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It and this year we are still 
holding on to the same team and 

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our hope is to go deeper in how 
we live out one another 

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together. 
That's why this past days we've 

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been walking through Ephesians, 
especially chapter 1 to chapter 

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3 just to prepare our hearts. 
This weekend we will reminded 

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that God chose us, forgave us 
and made us his own. 

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How we were spiritually dead 
under God's judgement. 

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And then you come to those two 
words in chapter 2 verse four. 

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They change everything which is 
but God. 

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If those words were not there, 
there will be no salvation, no 

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church, no hope for any of us in
this room. 

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God in His mercy stepped in and 
made us alive in Christ. 

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And how the church, ordinary 
people saved by grace, is where 

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God displays His wisdom to the 
whole spiritual world. 

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So as we sit here with all of 
that, something should be 

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stirring our hearts. 
A deeper sense of how great God 

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is and how much, how much we 
need Him. 

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Because what God has done for us
in Christ is so amazing, so 

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undeserved, so much bigger than 
anything we could do on our own,

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that that the only right respawn
is to come before him on our 

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knees. 
And that is exactly where Powell

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is. 
He's on his knees because he 

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knows that without God moving, 
nothing is going to change. 

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So let's pause here with a 
question. 

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When was the last time you were 
in that place, truly desperate 

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in prayer? 
Not the prayer you rushed 

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through before a meal, but the 
canwell. 

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You knew with complete clarity 
that everything depended on God 

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and nothing on you. 
Has prayer ever felt that urgent

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for you, for your family, for 
this church? 

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And that is the prayer Paul is 
about to pray here, a prayer 

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that shows us what we should be 
asking God to do, not just in 

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our own lives, but for us as a 
church. 

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So the title of our first 
session is A prayer for the 

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church, a prayer for the church.
So please turn your Bible to 

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Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 
to 21, ever since chapter 3, 

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verses 14 to 21, and let me read
the whole passage for us, verse 

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14. 
For this reason I bow my niece 

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before the Father, from whom 
every family in heaven and on 

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earth is named, that according 
to the riches of His glory He 

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may grant you to be strengthened
with power through His Spirit in

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your inner being, so that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through

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faith. 
That you, being rooted and 

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grounded in love, may have 
strength to comprehend with all 

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the Saints what is the breadth 
and length and height and depth,

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and to know the love of Christ 
that surpasses knowledge, that 

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you may be filled with all the 
fullness of God. 

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Now to Him who is able to do far
more abundantly than all that we

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ask or think according to the 
power at work within us, to him 

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be the glory in the church and 
in Christ Jesus throughout all 

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generations, forever and ever, 
Amen. 

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This is God's word. 
So church president sisters, 

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here's now look at verses 14. 
It says for this reason, I bow 

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my niece before the Father. 
So the normal posture in Jewish 

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prayer was standing, Kneeling 
was reserved for moments of deep

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humility, even crisis. 
So when Powell kneels here, he's

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coming in desperation. 
He's looking at the church and 

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realizing this is beyond human 
ability. 

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And notice where he turns, He 
comes to the Father. 

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It says in verse 14, We learn in
the previous chapter, this is 

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the Father who has adopted us, 
who has brought us into his 

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family. 
And as Paul says in the next 

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verse, this is the Father from 
whom every family in heaven and 

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on earth is named. 
So Paul is praying to the one 

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who is the source of church 
itself, the one who brought 

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these people together and the 
one who has the authority and 

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the power to shape them. 
Which is why Paul knows that the

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life of the church doesn't 
ultimately depend on how well we

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planned, but on whether God 
himself is at work among among 

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us by his Spirit. 
And that is why this is what 

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drives everything. 
In this passage, Paul builds 

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this his prayer around 3 
specific requests. 

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Each one begins with the word 
death, and through them he is 

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asking God to work in specific 
ways in the lives of these 

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believers. 
And as we walk together through 

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them together through the 1st, I
want us to keep one question in 

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front of us. 
What does this mean for us right

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now, right here for us as a 
church? 

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So here the first thing he 
prays. 

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First, strengthen in the inner 
being, verses 16 to 17 a Now 

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look at again at verse 16 as 
Paul begins this prayer, he 

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prays that according to the 
riches of his glory, he may 

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grant you to be strengthened 
with power through His Spirit in

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your inner being. 
So we can see church. 

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The way he prays already teaches
us something. 

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He asked God to grant this. 
In other words, this is not 

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something we can produce. 
It has to be given by God. 

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And this already achieved for us
here as a church, because when 

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we think about church life, 
especially with a team like one 

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another, it's very natural for 
our instinct to think about 

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action. 
Like we start thinking about 

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what needs to change, what needs
to improve, what we should be 

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doing more intentionally. 
Those things matters. 

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But Paul starts somewhere else 
here. 

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He starts with prayer because he
knows that what happens in our 

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lives together will only go as 
far as what God is doing inside 

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us. 
Then he adds this phrase 

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according to the riches of his 
glory. 

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This is easy to pass over, but 
it tells us how God works. 

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Paul doesn't say God gives out 
of his riches, as if he were 

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giving small portions from a 
large supply. 

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He says God gives according to 
his riches, meaning his giving 

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reflects the fullness of who he 
is. 

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And what are those riches? 
They are the riches of his 

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glory, His power, His grace, His
goodness, everything that makes 

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God who he is. 
And then Paul becomes more 

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specific here. 
He says this strengthening comes

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with power through his Spirit 
and in your inner being. 

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So that word power is important 
here. 

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Paul is not talking about a 
general kind of strength, like 

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trying harder or becoming more 
disciplined. 

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This is the same power he has 
already spoken about earlier in 

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this letter, the power that 
raised Christ from the dead. 

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And now he's saying that this 
power is at work in believers. 

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So our lives then are not 
sustained by self effort, but by

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God himself actively working 
within us. 

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And notice how it happens. 
It is true. 

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His Spirit, which means the 
strengthening is not something 

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external. 
It is not just changing what we 

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do on the outside. 
The Spirit of God is actively 

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working within us, renewing our 
hearts, reshaping our desires, 

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reordering what we love, and 
giving us the ability to respond

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in ways we could not do on our 
own. 

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And as you see, that leads to 
where this world happens in your

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inner being. 
This is the centre of you are 

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not just your actions, but what 
produce those actions. 

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Your thoughts, your desires, 
your instincts, your reactions. 

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In other words, Paul is praying 
for something deeper than 

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behaviour change. 
He's praying for transformation 

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at the level of the heart. 
Because if you are honest, this 

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is often where we struggle the 
most, right? 

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Outwardly, things can look fine.
We show up, we serve, we stay 

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connected. 
We often think the problem is 

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that we don't try hard enough. 
We tell ourselves, I just need 

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to be more patient, I just need 
to respond better next time. 

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I need to try harder. 
But the deeper problem is that, 

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left to ourselves, we don't 
naturally love what God calls us

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to love. 
Our hearts are easily shaped by 

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comfort, by pride, by self 
protection. 

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So those moments are revealing. 
They expose what is really going

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on inside us and remind us that 
this goes deeper than behaviour 

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and how much we need God to work
with him. 

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And this is exactly where Paul 
is praying. 

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He's focusing on what's going on
in our hearts, where our real 

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response are formed. 
And this is important because 

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the challenge of living out one 
another is rarely about not 

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knowing what to do. 
We already know what we are 

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called to do, to love, to 
forgive, to be patient, to bear 

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with one another. 
But the difficulty is that our 

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hearts don't always move in that
direction. 

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So Powell prays for strength 
there. 

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And this is where it leads, Paul
says, so that Christ might dwell

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in your heart through faith. 
Now, Christ is already present 

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in the lives of believers. 
Paul knows that. 

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But here he is praying for 
something more, for how deeply 

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Christ is at work. 
Hopefully he takes hold of our 

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hearts. 
And when we see the word dwell 

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carries the, carries the sense 
of settling in, like making a 

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home. 
So think about the difference. 

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There's a difference between 
staying somewhere and truly 

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settling in. 
Like right now while we're 

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staying here at through 
Constanto Resort, we're just 

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passing through, right? 
We use the room, we adjust a few

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things maybe, but we don't 
really change anything. 

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I don't know if you changed 
anything in your room already, 

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but over time, we know we are 
leaving soon on on this Sunday. 

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So we don't shape the place 
around us, but imagine if 

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someone actually owned one of 
those filler up the hill. 

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When the owner comes in, they 
don't leave things as they are. 

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They begin to change things and 
over time the whole place starts

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to reflect them. 
Their presence reshape the 

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space. 
But in this picture, we are not 

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the owner. 
Christ Holy Spirit is the owner.

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That's the difference Paul is 
pointing to, which means this is

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not about us fixing our hearts 
so Christ can come in. 

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Paul is praying that Christ 
himself, by his Spirit, will 

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take hold of our hearts and 
begin to change what is already 

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there. 
So this is not about trying 

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harder. 
This is Christ making his home 

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in US, and when he is at work, 
he begins to reshape our hearts.

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And this happens, Paul says, 
through faith. 

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That means an ongoing trust in 
Christ, a continual turning 

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toward him, especially in those 
moments where loving one another

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feels difficulty or costly. 
Faith is what keeps bringing us 

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back to him instead of pulling 
away or closing off. 

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And this is where it connects so
directly to our lives together, 

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because one another is usually 
leave out in fairly ordinary 

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moment, a comment that lands the
wrong way, a conversation that 

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feel tense, a moment where you 
feel overlooked. 

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In all of those moments, what 
comes out of us is shaped by 

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what is happening within us. 
So if Christ is at home in our 

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hearts, shaping us from within, 
it begins to show, not all at 

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once, but over time, in the way 
we respond, in the way we 

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remained, in the way we move 
toward one another instead of 

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away. 
So it's worth asking honestly, 

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what is happening in our hearts 
toward one another? 

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Are we becoming more open, more 
patient, more shaped by Christ? 

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Or are there places where we 
have started to close off? 

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And Paul's prayer brings us here
first, before we think about 

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what needs to change around us. 
We are invited to ask God work 

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within us, to strengthen us in 
our inner being so that Christ 

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will truly dwell in us. 
So perhaps the most honest 

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prayer we can bring to God is 
not. 

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Lord, help me to do more, but 
the prayer of something like 

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Lord work in me, strengthen me 
where I'm weak, shave my heart 

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in ways I cannot do myself, make
my life a place where Christ is 

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truly at home. 
So first Paul prays that we will

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be strengthening in our being. 
Then he continues with a second 

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prayer, rooted and grounded in 
love. 

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Verses 17 B to 19 A Paul 
continued his prayer and now he 

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shows us where that inner being,
inner strengthening is leading. 

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He says that you being rooted 
and grounded in love. 

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So he uses 2 pictures here, one 
from nature, one from 

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construction. 
Like a tree with a deep roots 

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and a building with a solid 
foundations. 

216
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But both point to the same idea,
something that holds steady when

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pressure comes. 
So the question is, what 

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actually holds us steady? 
Paul says it is love. 

219
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And here he's not first talking 
about our love for God or for 

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one another. 
He's talking about Christ's love

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for us. 
And this matters because it 

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shows us where the Christian 
life begins. 

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It doesn't begin with what we 
produce. 

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It begins with what we receive. 
We don't start by trying to 

225
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become more loving people, we 
start by being rooted in the 

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love that has already been given
to us in Christ. 

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And we all know how much we need
that. 

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Because relationship, even in 
the church are not always easy, 

229
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,000
right? 
There are misunderstandings, 

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different expectations, moment 
when someone disappoint you or 

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00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:47,800
when you feel over the look. 
And in those moments you begin 

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maybe to pull back, maybe not 
outwardly, but inwardly. 

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You become more guarded, your 
heart more careful, less open. 

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So what keeps that from becoming
your pattern? 

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PowerPoints us here. 
When your life is rooted in 

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Chrysler, there's a stability 
that begins to form, not because

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everything around you is steady,
but because your center is no 

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longer controlled. 
By what is happening around you 

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00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:21,880
then, Powell continues, that you
may have strength to comprehend 

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with all the Saints what is the 
breadth, length, height and 

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00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,960
depth. 
And again he says we need 

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strength. 
I hope that should catch our 

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00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,920
attention. 
We usually think we need 

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strength to endure suffering 
difficulty. 

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But here, Powell says we need 
strength to understand 

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00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:47,800
something, and that tells us 
something important about us. 

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00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:53,040
It means that left to ourselves,
we are not even able to take in 

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what God has already given. 
We are not naturally able to 

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00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:00,880
grasp the love of Christ the way
we should. 

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00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,040
So even here we are dependent on
God. 

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00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,880
We need His help not only to 
live the Christian life, but 

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even to understand it. 
And that brings us to a humbling

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00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:20,320
place because it means we don't 
just come to God for strength 

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00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,960
when life is hard. 
We come to Him because without 

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00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,840
Him we remain shallow in our in 
understanding. 

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00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,960
We hear the truth, but it 
doesn't go deep. 

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00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,960
We say the words, but they don't
shape us. 

258
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,680
Why? 
Because what he's talking about 

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00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,280
is beyond what we naturally take
in. 

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00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:46,600
And what are we meant to grasp? 
It says here the love of Christ.

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00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:52,360
So Paul assumes something here, 
that we can be around this truth

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00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,320
for years and still not really 
taking it in. 

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00:18:55,800 --> 00:19:00,880
We can say Christ loves me and 
it stays at the level of words. 

264
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:07,880
So Paul stretches language here,
breadth, length, height, depth, 

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00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,640
not to define it, but to help us
see what we have not reached, 

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00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,880
the age of it. 
Wherever you are in your 

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00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,400
understanding of Christ's love, 
there's more. 

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00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:27,440
This is a love, God's love, that
reaches in every direction, wide

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00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:32,240
enough to embrace all kinds of 
people, long enough to endure 

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00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,400
through years of weakness, high 
enough to lift us into a new 

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00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:41,000
life, and deep enough to meet us
in our lowest places. 

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00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,800
And Paul says this is something 
we are meant to grasp together 

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00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:52,360
with all the Saints. 
That part is easy to miss, but 

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00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:57,200
it matters more than we think. 
That means this doesn't grow in 

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00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,040
isolation. 
You don't come to understand 

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00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:05,320
Christ love fully on your own. 
There are parts of it you only 

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00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:11,240
see in shared life. 
We begin to see it in patience 

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00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,680
Endurance. 
In quiet forgiveness, in the 

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00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,640
choice to stay when it would be 
easier to step back. 

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00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:25,000
And sometimes we see it more 
clearly, when we are the ones in

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00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,200
need. 
And yet we are still deceived. 

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00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,760
We are still loved. 
And in those moment we are 

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00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,920
experiencing more than kindness 
or good character. 

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00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,960
We are being drawn into the 
reality of Christ's love, and 

285
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:47,360
it's there in that shared life 
that our understanding begins to

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00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:49,880
deepen. 
It moves from something you 

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00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,080
agree with to something you 
actually live in. 

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00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:59,200
And then Paul says, and to know 
the love of Christ, that 

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00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,760
surpasses knowledge. 
At first that sounds confusing. 

290
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,160
How do you know something that 
goes beyond knowledge? 

291
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:10,360
But this is something we 
recognize. 

292
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:14,320
There's a difference between 
knowing something is true and 

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00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,560
living as if it is true. 
You can know that Christ loves 

294
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,600
you and still live as if you 
need to prove yourself. 

295
00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,960
You can know that Christ loves 
you and still be easily shaken 

296
00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:30,400
by how others treat you. 
That's the gap Paul is 

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00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,720
addressing here, and he's 
praying that this love would 

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00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,360
become settled in us, not 
because we are fully understood 

299
00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:42,440
is because we will never will, 
but because it has begun to 

300
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,800
shape how we live. 
So maybe the question for us is 

301
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:52,120
not simply are we loving one 
another well, but something 

302
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:55,080
underneath that? 
Are we living as people who are 

303
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,240
rooted in Christ love? 
Are we letting that love sink 

304
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,720
in? 
Or are we moving on too quickly?

305
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,840
Are we allowing that love to 
shape how we see others, how we 

306
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:12,240
respond, how we remained? 
Because as we keep coming back 

307
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,000
to Christ's love, trusting it 
and living in it, something 

308
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,200
begins to change. 
And after time, the life of the 

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00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,240
church begins to reflect not 
just our effort, but the work 

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00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,760
Christ is doing in us as his 
people shapes the way we 

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00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:34,280
actually treat one another. 
So church, first, Paul prays 

312
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,800
that we will be strengthened in 
our inner being. 

313
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:40,680
Second, that we will be rooted 
and grounded in God's love. 

314
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,520
And then he comes to his final 
prayer, filled with all the 

315
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,160
fullness of God. 
Verse 19, B. 

316
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,520
So after praying for strength, 
after praying that we will grasp

317
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,080
the love of Christ, he leads us 
here. 

318
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,800
Verse 19 it says that you may be
filled with all the fullness of 

319
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,720
God. 
If you are honest, it can feel 

320
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,920
unclear. 
What does that actually mean? 

321
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,000
How can people like us be filled
with the fullness of God? 

322
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,080
But Paul is not being careless 
with his words here. 

323
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,480
There is where his whole prayer 
has been moving. 

324
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:24,000
The strengthening of our inner 
being leads to Christ dwellings 

325
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,880
in US, the Christ dwelling. 
Christ dwelling in US leads to 

326
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:32,280
being rooted in God's love, and 
being rooted in his love leads 

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00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,440
to this, that our lives are are 
increasingly, increasingly 

328
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:41,040
filled with God himself. 
So when Paul speaks about 

329
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,680
fullness, he's talking about 
God's life shaping our lives, 

330
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:50,720
his characters, his presence, 
his ways becoming more and more 

331
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,120
evident in US. 
And this only makes sense when 

332
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:57,600
we remember where that fullness 
is found. 

333
00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:02,360
In Colossians 2, Paul says that 
all the fullness of God dwells 

334
00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,800
in Christ, and in him we are 
being filled. 

335
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,600
So what Paul is describing here,
it's not that we become God, but

336
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:16,200
being united to Christ and 
sharing in what is already true 

337
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,320
in him. 
And here's one way to see it. 

338
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,600
We often live as if we are 
running on empty and we need to 

339
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,960
find something to fill ourselves
up again. 

340
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:33,120
So we try to manage, we try to 
push through, we give to give 

341
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,600
what we can't. 
But Paul is showing us different

342
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,840
reality here. 
If you are in Christ, you are 

343
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,320
not drawing from your own 
limited supply, but you are 

344
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:48,040
being filled from His fullness. 
And it means your life is no 

345
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:53,040
longer sourced from yourself. 
And over time you start to 

346
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,000
notice something changing in 
your heart. 

347
00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:00,280
The way we response starts to 
change, not at once, but 

348
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,440
gradually. 
There's patience that was not 

349
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,440
there before, a willingness to 
stay when it would have been 

350
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,280
easier to withdraw, A capacity 
to love that you know did not 

351
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:16,400
come from you. 
And you realize this is not just

352
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,520
me trying harder. 
This is not just us trying 

353
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,280
harder. 
The Lord is at work in me. 

354
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,720
And this is where it becomes 
very, very personal because many

355
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,520
of us know what it feels like to
run out. 

356
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,440
You've been there. 
Your energy is gone, your 

357
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,040
patient is thinned. 
Someone needs something from you

358
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,680
and inside you already know you 
don't have much left to give. 

359
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:49,160
And in those moments, we tend to
go in one of two directions. 

360
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,680
We either force ourselves to 
keep going. 

361
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,360
You don't have or we quietly 
start to withdraw. 

362
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,800
But Powell is leading us 
somewhere better than both of 

363
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,120
those. 
He's leading us back to Christ. 

364
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,760
He's praying that our lives 
would not run on what we can 

365
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:13,480
produce, but on what God 
supplies, that his life becoming

366
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:18,840
the source from which we live. 
So when you reach that point, 

367
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:26,120
instead of just pushing through 
or pulling away, you learn to 

368
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:29,560
turn to Him. 
You bring your emptiness 

369
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,520
honestly before Him. 
You stop pretending you have 

370
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,280
enough. 
You ask Him to do in you what 

371
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,160
you know you cannot do on your 
own. 

372
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:43,520
And as that become more real in 
your life, in our life together,

373
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:48,160
even in small way, you began to 
realise you are not carrying 

374
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:55,440
this by yourself anymore. 
Now look at verses 20 to 21 as 

375
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,640
Paul finishes this prayer, he 
doesn't move straight into 

376
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,440
instructions. 
He doesn't say now go and do 

377
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,320
this, but he leaves our eyes 
first. 

378
00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:08,640
It says in verse 20. 
Now to him who is able to do far

379
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:13,360
more abundantly than all we ask 
or think, according to the power

380
00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:17,160
at work within us. 
It's like Paul is saying, before

381
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:21,320
you walk away from this, 
remember who you are talking to 

382
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,240
because everything he has just 
prayed. 

383
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,120
Strength in the inner being, 
grasping the love of Christ, 

384
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,320
being filled with the fullness 
of God. 

385
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,560
It can feel too much. 
You might hear it and think this

386
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:40,680
sounds good, but that can really
happen in a life like us, life 

387
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,760
like mine, in the church like 
ours. 

388
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,000
But Paul speaks directly to this
hesitation. 

389
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,480
He points us to God as the one 
who is able to do more than we 

390
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,400
ask, even more than we can 
imagine, beyond what we would 

391
00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:01,000
even think to pray for. 
Which means these prayers are 

392
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,080
not unrealistic. 
They rest on who God is and on 

393
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:10,040
what he's already doing. 
And then Paul turns this into 

394
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,120
praise. 
To him be the glory in the 

395
00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:16,520
church and in Christ Jesus 
throughout all generations, 

396
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:18,800
forever and ever. 
Amen. 

397
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:25,720
So notice where that glory is 
sin in the church and in Christ 

398
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,480
Jesus. 
Not in perfect people, but in 

399
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:33,000
people who are being changed, A 
community, local church where 

400
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,600
grace is practice, where love 
grows, when lives are slowly 

401
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:43,760
shaped by Christ, that is where 
God's glory becomes feasible. 

402
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,240
And Paul says this will continue
throughout all generation, 

403
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,360
forever and ever. 
So this goes beyond one moment, 

404
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,600
one season 1 retreat. 
This is the ongoing life of the 

405
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:03,080
church across time as God 
continues to work in his people,

406
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:07,360
to work in us. 
So as we come to the end of this

407
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:12,200
passage, we are left with both 
an invitation and a confidence. 

408
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:17,280
The invitation is to pray the 
whale the way Paul prays, to ask

409
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:22,200
God to strengthen us, not to 
strengthen us, to root us deeply

410
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:26,440
in Christ's love, to fill our 
lives with his fullness. 

411
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,080
And the confidence comes from 
who God is. 

412
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,440
He is able, He is already at 
work, and he will continue to do

413
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,720
more than we expect in ways we 
may not always see immediately, 

414
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:46,960
but are real and lasting. 
So as we go from here, may we 

415
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:53,760
carry a simple prayer from this 
Lord, do this work in us, in our

416
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,360
hearts, in our relationships, in
our lives together in our church

417
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,280
so that in the ordinary ways we 
live with one another. 

418
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:08,400
Your glory will be sin. 
And together as a church we can 

419
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,360
say Amen, Amen. 
Praise be to God. 

420
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,960
So church, let's take some time 
now to personally respond to 

421
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,720
God's word. 
You can stay where you are or 

422
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:28,200
find a place here that helps you
focus and pray more freely. 

423
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,840
What we have just heard is a 
prayer for the church, and it 

424
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,040
reminds us of something we often
forget. 

425
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,680
We are weaker than we think. 
We struggle to obey God, and we 

426
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,920
also struggle to understand His 
love. 

427
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,880
So let's pray personally now. 
We have a bunch of time 

428
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:51,560
different like we have in the 
Sunday celebration. 

429
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,920
We have some time to begin with 
the humble confession. 

430
00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,320
Acknowledge your need and you 
can bring before Him the areas 

431
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:04,640
where you feel weak, distracted,
or spiritually dry. 

432
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,280
Then you also can pray along the
movement of this passage, not 

433
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,520
only for yourself but for the 
church. 

434
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,640
You may ask God to strengthen us
in our inner being. 

435
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:23,120
Pray that as a church, God will 
work deeply in US, shaping our 

436
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:31,280
hearts so that our faith is not 
easily shaken, as that we as a 

437
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,440
church will be rooted and 
grounded His love. 

438
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,520
Pray that together we will grow 
and understand the love of 

439
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,600
Christ more clearly. 
And this is something we don't 

440
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,920
grow into alone, but together 
with all the Saints, with this 

441
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,280
church. 
You may want to write this down 

442
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,480
as your own prayer to God in 
your booklet so you can make it 

443
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,960
personal, honest, and specific 
as you bring your heart before 

444
00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,200
him. 
So let's take a moment, few 

445
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,480
moment in personal prayer and 
reflections.