The Manifold Wisdom of God

Okay, good morning everyone. Lovely to see you. My name is Graeme, I'm the pastor here. Great to see folks again. Strange, half of our church family is here and half is up in that place that I begin with F. We can vote on that later.

But we are going to think about the same theme that we've been thinking about as a church at the weekend. So if you want to go to Ephesians chapter 3, we're going to be in verses 1 to 13. Right, we're going to read them in five minutes time. There's a lovely graphic to get you going. I enjoyed making that on Friday afternoon.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

So, our third daughter Eve, her favourite thing to do at school, the thing that she gets most excited about when she realises it's time for this at school, is the day when it's time for show and tell. Remember this at school? Show and tell.

So, this day where you got to take something into your class, something that you loved, something that was the most precious thing in the world to you, and you had the platform, you had the airtime to tell anyone who'd listen, why it was the most precious thing to you in the world and why. Do you remember that at school? Show and tell. Keep that in your head because it's going to be really useful for going through this passage.

Ephesians 3, if I could put an alternative heading on God's marvellous plan for the Gentiles, which is what your Bibles, if you have it there, will say at the top of chapter 3.

Alternative heading would read this.

Here is God's show and tell.

Uninspired, give you that. No one has clearly gone for that over the generations, Bible translators, but I'm going for that today.

This is God's glorious show and tell, which begs the question,

what is?

What is God's most treasured possession?

What is the apple of his eye?

What is the thing that he holds out to the world and says,

this, this is the thing that displays my wisdom

to the seen and the unseen world?

What is the thing that makes angels stop and go, wow?

Friends, here's what I want you to do.

I want you to stop for a moment.

I want you to look at the people on your right.

I realise everyone looks right.

Somebody's looking at the wall, but you get me, okay?

And then I want you to look to your left.

And here's the thing as we get into this passage today.

The answer to that question is a lot closer to home than you and I probably think it is.

And we've got to let God through his words shape our minds this morning as he tells us

what his manifold wisdom is.

Now, this is not just come as a boat out of the blue.

Here's what we need to do if we're going to get this.

We need to do a bit of a run up to the book of Ephesians.

You with me?

So here is Paul writing to this church,

living for the glory of Jesus in the first century city of Ephesus.

Now, two quick things that you need to know about Ephesus and the book of Ephesians as Paul writes it.

Two things about the city.

Here's number one.

You need to know about the thing that dominates the skyline.

Ephesus has something that dominates the skyline.

You cannot miss it.

Edinburgh's got the castle, right?

Paris has the Eiffel Tower.

Ephesus in the first century has the temple of the goddess Artemis.

And fun fact of the day, if you're interested in this,

if this ever comes up as a pub quiz question,

this temple is so spectacular that it's considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

So that means that people flock from all over to come and see,

and not just see, but come and worship at the temple of Artemis.

Her temple is the pride and the joy of the city, right?

You got that?

Number one, what dominates the skyline?

You cannot miss this.

The temple of Artemis.

Here's the second thing you need to know about what's going on in Ephesus,

is that when Paul goes there in Acts 19,

the gospel is Paul brings it into this city,

the news about Jesus, his birth, his life, his death on the cross,

his glorious resurrection, his ascension, one day his return.

As Paul brings this message to the city of Ephesus, it makes a seismic impact.

That means that people are becoming believers from all sorts of different backgrounds.

And it's true in this room, isn't it, friends?

If we were to give our stories about how we came to know Jesus for ourselves,

how many different stories would be in this room?

Because how many different backgrounds are represented in this room?

All sorts of people become believers in Ephesus.

You've got people from commercial backgrounds, occultic backgrounds,

spiritual backgrounds, religious backgrounds.

When the gospel explodes in Ephesus, it's raw and it's real.

It's exciting and it's daunting.

And Ephesus evangelical church is birthed with a buzz.

But the thing is, see by the time Paul writes Ephesians, this letter,

and it gets to Ephesus.

A lot of time has passed.

One thing has changed since then.

Chapter 4, verse 1.

Just scan your eye to it there, you'll see it.

The thrill of revival in Ephesus has died down.

And verse 1 of chapter 4,

the guy who planted this church in Ephesus, Paul, the founding apostle,

is in prison.

You see it?

So that's changed.

But I tell you what, there's one thing might have changed.

There's one thing that definitely hasn't changed.

Do you know who's still going really strong?

Do you know who's still doing a roaring trade in Ephesus?

Do you know who's still dominating the skyline?

Do you know who's still attracting visitors and tourists and worshippers

from all over the regions round about to come and pay homage?

What's gone nowhere in that whole time?

The goddess Artemis, her temple, she ain't gone nowhere.

So here's what I want you to do.

I want you to imagine that you're a person in Ephesus Evangelical Church.

Try and get in the mind space, right?

And you're meeting, your usual meeting, on a Sunday.

You remember Jesus.

This is why we're meeting on a Sunday, not Saturday.

On a Sunday, because this is the day that we remember

that Jesus rose from the dead.

Okay?

So you're meeting there.

And someone's passing around the stale quiche, right?

Somebody's offering you another glass of shloher.

Somebody's trying to get everyone to sing along to kumbaya

and out of tune the guitar.

And you think, oh my days, this is so unimpressive.

And yet you look out your curtain window and what do you see on the skyline?

You see the temple of Artemis.

And you think to yourself, goodness, tell you what,

we look really unimpressive and unspectacular,

but see her and her temple and the people that flock from all around

to come and worship, goodness me, that is something special.

And then you get your mind back in the room,

this small group of believers gathering together to worship the risen Jesus.

And again, trying to get into the scriptures together,

and you think, goodness me, what is this all about?

What are you thinking about your little church gathering?

You're thinking, I'd imagine, that you're nothing special.

Right?

I tell you who we might think is something special is the goddess Artemis,

but somebody who's not very special is us.

Friends, have you ever felt like that?

Ever feel like that on a Sunday morning?

Ever feel like that when you go to the Zoom prayer meeting?

Ever feel like that when you tell your colleague at work on a Monday morning

that you went to church at the weekend,

and you can tell they're trying to be polite,

but you can also tell that they couldn't care less?

The church, we are nothing special.

Well, do you know what Paul is doing in this letter?

He's saying to this church at Ephesus,

see if you think you're nothing special,

think again.

Think again.

For do you know what?

The local church is God's glorious show intention.

Shall we read these verses together?

Come and see how this works.

And then we've got a couple of things to say.

This is us in verse one of chapter three.

And see if you can pick up these tones.

So Paul writes this,

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus,

for the sake of you Gentiles,

surely you've heard about the administration of God's grace

that was given to me for you.

That is, the mystery made known to me by revelation

as I have already written briefly.

In reading this then,

you will be able to understand my insight

into the mystery of Christ,

which was not made known to people in other generations,

as it has now been revealed by the Spirit of God

to God's holy apostles and prophets.

This mystery is that through the gospel,

the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel,

members together of one body

and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel

by the gift of God's grace given me

through the working of his power.

Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people,

this grace was given to me

to preach to the Gentiles

the boundless riches of Christ

and to make plain to everyone

the administration of this mystery,

which for ages past was kept hidden in God

who created all things.

His intent was that now,

through the church,

the manifold wisdom of God

should be made known to the rulers

and authorities in the heavenly realms

according to his eternal purpose

that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In him and through faith in him,

we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

I ask you therefore not to be discouraged

because of my sufferings for you,

which are your glory.

Amen.

And God will bless the reading of his word to us this morning.

Friends, we're going to think about two big things

that this passage teaches us.

And then we're going to think about two big ways

that we need to respond.

You with me?

Here's the formation really simply of the sermon,

two, two.

Right.

Here is big teaching point number one.

This is verses one to six.

Here it is.

Friends, the gospel is answering a mystery.

That's what he's saying here.

And this is where we learn that God has no interest

in ever becoming a magician.

And here's what I mean by that.

What do they always say a magician,

a good magician never reveals?

Come on, a bit of audience participation here.

Go on.

Secrets.

Okay.

Or they're mysteries.

Well, these verses tell us that it thrills God's heart

not to conceal, but to reveal his.

Do you see it?

That's what the word mystery,

and if you notice in those verses,

it's used three times there.

That's what that word means.

It was something that was once hidden,

but now it's out in the open.

And remember that Paul's writing as a man who's schooled in Judaism, right?

He knows his, if you like, his Old Testament,

like the back of his hand.

And he knows the promises.

He knows the pictures.

And he knows the unresolved tensions that the Old Testament story serves up.

Right?

I'll give you a few of them.

How is God going to bless the nations of the world?

Like he promised Abraham.

How is he going to do that?

How is God going to be real in terms of his holiness?

He said he's, and of course he wouldn't be God if he didn't do this,

if he compromised on this.

He's going to deal with sin.

How is God going to transform the people's hearts,

as well as be true to dealing with sin?

And I think that's what he means, verse 5,

when he says previous generations,

it wasn't revealed to them how this was going to resolve itself.

But verse 2, God's opened Paul's eyes to see

the answer to the mystery.

And he considers that the most humbling of privileges.

Because in a former life, remember,

this was the guy who wanted to stamp out the church.

That God has revealed to him that Christ is the answer

that's now out in the open.

Christ is the answer to the mystery.

The perfectly obedient life that Jesus lived on our place,

the sin-bearing death of Jesus in our place,

the glorious resurrection of Jesus,

whereby God declared to the world that the cross worked,

proceeding from the Father and the Son,

the giving of the Spirit to take the message of Jesus

and apply it to the hearts of people who were dead in their sins

and now by the Spirit are made alive.

By the Spirit, all of that meaning that anyone,

absolutely anyone, through faith in Christ Jesus,

can be made right with God

and look forward to knowing him now

and into eternity.

Anybody.

And what has happened as a result,

verse 6, the Gentiles, you see that,

and that word just means that the non-Jewish peoples

of the world,

are now fellow heirs

along with the believing Jew.

Now, don't underestimate just how much

of a first century mic drop moment that is.

Because these two groups of people,

historically, you're Jew and you're Gentile,

these two groups of people did not mix.

They are like oil and water.

They just do,

you cannot get them to mix.

Jewish rabbis prayed every day,

Lord, thank you that you did not make me a Gentile.

In fact, there was a big sign in the temple

designed to keep the Gentiles out

with a sign that read,

do not enter here,

and if you do so, you will die.

And the Gentiles repaid the compliment

as they mocked the Jews

for worshipping a God who they could not see.

And yet God had always promised

that there would be a day

when the Gentiles would be grafted into

and be part of his united, global,

diverse, one people of faith.

And the mystery, verse six,

is that the Gentiles through the gospel

are now members of the same body

and are sharing in the same inheritance.

Now, we were thinking about this yesterday,

the wonderful fact that Jesus came looking for us.

Us Gentiles,

I'm assuming that we're all Gentiles in this room.

We were not born and raised Jewish people.

And yet,

that truth means that we had no clue

to the promises of God.

And yet Jesus came looking for us.

The gospel means that Gentiles

can be brought into

God's family of faith.

And you can imagine into a city like Ephesus.

That is incredible.

We'll develop it a bit more.

The gospel is answering a mystery,

which takes us to teaching point number two.

Friends, the church is telling a story.

For just notice what language Paul uses there

to describe what he preaches at verse eight.

And we so often just skim over this,

we miss what he says.

Verse eight,

the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Do you see that phrase?

Now, we often talk about in our culture,

bottomless coffee,

do you know what I mean?

Remember going to Mug and Bean in South Africa

years ago,

coming across this concept

of bottomless coffee.

You just mean I could sit here

and drink and drink and drink

and it doesn't end?

Well, yeah.

Friends, we have,

if you look at his language here,

we have a bottomless Christ.

Right?

Meaning that when it comes to

what we can worshiply comprehend

of his glories,

there's never coming a day

when we can say to ourselves,

completed it.

You know,

they always have that phrase,

friends down in London,

they always joke about it,

bored of London,

bored of life,

as if there's a place

on this planet

that can only satisfy

the human longings and hearts.

And all you need to do

is spend 10 minutes

on the tube down in London

and you soon realize

that I don't think

that's the case.

But truly,

there's never coming a day

where we will get bored

of Jesus.

When we're bored

with Jesus,

friends,

if that's the season

that we're in,

we do so well to remember

that the problem's

never with Jesus.

That's the Jesus

that Paul preaches

to the Gentiles.

There's always new angles,

new aspects,

new dimensions

of the glory of God

for us to savor

and feast our souls upon.

We're never getting

to the bottom of it,

the unsearchable riches

of Christ.

And so Paul begins

to think about

this people

who Jesus has called

out of the darkness

into his marvelous light

for himself,

aka the church.

This multi-ethnic,

multi-national,

multi-generational people

who God has called

to himself in Christ.

And Paul's big point here

is when it comes

to the church,

do you and I see

what God sees?

And so think back

to your show and tell.

Where do you look

if you want to see

the wisdom of God

on full display?

And you might expect

the answer to that question

to be in creation.

Yeah?

The Niagara Falls,

the full moon,

how excited did we get

a couple of months ago?

Maybe not in Scotland,

but everyone else

in the world,

about that eclipse.

The beauties of God

shown in creation,

a gorgeous sunset,

on and on we could go.

But that's not the answer

in the text.

Do you see it?

Where do we look

to see God's wisdom?

Verse 10,

and if you want

a phrase that stays,

which ironically

is a phrase that stays,

if you want a phrase

that stays from this message,

here it is.

Just take three words

with you from this.

Through the church.

Do you see it in the text?

Through the church.

So these people

whom God through his son

and then dwelt by his spirit

has made one.

And to who,

just notice in passing,

has God made

this wisdom known to?

Not just to the watching world,

but to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenly places.

And we do well

just to slow down

at this point

and remember that

according to a biblical worldview,

friends,

there's more going on

in life

than simply what you

and I can see.

The spiritual realm

Paul is talking about here

is massive in Ephesians,

right?

Angels,

light,

devil and his messengers,

darkness.

The principalities

in the heavenly places.

The unseen realm.

Paul is saying

that it's to us

and to them

that God

is showing his wisdom.

In other words,

friends,

the rulers

and powers

look on

at the local church.

Look on at us

as we gather today

and conclude.

As they look around

and they see barriers

that should exist

between us

being smashed down

in Christ

and they see

a love between us

that doesn't comprehend

human logic.

As the rulers

and powers

in the heavenly places

look on at us,

they say,

how on earth

has God done that?

Mind-blowing emoji.

And so Paul is saying,

dear Ephesians,

you might look at yourselves

and conclude

that you're nothing special.

There's nothing to see here.

But let me tell you

that as far as God is concerned,

there's everything to see here.

And so friends,

let's move from

two big things

that this passage teaches us

to think about

two big ways

that we need to respond

as we think about

the local church,

the big C church,

but as it finds

its expression

in local churches

as they gather.

Two big things

I think we need to pray

that God would help us grow in.

Here's number one

and it's just

our appreciation

of the church.

These verses,

if you like,

are the lenses

that God wants us

to put on

when it comes

to how we

walk into

any gathering

of our local church.

Remember that old thing

that the,

what's that thing

you used to do

with your hands?

Oh, I forgot it here.

The church is the steeple.

Look inside

and it's all the people.

We get that, right?

The church is not the building.

It's the people.

Of course,

buildings are important,

but it really is

all about the people.

When we gather together,

do we see what God sees?

Do you see

not just how precious

the church is to us,

but do you see

how infinitely precious

the church is to Jesus?

But do we see

how our very existence,

friends,

is a much bigger deal

than we often stop

to think that it is?

The very fact

that we've gathered

here today

is declaring a story

just like a Batman signal

pinging it to the sky

about the manifold

wisdom of God.

Every time we gather

pray and sing,

read and respond,

hug and cry,

listen and speak,

love and challenge,

and see as we do that together,

yet loving each other

as different people

united together

under the lordship of Jesus,

we are declaring a story

to both the seen

and the unseen world.

Let me just take it

a bit further.

That means that

as far as God is concerned,

the most exciting thing

happening in Brunsfield

right now

is what's happening

in this building.

And across local churches

as they meet

across this city,

there is no more

exciting thing going on

according to God

than what he is doing

in his local churches.

It's almost as if

God's inviting us

to drape a banner

above that door frame

as we came in this morning,

saying in the words

of the song

that goes with the film,

this is the greatest show.

You know,

it's a bit like,

sorry,

and what else

the local church is

is a bit like

a miniature model

of a new housing estate

before it's built.

You ever seen one of these?

Or if you go into

the National Museum of Scotland,

you'll see that they've built

a kind of Lego miniature version

of the National Museum.

It's really cool.

But that's what

the local church is.

Here is a preview

of what the whole thing

will look like

when it's finished.

Friends,

the local church

is the show home

of the people

of the new creation.

You know,

it's really popular today

to hear people say,

does the church

have a future?

Well,

do you know what

this passage tells us?

It tells us

that the church

is the future.

And so,

in response,

dear friends,

would we pray,

Lord,

forgive us

for grossly

undervaluing

the very thing

that you tell us

declares your wisdom

to the watching world?

And that takes us

to big prayer

number two.

First,

we pray that,

Lord,

would you help us grow

in our appreciation

of the church?

Secondly,

Lord,

would you help us grow

in our affection

for the church?

And here's the honest truth

at this point.

I can honestly say,

friends,

that my life

is so much better

so much richer

because of the church.

And I think about

Chloe and Grace

sitting there.

Didn't know they were

going to be in this morning.

But I think about

some of their friends

who I've got to know

in a little bit at school

and who is,

as far as I can tell,

outwith their families.

They probably know

a number of adults

that you can count

on both hands,

right?

Maybe neighbors,

teacher,

something like that.

One digit.

You see,

for these guys,

because of the church,

that's not one digit

in terms of the number

of adults that they know.

It's three digits.

Like,

so,

so many people

they know

because of the local church

who have,

so many of them,

poured themselves

meaningfully

into their lives.

Their lives are better,

richer,

because of the local church.

Isn't that an amazing thing,

the privilege that we have

to gather together

as people who,

to be honest,

if we were just living

our lives in the world,

we would never cross paths,

let alone be a family.

And yet,

through the gospel,

friends,

do you see

how wonderful a thing is

the local church?

Nothing like this

in the market.

Nothing like this.

And so,

friends,

if you're here,

and let me just say,

if you're here,

and I get,

just because of this time of year,

this is always my pitch,

I haven't done this

for a number of years now,

if you're here today,

and let me just say,

if you're flirting with church,

if you're here

and you're doing this

church search thing

and you're kind of

sitting on the fringes

not sure if you'll commit,

I just want you to know

that in love,

the longer that you leave it,

the more you're depriving yourself

of that blessing.

I just know

how enriched

my life has been

because of God's grace to me,

because of all

the wisdom

and love

and patience

and grace

that I've received

from different people

who I've got to know

in the various local churches

that I've been in

over the years.

And as we've been

in this one now,

Alex and I

for well over 14,

the amount of people

who have come through

our lives

and blessed us,

how?

Because we are united

in Jesus.

My life is better

because of the local church

and do you know

what else, friends?

Our witness is stronger

because of the local church.

In our world

that seems to be

becoming increasingly polarized

and aggressively so,

don't underestimate

how powerful

and apologetic it is

when we simply gather together

and love one another

under the lordship of Jesus.

The question

that this passage asks us

if we take it

and run with it

is how can we press

into knowing each other better?

Can I just give you

one area

in particular?

We could apply this

in so many different ways.

Can I just give you

one area in particular

as we think about

our culture

that I think is just

a massive opportunity

for us just now?

You might not have seen

this one coming

but let me give you it.

It's the generational gap.

Isn't it true right now

that you have

a younger generation

bear with me

who are critical

perhaps of an older generation?

You're clogging

the housing market.

You aren't being authentic.

And in turn

you also have

an older generation

suspicious of a younger generation.

You're not as committed

as we once were.

You've got an entitlement mentality.

No, it's a bit awkward.

Does it not sound familiar

as we live our lives

in this world?

A few nods.

But do you see how God

if we've got this picture

of the local church

do you see how he calls us

to do this generational thing

radically differently?

And to lovingly enter

each other's worlds?

And can I just ping you

with some challenges

that I was thinking about

this week

to both generations?

To an older generation

first of all.

Friends, do you pray for

and are you willing

to invest in the younger generation

who by the way

are the church leaders

of tomorrow

in a way that communicates

to them

that we don't just want you

to keep up the momentum

of what we started.

We actually long for

and pray that you guys

would see so much more fruit

for the glory of God

than we ever did

in our lifetime.

Do you appreciate

that a younger generation

are facing things

that you probably

never had to face

in your life

let alone think about?

Mounting student debt?

Gender critical

and sex saturated

places of work

that these guys

find themselves in?

Mental health worries?

And on and on

you could go.

Older generation here

what would it look like

for you to enter

the world of someone

in our younger generation

in our church family

and help them?

Let me flip it around though

to a younger generation

who I imagine

are a few more

in this room.

Do you think to yourself

deep down

because you've been

brought up in this world

and so much of it

like osmosis

has just made its way

into our systems.

Do you think

that you've got nothing

to learn from

an older generation

deep down?

Do you see

that they have

so much

Christian life experience

to share with you?

Do you appreciate

that there's people

in this room

and in this church family

who might not be here today

but will be here next week

who have been married

for longer

than you've been alive?

They know what it is

to suffer bereavement

and to lose a spouse

to get to 90

and to have all your friends

die and think

goodness

life feels really lonely.

To know how scary

unemployment

and redundancy is

who know how tiring

it is to be a parent

who know what it is

to run a business

and to do that

with Christian integrity

who know what it is

to be a missionary

living in a foreign country

and yet know what it is

to do those things

and will testify

to the goodness of God

throughout that.

Why not ask them

younger generation

why not go and find

someone in an older generation

and ask them

what was the most exciting thing

that you saw God do

in your lifetime?

Isn't that amazing?

Some of us in this room

will have lived through

when Billy Graham

came to Scotland

way back

beginning of the 19th century.

I read a stat recently

that apparently

was that 76%

of Glaswegians

went to at least

one of his meetings.

Can you imagine that?

Imagine living through

something like that.

Up in the Hebrides

the revivals that happened.

Friends,

do you see that

there's so much wisdom

in this room

when it comes to

how God

has been at work

and so much

Christian wisdom

in terms of

what it means

to live faithfully

for Jesus

throughout it all.

Friends,

do you see how God

has put us together

as one church family?

The Bible is such

a generational

passing book.

One generation

commends your work

to the next

and we're called

to help each other

figure out

what faithfulness

to Jesus

looks like

in our different

life stages

and bring that together.

All that means

that our local

church community

should be one

massive

puzzling

question mark

to the watching world.

How has God

done that?

Why

And all that

takes me

just as I close

to

a story

I once read

a guy called

Michael Otts

who's an evangelist

down south

tell

about a local

church community

in Bristol

and I took an interest

in this

because for a couple

of years

you might not know this

I lived in Bristol

used to work

down there

and

lovely city

loved living there

really rough

and ready

an estate agent

when I was asking

what area

should I live in

she described

the area

that I settled

in as

bohemian

and earthy

and all of a sudden

I got down there

and I thought

oh she just means

rough and ready

loved it

right

grew up in Glasgow

this was my world

loved it

I specifically remember

where I ended up living

was in a place

called St Paul's

have you know anything

about the history

of Bristol's

there was riots

in St Paul's

back in the day

and when I got there

I kind of understood

why

because it is so

multicultural

and so

multi-generational

so to give you an example

where I lived at the junction

at the bottom of our street

you had a Somalian community

over there

you had a Nigerian community

over there

you had a Jamaican community

over there

and in amongst

an English community

that lived all about

and all of a sudden

I was the token Scot

in the mix

I loved it

so diverse

so many tensions

that were going on

but Michael Otz

tells the story

of a time

when a local councillor

walked into one of the

local churches in Bristol

can't remember where it was

but somewhere in the city

local councillor

walks into this church

and he looks around

and he sees

what's going on

all sorts of different people

kind of getting on

and seeming to love each other

and they're singing

laughing

crying

eating

praying

they're just doing

church life together

again thinking to themselves

there's nothing to see here

and this local councillor

was so amazed

that when he left

apparently he commented

to the minister

there on the door

he said this

he said

you know what

each year I spend

millions of pounds

of my budget

trying to get people

from this area

to get on with people

from that area

and I walk in here

on a Sunday

and I see that you do it

for free

is that not exactly

what this passage is saying

how

how

how

has God

done that

answer

through

the gospel

through his son

the church

friends

is the manifold

wisdom of God

it is

his

glorious

show and tell

so let's embrace

it

let's love it

and let's do it

all for

his glory

let me pray

and father God

we worship you

today

for your

manifold

wisdom

wisdom

you are

your ways

are so far

above the

things of our

ways

your

your

thoughts

are so much

higher than our

thoughts

father you're so

much greater

than us

lord

thank you

for

the pages

of scripture

that we can

read here

about the way

that you've

shown your

manifold wisdom

to the world

in this

people

that Jesus

has saved

for himself

the worshippers

that he's

created

the people

that he's

united together

to declare

his praises

oh father

all praise

to you

and father

we thank you

so much

for the gift

of our

local church

thank you

that even

in this room

even though

it feels

like half

of our

church

family

is away

just now

thank you

that even

in this

room

as we

think

about

the

diversity

and we

think

about

the

unity

as we

think

about

the

love

as we

think

about

the

worship

as we

think

about

the

way

that

we

do

church

together

father

convince

our

mind

that

sometimes

we

often

we

think

that

there's

nothing

special

going

on

but

lord

help

us

where they

put on

the

Ephesians

three

glasses

to see

the

church

as you

see

it

and to

conclude

that

there's

everything

going

on

well father

raise

our

vision

of the

church

and that

will only

happen

if you

raise

our

vision

of the

!

Amen