Good morning. My name is Eric. If you don't know me, I'm one of the guys here on staff at Watermark Church.
I spend most of my time with the youth, but our pastor is on sabbatical, so I'm really doing a little bit of everything these days.
And I know we have a lot of guests here today, and I wanted to start out just telling a little bit about myself
so that you can know who I am and I'm not some total random stranger up here talking with you today.
And I, when I was a kid, I was all about my grades.
I sometimes think that I was born on the wrong continent because I would have fit in perfectly here,
but I was sort of the odd one out in America, you know?
And I loved my straight A's.
And the thing that I hated more than anything else in all of school was group projects.
Because I wanted my straight A, and I wanted to have power over what my grades were.
And when I was in the middle of a group project with three or four people in a group,
I only had control over about 25 to 33 percent of what my grade was going to be,
and I hated that feeling because I love power to control my own grades.
In fact, I loved the power to control my own grades so much that I would prefer to just do everyone's share of the work
so that I could know I was going to get an A, rather than relax, sit back, and let my teammates do their stuff and maybe get a B.
I love having power in life.
And I'm guessing that I'm not unique in that.
I'm guessing that on some level, every single one of us here loves having power.
You know, the past few weeks, if you've been around, we've been going through a series about union with Christ.
What that means is the Bible says that when we become Christians, God unites us with Jesus in such a way that we as Christians can say,
Christ is my life.
And we've talked about how whose you are determines who you are.
And who you are shapes what you do.
And we've seen how this connection with Christ, how belonging to him, changes us fundamentally on some level of who we are and what we do.
And how our lives should look as we live out the truth and reality of that relationship with Christ.
And last week, we looked at, we called it Christ is my walk.
We said that the way that we live now, the way that we grow closer to God, is shaped by this relationship with Christ.
It's not about achievements and milestones and marking out how far we can get.
But it's about a relationship and growing closer in a relationship to God.
And today, as we look at this passage, what we're going to see is that Christ is my power.
That I am someone who loves power.
But in reality, because of my connection with Christ and my relationship with him, Christ is my power.
Now going back to the concept of power, I think, like I said, I think all of us want power in our lives.
And if you think that's not true about you, think about the things that you stress about.
Because stress, what is stress?
It's grasping for power that we know we don't have.
I know that I don't have control in this situation.
I know that I don't have power to change it.
So I'm going to rack my mind for hours or days, thinking through ways that I can grab that power back and get it for myself.
I work with teens.
I've been working with teens for about six years.
During that time, I have had numerous conversations with parents that have gone something along the lines of,
My kid has started to make some really bad decisions.
I, as a parent, love them and see these decisions going in a terrible direction.
That's how the conversation starts.
The conversation never, ever, ever ends with,
And I'm totally fine and relaxed right now.
No, the conversation is, my kid is making bad decisions.
I love them and care about them.
And I am freaking out.
I'm lying awake in bed at night, thinking through how I can help my kid to make better choices in life.
I am stressed, Eric.
Please help me.
Please give me advice, which I always find ironic.
Because, you know, I'm closer to the kid's age than to the parent's age most of the time.
Right?
The parents are like, please help me.
But, what is this stress coming from?
It's a feeling that I used to have power over my kid's life to help them move in the right direction
and help them make sure that they were turning out right.
And now I feel powerless.
And I want to get that power back.
Because I know that if I could just have that power back, then my kid would turn out okay.
And if you're a parent and you're going through that situation right now, let me guarantee you, you're not alone.
There are plenty of parents around you going through the exact same things.
And it's not just parents that do that, obviously.
We've got single friends.
How many times in your life have you sat down in a conversation with a single friend?
Or been the single friend in this conversation?
Who sits down and says, you know, the years just keep going by.
And I thought by this age maybe I'd be married or at least be in a serious relationship of some type.
And I'm not.
And I'd like some stability for my future.
I'd like to know, like, who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with so I can start to settle down
and planning for the future with this person that I love.
And I don't know who that person is.
And I don't think I'm anywhere closer to finding that person than I was when I was born, actually.
I'm so stressed and worried.
I've signed up for every dating website there is.
Most of my monthly income goes to dating website subscriptions.
Because I need to find that person.
Because I need to have power to know what my future holds
and to have some control over the direction that my future is going.
All of us long for power in our lives.
And our natural response is to grasp for it when we know that we don't have it.
But ironically, that actually can make the problem worse.
Because, like, who wants to date the person who's that desperate?
Right?
Or here's something very, very interesting that I learned this week.
We were doing a parenting class at the church.
And they said that a survey was done of parents and of teens.
Or kids.
Kids and teens.
And they asked both sets of people the same question.
They asked the parents,
What do you think your kids want from you more than anything else?
And the most popular answer among parents was,
My kids want me to spend more time with them.
It's a pretty standard response.
They asked the exact same question to the kids.
The most popular answer among the kids was,
I wish my parents would stress less and relax more.
So parents, by stressing about wanting to spend more time with their kids,
are actually pushing their kids away.
Because the kids are like, Mom, Dad, relax.
Like, if you could just enjoy the time that we get to spend together,
it would make it so much better.
And so this stress, this grasping for the power that we know we can't have,
doesn't help the situation.
It doesn't fix the situation.
It actually sometimes can make the situation worse.
And what we see here in this passage today,
is that the Apostle Paul,
he's writing a letter to his friends at a church in a city called Ephesus,
and he is praying for them to have power.
But the power that he wants them to have is fundamentally different from any power,
any worldly power that we have ever seen.
You know, with worldly power, we grasp for it.
He prays for them to have God's power that is given to them as a gift.
If we think about the characteristics of power in our world,
what people in power do, how we respond to power.
People in power grasp for it and hold on to it with all their might.
They manipulate others to get the power and to hold on to it
so that they can keep it as long as they want.
They use that power to get other people to do what they want.
When we have people around us who are in power,
we generally don't respond positively to those people.
Or maybe that's just me.
But I think that I'm semi-normal in that one, right?
Hopefully.
But when we see power being used to control us,
we don't like that.
We respond negatively and we're like,
I want to be free.
I want to be out from under this other person's power over me.
Maybe I need to get that power for myself
so that I can use that over other people
and it's not other people using it over me.
And yet what we see when Paul talks about God's power in this passage
is that it's not something that we grasp for and hold on to
so that other people can't have it.
But he's actually saying,
no, I want you guys to have this power.
I want it to be something that is a part of your life.
And the reason for that is because
it is a fundamentally different type of power
than any worldly power that we ever come into contact with.
Rather than being something that we use to puff ourselves up,
to enhance our status,
it's instead something that enables us to love others.
And this makes sense, this contrast,
in light of the gospel.
Alfie shared earlier a little bit about the gospel.
The gospel is a word that just means good news.
And basically what we believe this good news is
is that there is a God who created the universe.
He created it good.
He created it amazing.
He created humanity in his image,
in this universe,
to live in a perfect relationship with him,
this all-powerful God reaching out to us,
wanting us to know him.
And the bad news is
that each of us rebelled against him
and his perfect rule in our lives.
Each of us said,
no, God, I don't trust you.
I don't think that you know what's best for my life.
I don't think that you have my best interest in mind.
I know how to live life better than you do.
Let me take care of myself.
You stay away.
And in effect, we say that again and again and again.
Every time that we lie,
every time that we take something that's not ours,
every time that we hate the people around us,
every time that we as kids disobeyed our parents,
that's us saying,
God, stay away.
I know how to live life better than you do.
And the Bible says
that what we're doing in those moments
is the equivalent of cosmic treason.
And just like earthly treason,
it deserves death.
And yet God,
the all-powerful creator,
the offended one in this situation,
looks down at us and says,
I still love you.
Although you've turned away from me,
although you've rebelled against me,
I still want a relationship with you.
And I want you to know how much I love you.
And so he sends his son Jesus to earth
as fully God and fully man.
Jesus lives the perfect life
that none of us was ever able to live.
And then he gets murdered on a cross.
But in that moment,
God's divine justice
against all of our rebellion is satisfied.
And we are now free
to be forgiven for our rebellion.
We're free to be seen by God
not as enemies anymore,
but as children,
sons and daughters
of the king of the universe.
And he invites us to now,
although we have rebelled against him,
to be in this new relationship with him.
God, the all-powerful one,
rather than using his power to crush us,
uses his power to lovingly pursue us,
to lovingly say,
I still want a relationship with you.
And I want it so badly
that I am going to lay down my life
to make that relationship possible.
And when we look at this passage in Ephesians
that the guys just read,
we see that that power
is what Paul is praying
for these Christians to have in their lives.
Right?
This gospel, this good news,
that's why we're celebrating baptism today,
like Althea said,
because we have,
I think it's eight people here
that have trusted in this good news
and said,
I want to live in this new relationship with Jesus.
It's not some magical thing
that happens when they go under the water,
that, you know,
that levitation moment
that Dan was talking about.
That's not what this is.
But it's a celebration of the fact
that they recognize,
I was a rebel,
and now I'm accepted as a child.
I was alienated,
and now I am loved.
God in his power reached down
and rescued me.
How wonderful and amazing is that.
And it's not just that,
that we get to experience that love,
but God fills his,
his power into our lives
so that we can go out
and show that love to others.
And if you're here today
and you have never heard this gospel,
or maybe you've heard it
but not believed it,
and you want to know more about it,
please find someone after the service,
me or one of the other people around you,
and talk to us about it
because we would love
to share with you more about it
and tell you about how you
can have a relationship
with the God of the universe
and what that means
in your life.
But if God's power
enables us
to love like him,
it might be helpful to know
what God's love is like,
right?
Because if we're expected
to have that kind of love
for others,
it's helpful to know
the way that he loves us.
So if you look at the passage
in your bulletins
or in your Bibles,
starting in the second half
of verse 17,
he says that you,
being rooted and grounded
in love,
may have strength
to comprehend
with all the saints
what is the breadth
and length
and height and depth
and to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge
that you may be filled
with all the fullness of God.
Now he starts out here
saying rooted and grounded
in love.
That's mixed metaphors.
He's mixing agriculture
and architecture, right?
And he's talking about
foundations, rooting.
Like when you look outside,
you see the trees.
Each of them has a root system
that holds them in place
in the ground
so that when the wind
and the storms come,
they don't get blown over.
Or if you think about
this building,
there's a foundation
in the building.
It's grounded
so that when things happen
and there's wind outside
or there's storms
or typhoon number 10s,
the building doesn't collapse.
And he's saying,
what Paul is saying
is that God's love
is supposed to act
as a foundation
in our lives.
It's supposed to be
the thing that anchors us.
that when we understand
God's love,
it will hold us firm
through the storms of life.
He goes on and he says
that God's love
surpasses knowledge.
He wants us to know
God's love
that surpasses knowledge.
Now think about that.
How do you know something
that surpasses knowledge?
I'm going to throw
something out here.
You can let me know
after the service
if you disagree with it.
But I think the way
that you know something
that surpasses knowledge
is through experiential knowledge.
And here's what I mean.
Think of marriage.
Imagine that we got
a single guy,
maybe Alfie,
wherever he is,
and we brought him up here
on stage
and we had him stand
right here
and we said,
here is your marriage.
Mission.
You have 20 years.
In those 20 years,
you're going to read
every marriage book
that has ever been written.
And not just books
on how to be married,
but also biographies
of people
and reading about
their marriages,
novels where people
are married
and seeing how it's
portrayed in fictional accounts.
In those 20 years,
you're going to take
one full year
where every day
you spend eight hours
talking to the top
marriage counselors
in the world,
learning all the wisdom
and knowledge
that they have
about marriage.
And over those 20 years,
every night,
you're going to have dinner
with a different married couple
and observe their marriage.
And in 20 years,
you're going to come back here
and report to us
what you've learned.
Now, at the end of 20 years,
we bring Alfie back up here
on this stage.
He's 20 years older,
20 years wiser.
He could probably write
some of the best marriage books
that have ever been written
with his comprehensive knowledge
about marriage.
But does he truly know
what it means to be married?
No.
Because marriage
is an experiential knowledge.
There are things that,
if Alfie got married
on that 20th anniversary
of this task
and came back one year later,
he would report to us,
guys,
I've learned so many things
in the past year
that I didn't even know
were possible
in the previous 20 years.
Because there's
an experiential knowledge
that comes in being married
that no amount of book knowledge,
no amount of learning
outside of the experience
can tell you.
Or,
if you aren't married
and that analogy
is sort of fuzzy in your mind,
think about apple pie.
Imagine that you love food,
but you have never had apple pie.
And I come up to you
and I say,
hey,
you need to experience apple pie.
I'm going to give you a recipe
so that you can make it.
And you memorize the recipe.
And you start reading articles online
about what makes apple pie
so amazing and great.
And you research
the different restaurants
in the world
that have the greatest
apple pie available.
And you talk with your friends
about why they love apple pie.
you, in some sense,
could be considered
an apple pie expert.
But,
when you come into
a conversation with me
about apple pie
and you start explaining to me
all these wonderful things
about apple pie,
it's very easy,
very quick,
to tell that you
don't truly know apple pie
because you've never tried it.
And all I have to do
is ask,
so how do you like apple pie?
And all of your learning,
all of your knowledge
falls flat
because until you've experienced it,
you don't truly know
what it's like.
And it's the same way
with God's love.
That's what Paul is saying
right here.
We can read the Bible
every single day.
In fact,
we can memorize the Bible.
We can talk with people
about their experiences
of God's love.
But until we experience
this love
in our own lives,
until we experience
this forgiveness,
this transformation,
this new relationship
with God
that is offered to us
through the gospel,
we can't truly know
God's love.
The good news is
that that knowledge
is available to us,
that God wants
to give us
that experiential knowledge
of his love.
He wants to come
into our lives
and transform us.
In talking about
God's love here,
Paul,
he almost seems
at a loss for words.
He's like,
this love is so overwhelming,
so amazing,
I can't quite describe it.
I can't quite fit it
into my words.
He says that
he wants them
to have strength
to comprehend
what is the breadth
and length
and height
and depth
of God's love.
It's four-dimensional.
It's huge.
We can't, like,
fit its scope
into our descriptions.
I think, you know,
even thinking back
in my life,
I find it so easy
to condense God's love.
I think, oh, you know,
God probably started
loving me
around the time
that I trusted in him
and his love for me
is bigger on the days
where I'm more aware
of his presence
in my life
and lower on the days
where I'm not
as aware of that
or maybe where
I'm less obedient
of him.
But that's not true.
Think about it.
How was God
able to forgive me?
How was I able
to trust in him
in the first place?
Because 2,000 years
before I was born,
God,
in an amazing act
of love for me,
sent Jesus
to the earth
to die
for me.
So God's love
for me
did not begin
the day
that I trusted in him.
No,
it's at least 2,000 years
before that.
But it actually
didn't start then either.
Because if you look back
in the Old Testament,
the early part of the Bible,
you see as soon
as humanity
rebels against God,
promises
that he would send
a savior.
So we have to rewind
thousands of years
more
if we want a glimpse
of where God's love
for us began.
But even that
doesn't quite
get the full scope
of the story.
No.
If we look
in the book
of Revelation,
it tells us
that God's plan
from before
he created
the universe
involved
sending Jesus
to rescue
me.
And not just me,
but all of us.
You can insert
your name there.
that God's love
for you
spans not from
the day that you were born
or the day that you
trust in him
or the day that you
get baptized,
but from before
the foundation
of the world.
God's love
for us
has a scope
and a breadth
that is beyond
our ability
to comprehend.
And it's not just
a love that starts then
and goes up until
the day that we die,
but it's a love
that continues for us
into eternity
because the Bible says
that in eternity
God and his people
will live together
forever.
God's love
is beyond
our ability
to comprehend
and it's not just
that he gives to us,
but he gives to us
his love
and himself.
Paul prays
at the end
of this passage
that they would be
filled,
or at the end
of verse 19,
that they would be
filled with all
the fullness
of God.
saying,
I want you
to have God's power.
I want you
to understand
what this new life
looks like,
what this life
in union with Christ
is.
I want you
to be able
to say
that Christ
truly
is my
power.
As God
fills you
with himself,
not with some
leftovers,
not with some
secondhand goods,
but with
himself.
So what
does that
look like
in our lives
as we
go from here
and try
and live
that out
this week?
Well,
verse 20
and 21
says,
now to him
who is able
to do far
more abundantly
than all
that we
ask or
think,
according
to the
power at
work within
us.
To him
be glory
in the
church
and in
Christ
Jesus
throughout
all
generations
forever
and ever.
Amen.
He says
that God
is able
to do
far
more
abundantly
than
anything
we
ask
or
think.
Now
take a
second.
Think
of the
most
amazing
thing
that you
can
think
of God
doing
or
that you
could
imagine
yourself
asking
God
to
do.
You
got it?
No?
Not yet?
How about
now?
Yeah?
Okay.
So what
Paul is
saying is
that God
is able
to do
far
more
abundantly
more
than
whatever
that
thing
you
just
thought
of.
And I
think
for a
lot
of
people
they
read
this
verse
and
they're
like
oh
yes
God's
going
to
do
amazing
things
miracles
healings
and
yes
God
can
do
those
things
but
when
you
take
this
passage
and
you
just
look
at
it
that
way
you're
missing
a
very
important
part
of
the
verse
it
says
able
to
do
far
more
abundantly
than
all
that
we
ask
or
think
according
to
the
power
at
work
in
us
what
Paul
is
saying
is
that
God
wants
to
use
us
powerfully
in
the
world
to
reach
people
for
him
he
puts
his
power
in
us
so
we
can
pour
that
power
back
out
into
others
and
it's
not
again
it's
not
that
worldly
power
that
grasps
and
holds
on
to
control
but
it's
his
power
that
enables
us
to
sacrificially
love
others
because
we
have
been
sacrificially
loved
first
I
think
we
have
some
flawed
ideas
when
it
comes
to
power
I
have
a
couple
pictures
up here
on
screen
we've
got
a
Ferrari
488
GTB
nice
powerful
car
and
a
Tesla
Model S
which
we see
all over
on the
streets
of Hong
Kong
I
want
you
to
take
a
second
we're
going
to
listen
to
the
sounds
that
each
of
these
cars
make
on
the
road
and
then
I'm
going
to
have
us
guess
which
one
is
more
powerful
so
first
up
is
the
Ferrari
488
GTB
mmm
and
then
next
up
is
the
Tesla
Model S
alright
now
who
thinks
that
the
Ferrari
is
the
more
powerful
car
of
these
two
we
got
a
few
votes
yeah
who
thinks
that
the
Tesla
is
the
more
powerful
car
of
these
two
now
obviously
I
set
that
up
as
a
trick
question
so
you're
anticipating
it
but
who
would
have
guessed
the
Ferrari
if
you
didn't
know
that
this
was
a
trick
question
we
can
be
honest
here
yeah
alright
so
the
Ferrari
what
was
the
horsepower
on
the
Ferrari
it
was
Jackie
can you
pull up
the Ferrari
again
sorry
the Ferrari
had
660
horsepower
the
Tesla
Model S
comes in
at
762
horsepower
a full
hundred
horsepower
more
than the
Ferrari
488
GTB
but if we
looked at it
and listened
to it
according to
our standard
expectations
of power
we would
clearly say
the Ferrari
is the more
powerful vehicle
of these
two
but when
we look
underneath
the hood
and we
see
what the
true
power
is
the
Tesla
Model S
blows
the Ferrari
out of
the water
with a
hundred
extra
horsepower
and what I want us to see from this is a lot of times in life
what we think of as power
what we think of maybe what comes to our minds when I say that God wants us to live
with his power is actually just a lot of noise and show that true power isn't about
having the loudest noise about looking the coolest and sleekest and sportiest but it's actually about what's under the hood
think about this each of us has been to school each of us has been in that situation where we've seen a kid bullying another kid
maybe we were that bully maybe we were that other kid maybe we were just innocent bystanders
but who has more power
the bully
who picks on other kids in the class
or the kid in the class who's willing to go up and befriend the kid that the bully picks on
the bully's got
the show
the bully controls what other people do through his strength and his power
but I think in reality what's happening right there
is the bully
is trying to use power over others
to mask the fact that he doesn't have power over himself
and the kid who befriends the bullied kid
understands
something fundamentally
about his worth and his strength that he doesn't need to be defined by others
and he's able to love sacrificially even if it means that he's going to start getting picked on because of that choice
our world has pictures of what it looks like for us to be powerful
and that God's picture of true power is radically different than the world's picture of power
and it's only possible for us to live with this type of power when we are able to say
Christ is my power
as we go out of here today
each of us is going to have situations that we find ourselves in in this next week
I think most of us will either go to school or to work at some point this week
I want to ask you what does it look like
for you to live with this type of power
of power this week at your school or workplace
I want to give you one quick example of what that could look like
there's a pastor in New York named Tim Keller
he tells the story of a girl who got a job
I think it was for a TV company
she was a pretty entry-level employee
and she made a huge mistake one day
that should have cost her her job
her boss came up to her
and he said don't worry
your job is safe
I've talked to my superiors
I've told them that your mistake was my fault
I told them that you made the mistake because I failed to train you properly
and asked them to give you another chance
he said I know that this mistake would cost you your job
because you're new here and you're entry-level
but with my years of service at the company
and my higher level of seniority
I can take the hit for this
without it costing either of us our jobs
they'll just put me on thin ice with my superiors for a little bit
but your job is safe
she was sort of confused about this whole interaction
because nobody does that ever, right?
and so she came back to her boss
and she said why?
I don't get it
this is an every man for himself world
why would you take the hit for my mistake and give me another chance?
what if I just mess up again?
won't that make you look twice as bad?
and the boss told her
I worship a God who took the fall for me
when I was a rebel
when I was a sinner
he laid down his life to rescue me
and I made a commitment early on
that when I was able to use my power to help others
that I wanted to be intentional about doing that
and so your job is safe today
because God loved me
so now I am free to use my power to love you
needless to say that girl was like
okay where do you go to church?
because I'm coming with you on Sunday
right?
but that's the effect that this power has
you know worldly power pushes people away
and with godly power
when we use God's power to love others
it's attractive
it draws them in
it makes them see
I want something like that
that I want to know and understand
how I can live with that power in my life
because it's a transformative power
and it's attractive
rather than the grasping for power
that pushes people away
God's power is one that draws people in
that's beautiful to people around us
and that helps them to see
how amazing and wonderful our God's love is
and guys I'm not saying this
so that you can go out and be like
okay what do I need to do?
how can I improve myself this week?
that's not what this is about
it's about a transformation in our lives
that only happens through God
but one that when it happens
allows us to say
Christ is my power
and to live with Christ
as our true power
I hope that that's something that each of us
is able to do and experience this week
let's pray
Father we thank you for your love for us
we thank you for your use of power
and how you used it
not to strengthen your stronghold over us
when we were rebels and to crush us
but rather you used it to rescue us
God I thank you that you are a God
who gives us your power
and calls us into that story
and lets us be people who
who are part of that process
of pointing others towards you
I pray that each of us
would be faithful this week
at doing that
that we would show the world around us
how wonderful and amazing of a God
you are
and that lives would be transformed
through that process
and in Jesus name
Amen