Battle Ready: "Think Bigger": Ephesians 3:20-21 Pastor Daniel Reese

If you have your Bible, Ephesians 3,

hello, Ephesians 3,

we are going to finish chapter three this morning.

Beginning next week, we are going to begin a summer series

of going through the book of Hosea.

Now, Hosea is a book that tends to not get

a lot of attention.

In fact, if I ask everyone in this room,

hey, what's your favorite Bible passage?

I can almost guarantee that nobody's going to say

a passage in Hosea, right?

I don't think any of us do that.

Nonetheless, Hosea is a beautiful story

of how God loves his people.

The gospel is sprinkled throughout the book,

and I hope this summer that you will get a lot out of it.

So we're going to take a 12-week break from Ephesians

before we pick up chapter four in the fall.

That should be good news for you,

because as we're trying to memorize Ephesians,

if you are like me, you're a little behind.

Anybody else behind?

Fantastic.

Let's catch up.

All right, let's spend the summer to catch up,

and we'll pick up chapter four here in the fall.

I would love that once we are done with Ephesians,

in the next, I don't know, I don't know.

Next year or so, that many of us will be able to say,

hey, I have an entire book memorized.

I've dedicated an entire book of the Lord memorized,

and I would love for us to be able to share that

with the congregation together, all right?

So let's read the last two verses of Ephesians three

this morning, and then we'll dive into it.

Paul says in verse 20,

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.

We know that passage, right?

It's a well-known passage.

If I were to ask you what's your favorite passage,

this might be one of them.

Now, if you remember, the first three chapters of Ephesians

are predominantly doctrine.

The first half of the book is doctrine.

Paul has given us an immense amount of truth,

of who God is, what he has done,

and how our relationship to him works.

Then beginning in chapter four in the fall,

when we get to chapter four,

Paul will begin to get to the practical side

of all of that knowledge, okay?

And so how are we supposed to live

in light of all that God has done for us?

How are we supposed to interact with one another?

How are we supposed to live our lives

as people who understand all of these amazing truths

in chapter three?

But before he gets to chapter four,

he writes that God is able to do far more abundantly

than we can ever ask or think.

It's like he's transitioning, right?

He's transitioning to chapter four.

But in one sense, he has already told us

the things that God has already done,

things we can't imagine,

things that are better than any plan

that you and I could come up with.

So let's view this passage with the understanding

of what God has already done.

And I have those listed for you in your sermon notes already.

Look at those.

Look at all of those truths.

And tell me that you could think of a better way

that allows God to remain full of love

and full of justice at the same time.

He has chosen us and he's brought us into his family.

His grace doesn't come with conditions.

He freely gives it.

He doesn't extend grace to you

and then you mess up and he takes it back.

We were having this discussion the other day with my boys.

Apparently Asher, through a baseball that belonged to River

in the Creek Byer House a few weeks ago.

Well, on Friday, Asher gets a new boomerang.

And River, not intentionally, gets it stuck in a tree.

Guess how that conversation went?

River told Asher, if you get my ball,

I'll get your boomerang.

Right? I mean, that's how it went.

Now I get it.

That's human nature.

If you do something for me, then I'll do something for you.

I'll help you out if you help me out.

What have you done for me lately?

These are all things that are part of our vocabulary.

That is how our depraved minds work.

But that's not how God works.

He just gives grace.

And it doesn't cost you anything.

But it sure cost him, didn't it?

Go through that list and look at how good God has been to us.

He's better than anything we can imagine.

I am over 20 years into my walk with the Lord.

And I am still blown away that he would redeem somebody like me.

That he would choose somebody like me.

He has already done far more than I could ever imagine.

In John 15, 13, Jesus says that greater love has no one than this.

That someone lay down his life for the sake of God.

That someone lay down his life for his friends.

Now I have many good friends.

Friends that I would sacrifice for.

If I can help you out by giving you some of my time, I will gladly do it.

If I need to sacrifice some money so that you can eat or pay your mortgage,

I will figure out a way to make that happen.

There have been many people in my life that have sacrificed for me.

And they've done all kinds of things for me and my family.

And I will agree that that is a great act of love.

But I believe that that kind of love comes to a point, doesn't it?

Notice that Jesus says that you will lay down your life for your friends.

He doesn't say the life of a loved one.

He doesn't say the life of one of your own children.

Now I'm not a police officer.

I'm not a soldier.

I'm not a firefighter or anyone else who puts their life on the line for others.

But I do believe that I would lay down my life for someone if the need arose.

If my sacrifice would be a moment where someone comes to know the Lord,

I would do it in a heartbeat.

Now I'm not looking for it.

But I don't think any of the martyrs of the Christian faith were.

I don't think Stephen in Acts chapter 7 woke up that morning

Acts 7 · chapter mention

and hoped to be pummeled by rocks until he died.

But his sacrifice caused a chain of reaction that spread the gospel.

His story is etched in history.

We now have the gospel here in Iowa because of men and women like Stephen

who said it was worth it.

I can't think of a more honorable way to die than to die for the cause of Christ.

But I'm not giving up my kid.

I love you.

But if your eternal security in heaven means that I have to sacrifice my kid,

you're out of luck.

I can't imagine what that must have been like for God, the Father,

to turn his back on his son.

Tell me that that alone isn't something that is abundantly more than we could ask or imagine.

But God does it.

He does it.

But he doesn't stop there.

He grounds us.

He reveals his will to us.

He reconciles us to himself.

He gives us the church.

Now this place is one of God's greatest gifts to me.

I love being here each week.

I love that I get to work here.

I love that I get to be a part of Cornerstone.

And I hope that you feel the same way that this place is a great gift from the Lord.

Now this passage that we're in, it's a very popular passage.

In fact, it might be your favorite passage.

And it's a good one to have as your favorite passage.

But I've also seen this passage taken out of context so many times it blows my mind.

I've seen men and women twist this passage to mean something that it doesn't.

Prosperity, gospel preachers love this verse.

But here's what you need to know.

God is not a genie.

This isn't one of those passages that you can claim when you're asking for a $15,000 car

and God gives you a $100,000 car.

This verse is not meant for us to ask God for things that are going to benefit us.

This passage is not meant for us to think that God is going to break the rules of science just for you.

Now he can and he might, but that should not be our motivation for asking him.

He has already proven that he can do more than we can even think of or imagine.

But it doesn't mean that he is done and all his work is complete.

But I hear too many people claim this verse as a way to do something stupid

and ignore all wisdom and counsel from those around them.

I used to work with this guy, made 25 grand a year.

Barely making ends meet.

He was renting furniture because he couldn't go buy furniture.

Now there's nothing wrong with that.

That's what you have to do.

That's fine.

But he claimed this verse.

God's going to give me that $300,000 house.

I'm going to ask him for it.

I'm going to go pray for it and he's going to do it.

I can't imagine how he's going to do it, but no.

You can't even pay your bills, bro.

Like, let's not use it that way.

If the only time, if the only time you approach God in prayer is to ask him for something,

you might only view him as a genie to give you things.

That isn't to say that what you're asking him for aren't worthy things and are needed things,

but our prayer time should be much more than that.

It should be deeper than that.

As you mature in your walk with the Lord, your prayer life should mature with it.

Now, your parents can probably relate to this, but when our kids were younger,

we hated taking them to the store.

Anybody else?

It didn't matter what store it was.

If we could avoid taking them to any store whatsoever, we would.

If it was the grocery store, they would still find all kinds of things in that store that they wanted.

I'm not even talking about candy.

I remember I was in the grocery store one time with one of my boys.

I don't remember which one it was.

And he asked me if we could get a tub of lard.

He didn't know what it was.

He just liked the colors on the package.

Can we get this tub of lard?

Can we get that?

When I told him no, in fact, we aren't getting a big tub of fat.

He lost his mind.

He lost his mind and he made a scene in the store.

If we went to a store with toys in it, and they wanted everything, right?

They want everything.

Can I have this?

Can I have that?

It was a constant noise in our head.

When they didn't get their way, it always ruined the rest of the trip that day, right?

Because then they're upset.

And then we're trying to barter.

And we're trying to decide, do we risk having CPS called on us

because I'm about to whoop some tail, right?

Like, all these things are going on in our mind as these kids are having these meltdowns.

Now, as they've gotten older, it really isn't the case anymore.

They don't just view us as people that can just buy them stuff.

We can have real meaningful conversations.

We can talk about the future.

We can talk about the Lord.

We can talk about goals and plans.

We can talk about life.

And they've developed a trust in me as their dad.

So now they understand me better.

And as our relationship continues to grow, it goes better for us.

It goes better for them.

So my challenge to you is work on developing a strong, personal relationship with the Lord.

And his voice.

Understand his heart.

Celebrate what he has already given us in Jesus.

So that when you do ask him for things, you are more in line.

You're more in tune with what you actually need.

And you understand his heart better.

God's not a genie.

He's so much better than that.

Finally, we need to have an expanded vision of who God is.

I had a call this week about Operation Christmas Child.

Can you believe that?

Each year as a congregation, we will pack shoeboxes.

And those shoeboxes will go overseas to children who live in poverty.

It's a pretty cool ministry, right?

A few weeks ago, we had Compassion Sunday.

We were given the opportunity to sponsor a child in a developing country

who doesn't have access to basic things like healthcare and education.

Now, both of those organizations are worthy ministries to support.

The goal of both of those, Compassion and Operation Christmas Child,

is to share the gospel with children around the world.

They use the small gift of a shoebox, the small donation of $38 a month

to share the hope of Jesus to children and their families.

Some kids are excited to get a pair of socks and a toothbrush.

When it comes to Christmas time, do you think my kids are asking for a toothbrush or a pair of socks?

Do you think they're going to be happy with that?

No.

They want something bigger.

They want something more expensive.

Now, they might ask for clothes, but it's never a necessity.

It's because they want more clothes.

Some kids who have parents that earn a different tax bracket than I am,

they might ask for a car, won't they?

They might ask for something really big.

And sometimes I wonder about myself, about us,

if our prayers are not more in keeping with the poor children than the rich one.

What are the kinds of things that you pray for?

Are you praying for a toothbrush?

You're praying for a pair of socks.

Are you praying for things that are bigger?

If prayer requests in our church and the prayer chain are any indication,

one of our most frequent and fervent requests is for physical health for ourselves

and for those we love.

Please hear me when I say that is absolutely a valid thing to pray for.

We should pray for healing.

We should bring before God any request large or small that is on our heart.

We are commanded to do so.

Paul says in Philippians,

Have you ever prayed for someone who is terminally sick?

I have. I have.

What if God answered my prayers?

I would be incredibly thankful.

It would be a huge answer to prayer, wouldn't it?

But would it mean that they weren't going to die?

Would it mean that they weren't going to die eventually?

No. Even though it would have been huge to me,

it was really a prayer that would have encompassed just a short amount of time.

In that sense, in the grand scheme of things, from an eternal perspective,

it's a really small prayer, isn't it?

Again, please don't think I'm saying,

don't pray for healing for your loved ones.

Or that praying for healing is some kind of lower grade of prayer.

It's not. That's not what I'm saying.

I hope that you know, that I know how it feels to watch someone you love battle death.

I know how desperately important that battle becomes.

I know the fear that clutches your stomach when they take a turn for the worse.

I know how heart-wrenching it is when they lose that battle. I get it.

But can you see that in light of eternity?

Asking for someone to be healed is a small prayer.

A bigger, eternal prayer is that they would know Christ.

That they would receive the free gift of salvation.

Because that means that even though we lost them for a little while,

we have not lost them forever, that's a big prayer.

It's not the only kind of big prayer.

Not the only kind of eternal prayer.

There are all kinds of big prayers out there.

Life-transforming prayers.

Are you praying those?

Community-transforming prayers.

Nation-transforming prayers.

World-transforming prayers.

Prayers that will impact lives for eternity.

Even prayers that impact what happens in the heavenly realms,

according to this chapter a few verses ago.

Billy Graham once said that heaven is full of answers to prayers we've never prayed.

Don't you see it?

This big, huge room full of answers to prayers waiting to be prayed?

We haven't even imagined what we should be praying for?

We need to ask God to even guide us in our prayers.

So that we might pray for these things that He wants to give us.

We need an expanded vision of who God is and what His purposes are.

That we might begin to pray for those things to be fulfilled in our midst.

How many of us start our day with a prayer of something like,

oh Lord, get me through this day.

Get me to Friday.

Just get me from one end of the day to the other.

I've prayed it. How many of us pray that prayer?

What would your day look like if instead of praying,

oh Lord, get me through another day?

You prayed, Lord, do something today that is above and beyond anything I could ever imagine.

I don't know how your life would change,

but if I were the betting kind, I'd be willing to bet that it would.

It would be changed.

Back in February, there was a revival at Asbury University.

You saw it on the news?

It wasn't planned.

It just happened.

Some students showed up on a mandatory chapel day,

and then it went on for 24 hours a day for over two weeks.

It is estimated that 70,000 people from all over the country came to participate.

I don't think anyone anticipated it,

but God did some great things over that period of time.

It started out when one student stayed a little longer once the service was over.

He stayed and confessed his sins to his peers,

and then it just took off.

That's how it started. People didn't want to leave.

Now, I know that couldn't have been easy,

but what if that kid woke up that day and prayed,

Lord, do something today that I can't even imagine?

The power God uses is already in us.

It's already in us.

Paul says that God does those great things according to his power,

which is working among us.

If you are a follower of Christ,

then the very spirit of God dwells in you.

That probably isn't new news to you, right?

But think about what that means.

The spirit, the essence, the being of God is in you and me.

What does it look like when God demonstrates his glory in and through his church?

What would that look like?

Well, I don't know all the details,

but I know what it means is that when it's displayed through the church,

I know it means that people will come to Christ.

I know that it means that lives will be transformed.

It means that there will be hope when there once was despair.

It means that there will be life when once there was a stench of death.

God wants to do things in and among us that we can't possibly do ourselves.

And when people start doing things they can't possibly do by themselves,

people will begin to take notice.

They are no longer impressed by how good of a Christian you are.

In fact, they cease really noticing you at all

and what you're doing, and they begin to say,

there's something going on over there at Cornerstone.

There's something going on over there, and I don't know what it is,

but I want to be a part of it.

I want to experience it. I want to walk in it.

As we become more mature in our faith,

as we begin to follow the Lord closely,

and as we are filled more and more with the fullness of God,

then God receives the glory.

Cornerstone doesn't receive the glory.

Daniel doesn't receive the glory.

The volunteers for VBS don't receive the glory.

God receives the glory.

But as we've seen, and as Paul points out in this passage,

we're not capable of being filled with God's fullness on our own.

We can't do it.

Certainly that is something that is immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.

That's why we need His power at work in our lives.

I don't even know the kid's name who started that revival.

I searched for it this way. You couldn't find it.

It really doesn't matter.

It really doesn't matter because it is the Lord who gets the glory for it.

Are you bold enough to pray those kinds of prayers?

Big prayers, live transforming prayers.

Are you trusting enough that He can do more than you can imagine today?

Are you bold enough and are you trusted enough?

What if that was our prayer?

God, do something to me today that I can't even imagine.

See, we're so limited by what we think.

I say them and I hear them all the time.

That person will never come to church.

They're too busy. They're too anti-establishment.

They're too anti-whatever. They'll never come to church.

How many of us have been in a position where we want to share our faith but we just don't know how?

We're overwhelmed by fear.

We're overwhelmed that they're going to ask us a question we don't know the answer to.

What if your prayer was, God, do something to me that I can't even imagine?

I can't imagine having all the answers.

Guess what? When you do, guess who gets the glory?

I don't know how many years this church has done in VBS.

I hear about it in the community.

Oh, you're the church that does VBS.

You're the church that has all those inflatables in the front yard.

We hear things like that, right?

I don't know if anybody in this room has come to this church because of something we did at VBS.

That's the case.

Our prayer this week, as you're serving food, as you're watching a bounce house,

as you're helping a teacher navigate a classroom to the next space,

what if your prayer is, God, do something to me that I can't even imagine today?

Do something in this place that I can't even imagine?

Do you think our VBS would look different?

Yeah. You think we'd get past the routine?

We've done VBS enough now. We've done it enough.

We know how it's supposed to go, right?

We know from this time to this time we're in big, you know, big group time.

We know from this time to this time we're in music.

This time to this time we're doing crafts.

This time to this time we're hearing the Bible story.

We know the routine.

Are you bold enough to pray to God, God, do something in this place this week that I can't even imagine?

What if it messes up the schedule?

Do you think we're going to survive that?

What if in this place today, you're like, God, do something to me that I can't even imagine?

And the service runs long, and we don't get our doughnut.

You ready for that?

We're about to celebrate communion together.

For those of you that have children, grandchildren,

for those of you that love somebody, can you imagine giving them up?

Can you imagine sacrificing themselves?

I can't.

But God does things that we can't imagine.

And so, Sandy, my prayer this week, it might mess you up this week,

is that God would do something in this place that we can't imagine.

That this place next week is filled with people who heard the gospel.

This place is filled with children who experienced the gospel and drug their parents to this place.

We know the results of DBS.

Let's expect better.

Let's think bigger.

Let's start praying that our church will be transformed.

Because as our church is transformed, eldritch will be transformed.

And as eldritch is transformed, it'll just spread from there.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God can do things in your neighborhood

that you can't even imagine? You can't wrap your mind around it?

That God could do something in your workplace that you can't wrap your mind around?

Are you bold enough to pray those things? And are you trusted enough to understand that He can do it?

So, you might ask for a $15,000 car and He might give you $100,000.

I'm not saying He won't do it. But that's not what this passage is.

Are you content? Or do you want bigger? I want bigger, because I know a God that can do it.

I'm not asking for a toothbrush.

I'm not asking for a shoebox.

I'm asking for more. I'm not going to be content with what we can accomplish on our own.

I want something to happen here that all we can say is God did something.

That's what I want in this place, so that we can look back and say,

there's no way that a bunch of sinners in this room pulled that off.

There's no way that a bunch of talking about myself rejects and losers can pull that off.

It was only God. That's what I want. And I hope you want the same thing. Let's pray.

I pray right now that you will give us a bigger vision.

That you will give us an eternal perspective.

And that eternal perspective won't be to benefit us.

It'll be to expand the kingdom.

You've done so much for us. You've given us so much.

Help us be good stewards of it. Help us not be content with the routine.

Help us not be content with what we know is supposed to happen.

So we pray for revival.

Pray for revival in this church and this town.

We pray for revival to sweep the nation.

And Father, we know that you get all the glory for it.

And so God, I pray that as we take communion,

that your spirit will fill us.

That as we think about you giving up your son,

it helps us understand your eternal perspective better.

That it will help us understand that act of love is better.

So God, I pray that as we take this juice and bread,

pray God that you'll just dwell inside of us,

that your spirit will move freely in this place.

Pray God that you do great things in this place.

Great things through our people.

Things that we can't even imagine.

Things that we're not even comprehending.

Things that we can't even think of.

We pray God that you do great things.

That's all these things in your name. Amen.