The Essentials: Mighty Power

So two weeks ago, we had seven people get baptized, and uh, those are always our favorite Sundays because at the end of the day, it's all it's all about people knowing Jesus.

And I always get so thankful on baptism Sundays for all of you, because I know that every single person who gets baptized at some point in time walked through these doors for the very first time.

And at some point from when they first walked in till that moment when they're in that tank, they've encountered God and they've they've realized that God is real, that he loves them, that he's for them.

But but if they had walked into a place that wasn't full of love, that wouldn't have happened.

And so, you guys, your love, your heart for other people, it's amazing.

And I hope that every single time you see someone take that step, you realize that you're part of that because we're all the church, we're a family, and I'm just grateful for all of you.

I want to begin this morning with a phrase that runs through my mind more often than I'd probably like to admit.

Um, and I'm curious if it's something that you think in some in some variation as well.

I don't have it in me.

I don't have it in me.

That's something that runs through my mind a lot, and it's mainly due to my children.

I have four children, and and they're a lot, you know, and sometimes they break me.

Like anyone who has small children understands this.

Sometimes you wake up in the morning full of strength, full of vigor, ready to conquer the day, but by the end of the day, you're done.

You're like, I quit, I'm done, I'm spent.

Sometimes your kids, they they break you.

My two-year-old right now, he breaks me almost every day.

I love him, but he's a jerk right now because he's two.

Like he just is.

And he's he's the funniest of our children.

I talk about him.

His name's Judah, he's wonderful, but he is he is a two-year-old and he is in the throes of the terrible twos.

If you have, if you've never experienced the terrible twos, I want you to know it's not made up.

It's not just some cute phrase, it is a psychological condition.

It is real.

And I I actually I have video evidence of the onset of the terrible twos.

I captured the exact moment that the terrible twos hit Judah.

It happened on his two-year-old birthday, like he was right on schedule.

He woke up that morning.

I'm gonna show you guys this video here in a second.

He woke up that morning, he was joyful, he was happy, he was funny.

That was his MO up until his two-year-old birthday.

And then with him just in our kitchen hanging out, being funny, being himself, I pulled out my phone because I wanted to get a quick shot of him saying, It's my birthday, and I could send that to my mom, to other people in our family.

And so I did that, and I just said, Hey, Judah, look at the phone, say it's your birthday.

And at that exact moment, the terrible twos hit, and I have the evidence.

Watch this with me.

Hey, can you say, can you say it's my birthday?

Right?

And I love I love that he opens the drawer just so he can shut it.

Just the the exclamation point.

And that is what he's been like for the last four months.

Like at any moment, at the drop of a hat, just complete meltdown.

He does it all day long, and sometimes by the end of the day, when I'm dealing with the hundredth and two hundredth fit, I just think to myself, I don't have it in me.

He gets up from bed seven, eight times a night, every single night.

Last night was one of the worst nights we've had in a long time.

He probably woke up eight or nine times between midnight and six.

And I have to go and put him to bed because he yells for me.

And sometimes I wake up and it's like the fifth time, and I just don't have it in me.

I just lay there.

I just lay there, I hear him screaming, I'm awake.

I'm just like, no, I'm not.

I can't get up, I don't have it in me.

And then Megan will look at me and say, Are you going to take care of that?

Which is phrased as a question, but is not a question at all.

That is Megan saying, You need to take care of that.

And I do, but I don't want to because I just don't feel like I have it in me.

I want you to keep that phrase kind of in the back of your mind.

I don't have it in me, because we're going to come back to that here in just a minute.

If you're just joining us, we're in a series right now called The Essentials.

And what we're doing is we're studying Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

We've been in Ephesians for a while, and in the second half of Ephesians chapter 1 specifically is this really cool section of scripture where the writer, Paul, describes to us what he prays that we and other Jesus followers would experience.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

If you have your Bible, you can turn to Ephesians 1.

If you don't have it, we'll have all the verses on the screens.

If you have our mobile app, you can follow along there as well.

But it's really cool because Paul is the most influential follower of Jesus ever.

There has never been a person, not named Jesus, who has had as much impact on the movement of Jesus in this world as Paul.

And Paul shares with us what he prays that we would experience, what he prays that we would understand.

And we could actually read his prayer in its totality, Ephesians 1, 15 through 23, and it's not so much a prayer, I guess, as a description of what his prayers are.

And here's what he says: Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you.

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called, his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.

Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else, not only in this world, but also in the world to come.

God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

And the church is his body.

It is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

And as we read this description of Paul's prayers, we find five essential concepts, five essential experiences that Paul prays we would get.

Number one is spiritual insight.

We talked about that a few weeks back.

That we would be able to see what God is doing, that we would be able to discern what God is up to in any given situation.

Number two, confident hope.

That we have confidence in our God.

That when we say, I hope God is going to come through for me, we don't mean that there's an off chance God might show up.

That we have confidence in our God.

Number three, glorious inheritance.

We talked about that last week, and this week is number four.

Mighty power.

Next week, complete fullness.

But today, number four, mighty power.

That's the fourth essential that we're looking at.

And we'll go back to Ephesians 1.19 so we can kind of look at this a little bit more intensely.

He said, I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.

We're gonna unpack that today.

This actually isn't the only time Paul uses that phrase mighty power in the book of Ephesians.

In Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20, for example, he says that all glory to God, who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20

And it's interesting when you combine this verse with what Paul says in Ephesians 1, you get a really complete picture that apparently there's this mighty power that is God's.

It originates with God.

In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul says that that power is for us.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

So God's mighty power is for you.

But then in Ephesians 3.20, he says, not only is that power for you, but that power is actually in you.

It is at work within you.

And that's actually a really crazy concept if you want to stop and think about it for a second.

The power of God inside of you.

Like if you would have gone back to the earliest followers of God, the Israelites that God called to be his people, if you would have walked up to them and said, Hey, how would you like to have the power of God inside of you?

They would have said, nope, mm-mm, no way, no, thank you.

We have seen what the power of God can do.

We'll keep our distance.

Thank you very much.

They would have done that.

That's exactly what they would have done.

Because, see, the the Israelites, they they had a fear of the power of God.

And look, sometimes there is a such thing as like a healthy fear.

You should have a healthy fear for anything more powerful than you.

Like I have a healthy fear of sharks.

It's not irrational, I'm not afraid of a shark right now.

I feel like my chances of being attacked by a shark right now are very low.

It'd be a story though, right?

But they're low.

But when I get in the ocean, my my fear of sharks, it just goes up a little bit.

And I'm not paralyzed by it, I'll get in the water.

I just kind of have my guard up, you know?

I've seen the movies.

I'm not gonna swim and be all happy because that's when the little fin comes up behind you and you're done.

It's too late at that point.

No, no, no.

I I'm in the water, I'm just sort of like looking around.

As if when a shark were to come, I would know what to do.

I don't know what I do, but but I just at least want to be aware of the moment that I'm about to die.

Maybe that's what it is.

My fear level rises.

On a more serious note, my children love to swim.

And their grandparents have a swimming pool, and so in the summer we spend a lot of time there, and the kids swim, and they're all at different levels in their ability to swim.

And I want them to have a healthy fear of water.

I do not want them to be paralyzed by that fear so that they don't engage with the water, because the best way to prevent drowning is to know how to swim.

But I do want them to understand when they get in the water just what they're dealing with.

I want them to have a healthy respect and awe for the water that they're in.

The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

It's not talking about being afraid of God in the sense that he's going to punish you if you step out of line.

But it is saying that we should understand who we're dealing with.

He's God.

He is bigger than us.

The book of Isaiah, God says, Look, my ways are not your ways.

My thoughts are far above your thoughts.

We should have this healthy awe and reverence of God, but it should not keep us from engaging with Him.

The earliest followers of God, sometimes that fear they had of God's power, it actually kept them from engaging with God at all.

For example, in the book of Exodus, Moses has just led the people of Israel out of Egypt, if you're familiar with the story.

And they're wandering around in this desert and they're looking for this land that God has promised them, and it's taken a long time.

And one day, God's presence shows up on a mountain called Mount Sinai.

And like the actual presence of God is there, and it's like it's epic.

It's something that you would have to use special effects to recreate in a movie.

It's a storm cloud, and there's all these sounds coming out of it.

It sounds like someone's blown a horn, and there's lightning, and these things are flashing, and there's smoke coming out of it.

I mean, it's pretty intense.

And in Exodus 20, 18, it says, When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram's horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

And they said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak directly to us, or we will die.

Don't be afraid, Moses answered them, for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning.

As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

So basically, these are people who have seen the power of God.

He did so many miracles just to get them out of Egypt and just to keep them alive.

They've seen the power of God, they see the presence of God, they recognize how much power is there, and when given the chance to go up and hang out with God, they're like, No, thank you.

And they look at Moses and they say, Hey, you go.

We're here, we're gonna be with you in spirit.

You go, Moses, try not to die.

And they hang back.

And so if you would have gone to those very people at the base of that mountain and said, Hey, how would you like what's happening up there to be happening in here?

They would have said, No, thank you.

But see, they lived before Jesus.

And we have to understand that Jesus changed everything.

Because Jesus dealt with our sin, he dealt with our shortcomings.

Jesus made a way for us to actually have the very presence of God alive and active in us.

In the book of Romans, it says that God's actual spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.

We heard earlier that in Ephesians, where it says that the power that raised Christ from the dead in Romans chapter 8, verse 11, Paul wrote, The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

Romans 8:11

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you.

So what was the power that raised Jesus from the dead?

The Holy Spirit.

Where does the Holy Spirit live?

In you.

If you have given your life to God, the Holy Spirit lives in you, that means the same power that raised Jesus back to life lives in you.

So if you are a Jesus follower, make no mistake, the mighty power of God is in you, working within you right now.

That is awesome.

That is awesome.

But but it's also kind of hard to grasp, right?

Like when he says power, what does he mean?

Sometimes there's these concepts in the Bible, and we read them, and we like, we're like, that sounds awesome, that sounds amazing.

I don't know what to do with it, I don't know what it means, but it sounds good.

What kind of power is is Paul talking about?

Is it some ethereal, metaphoric power that we can just feel good about because we know it's there, or is it something more?

I want to go back to what Paul actually said in Ephesians 1.19 again.

He said, I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.

I want to leave that up there for just a few minutes.

So we're kind of gonna go through that.

Look at some words.

Okay, this wasn't written in English, it was written in Greek.

So sometimes in translation and over a couple thousand years, words take on new meaning, and it's important sometimes to look at the original words and what was actually being communicated, what the people who read this for the very first time would have understood these words to mean.

So you see that word incredible.

Some translations will put surpassing there.

And it's this it's this Greek word, hyperboloo, and it's the word we get hyperbole from.

All of us use hyperbole pretty often.

A hyperbole is a statement of great exaggeration.

And so if you're a parent, you've probably said at some point in time to your children, I have told you a thousand times.

You know?

I have told you a thousand times, and and you probably haven't told them a thousand times, but it does feel that way.

But it's a it's a it's a hyperbole, it's an exaggerated statement, it's something that is more than than it actually is.

So it's interesting because what Paul is saying is is the hyperbolic greatness of God's power.

In other words, God's power is not just enough to get you by.

Whatever you're dealing with today, God's power is not it's not a prescription, it's not the minimum amount that you need to relieve your symptoms.

God's power is hyperbolic, it is more than enough.

That word mighty, that word mighty is really interesting.

It's the Greek word ischus, and that word means physical strength.

So, in other words, God's power is not just some metaphor, it's not just some concept, it's not it's not just something you believe in and it makes you feel good.

God's power is real, it is tangible, and it can change your life right now.

We see the word power twice in these verses, and what's interesting is that even though we see the same word twice, Paul actually used two different words that we translate power.

The second time when we see that that phrase mighty power, the word for power that Paul used is the word kratos, and it means conquering power.

In other words, if you've got some problem in your life, some situation, you don't know what to do, the power of God is a conquering force.

It is something that that moves what stands in its way.

And understand this morning that God loves you and that he's for you.

And if there is something that is keeping you from the love of God, he'll move it.

Now, the first time that Paul says the word power, when he says the incredible greatness of God's power, that that's a word that I want to focus on for a few minutes, because this is really cool.

Paul uses the word dunamis.

And dunamis is the word that we get our word dynamite from.

It's the same exact word, it's just changed languages.

So, what Paul is actually saying is that we have spiritual dynamite inside of us, which is a pretty cool thing to think about.

Does anyone here have experience with dynamite?

Okay, uh, safety team.

That guy, back there, and now I'm just joking.

Um I I would I would hope not.

I would hope not.

Dynamite's a an interesting thing, right?

There are some things that are only powerful in the right hands.

Okay?

And then there are some things that are so powerful it doesn't matter who has them.

Like, dynamite's not complicated.

You don't have to be an expert with dynamite to use it.

Just light it, throw it, boom.

That's all you, that's all you do.

It's like it's it.

No expertise needed.

It is raw power.

I don't have any personal experience with dynamite, but my grandfather actually had a little bit.

My grandfather was born in 1917 in rural Missouri in the Ozarks.

That's where I'm from.

And as a kid, I grew up driving or riding, you know, even though it was the country, they didn't let us kids drive, you know, whatever.

Um, I grew up riding on the roads in the Ozarks.

And if you've ever been in that part of the world, you see a lot of roads that look like this.

This was a really common sight for me as a kid.

And it's interesting because when they when they built the roads in the Ozarks, they did not build roads over the mountains and they didn't build roads around the mountains, they built roads through the mountains.

And my grandfather, when he was young, was someone who helped build those roads.

It was always kind of cool as a kid to know that I was I was on roads that my grandfather helped to build.

And the way that they would build these roads is pretty simple.

They would they would get on the mountain, they would drill a hole, they would drop dynamite in the hole, it would blow up.

They called that shooting rock.

And then someone would go with the jackhammer and kind of smooth it all out.

That was my grandfather's job.

He was the jackhammer guy.

And by the time I was born, he couldn't hear a thing because the jackhammer had taken his hearing, which was actually, in my opinion, convenient for him.

Um, because number one, he could always just say, I didn't, I didn't hear you, right?

Perfect excuse for any situation.

Ah, sorry.

And he had a lot of grandkids, and we'd come over and it'd be loud, and sometimes I would just watch him turn the hearing aid off.

It was like having his own personal mute button for everything in life, and I'm not gonna lie, there are times at my house that I would kill to be able to do that.

Maybe not kill, that might be strong, but close.

I would maim.

I would maim for the ability to do that.

I'll say that.

Dynamite is it is raw power.

And Paul says that we have spiritual dynamite inside of us.

So if you want to know the degree of the power that is in you, it is it is spiritual dynamite.

This isn't something that's minor, this isn't something minuscule, this isn't something dinky, this is spiritual dynamite, and God says it is at work within you.

So I want to go back to that phrase that we started with.

I don't have it in me.

If you are a follower of Jesus, I pray that this morning is a reminder of exactly what you have in you.

Because our world is gonna tempt us constantly to believe that we don't have enough in us.

Think about all the situations in life where you're tempted to believe that you don't have it.

That you don't have enough.

You don't have enough to get through this situation.

If your marriage is struggling, you might be tempted to believe that you don't have enough in you to work on your marriage.

You don't have enough in you to survive what's going on.

You have the power of God inside of you.

That is what is in you.

And it's real and it's powerful, it's dynamite.

Maybe today you're on like the other end of a broken relationship and what's done is done, and you wonder whether or not you have it in you to move on, whether or not you have it in you to forgive, you have the power of God inside you, you have spiritual dynamite, you have more than enough.

His power isn't just enough, it's hyperbolic.

You have everything that you need, everything that you need.

You know, maybe life has thrown a curveball your way.

Something you did not see coming, some situation that is incredibly difficult, it's a harsh reality, and you're wondering whether or not you have it in you to process this, whether or not you have it in you to accept this.

Can you move on from this?

The answer is absolutely yes, because you have the power of God inside of you, it is spiritual dynamite.

And so, if there is a mountain of a problem standing in your way, blow it up.

Because that's what's in you, that's what's in your heart, that's what God has done for you.

You have mighty power at work within you.

Mighty power.

Our world tries so hard to diminish who we are in God's eyes.

Our world tells us lies all the time, things like you're only human.

You know, you're only human, you can't help it.

You know, it's not your fault, you're just a human.

What are you supposed to do?

It's really interesting.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul is actually kind of getting on to this church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

And in verse 3 of chapter 3, he basically tells them they're acting like a bunch of humans.

He says, Quit it.

In the NIV, he says, Are you not acting like mere men?

He says, Or aren't you just acting like people?

Stop acting like people.

That's what Paul says, which is a strange thing to say to people.

But see, Paul recognized that that if we have given our lives to Jesus, we're not just people, we're not only human, we're new creations.

That God is doing a new thing inside of us, and his power, it's available to us, his power is at work inside of us, and we have to lean into that, and we have to have faith in that, and we have to live our lives trusting in the power that he has put inside of us, not our own strength, but in his power.

And when we rely on that, there is no situation, there is no mountain of a problem that can stand in our way.

Because it's his power.

And if you're here today and you are a Jesus follower, walk out of here trusting in that power.

Even if you're discouraged, even if you're distressed.

Just know that God is doing something in you and He's not done.

He's just getting started.

So let him do his work.

Let his power work itself out.

And if you're here today and you're not a Jesus follower, I believe God will want to look at you and say, I don't want you to be exhausted anymore.

Because even as someone who's known Jesus since I was a kid, there are so many times in life, so many seasons of life where I've just leaned into my own strength.

Or for whatever reason, I've just said, Hey God, I've got this one.

And anytime I do that, I run out.

I run out of steam big time.

The Bible calls that spirit versus flesh, right?

When I rely on my flesh, when I run on my flesh, I run on fumes.

But when I rely on the power of the Holy Spirit inside of me, it's different.

It's different.

And you can know that power.

You can have that power.

It's for you, it belongs to you.

Jesus won it for you, and all it takes is a relationship with him.

And by the way, he's the one who initiates the relationship.

Like he's like He's like the guy who's super into the girl and he's pursuing and pursuing and pursuing, and eventually the girl just says, Fine, that's how Megan started dating me.

It works.

Okay?

But know that Jesus has done that with you.

He came, he initiated the relationship.

He he did this crazy, over-the-top demonstration of love for you by giving his whole life for you.

And having a relationship with him is essentially just saying, Okay, yeah, I believe in you.

And the moment that that happens, your life begins to change.

You become a new creation, a new life has begun inside of you.

And if you want that life today, all you got to do is ask.

There's no ritual you have to go through.

You just say in your heart, I'm yours, and that's how it begins.

And as a church, we want to come alongside you and help you live that out.

But for all of us this morning, trust in the power of God.

It is more than enough.

It is a conquering force.

It is spiritual dynamite inside of you.

It is real and it can change everything.

It is for you and it is with you.

Let's pray.

Jesus, thank you so much for the love that you have for us.

Jesus, thank you so much for the power that you've given to us.

God is a group of people, we're all in very different places in our faith.

Some of us are here, we've been following you for years.

Some of us are here, we're not even sure if you're real.

But you can prove how real you are by your power.

And we're asking for that, Lord.

We're asking that you would empower us to walk out of these doors today and to live the life that you've called us to live.

That we would live a life that is that is full, that we would live a life that is abundant, that we would live a life that is defined by love, that we would serve people, that we would help people, that we would live for something greater than ourselves, Lord.

So help us trust in the mighty power that you have and help us remember today, no matter how big our problems may seem, that we serve a God who is mighty and who is powerful, a God who does not fail, a God who cannot be stopped.

You are our God, we love you, and it's an honor for us to be in your presence.

It's an honor for us to worship you, Lord.

And we say all this in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.