Our Power

Good morning. My name is Eric. If you don't know me, I'm one of the guys here on staff at Watermark Church.

I spend most of my time with the youth, but our pastor is on sabbatical, so I'm really doing a little bit of everything these days.

And I know we have a lot of guests here today, and I wanted to start out just telling a little bit about myself

so that you can know who I am and I'm not some total random stranger up here talking with you today.

And I, when I was a kid, I was all about my grades.

I sometimes think that I was born on the wrong continent because I would have fit in perfectly here,

but I was sort of the odd one out in America, you know?

And I loved my straight A's.

And the thing that I hated more than anything else in all of school was group projects.

Because I wanted my straight A, and I wanted to have power over what my grades were.

And when I was in the middle of a group project with three or four people in a group,

I only had control over about 25 to 33 percent of what my grade was going to be,

and I hated that feeling because I love power to control my own grades.

In fact, I loved the power to control my own grades so much that I would prefer to just do everyone's share of the work

so that I could know I was going to get an A, rather than relax, sit back, and let my teammates do their stuff and maybe get a B.

I love having power in life.

And I'm guessing that I'm not unique in that.

I'm guessing that on some level, every single one of us here loves having power.

You know, the past few weeks, if you've been around, we've been going through a series about union with Christ.

What that means is the Bible says that when we become Christians, God unites us with Jesus in such a way that we as Christians can say,

Christ is my life.

And we've talked about how whose you are determines who you are.

And who you are shapes what you do.

And we've seen how this connection with Christ, how belonging to him, changes us fundamentally on some level of who we are and what we do.

And how our lives should look as we live out the truth and reality of that relationship with Christ.

And last week, we looked at, we called it Christ is my walk.

We said that the way that we live now, the way that we grow closer to God, is shaped by this relationship with Christ.

It's not about achievements and milestones and marking out how far we can get.

But it's about a relationship and growing closer in a relationship to God.

And today, as we look at this passage, what we're going to see is that Christ is my power.

That I am someone who loves power.

But in reality, because of my connection with Christ and my relationship with him, Christ is my power.

Now going back to the concept of power, I think, like I said, I think all of us want power in our lives.

And if you think that's not true about you, think about the things that you stress about.

Because stress, what is stress?

It's grasping for power that we know we don't have.

I know that I don't have control in this situation.

I know that I don't have power to change it.

So I'm going to rack my mind for hours or days, thinking through ways that I can grab that power back and get it for myself.

I work with teens.

I've been working with teens for about six years.

During that time, I have had numerous conversations with parents that have gone something along the lines of,

My kid has started to make some really bad decisions.

I, as a parent, love them and see these decisions going in a terrible direction.

That's how the conversation starts.

The conversation never, ever, ever ends with,

And I'm totally fine and relaxed right now.

No, the conversation is, my kid is making bad decisions.

I love them and care about them.

And I am freaking out.

I'm lying awake in bed at night, thinking through how I can help my kid to make better choices in life.

I am stressed, Eric.

Please help me.

Please give me advice, which I always find ironic.

Because, you know, I'm closer to the kid's age than to the parent's age most of the time.

Right?

The parents are like, please help me.

But, what is this stress coming from?

It's a feeling that I used to have power over my kid's life to help them move in the right direction

and help them make sure that they were turning out right.

And now I feel powerless.

And I want to get that power back.

Because I know that if I could just have that power back, then my kid would turn out okay.

And if you're a parent and you're going through that situation right now, let me guarantee you, you're not alone.

There are plenty of parents around you going through the exact same things.

And it's not just parents that do that, obviously.

We've got single friends.

How many times in your life have you sat down in a conversation with a single friend?

Or been the single friend in this conversation?

Who sits down and says, you know, the years just keep going by.

And I thought by this age maybe I'd be married or at least be in a serious relationship of some type.

And I'm not.

And I'd like some stability for my future.

I'd like to know, like, who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with so I can start to settle down

and planning for the future with this person that I love.

And I don't know who that person is.

And I don't think I'm anywhere closer to finding that person than I was when I was born, actually.

I'm so stressed and worried.

I've signed up for every dating website there is.

Most of my monthly income goes to dating website subscriptions.

Because I need to find that person.

Because I need to have power to know what my future holds

and to have some control over the direction that my future is going.

All of us long for power in our lives.

And our natural response is to grasp for it when we know that we don't have it.

But ironically, that actually can make the problem worse.

Because, like, who wants to date the person who's that desperate?

Right?

Or here's something very, very interesting that I learned this week.

We were doing a parenting class at the church.

And they said that a survey was done of parents and of teens.

Or kids.

Kids and teens.

And they asked both sets of people the same question.

They asked the parents,

What do you think your kids want from you more than anything else?

And the most popular answer among parents was,

My kids want me to spend more time with them.

It's a pretty standard response.

They asked the exact same question to the kids.

The most popular answer among the kids was,

I wish my parents would stress less and relax more.

So parents, by stressing about wanting to spend more time with their kids,

are actually pushing their kids away.

Because the kids are like, Mom, Dad, relax.

Like, if you could just enjoy the time that we get to spend together,

it would make it so much better.

And so this stress, this grasping for the power that we know we can't have,

doesn't help the situation.

It doesn't fix the situation.

It actually sometimes can make the situation worse.

And what we see here in this passage today,

is that the Apostle Paul,

he's writing a letter to his friends at a church in a city called Ephesus,

and he is praying for them to have power.

But the power that he wants them to have is fundamentally different from any power,

any worldly power that we have ever seen.

You know, with worldly power, we grasp for it.

He prays for them to have God's power that is given to them as a gift.

If we think about the characteristics of power in our world,

what people in power do, how we respond to power.

People in power grasp for it and hold on to it with all their might.

They manipulate others to get the power and to hold on to it

so that they can keep it as long as they want.

They use that power to get other people to do what they want.

When we have people around us who are in power,

we generally don't respond positively to those people.

Or maybe that's just me.

But I think that I'm semi-normal in that one, right?

Hopefully.

But when we see power being used to control us,

we don't like that.

We respond negatively and we're like,

I want to be free.

I want to be out from under this other person's power over me.

Maybe I need to get that power for myself

so that I can use that over other people

and it's not other people using it over me.

And yet what we see when Paul talks about God's power in this passage

is that it's not something that we grasp for and hold on to

so that other people can't have it.

But he's actually saying,

no, I want you guys to have this power.

I want it to be something that is a part of your life.

And the reason for that is because

it is a fundamentally different type of power

than any worldly power that we ever come into contact with.

Rather than being something that we use to puff ourselves up,

to enhance our status,

it's instead something that enables us to love others.

And this makes sense, this contrast,

in light of the gospel.

Alfie shared earlier a little bit about the gospel.

The gospel is a word that just means good news.

And basically what we believe this good news is

is that there is a God who created the universe.

He created it good.

He created it amazing.

He created humanity in his image,

in this universe,

to live in a perfect relationship with him,

this all-powerful God reaching out to us,

wanting us to know him.

And the bad news is

that each of us rebelled against him

and his perfect rule in our lives.

Each of us said,

no, God, I don't trust you.

I don't think that you know what's best for my life.

I don't think that you have my best interest in mind.

I know how to live life better than you do.

Let me take care of myself.

You stay away.

And in effect, we say that again and again and again.

Every time that we lie,

every time that we take something that's not ours,

every time that we hate the people around us,

every time that we as kids disobeyed our parents,

that's us saying,

God, stay away.

I know how to live life better than you do.

And the Bible says

that what we're doing in those moments

is the equivalent of cosmic treason.

And just like earthly treason,

it deserves death.

And yet God,

the all-powerful creator,

the offended one in this situation,

looks down at us and says,

I still love you.

Although you've turned away from me,

although you've rebelled against me,

I still want a relationship with you.

And I want you to know how much I love you.

And so he sends his son Jesus to earth

as fully God and fully man.

Jesus lives the perfect life

that none of us was ever able to live.

And then he gets murdered on a cross.

But in that moment,

God's divine justice

against all of our rebellion is satisfied.

And we are now free

to be forgiven for our rebellion.

We're free to be seen by God

not as enemies anymore,

but as children,

sons and daughters

of the king of the universe.

And he invites us to now,

although we have rebelled against him,

to be in this new relationship with him.

God, the all-powerful one,

rather than using his power to crush us,

uses his power to lovingly pursue us,

to lovingly say,

I still want a relationship with you.

And I want it so badly

that I am going to lay down my life

to make that relationship possible.

And when we look at this passage in Ephesians

that the guys just read,

we see that that power

is what Paul is praying

for these Christians to have in their lives.

Right?

This gospel, this good news,

that's why we're celebrating baptism today,

like Althea said,

because we have,

I think it's eight people here

that have trusted in this good news

and said,

I want to live in this new relationship with Jesus.

It's not some magical thing

that happens when they go under the water,

that, you know,

that levitation moment

that Dan was talking about.

That's not what this is.

But it's a celebration of the fact

that they recognize,

I was a rebel,

and now I'm accepted as a child.

I was alienated,

and now I am loved.

God in his power reached down

and rescued me.

How wonderful and amazing is that.

And it's not just that,

that we get to experience that love,

but God fills his,

his power into our lives

so that we can go out

and show that love to others.

And if you're here today

and you have never heard this gospel,

or maybe you've heard it

but not believed it,

and you want to know more about it,

please find someone after the service,

me or one of the other people around you,

and talk to us about it

because we would love

to share with you more about it

and tell you about how you

can have a relationship

with the God of the universe

and what that means

in your life.

But if God's power

enables us

to love like him,

it might be helpful to know

what God's love is like,

right?

Because if we're expected

to have that kind of love

for others,

it's helpful to know

the way that he loves us.

So if you look at the passage

in your bulletins

or in your Bibles,

starting in the second half

of verse 17,

he says that you,

being rooted and grounded

in love,

may have strength

to comprehend

with all the saints

what is the breadth

and length

and height and depth

and to know the love of Christ

that surpasses knowledge

that you may be filled

with all the fullness of God.

Now he starts out here

saying rooted and grounded

in love.

That's mixed metaphors.

He's mixing agriculture

and architecture, right?

And he's talking about

foundations, rooting.

Like when you look outside,

you see the trees.

Each of them has a root system

that holds them in place

in the ground

so that when the wind

and the storms come,

they don't get blown over.

Or if you think about

this building,

there's a foundation

in the building.

It's grounded

so that when things happen

and there's wind outside

or there's storms

or typhoon number 10s,

the building doesn't collapse.

And he's saying,

what Paul is saying

is that God's love

is supposed to act

as a foundation

in our lives.

It's supposed to be

the thing that anchors us.

that when we understand

God's love,

it will hold us firm

through the storms of life.

He goes on and he says

that God's love

surpasses knowledge.

He wants us to know

God's love

that surpasses knowledge.

Now think about that.

How do you know something

that surpasses knowledge?

I'm going to throw

something out here.

You can let me know

after the service

if you disagree with it.

But I think the way

that you know something

that surpasses knowledge

is through experiential knowledge.

And here's what I mean.

Think of marriage.

Imagine that we got

a single guy,

maybe Alfie,

wherever he is,

and we brought him up here

on stage

and we had him stand

right here

and we said,

here is your marriage.

Mission.

You have 20 years.

In those 20 years,

you're going to read

every marriage book

that has ever been written.

And not just books

on how to be married,

but also biographies

of people

and reading about

their marriages,

novels where people

are married

and seeing how it's

portrayed in fictional accounts.

In those 20 years,

you're going to take

one full year

where every day

you spend eight hours

talking to the top

marriage counselors

in the world,

learning all the wisdom

and knowledge

that they have

about marriage.

And over those 20 years,

every night,

you're going to have dinner

with a different married couple

and observe their marriage.

And in 20 years,

you're going to come back here

and report to us

what you've learned.

Now, at the end of 20 years,

we bring Alfie back up here

on this stage.

He's 20 years older,

20 years wiser.

He could probably write

some of the best marriage books

that have ever been written

with his comprehensive knowledge

about marriage.

But does he truly know

what it means to be married?

No.

Because marriage

is an experiential knowledge.

There are things that,

if Alfie got married

on that 20th anniversary

of this task

and came back one year later,

he would report to us,

guys,

I've learned so many things

in the past year

that I didn't even know

were possible

in the previous 20 years.

Because there's

an experiential knowledge

that comes in being married

that no amount of book knowledge,

no amount of learning

outside of the experience

can tell you.

Or,

if you aren't married

and that analogy

is sort of fuzzy in your mind,

think about apple pie.

Imagine that you love food,

but you have never had apple pie.

And I come up to you

and I say,

hey,

you need to experience apple pie.

I'm going to give you a recipe

so that you can make it.

And you memorize the recipe.

And you start reading articles online

about what makes apple pie

so amazing and great.

And you research

the different restaurants

in the world

that have the greatest

apple pie available.

And you talk with your friends

about why they love apple pie.

you, in some sense,

could be considered

an apple pie expert.

But,

when you come into

a conversation with me

about apple pie

and you start explaining to me

all these wonderful things

about apple pie,

it's very easy,

very quick,

to tell that you

don't truly know apple pie

because you've never tried it.

And all I have to do

is ask,

so how do you like apple pie?

And all of your learning,

all of your knowledge

falls flat

because until you've experienced it,

you don't truly know

what it's like.

And it's the same way

with God's love.

That's what Paul is saying

right here.

We can read the Bible

every single day.

In fact,

we can memorize the Bible.

We can talk with people

about their experiences

of God's love.

But until we experience

this love

in our own lives,

until we experience

this forgiveness,

this transformation,

this new relationship

with God

that is offered to us

through the gospel,

we can't truly know

God's love.

The good news is

that that knowledge

is available to us,

that God wants

to give us

that experiential knowledge

of his love.

He wants to come

into our lives

and transform us.

In talking about

God's love here,

Paul,

he almost seems

at a loss for words.

He's like,

this love is so overwhelming,

so amazing,

I can't quite describe it.

I can't quite fit it

into my words.

He says that

he wants them

to have strength

to comprehend

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth

of God's love.

It's four-dimensional.

It's huge.

We can't, like,

fit its scope

into our descriptions.

I think, you know,

even thinking back

in my life,

I find it so easy

to condense God's love.

I think, oh, you know,

God probably started

loving me

around the time

that I trusted in him

and his love for me

is bigger on the days

where I'm more aware

of his presence

in my life

and lower on the days

where I'm not

as aware of that

or maybe where

I'm less obedient

of him.

But that's not true.

Think about it.

How was God

able to forgive me?

How was I able

to trust in him

in the first place?

Because 2,000 years

before I was born,

God,

in an amazing act

of love for me,

sent Jesus

to the earth

to die

for me.

So God's love

for me

did not begin

the day

that I trusted in him.

No,

it's at least 2,000 years

before that.

But it actually

didn't start then either.

Because if you look back

in the Old Testament,

the early part of the Bible,

you see as soon

as humanity

rebels against God,

promises

that he would send

a savior.

So we have to rewind

thousands of years

more

if we want a glimpse

of where God's love

for us began.

But even that

doesn't quite

get the full scope

of the story.

No.

If we look

in the book

of Revelation,

it tells us

that God's plan

from before

he created

the universe

involved

sending Jesus

to rescue

me.

And not just me,

but all of us.

You can insert

your name there.

that God's love

for you

spans not from

the day that you were born

or the day that you

trust in him

or the day that you

get baptized,

but from before

the foundation

of the world.

God's love

for us

has a scope

and a breadth

that is beyond

our ability

to comprehend.

And it's not just

a love that starts then

and goes up until

the day that we die,

but it's a love

that continues for us

into eternity

because the Bible says

that in eternity

God and his people

will live together

forever.

God's love

is beyond

our ability

to comprehend

and it's not just

that he gives to us,

but he gives to us

his love

and himself.

Paul prays

at the end

of this passage

that they would be

filled,

or at the end

of verse 19,

that they would be

filled with all

the fullness

of God.

saying,

I want you

to have God's power.

I want you

to understand

what this new life

looks like,

what this life

in union with Christ

is.

I want you

to be able

to say

that Christ

truly

is my

power.

As God

fills you

with himself,

not with some

leftovers,

not with some

secondhand goods,

but with

himself.

himself.

So what

does that

look like

in our lives

as we

go from here

and try

and live

that out

this week?

Well,

verse 20

and 21

says,

now to him

who is able

to do far

more abundantly

than all

that we

ask or

think,

according

to the

power at

work within

us.

To him

be glory

in the

church

and in

Christ

Jesus

throughout

all

generations

forever

and ever.

Amen.

He says

that God

is able

to do

far

more

abundantly

than

anything

we

ask

or

think.

Now

take a

second.

Think

of the

most

amazing

thing

that you

can

think

of God

doing

or

that you

could

imagine

yourself

asking

God

to

do.

You

got it?

No?

Not yet?

How about

now?

Yeah?

Okay.

So what

Paul is

saying is

that God

is able

to do

far

more

abundantly

more

than

whatever

that

thing

you

just

thought

of.

And I

think

for a

lot

of

people

they

read

this

verse

and

they're

like

oh

yes

God's

going

to

do

amazing

things

miracles

healings

and

yes

God

can

do

those

things

but

when

you

take

this

passage

and

you

just

look

at

it

that

way

you're

missing

a

very

important

part

of

the

verse

it

says

able

to

do

far

more

abundantly

than

all

that

we

ask

or

think

according

to

the

power

at

work

in

us

what

Paul

is

saying

is

that

God

wants

to

use

us

powerfully

in

the

world

to

reach

people

for

him

he

puts

his

power

in

us

so

we

can

pour

that

power

back

out

into

others

and

it's

not

again

it's

not

that

worldly

power

that

grasps

and

holds

on

to

control

but

it's

his

power

that

enables

us

to

sacrificially

love

others

because

because

we

have

been

sacrificially

loved

first

I

think

we

have

some

flawed

ideas

when

it

comes

to

power

I

have

a

couple

pictures

up here

on

screen

we've

got

a

Ferrari

488

GTB

nice

powerful

car

and

a

Tesla

Model S

which

we see

all over

on the

streets

of Hong

Kong

I

want

you

to

take

a

second

we're

going

to

listen

to

the

sounds

that

each

of

these

cars

make

on

the

road

and

then

I'm

going

to

have

us

guess

which

one

is

more

powerful

so

first

up

is

the

Ferrari

488

GTB

mmm

and

then

next

up

is

the

Tesla

Model S

alright

now

who

thinks

that

the

Ferrari

is

the

more

powerful

car

of

these

two

we

got

a

few

votes

yeah

who

thinks

that

the

Tesla

is

the

more

powerful

car

of

these

two

now

obviously

I

set

that

up

as

a

trick

question

so

you're

anticipating

it

but

who

would

have

guessed

the

Ferrari

if

you

didn't

know

that

this

was

a

trick

question

we

can

be

honest

here

yeah

alright

so

the

Ferrari

what

was

the

horsepower

on

the

Ferrari

it

was

Jackie

can you

pull up

the Ferrari

again

sorry

the Ferrari

had

660

horsepower

the

Tesla

Model S

comes in

at

762

horsepower

a full

hundred

horsepower

more

than the

Ferrari

488

GTB

but if we

looked at it

and listened

to it

according to

our standard

expectations

of power

we would

clearly say

the Ferrari

is the more

powerful vehicle

of these

two

but when

we look

underneath

the hood

and we

see

what the

true

power

is

the

Tesla

Model S

blows

the Ferrari

out of

the water

with a

hundred

extra

horsepower

and what I want us to see from this is a lot of times in life

what we think of as power

what we think of maybe what comes to our minds when I say that God wants us to live

with his power is actually just a lot of noise and show that true power isn't about

having the loudest noise about looking the coolest and sleekest and sportiest but it's actually about what's under the hood

think about this each of us has been to school each of us has been in that situation where we've seen a kid bullying another kid

maybe we were that bully maybe we were that other kid maybe we were just innocent bystanders

but who has more power

the bully

who picks on other kids in the class

or the kid in the class who's willing to go up and befriend the kid that the bully picks on

the bully's got

the show

the bully controls what other people do through his strength and his power

but I think in reality what's happening right there

is the bully

is trying to use power over others

to mask the fact that he doesn't have power over himself

and the kid who befriends the bullied kid

understands

something fundamentally

about his worth and his strength that he doesn't need to be defined by others

and he's able to love sacrificially even if it means that he's going to start getting picked on because of that choice

our world has pictures of what it looks like for us to be powerful

and that God's picture of true power is radically different than the world's picture of power

and it's only possible for us to live with this type of power when we are able to say

Christ is my power

as we go out of here today

each of us is going to have situations that we find ourselves in in this next week

I think most of us will either go to school or to work at some point this week

I want to ask you what does it look like

for you to live with this type of power

of power this week at your school or workplace

I want to give you one quick example of what that could look like

there's a pastor in New York named Tim Keller

he tells the story of a girl who got a job

I think it was for a TV company

she was a pretty entry-level employee

and she made a huge mistake one day

that should have cost her her job

her boss came up to her

and he said don't worry

your job is safe

I've talked to my superiors

I've told them that your mistake was my fault

I told them that you made the mistake because I failed to train you properly

and asked them to give you another chance

he said I know that this mistake would cost you your job

because you're new here and you're entry-level

but with my years of service at the company

and my higher level of seniority

I can take the hit for this

without it costing either of us our jobs

they'll just put me on thin ice with my superiors for a little bit

but your job is safe

she was sort of confused about this whole interaction

because nobody does that ever, right?

and so she came back to her boss

and she said why?

I don't get it

this is an every man for himself world

why would you take the hit for my mistake and give me another chance?

what if I just mess up again?

won't that make you look twice as bad?

and the boss told her

I worship a God who took the fall for me

when I was a rebel

when I was a sinner

he laid down his life to rescue me

and I made a commitment early on

that when I was able to use my power to help others

that I wanted to be intentional about doing that

and so your job is safe today

because God loved me

so now I am free to use my power to love you

needless to say that girl was like

okay where do you go to church?

because I'm coming with you on Sunday

right?

but that's the effect that this power has

you know worldly power pushes people away

and with godly power

when we use God's power to love others

it's attractive

it draws them in

it makes them see

I want something like that

that I want to know and understand

how I can live with that power in my life

because it's a transformative power

and it's attractive

rather than the grasping for power

that pushes people away

God's power is one that draws people in

that's beautiful to people around us

and that helps them to see

how amazing and wonderful our God's love is

and guys I'm not saying this

so that you can go out and be like

okay what do I need to do?

how can I improve myself this week?

that's not what this is about

it's about a transformation in our lives

that only happens through God

but one that when it happens

allows us to say

Christ is my power

and to live with Christ

as our true power

I hope that that's something that each of us

is able to do and experience this week

let's pray

Father we thank you for your love for us

we thank you for your use of power

and how you used it

not to strengthen your stronghold over us

when we were rebels and to crush us

but rather you used it to rescue us

God I thank you that you are a God

who gives us your power

and calls us into that story

and lets us be people who

who are part of that process

of pointing others towards you

I pray that each of us

would be faithful this week

at doing that

that we would show the world around us

how wonderful and amazing of a God

you are

and that lives would be transformed

through that process

and in Jesus name

Amen