Ron Lutz ~ Ephesians 2:13-18
Sermon Quotes
Ephesians 2:13-18
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
We are not to be just a church in the community, but a church for the community. We are called to be salt and light in our culture… We seek to bring social healing, racial reconciliation, justice and cultural renewal to our world by God’s power.
-New Life Dresher, Core Value 7
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
-Genesis 1:26,27
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.
-Acts 17:26-27
There are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Stalin’s Forced Famine: 1932-1933 – 7,000,000 Deaths.
- Nazi Holocaust: 1938-1945 – 6,000,000 Deaths.
- Pol Pot in Cambodia: 1975-1979 – 2,000,000 Deaths.
- Rwanda: 1994 – 800,000 Deaths.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1992-1995 – 200,000 Deaths.
Our racial divide is a disease. Over the counter human remedies won’t fix it; they merely mask the symptoms for a season. What we need is a prescription from the Creator to destroy this cancer before it destroys us.
-Tony Evans
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
-2 Corinthians 5:16-18
Beneath the cross of Jesus
His family is my own—
Once strangers chasing selfish dreams,
Now one through grace alone.
How could I now dishonor
The ones that You have loved?
Beneath the cross of Jesus
See the children called by God.