STAND STRONG
STAND STRONG
8.1 - Calling & Conduct, Introduction
Welcome to Season 8: Calling & Conduct!
In this episode, Paul and Noah briefly discuss their plan to work through the letter to the Ephesians while considering the specifics of Paul's teaching as well as how that teaching impacts us today.
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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/
Well happy Monday to those who are following our Monday schedule. We're releasing new podcasts on Monday. It's a once a week deal, and we've been doing it, Noah, we've been doing this now. This is season eight.
Mm-hmm.
Paul:I think you said two years we have been doing this together. Yeah. A little over. And for those who are listening, have been joining us in this podcast, stand strong. Y'all ought to be in the room with us sometimes. I tell you what, it's, these are really good conversations that happen. Before we go on, Mike, that happened when we go off mic I tell you, it's, it's been a joy, Noah, to work with you because. I get to talk about the things that excite me most, but I get to talk about'em with somebody that I have a lot of respect for. Because here's the thing, those of those of you that, that go on this journey with us, that worship at Cedar Park, what you know about Noah? He is a text guy. Give him a text, put him in a text. He's like a surgeon. He takes the scalpel. He does some of his best work inside of a tech. So we told y'all we were gonna introduce season eight and what we wanted to do. We found a New Testament book. We agreed on one, believe it or not, preachers can do that. They can agree on a text. And it was Ephesians. We started talking about Ephesians and boy did we get excited. So we're calling this Noah. We're calling this our calling and conduct. Mm-hmm. We're in Ephesians, our calling and conduct. So I'm just reminding us, you know, in chapter four, Paul says Very early walk worthy of the calling.
Yeah.
Paul:Well, okay, here's my worthy walk. Here's how I'm to live. But what is that calling? Well, the calling is chapters one, two, and three. So if you wanna do an easy divide of a six chapter book, like Ephesians, then you've got chapters one, two, and three. That tell us about the calling and then chapters four, five, and six, they're very practical in regards to what that calling or that new life looks like. So yeah, I'm excited about our, our journey here in season eight in the book of Ephesians.
Yeah, I'm, I'm excited too. And, and you said some very kind things, and I appreciate that the last two years as we've been working on this podcast together has been. A pleasure for me, and it's been a growing experience for me. I think this has been something that is in various times and in various ways has challenged me to, to grow in my ability to understand God's word and apply from God's word. And again to those who worship with us at Cedar Park. You know, Paul, you know that not only is he a good expositor of the word, he's also good at finding the application. For people in various circumstances and various stages of life. And that's something that's been really encouraging for me. And I really appreciate about Paul's approach. And I think what's kind of exciting for me about this season, aside from the fact that we get to be in, in one of my favorite books in the New Testament is that Paul and I have agreed to try to approach this. With our respective strengths when it comes to Bible study and, and Bible teaching. And so I'm excited because I have a kind of a long leash on diving into the text. This, this season.
Paul:Okay. Long is a relative term. Okay, long leash. Let,
let me be clear, Paul didn't use the words long leash. I, I inserted that. So no on a more serious note I, I get to do something that I enjoy and I'm going to get to. Kind of dig into the text and, and try to really examine what Paul is saying in the context to his audience. How does the thought from, from one verse to the next one section to the next flow, why is he going where he is going? And I'll be the first to admit, I. That Paul, not Paul White, although he can sometimes be hard to follow too. Oh, shots fired. But the Apostle Paul, he is, he'll sometimes go on little digressions and tangents and those kinds of things, and that can make that a little bit difficult and. And sometimes we're not exactly sure why he follows the route that he does. But I'm excited that this season we're gonna, I'm gonna get to spend a little bit of time trying to follow in the Apostle Paul's footsteps as he writes this letter to the Ephesians. And I'm excited to then shift from that into the application portion, which is gonna primarily be driven by not the Apostle Paul.
Paul:Yeah. You know, just when we start, I mean the next, not today, but a week from today, Lord willing, when we start digging into the text and Noah starts, I mean, we're gonna find very quickly, if not probably the longest sentence. I mean, it's, it's here in chapter one, and when Noah starts opening up and showing us some things in Ephesians chapter one about the greatness. Of the God that we serve and, and the God that the Apostle Paul was revealing to these saints throughout Ephesus and other regions. I'm gonna make the point if, if, if you stay in chapter one and look at all the language that is in chapter one, I'm gonna say something next week about, you know, the God that's doing something before time.
Mm-hmm.
Paul:The God that did something in the fullness of time. The God that's doing something beyond time. There were three points there. But Paul always likes three points. It's, it's the application and I mean, it's, it's the text coming off the page. Mm-hmm. I mean, that was very relevant. And so Noah's gonna do this. He's gonna show us the relevancy, of what it meant to those in Paul's day. You know, we're reading somebody else's mail. So what were the Ephesians hearing? The relevancy of what we find here. What was the apostle Paul trying to say to the Ephesians in his day? What did he want them to hear? And as a result of that, then for, for our purposes today. Nothing about that has changed. We're still dealing with the same God. And so what, what did this God do before the foundation of the world? And what did this God do in the dispensation of the fullness of time in Christ Jesus? And what is God continuing to do by his spirit beyond time for us, it gives us great hope and assurance. So when, when I'm looking at things in chapter one, I wanna make it very, very relevant. To, to where we are in, in the days of our life.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and and I think that that comes back to our entire approach and, and the way that we're theming this season of the podcast. We've, we've titled it Calling and Conduct because. The Apostle Paul obviously goes into, into great detail and application in the latter half of the book as far as what our conduct is to be. But that conduct is based upon our calling. You already referenced chapter four verse one, so we have to do the work to find out what that calling is. And I'm not saying that in the sense that it's some, you know, obscured blurry image that we can't get a great, you know, distinct understanding of No, we just have to take the time. To work through what Paul is writing, why he's writing it, and then turn that towards ourselves and, and I think the application is just gonna be so rich, it's gonna jump off the page when we spend time in this section of the New Testament.
Paul:Yeah. While you're talking about walk worthy of the calling, I love that chapter four verse one walk worthy of the calling. Man, if you wanna put a refrigerator passage, that is it, walk worthy of the calling because it, it points to our responsibility. As a result of understanding the calling and the calling is always connected to the triune God. Mm-hmm. Man, the Father, son, and the Holy Spirit. That is so important and Paul starts there here in Ephesians chapter one. I think though Noah, for me, I just absolutely love chapter three verses 20 and 21. I think it's probably one of the best passages in the context of Ephesians and man, how hard is that to pick just the two? But I love chapter three. Verses 20 and 21, Paul says, now to him, who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. Now notice this according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church. Mm-hmm. By Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. What is Ephesians about? Why? Is this unfolding of this triune God? So important because Ephesians is about God's power working in these people, his redeemed people, through Christ Jesus to the display of His glory. And I don't think, no let, we can't, I can't appreciate the depth of that without beginning. Ephesians and spending time in chapter one to see some very bold things that Paul is is saying in regards to this triune God like the Father, his love, his election, or the son, the death, the resurrection or the Holy Spirit power to work in the life of the believer. Mm-hmm. That connects to God's promise. On and on. You get and, and again, this is written to saints. This is a letter. To church folk,
right?
Paul:Holy ones. These are saved people. But yet, look, I I, I love the Gospel of Luke. I, I think the Book of Acts is a great place to go when you're trying to reach those who are not in Christ with the gospel, but so is Ephesians. Hmm, man, it is so rich because you're trying to pull back the blinds and show people this God. What he's already accomplished in Christ Jesus. How much he loved you, he had you in mind.
Mm-hmm.
Paul:On and on we can go. And all of this is to the praise of his glory. It's while it's about me. It's not about me,
right?
Paul:It's first about him.
Yeah. That's that is an excellent, I think, way to summarize the kind of the direction that this is gonna inevitably go. Not because of an agenda that, that Paul and I have, but because the, the text is going to take us to those places. It's gonna draw us deeper and further into the character of God and the persons of God. And the effect that, that God, the father and God the Son, and God the Spirit have on our lives individually and as a local church and as a group of Christians. I just think this is gonna be a really beneficial study and I'm looking forward to it.
Paul:I am too, man. You know, two terms that you're gonna find we're gonna keep repeating in this podcast in season eight, going through Ephesians Grace and Peace. Mm-hmm. That's very common to the Apostle Paul if he's gonna write. And he's gonna write you a letter. He's gonna write a letter to a church. You better get ready to hear grace and peace an awful lot and good for him. I mean, there, there's, I mean, I'm setting it up on a tee for other preachers. If you're gonna preach, if you're gonna minister and truly reflect the glory and the goodness and the majesty of who this God is, or the triune God, the Father, son, and the spirit, what a deep subject. But you can't do that without. Often talking about grace and peace in the context of that letter, if you just pull it out of its passage or out of its context, you're gonna miss what's being said. There's grace and peace that Paul refers to an awful lot in this letter.
Yeah, which is probably why you find it at the beginning and at the end. Yes. Not just in between, but he opens, you know, in verse two, grace to you, in peace from God, our father. And then at the very end, in verses 23 and 24, he says, peace be to the brothers. In verse 24, grace, be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. And if we're not careful, we're just gonna start going ahead into the season, into season eight. And, and, we'll, we won't leave any content left for for the next episode, but I, I agree those are gonna be some important terms. They're gonna come up together. They're gonna come up separate. But they're gonna come up and they're gonna keep coming up. And I'm looking forward to these discussions because you know, there's, there's deep richness of thought. But there is also deep richness of action mm-hmm. In this book. And both of those are important for the development of the life of a Christian. And when we talk about in, in chapter four, the walk, that's just an, that's just an image. To refer to the life Yes, the way of living. So if we're gonna walk the way we're supposed to walk, if we're gonna live the way we're supposed to live, it's gonna require deep consideration of the truth. I. And deep application of the truth. And that's, that's the, the purpose in the plan of this season.
Paul:Yeah. Well said. Well, I think that might be a good wrapping up place. We don't want to give it all away. This was kind of the, the teaser or the introduction to this journey through the letter Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Our calling and our conduct. So hope that you'll join us in this. Get out your Bible, read ahead, work ahead, think ahead, ask the questions, find us. And if you're, if you're not in Cedar Park and you don't worship with us and you're somewhere else or in another state always email us and let us know. If you've got a question or you'd like us to talk more about something. In chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or six when we get there. So, but thank you for joining us in this new direction in the book of Ephesians. Our goal is to, yes, bring glory to God, but we want to do it together and together in Christ Jesus, we can stand strong.
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