This is a simple message encouraging the church to pray for one another in the Spirit. Prayer is the most powerful thing we can do for another human being because it activates the intervention of God Himself. We don’t always see the results right away but if we will pray and not give up until we get answers, our faith will grow. What would happen if we increased our prayers for one another by 3x or 10x or 100x? Imagine the measure of grace and power upon the church!
Ephesians: The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:13-17
In this message, Assistant Pastor John looks at the Apostle’s encouragement to take a stand against Satan’s forces using the armor of God that’s available to all followers of Jesus. We take an in-depth look at how Paul paints a picture of the spiritual weapons in our struggle as analogous to the armor worn by the Roman army soldiers of his time.
Ephesians: Spiritual Conflict
Invisible to our eyes—and yet very real—is the spiritual realm. It’s the place where God, angels and demons, and the spiritual part of humans, collide. Because it is invisible it is not easy to understand. The Bible gives us some insight but much remains a mystery. What we do know is that there are spiritual forces of darkness seeking to pull us away from God. These fallen angels have superior power and intelligence to us and their clever schemes are often effective. This message aims to give us a greater awareness of these unseen adversaries and to show us how to overcome.
Ephesians: Slaves + Masters
Ephesians 6: 5-9
Why does the Bible not condemn slavery? Why does the Paul Apostle not encourage slaves to run away or encourage slave owners to set their slaves free? Would God want anyone to be a slave? Why was Jesus so silent on this subject? These are questions that have caused much debate through the centuries of the Christian Church. This message seeks to address some of these complex questions.
Ephesians: Children + Parents
Ephesians 6:1-4
This message looks at God’s design for the relationship between children and parents.
Ephesians: Christ + the Church
Ephesians 5:22-33
In this message, I’ll be using Ephesians 5:22-33 but only focusing on the relationship of Christ to the Church. The passage has much to say regarding husbands and wives (explored in the previous message). But here we want to celebrate one of the most profound and glorious truths, namely, Christ’s vast love for His universal Church. There are seven specific elements the text unveils about Christ’s relationship to His Church. My prayer is that after listening to this message you would float away on a cloud knowing how deeply loved you are in Christ.
Ephesians: Marriage
Ephesians 5: 22-33
In American society, and especially a progressive city like Providence, the biblical ideas of husbands being the head of the wives and wives submitting to their husbands seems out of date. Society now boasts of a much better way of doing marriage. The old-fashioned Bible ideas have been tossed aside as the antithesis of female empowerment. Meanwhile, divorce rates have skyrocketed and fewer people even get married. Is the wisdom of the Bible really outdated? What is God’s design for marriage? What does marriage look like as God intends it to be? Why did God design it this way? How has the fall of man complicated His design? These are the questions explored in this teaching.
MLK Sunday: What is Justice?
For Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday I have a message on Jesus and justice. Our nation is deeply divided, and the divisions have spilled over into the American Church. Political extremism has strengthened the problem of segregation amongst the churches. Don’t expect my message to win the applause of either the Left or the Right. It will be a pastoral talk with a prophetic element aiming to help all of us to represent Jesus well amidst the present politically polarizing climate.
Ephesians: Submit to One Another
Ephesians 5: 21
In western American culture "submit" is an unpopular word, but Jesus' view of submitting is different, being Holy Spirit-led and full of humility. In this message John Michaelson unpacks what it means as a church to be mutually submissive to each other, looking at Christ's character as a reference.
Ephesians: Giving Thanks
Ephesians 5:20
One of the most basic evidences of a life filled with the Spirit is a strong practice of expressing thanks. Without the filling of the Spirit, even if we are Christians, we easily fall into grumbling and grumpiness, discontentment and resentment. Christian gratitude is not dependent on things going well in the present circumstance. We are taught to look beyond the present and rejoice that our God is working all things together for good. We may not always understand why things happen as they do but we can trust the Father knows what He’s doing.