Bible References: Acts 20:24; Acts 1:5; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:16-20; Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:4; John 8:32; Ephesians 1:3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor  and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,  and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise     instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-5 In this prophetic scripture, we see the ministry of Christ attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit when it says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me.” By the empowering of the Spirit, Jes

To understand Ephesians 2 you need to read the rest of the Bible. v 15  -  One new man - the Christian. Christ died on the cross to fulfill the Old Testament and bring in the New Testament. v 8 & 9 - learn these two verses.  You cannot save yourself;  Christ saves us.  We come through faith - faith in Christ. v 10 - if you get saved and nothing happens,  you're a liar.   It's not about what you get right; it's about what God molds you into by what you do through your life  journey. This passage speaks of what we were like before we came into the kingdom of God.   By faith in Christ Jesus we are saved.  We are citizens of God's kingdom now.  v 1-3 - Pauk used 4 ways to describe how we were before coming to Christ: - dead to Christ (spiritually dead); - followed the ways of the world; - followed the ruler of this world  (devil); - gratify the cravings of the flesh. Sometimes we go back to these things.   Life is a journey and we walk (or run) this journey.

Last week we talked about our starting point and the difference our view of the world will be when it starts with God the Creator, so let us find out or for some review the Word of God and find out more as to how, why and what of being “Right with God is about.” 1. We learn from our own experience read Romans 5: 1-5 Because we are made “right” by faith - with God we have the following: Peace with God- knowing right from wrong through His Word. Access to God’s grace- help given to man by God Joy in the hope of sharing God’s glory – our destiny is to be in heaven with Him for eternity. God’s love poured out into our hearts - the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. 2. We learn this because of what Christ has done for us – showing us God’s great love.  While we were: Weak: Christ died for the ungodly v6 Sinners: Christ died for us v8 Enemies: we were reconciled by His death v 10 (reconciled = to cause to be friendly or harmonious again – establish harmony, in this case us