God’s holy people.

24. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk
or coarse joking, which are out of place, but
rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be
sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-
- such a man is an idolater-- has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of
God.

25. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty
words, for because of such things God’s
wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
7 Therefore do not be partners with them. 8
For you were once darkness, but now you
are light in the Lord. Live as children of
light.

26. Nowhere in the Bible is CONVERSION so
clearly described as here! Not so much its
process...but its RESULT!
Paul repeatedly contrasts one’s former way
of life vs. life in Christ!
Life “in Christ” is different from life “in the
world”!!
Sadly, the lives of many Christians are no
different than the lives of non-Christians!

27. I wonder, are we really all that different from
the world around us? In the music we listen
to? In the television shows we watch? In the
way that we dress? In the way that we
spend our money? In the organizations that
we belong to?
Do people see us and know right away that
there’s something different about us...that
we’re Christians?

28. THAT’S the call that Ephesians is
beckoning us to!
Verse 8 is the crux of the matter! “…now
you are light in the Lord. Live as children of
light.”
YOU’RE CHILDREN OF GOD,
SO LIVE LIKE IT!

29. Ephesians puts a great deal of emphasis on
UNITY.
Ephesians 4:3 NIV Make every effort to keep
the unity of the Spirit through the bond of
peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit--
just as you were called to one hope when you
were called-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is
over all and through all and in all.

30. Notice, Paul says the same thing in
1 Corinthians 12 to make the case for Unity!
It’s a favorite theme.
1Corinthians 12:12 NIV The body is a
unit, though it is made up of many parts; and
though all its parts are many, they form one
body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all
baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether
Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were
all given the one Spirit to drink.14 Now the
body is not made up of one part but of many…

31. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and
each one of you is a part of it.
We are to MAKE EVERY EFFORT to keep
the unity of the Spirit!
Notice, that unity exists whether we
recognize it or not, because it is unity of the
Spirit!
There is ONE body- whether we want to
admit it or not just as there is ONE
Spirit, one Lord, one faith and one baptism!

32. The demonstration of our love for one
another shows our unity & testifies to the
world we are Jesus disciples!
John 13:35 NIV
I wonder what Dallas County thinks of God
by observing us?...our unity…Our love for
one another?

33. This is made even more complicated by the
view of some scholars that Ephesians was
intended for a much wider audience than
JUST the church at Ephesus. Here is why
they think that. Paul would have been very
familiar with the church at Ephesus.
According to Acts, he spent more than two
years there and knew the people well.

34. Yet, this letter doesn’t have quite the
personal tone that Paul’s letter to the
Philippians does.
So, most scholars believe it was a circular
letter–that is, to be circulated among many
of the different congregations including
Ephesus, which is why its name is in the
greeting.

35. In other words, it wasn’t meant JUST for
one congregation, but was intended for the
church as a whole. I believe we’ll see that in
its message.
I say all of that to say this: unlike the
Corinthian letters where Paul seems to be
addressing particular problems in that
particular congregation–Ephesians is more
general...having in mind the universal
church!.

36. The church universal is essentially ONE!
And we are to “make every effort” to
maintain that “oneness”!!
The church is made up of every saved
individual regardless of what congregation
of the church they attend!
It’s NOT my job to draw lines; to determine
who is in and who is out;

37. It IS my job to preach & teach people the
truth of the gospel AND to “make every
effort” to demonstrate the unity that is ours
thru the Spirit!
What does Dallas County think of God by
observing the way in which several
Christian Churches demonstrate that Spirit-
Unity?

38. In several lessons we’ve talked about the
subject of Worship. It is perhaps THE most
important thing we do as a church family!
The book of Ephesians doesn’t say a lot
about worship or prayer, but notice this: the
book is filled with both!
A good deal of Ephesians IS worship &
prayer! For example the 1st chapter is
entirely praise & prayer.

39. Many scholars believe that other large
chunks of the letter were traditional hymns
or prayers that Paul took in to his writing.
While not discussing the subjects directly;
Ephesians teaches us a great deal about
how to worship and how to pray.
That prompts me to think; it’s one thing to
talk about it; quite another to do it. Doesn’t
James make a similar point?

40. James 2:14 NIV What good is it, my
brothers, if a man claims to have faith but
has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15
Suppose a brother or sister is without
clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says
to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and
well fed,” but does nothing about his
physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the
same way, faith by itself, if it is not
accompanied by action, is dead.

41. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I
have deeds.” Show me your faith without
deeds, and I will show you my faith by what
I do.
After talking about it for so long, has it made
a difference in the way YOU worship?
Will this church be a praying church in
2012?

42. Will we seek the Lord’s guidance & will in what
we experience in the coming year? In our
families? In the opportunities that he affords
us?
Will this church be a worshiping church in
2012? Or will we just talk about it some more?
Will we openly & honestly come before the
Lord each week in truth & Spirit and offer our
praise & adoration to God for who he is & what
he has done?
Will YOU?

43. In Ephesians Paul very clearly
communicates his mission as an apostle of
Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:7 NIV I became a servant of
this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given
me through the working of his power. 8
Although I am less than the least of all
God’s people, this grace was given me:

44. to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to
everyone the administration of this
mystery, which for ages past was kept
hidden in God, who created all things.
Paul was a servant; a servant tasked with
the mission to take the gospel out into the
world...To “make plain to everyone” the
mystery of what God had done!

45. This wasn’t a task that he was guilted
into...or forced into; RATHER he considered
it a “gift of God’s grace” to be able to spread
this message!
Is THAT how WE see evangelism?
As a gift of God’s grace?
Most sermons I’ve heard on trying to get
Christians to be more evangelistic have
tended to heap guilt upon me for not doing
more; they’ve tended to pressure me into
signing up for some kind of door-knocking
campaign, etc.

46. NOT Paul! He says simply it is a gift!
The opportunities we have to share the
gospel are God’s gift of grace to us! It is a
great privilege and honor to share Christ
with someone...not a chore or task to be
dutifully but reluctantly carried out!
Ephesians has the potential to change the
way we think of evangelism in the church!

47. In short, Ephesians tells us how to be the
church!
That’s perfect as we begin a new year!
Where Will We Steer
This New Year?
It is my hope that we will seek to emulate
the church that Paul talks about in
Ephesians!
Where Will YOU Steer
This New Year?

48. Ephesians also reminds us of what it means
to be a Christian ...someone who has made
a change from the way we USED to be.
It tells us how to be good wives & good
husbands; good children and better
parents.
It holds SO much for ALL of us! I’m looking
forward to this study and hope that you’ll
take every opportunity (not only to be here
with us each week) but to bring someone
with you.

49. Knowing Jesus makes a difference in how
we live our lives.
Has he made a difference in your life? Have
you ever committed your whole life to him?
If not- let me encourage you to do so this
morning.
If you ARE a Christian but have been
convicted that some things in your life need
to change...make that right with God today!