GOLIATH MUST FALL: REJECTION MUST FALL

We hope you are moving away from the ways of death to the power of new life as you go through these 40 days before Easter.  This is the parable that we find during springtime.  The power of death is being overcome by the process of everything coming to life.  It is always a beautiful time of year.  This season before Easter can be a time of acknowledging how we have followed the wrong path of our desires rather than the path to the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ.  It is hard for us to find the path to this resurrecting power, because we have to let go of the old ways.  In our sermon series Goliath Must Fall, the sermon is Rejection Must Fall.   Rejection is a universal experience of humanity.  Most everyone can remember a powerful moment when they experienced the hurt, shame, or even devastation of rejection.  In the story of David and Goliath, David is told by King Saul that he could not defeat this giant.  Even though David was not a strong or experienced soldier, he realized there was something more at work.  A greater strength was urging him on!  Our scripture this week is Ephesians 3:10-21.  These words confirm that the greater power that was at work in David is also present in our lives!  How can this be?  Unfortunately, the voice of our giants convinces us that we are hopeless and powerless to find freedom!  This letter to the Ephesians church tells us that it was always God’s goal to give us boldness and confidence that will fill us with strength based upon God’s powerful love for us.  When we understand this extravagant love, it overcomes the power of death, the drive of our desires, and the doubts of our worth to our living God.  We discover that the new life that brought Jesus back to life is fighting for us to find the victory that God wants to give us!  As you read Ephesians 3:10-21, our most earnest prayer is that the frozen, dead ways of your human nature will experience the warmth of God’s loving touch and your soul will bloom in his presence. 

Ephesians 3:10-21: But now, this is what the LORD says– he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. ³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. ⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. ⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. ⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth– ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” ⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.