Sermons From Ephesians - Executable Outlines
Sermons From Ephesians - Executable Outlines
Sermons From Ephesians - Executable Outlines
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Mark A. Copeland<br />
Introduction To <strong>Ephesians</strong><br />
<strong>Ephesians</strong> 1:1-3<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
1. Have you ever heard of “Hetty” Green, known as “America’s Greatest Miser”?<br />
a. She died in 1916, and left an estate worth over $100 million<br />
b. Yet, it is said that...<br />
1) She ate oatmeal cold, because it cost to heat it<br />
2) Her son’s leg was amputated, because she delayed too long looking for a free clinic<br />
c. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?<br />
1) For someone who had such great assets, to go through life miserable<br />
2) Living the life of a pauper, when great wealth was at her disposal<br />
2. But the same could be said of many Christians today...<br />
a. For in Christ Jesus, we have countless spiritual blessings! - cf. Ep 1:3<br />
b. However, many of these blessings go unused<br />
1) Blessings that are wonderful, but unappreciated by many<br />
2) Resulting in some Christians living what Thoreau would call “lives of quiet desperation”<br />
3. God would have us to know about these blessings, or spiritual “riches”, and in the New Testament<br />
one book in particular describes many of them...<br />
a. It is the book of <strong>Ephesians</strong><br />
b. One expressed purpose of the book is that we might know “what are the riches of the glory of<br />
His inheritance in the saints” - cf. Ep 1:18<br />
4. Lest we become the spiritual equivalent of “Hetty” Green, we begin a series devoted to the Epistle<br />
to the <strong>Ephesians</strong>, in which we plan to “mine” for the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus<br />
[In Ep 1:1-3, Paul addresses the brethren at Ephesus and begins immediately to speak of our “spiritual<br />
blessings”. Let’s first more closely consider...]<br />
I. THE AUTHOR (1:1a)<br />
A. PAUL...<br />
1. Formerly, “Saul of Tarsus”, the persecutor of the church - Ac 9:1-2<br />
2. But who became the “apostle to the Gentiles” - Ac 9:15<br />
B. AN APOSTLE OF JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD...<br />
1. His apostleship was not of his own choosing - cf. Ga 1:1<br />
2. He knew it was by the grace of God that he had been so called - Ep 3:8a<br />
3. His charge? To “preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” - Ep 3:8b<br />
C. WHOSE WORK HAD BROUGHT HIM TO EPHESUS...<br />
<strong>Sermons</strong> <strong>From</strong> <strong>Ephesians</strong> 3
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