SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTMENT: A VIBRANT SIGN OF A VIBRANT CHURCH
Scripture: EPHESIANS 1:17-18
SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT:
A VITAL SIGN OF A VIBRANT CHURCH
Ephesians 1:17-18
Last week we began discussing the vital signs
of a vibrant church. We are trying to discover what
it was that made the small band of believers stationed
in Ephesus, the idolatrous capital of the Roman world,
grew into such a large, healthy, flourishing church.
What was it that caused this church to gain such
influence that it upset the idol-making industry
caused a huge public book burning of occultic
books and incited a riot that set the entire
town? This was certainly a vibrant church!
I believe we can gain some insight into what
caused this church to flourish and grow from Paul's
epistle to them. We said last week that some of
the vital signs of a vibrant church were:
I. A good reputation (v. 15). Paul said, "after
I heard of your faith."'
II. A grateful constituency (v. 16). "I cease
not to give thanks for you."
III. A Praying constituence (v.16). "making
mention of you in my prayers."
I believe that we can find two other broad categories
of characteristics of a vibrant church in Paul’s
prayer for the Ephesians which begins in verse 17.
In verses 17-21 Paul prays that the Ephesian Christians
might gain two things (1) spiritual enlightenment
(v. 17-18) and (2) spiritual empowerment (v. 19-2).
Copyright C 1995 by Dr. Rick E. Ferguson.
All rights reserved. No portion of this
document may be used in any form without
the written permission of the author, Bible
quotations are from the New international
Version unless otherwise indicated.
Pg. 2
Tonight we will look at spiritual enlightenment
as a necessary, vital sign of a vibrant church.
TEXT Ephesians 1:17-18
Paul prayed a beautiful prayer for this Ephesian
church would do us go to prayer
and pray it on behalf of our own church.
Let's pray that we, as a people of God here at
First Baptist Church of DeSoto, might have a fresh
experience of spiritual enlightenment in the ...
A VITAL SIGN OF A VIBRANT CHURCH
Ephesians 1:17-18
Last week we began discussing the vital signs
of a vibrant church. We are trying to discover what
it was that made the small band of believers stationed
in Ephesus, the idolatrous capital of the Roman world,
grew into such a large, healthy, flourishing church.
What was it that caused this church to gain such
influence that it upset the idol-making industry
caused a huge public book burning of occultic
books and incited a riot that set the entire
town? This was certainly a vibrant church!
I believe we can gain some insight into what
caused this church to flourish and grow from Paul's
epistle to them. We said last week that some of
the vital signs of a vibrant church were:
I. A good reputation (v. 15). Paul said, "after
I heard of your faith."'
II. A grateful constituency (v. 16). "I cease
not to give thanks for you."
III. A Praying constituence (v.16). "making
mention of you in my prayers."
I believe that we can find two other broad categories
of characteristics of a vibrant church in Paul’s
prayer for the Ephesians which begins in verse 17.
In verses 17-21 Paul prays that the Ephesian Christians
might gain two things (1) spiritual enlightenment
(v. 17-18) and (2) spiritual empowerment (v. 19-2).
Copyright C 1995 by Dr. Rick E. Ferguson.
All rights reserved. No portion of this
document may be used in any form without
the written permission of the author, Bible
quotations are from the New international
Version unless otherwise indicated.
Pg. 2
Tonight we will look at spiritual enlightenment
as a necessary, vital sign of a vibrant church.
TEXT Ephesians 1:17-18
Paul prayed a beautiful prayer for this Ephesian
church would do us go to prayer
and pray it on behalf of our own church.
Let's pray that we, as a people of God here at
First Baptist Church of DeSoto, might have a fresh
experience of spiritual enlightenment in the ...
There are 13942 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
