Make a Selection A&M UMC Main Page Adult Ministries Bible Studies Celebration Ministry Children's Ministries Church Calendar Church Council Directory of Members College Ministries Grad Stu/Young Pros Class Journey to Christ JumpStart Links of Interest Map to Church Music Ministries Newsletters Prayer Ministries Sermon Transcripts Staff & Contacts Sunday School United Methodist Women Vision Path Statement Weddings Weekday School Worship Services Youth Ministries

In the last month I have celebrated Father’s Day, my 50th birthday and our 29th wedding anniversary. It has been a good month. I tell my family that it is like having Christmas in the summer – the gifts just keep on coming. All we lacked was a tree and those crazy lights that seem to show up only in December.

There are times in life when God seems to be so present and our eyes become so open to the amazing truth that the infinite God cares intimately for us that it feels like Christmas. We ought to be singing, “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come.” The gifts just keep on coming. The apostle Paul seemed to be in the Christmas spirit when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. After beginning the letter with a brief salutation he begin to unpack the gifts of God: love, acceptance, forgiveness, hope, salvation, and the constant presence of the Holy Spirit given as a pledge or down payment of all that is to come. Then he turned his attention specifically to the Ephesians as the family of faith and wrote words that they did well to hear. We, the church, would do well to hear them also. These words are found in Ephesians 1:15-23. Hear now the Word of the Lord:

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. In this passage Paul delineated for the Ephesians his desire that they realize the resources available to them in Christ. (Pray)

As we continue our “We Believe” series of sermons this summer, we come to our statement on the Church. In our statement of beliefs at A&M United Methodist Church, printed on the back of our Vision Path (available on the Information Table), we claim to believe in the Church as the unity of all who honor Jesus as Lord: the Church manifesting the faith passed down from the first Apostles through worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of the sacraments, fellowship, service, and witness and sacrificial outreach to others throughout the world. I often tell brides and grooms preparing for their wedding to be sure to include the church in their new home life. It is unlike anything else in the world. The church is truly a gift from God for my life. I hope it is for yours. As a matter of fact, every time the church gathers together as a family of faith, we ought to have a little glimpse of the wonder of Christmas – even in the summer. Now all we need are those crazy lights. You know the kind to which I refer. They are those lights that seem so small, but in the darkness of the night they are beautiful. They are the lights where if one of them goes out it affects the whole strand, but it takes time and effort to figure out which one is the faulty bulb or loose connection. Those crazy lights remind me a little of the church, the family of God about which we discover some significant truths in this passage from Ephesians.

Look at this passage and grasp all that the Holy Spirit gives to us through the church. Look at these lights and focus on the family of God.

One light on a strand cannot illuminate the entire tree.

Paul commended the Ephesians for their faith in Jesus and their love of the saints - the holy ones, the called out ones, the ones set apart for the service of God – in other words, the church. Curtis Vaughan described this word love as “the caring love that counts no sacrifice too great for the one loved.” This was the love that Paul had encountered in the Ephesian church. And it pleased him much like it pleases parents to see their children getting along with each other. Paul’s heart was filled with gratitude as he heard about the church in action through their faith in Jesus and their love for each other. He knew that Christians were never intended to make it on their own. From the very beginning the church was established as a family.

A lone Christian trying to make it in life would be as absurd as one light trying to illuminate an entire tree or one baseball fan trying to cheer on his or her favorite team. Nine days ago, my family treated me to a baseball game for my birthday. We traveled up to Arlington to see the Texas Rangers play the Houston Astros. Apparently we weren’t the only ones with that idea. Over 40,000 fans were gathered in that stadium screaming into the night air for our favorite teams. As we were coming out of the stadium, it seemed like all 40,000 were trying to exit through the same narrow gate. I received this digital camera for my summer trifecta (Father’s Day, birthday and anniversary) and decided to get a picture of the meandering mob. I held the camera in the air, pointed it behind me and clicked a photo. The problem was I moved the camera too fast and got a picture of my forehead. So I tried again, and since it was a digital camera, tried one more time for good measure. What I did not realize was that the flash on that camera is quite bright and the people behind me were already agitated with being squeezed through a narrow gate. Three pictures pushed one guy a little too far. He was a ways behind me, but Tammy heard the whole exchange that went something like this:

“Who keeps flashing that light in our eyes?”

His friend said, “Oh, just some idiot up there taking pictures?”

My wife decided to defend me, with it being my birthday and all. She said, “Hey, that idiot is my husband!” She went on to explain that I had just gotten the camera and was trying it out on my birthday.

The truth is I thought it was a great sight. Much nicer than if I had been the only person who had shown up to watch the game. I get the same feeling when I look out at this sanctuary and see hundreds of people gathered together to sing, pray and seek God’s direction for our lives. One light was never intended to illuminate the whole tree. Your faith and love for others make it feel like Christmas even in July. Look at these lights and focus on the family of God.

Each light depends on the same inexhaustible source.

I love the way these lights work. Every strand has a plug and receptor so they can expand one with the other. It’s almost like the Baptist strand, Methodist, strand, Catholic strand and all the other strands plugging into one another, but none of them will work unless they are connected to the electrical outlet.

Paul knew the same thing was true about the church. They needed to be plugged into God. That is why Paul prayed that the church’s eyes would be open. Look at verse 18. Paul begins that verse with two important words, “so that.” Paul prayed for God to give the church the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they could see the hope, the inheritance and the power that was theirs in Jesus Christ. “The hope to which he has called you” was their position in Christ. Theirs was not some meaningless life filled with suffering. Theirs was a life of purpose, of love, of grace, a life of hope. Their inheritance was rich and abundant. These were children of God, joint heirs with Christ. One can walk a little taller when they realize their position. The power available to the church was the same power - undiluted, undiminished and unlimited - as the power that raised Christ from the dead and then exalted him to the place where every creature would worship him as the very Son of God. This power was their power and this is our power.

Christian Schwarz provided a poignant picture of a church trying to operate under its own power in his book, Natural Church Development. The picture is that of a cart filled with round wheels. The only problem is that the cart is equipped with square wheels. One person pulls from the front, while another pushes from the back, but there is very little progress being made. It is incredibly difficult to move a cart that is full of round wheels and equipped with square wheels. Christian Schwarz writes, “Instead of using God’s means, we try to do things in our own strength – with much pulling and pushing.”

Read again what the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1, “ 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that , with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of hispower for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.” Plug into the power of God and discover how rich life can be. Each light on this strand and every strand to which it is connected depends upon the same power source – a power strong enough to raise Christ from the dead and seat him at the right hand of the Father. Look at these lights and focus on the family of God.

All lights together reveal the Certainty of the Source.

Paul concluded his passage with a wonderful statement about the church. Look at verses 22 and 23. Here we find that the church is the body of Christ and the fullness of Christ. We use phrases like “body of Christ” so often that we sometimes forget what it means. But think about it for a moment. What does your body do for you? This is what people know about you. Your body has hands that have held children and comforted friends. Your body has feet that have walked over to a neighbor’s house to present a plate of brownies or rhubarb pie that say, “Welcome.” Your body has a mouth that has spoken words of assurance to another, ears that have listened to the joys of a proud parent and eyes that have witnessed beauty. Your body is an important part of who you are. In fact, without your body, no one here would know you. Could it be that Paul was saying the same thing about Jesus? Could it be that without the church, the body of Christ, no one would know who he is? Could it be that when Paul wrote that the church is the fullness of him, he was saying that it is through the church that Christ has chosen to reveal himself?

Look at these lights. They are dark, most of you have no idea what color any of these lights are. They need power in order to be illuminated. Now look at this outlet. We assume that it has power, but the only way we know for sure is if we plug these in and they light up. The lights will tell us if there is power or not. (Plug lights in)

The same thing is true about you, the church. The wonder of God’s grace is amazing. The power of God is astounding. But no one will know unless the lights are plugged in. “You are the light of the world,” Jesus said. Look at these lights and focus on the family of God.

It’s a wonderful statement that we have as our belief about the church in our Vision Path. Perhaps the statement could have been made simpler by stating, “We believe in the Church as an expression of the family of God.” Family can be described as:

F aith – The Church believes in the Lord Jesus and his grace

A spiration – The Church holds onto the hope that Christ has placed in you

M ight – The Church realizes the extraordinary, indescribable, inexhaustible power available to us.

I nheritance – The Church grasps the richness promised and provided to us by God.

L ove – The Church extends to others the same kind of love of which we have been recipients

Y ou – You are the church, the body of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the evidence of the risen, loving Lord to a needy world.

Faith, aspiration, might, inheritance, love, you – Now that is a strand of lights that can stretch over the entire Bryan-College Station area, indeed around the entire world. Look at these lights and focus on the family of God.

Amen!