beyond

Often we get so wrapped up in the day to day stuff of our lives we lose sight of the fact that there is a battle raging all around us. In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul reminds us that our fight is not against “flesh and blood”, that is, other people. Rather, Satan and his demons are scheming against us. Then, in one of the most well-known sections of the book, he explains what it means to prepare for this type of battle. Using the visual mnemonic of a Roman soldier’s battle gear, Paul describes the essential tools that we’ll need. Ultimately, however, what we need most is the commitment to stand — together as a church — and hold our ground for God.

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Ephesians 6:5-9 is a great example of how Scripture is timeless. Although Paul’s focus is on how slaves and masters who are Christ-followers should interact, it also serves as a great text to inform us about the nature of our working relationships and to remind us of God’s great history of setting captives free. Finally, it highlights the fact that we were once all slaves to sin (Romans 6) and Jesus can not only be our boss, He can be our Savior.

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Returning to our verse by verse study of Ephesians, Art Morris works through Ephesians 6:1-4. This text has some foundational truth regarding the interactions within the family and the responsibilities of fathers.

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In the final message of the Life Interrupted series Eric Kramer preaches on the ultimate victory: when Christ gave us Death Interrupted

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Eric Kramer continues the Life Interrupted with today’s focus on careers. Nowadays a job interruption is very common. Eric’s sermon is enhanced by a personal word from a fellow Beyond leader, Phil Scott who speaks at the end of the message.

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In the second sermon of the Life Interrupted series, Eric Kramer gives us six principles to focus on when relationships get strained or broken. We can persevere through these times because of the sustaining love and grace of our Savior, Jesus. Because of God’s great love for us we can have faith in the promise found in Romans 8 that He really can use even the bad times for our good.

Worship music for the day was provided by Denny Denham, an awesome singer-songwriter from a sister church. He closed our time with a word of testimony about God’s work in his life, followed by his great song I Believe. If you could use a message of peace and healing, do yourself a favor and head over to his site or sample his music here (or better yet, buy the album!):

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How many times has our life really gone the way we expected? Isn’t the insight from SNL’s Gilda Radner still true: “It’s always something!”? How do we respond when our lives are interrupted. In this first message of a new sermon series, Eric Kramer explores this topic from a very personal angle.

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Ephesians 5:22-33 contains some of the richest teaching on marriage in the entire Bible. Art Morris discusses this passage emphasizing the role of both husbands and wise being Christ to each other.

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The latter half of Ephesians has been seen through the years as being intensely practical teaching by Paul. The heart of a pastor comes through. Surely the teaching, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of course, has the flavor of counseling those who have gotten themselves off track by making bad decisions. Art Morris leads through this section of Ephesians 5:15-21. Issues of time management, alcoholism and mutual submission are discussed.

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