Giving
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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Today we continue our series based on the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians The theme is “Making a New World”.
Today we are talking about Christianity Makes the Difference.
Text
Ephesians 5:22 NKJV
Marriage—Christ and the Church
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:25 NKJV
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Ephesians 6:1 NKJV
Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Ephesians 6:5 NKJV
Bondservants and Masters
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;
Ephesians 6:9 NKJV
9 And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Scripture Reading
Ephesians 5:21-6:9 NKJV
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Marriage—Christ and the Church
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Children and Parents
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise:
3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Bondservants and Masters
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;
6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
9 And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Introduction
When Jesus came to earth, He brought the reign of God.
After Jesus’ ascension, He sent His Holy Spirit.
Christians began to spread the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
Wherever the gospel went, it made a difference in individual lives and in the community as a whole.
Attitudes and actions in many areas of life were changed.
Let us consider some strategic areas where Christianity made the difference.
- Christianity affects marriages.
Paganism had affected marriages adversely.
Little regards was given to binding contracts or personal respect.
Christianity made the difference in a marriage.
Christianity causes a wife to be regarded s a person.
Ephesians 5:22-23, Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
It is important to notice that the broader is of mutual submission to Christ.
Otherwise specific regulations tyrannically made a wife submit to her husband.
As Christ provides for and protects the church, so the Christian husband regards his wife as an equal.
This may not seem radical in the 21st century, but in the first century it was a revolutionary idea.
Paul wanted the rights of women to be protected because in the pagan world women were considered property.
Christianity causes a husband to care for his wife.
Ephesians 5:25, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.
Christ’s devotion to the church is to be the example of the husband’s devotion to his wife.
The husband is to manifest the same kind of unselfish love toward his wife that Christ exercised toward the church.
2. Christianity affects families.
Paganism did little to safeguard family relationships.
Responsibility was not stressed.
Christianity brought amazing changes in family living.
Christianity brings responsibility to children.
Ephesians 6:1-3, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
Paul stressed the obedience of children to their parents.
The term obey means a readiness to hear, a willingness to heed counsel, to weigh words of advice, and to gladly shape their course under the accepted guidance of more mature minds.
In most cases, responsible obedience eventually leads to autonomous self control.
Christianity bring responsibility to parents.
Ephesians 6:4, And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Parents have a twofold obligation to their children.
They are to keep discipline in balance.
They are to nurture and instruct their children.
3. Christianity affects labour.
The commercial world of Paul’s day was a master/slave society.
Paul provided the principles of survival in a slavery system.
Theses were radical changes in the social lifestyle.
Christianity encourages the recognition of authority.
Ephesians 6:5, Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;
Christianity acknowledges that some people in the business world have a legal right to direct and control the activities of other people.
Obedience to lawful masters must be rendered along with an eagerness to accomplish the task.
Furthermore, obedience is encouraged, not with hypocrisy or pretence, but with a sincere and undivided purpose.
Look at Ephesians 6:6, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
Recognising authority and obeying authority will lead to recognition and reward.
Ephesians 6:8 says, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
The good things are known to the Lord.
They are remembered by Him and will receive full acknowledgment and reward from Him.
Christianity causes a slave to be regarded as a person.
Ephesians 6:9, And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
This command was radical.
Slaves were regarded as little better than animals.
It was the thing to do to rule over them by fear of punishment.
Even in our day the business world often treats employees as things.
Christianity displaces this attitude by sympathy and by reverence for the divine Master, to who both servants and masters must give account.
Conclusion.
Christianity makes a difference.
If you open your life to Christ, he will make a difference in you.
The best way to build a better society is to live Christlike lives and draw people to Christ.
Walk in the light.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
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