Sermon Recap 5-2-10

Morning:  The sermon, "A Message for Husbands," expounded Ephesians 5:25-33.  The theme of the message was husbands love your wives.

Paul urges us to love them as Christ love the church.  What does that look like?  Christ loved the church and "gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleanse her by the washing of the water through the word, to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain, wrinkle, or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."  Paul's analogy is not a point-by-point comparison.  A husband cannot love in such a way that makes his wife holy, cleanse, or radiant; but he can love her in such a way, by the grace of God, that she becomes transformed by his love.

Paul calls us to love them as we love our own bodies.  We all know how to satisfy our desires.  We feed and care for our bodies.  If we are hungry, we eat.  If we are sleepy, we rest.  Paul draws on the great mystery, that Christ's relationship to his body, the church, was the pattern of human marriage.  God determined that Christ's relationship with the church would be the pattern marriage revealed. Thus, when marriage fails the gospel is denied.  In marriage we labor for God's glory and our good.  We seek, especially as believers, to display to the world Christ's sacrificial love, his tender mercies, and trustworthy headship.

Paul reminds us that even though there is a great spiritual truth that shines through marriages, and even though we don't always get it right:  we still have to love our wives as we love ourselves.  Wives still have to submit to their husbands.  We won't succeed at always shining forth the glory of the Lord, and when we fail we to repent and confess, but that doesn't remove the responsibility to act on what we know.

Some applications:

• If you're lazy, get to work.
• If you're "zoned-out," get back in the game.
• If you're self-serving, serve your spouse.
• If you're irresponsible, grow up and take responsibility.

VBS Clinic:  We looked at day two of VBS.  Day two seeks to answer the question: Does God Care About Me?  The answer is: God cares about me, and I can trust him.  The focus for day two is the Genesis 45:1-14.  We see Joseph reuniting with his brothers who sold him into slavery.  He extends to them mercy, because he perceives the grace of God at work in all the events of his life.  He knows that no matter what happened (or happens), God cares for him.  The memory verse is 1 Peter 5:7.

Evening: Business Meeting.