Dayspring Fellowship Podcasts

Courage to Communicate Christ

September 19 & 20,
2015 
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Ephesians
6:19-24 
What would it be like to be in prison? It is hard for some of us to imagine.
The closest I’ve ever been is the feeling of being in a long boring lecture in
school or stuck in stopped traffic. The Apostle Paul knew what it was really
like. He wrote several of the New Testament letters from his incarceration,
including the Book of Ephesians we have been studying. Paul had no luxuries in
his prison. He had been there for months. What would you ask for in similar
circumstances? What one need would rise above the rest to the top of your list?
     
This weekend we’ll see how the Apostle Paul answered this question. We get to
learn exactly what he wanted as we conclude our series in Ephesians. As he
languished in his prison cell, the one desire that was on his mind was his need
for more courage to communicate Christ. He didn’t ask for freedom from prison
but for fearlessness to share the Word of God!
     
Prepare for worship by reading Eph. 6:19-24 and praying to hear from God about
the application of this material to your life. I look forward to worshipping
with you and meeting the friends you invite.

Battling the Unseen

September 12 & 13,
2015
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Ephesians 6:10-18
DeeDee and I went to see the movie War
Room this past weekend. Rarely can we unequivocally recommend a
movie, but this is a good one to see. It supports all of the values we believe
as Christians, isn’t cheesy, and fits in well with this weekend’s message.
We are at war. The battle is unseen by human eyes, but it as real as (maybe
more) anything we face in the physical realm. In this section of Ephesians Paul
goes all X-Files on us as he teaches us about this unseen reality and how to
battle against it.

Working with a Purpose

September 5 & 6,
2015 
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Why do you go to
work? Is it just to pay the bills, or is there a higher purpose involved? What
should your attitude about work be?
At the Global Leadership Summit this past August, Horst Schulze, former CEO of
the Ritz-Carlton, said, “Don’t go to work to work, go to work to be excellent
in your career and to care about the people around you.”
This weekend, in our journey through Ephesians, we will discover what the Bible
has to say about our jobs.

Your Family: A Winning Team

August 28 & 30,
2015
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Ephesians 6:1-4 
Like successful professional sports teams, families need to follow certain
fundamentals. Cooperation and coaching are crucial. These are the concepts we
will explore this week as we continue studying the book of Ephesians. We have
come in our series to 6:1-4, verses that continue to describe God’s guidelines
for achieving harmony in the home. The first part of this passage is addressed
to children (6:1-3) and the second part is addressed to fathers (6:4 - the term
is inclusive and can be translated, parents). Come worship with us and learn
from God’s Word what families must have in common with winning teams. We will
also express our praise to God in our observance of the Lord’s Supper,
communion.

Lessons on Loving

August 22 & 23,
2015 
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Ephesians 5:25-33
 
I’m not sure how you feel about math puzzles, most people hate
them, but I heard one that was fascinating. A group of people were told to pick
any number and then begin a long series of computations. We were to multiply
our number by another number, add something like 472, switch the second and
third digits, subtract something specific, divide by 3, add some big number,
find the square root, and then subtract the first digit from the second and
everyone came up with 4! It didn’t matter what number we all started with;
everyone ended up with 4. The whole thing sounded so weird but it worked. It
was amazing, but not so amazing that I remember just how to do it.
     
I really shouldn’t promote my weekend message with a math problem, you don’t
want to feel like you’re taking a test. It was just one of those many things
that sound weird but work once you try them.
     
You know what else it like that? God’s design for marriage seems weird to
people these days, but it works. People should try it. We came last week in
our study in Ephesians to 5:22-24 and the message of these verses sound weird
in the world today. So do the lessons on loving we’ll read in 5:25-33 this
weekend. Come see how God designed families to function. I look forward to
worshipping with you. 

Is Submission Stupid?

IDENTITY:
A Journey Through Ephesians
Ephesians 5:22-24
     
This week we will carefully consider a passage from Ephesians that could
scarcely be any less politically correct. We’ve come in our study to some
striking verses addressed to wives.
     
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head
of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the
Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to
their husbands in everything.”
    
What do you do when you read something in the Bible that you don’t like? People
respond to upsetting passages in a variety of ways:
1.     Some strongly reject
them. They think this kind of command is simply stupid and wonder who would
dare to teach such antiquated ideas.
2.     Some people, who have
respect for God’s Word, know they shouldn’t flat out reject such problem
passages so they just neglect them. They ignore the difficult verses in the
Bible.
3.     Yet there are people
who realize these embarrassing passages won’t just go away on their own, so
they change them, essentially explaining them away. They figure this can’t mean
what it clearly says so they feel the need to engage in some interpretive
gymnastics to make it conform to what they want it to say!
4.     Another way to deal
with these difficult passages is to carefully study them, depending on God for
the wisdom he promises. That is what we will do with these verses this week.
Come participate with us and worship.

Imitators of God

August 8 & 9, 2015 
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians 
Everyone who identifies as a follower of Jesus Christ is called
to imitate God.  Just as children mimic their heroes, we should aspire to
be copies of God.  Jesus once said “Anyone
who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14.9).   Jesus
imitated His Father; so should we!
In Ephesians 5, we’re told not only why to imitate God, we’re
told how to
imitate Him.  Be forewarned, however, imitating God isn’t about keeping a
list of ‘do’s’ & ‘don’ts’.  That won’t work.  The only way to
succeed as an imitator of God is by living ‘centered’ in the Gospel of Jesus,
submitting to His Spirit.
This weekend, come ready to be challenged with practical steps that will change
our lives & impact those we rub shoulders with daily.Pastor John

Redemptive Conversations

August 1 & 2, 2015
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians 
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names shall never
harm me.” Remember this saying from your childhood? It was meant to make you
feel better when you were picked on. Did it ever really work?
Probably not because it isn’t true.
The tongue has the power to give life and to destroy. We are so good at using
it to destroy. Not so good at giving life, especially when things don’t go our
way, or we are hurt by others.
God calls us to focus on the redemptive use of the tongue. Join us this weekend
to find out what this means and how to do it!
 
See you there, Pastor Chris

A Nonconformist Lifestyle

July 25 & 26, 2015
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Ephesians 4:17-28
The cutting edge radicals of one generation gradually become the
establishment of the next generation. As time passes, culture changes and the
former countercultural fringe becomes the new accepted norm. In light of where
our world has gone recently, the need is for followers of Christ to be the new
nonconformists. This doesn’t mean we should pull out the old tie-dyed shirts
and talk about revolution, although a little classic rock might get us
motivated. It means refusing to be conformed to the world’s values and clinging
all the more to what is unchanging, the truth of God. The mainstream isn’t a
spiritually safe place to be, for it is flowing in the wrong direction.
Christ’s followers are the new radicals, the new non-conformists. Though the
Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians long ago, the second half of chapter 4
provides a vivid and startlingly contemporary contrast between the way of the
world and Christian living. Join us as we worship together this weekend. 

How to Live it Out

July 18 & 19, 2015
IDENTITY: A Journey
Through Ephesians
Ephesians 4:1-16
 
Most of us know more about the Christian faith than we put into practice. As
the Apostle Paul launches into the second half of his letter to the Ephesians,
he says, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
Wow. Consider your high calling to be a child of God. What does that suggest
about how we actually live day to day? Think of the implications. He’s saying
that we need to live out who we are and what we know.
    
Paul covered doctrine for three chapters and now he turns his attention to our
duty. As we move into chapter 4, we read what Paul has to say about what to do
with what he has covered so far. Specifically, he has declared that Jesus
accomplished all that is necessary to bring Jew and Gentile together and bring
them both to God. He has also prayed for their unity. Now he explains how to
live it out, how to walk together in unity.
    
This material has obvious application in the church and it is also relevant for
all who are managing relationships at work and at home. Come worship with us
this weekend as we grasp how to live out our high calling to be united in
Christ.