By Pastor Jon
It was an edifying pleasure to have a new beginning at RELOVUTIONARY Church this Sunday, March 3rd.
It was awesome to see some new people from the previous week, and to speak about some important Gospel matters following. We pray there will be fruit that will stand the test.
While the previous week was our official Launch, this Sunday was the beginning of a new series, which will happen consistently, but periodically through the preaching ministry of Pastor Dan. At this stage, this series will take place on the first Sunday of every month, but which will extend into the initial two, if there is five in a given month, which there is so, in March. This should allow more percolation through what we want to be a deeper dive through Paul’s significant conversation with the church at Ephesus, and into our life and times.
I will link you up, so rest and read contented, but in this piece, I want to pass on what stood tallest through my own imagination listening live and uninterrupted.
While Pastor Dan’s sermon reflection will follow a more distinctive form, and you will experience more of this helpful written set-up over the weeks given my greater planned-for preaching frequency, I will probably have more of an in-the-process response, after listening loud and on a Sunday Morning.
You can read his work from the Launch below.
What resonated most overtly in my own thinking in the first of this – What it Means to Be Christian – series, was the impressively unimpressive size of the Ephesians religious space, and especially underscored through these elaborations:
Ephesus was also a spiritual city—a city steeped in the occult and idolatry. The chief religion of Ephesus was the Artemis cult which was also predominant throughout Asia Minor. The Artemis cult was the particular pride of the Ephesians because their city was the home to the Art-e-mi-sion—the temple that housed the figure of Artemis!
‘Artemis’ was the Greek name for their idol, and ‘Diana’ was the Roman or Latin name (Hoehner). The Art-e-mi-sion was constructed of marble and measured around 93,500 square feet—or a couple of acres. It had 127 marble columns which each stood 18 metres high and were each 2 metres in diameter (Hoehner). The temple is said to have been the largest building known in antiquity and it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world! For centuries, much of life in Ephesus centred around the temple of Artemis (Hoehner, 2186-2188). Unsurprisingly, Artemis was the pride of the Ephesians! They praised their goddess Artemis as being supreme in power to any other deity or spirit (Borgman)! For the people of Ephesus, this was a significant marker of their identity!
A couple of acres. 127 marble columns. Each standing 18 metres. No wonder it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world!
Your church building may be impressive, but this Ephesians structure could prove that size does indeed matter. It would certainly communicate to those taking-in. For Paul, he would have been most aware of the issue standing before him. But he would not be intimidated into silence. Praise the Lord!
And while the dimensions are certainly significant, they are also no less so, than the idols we easily bow-down to each day. This is important to realise. While it may not seem so pronounced for those who confess, “Yes, Jesus is Lord,” functionally, when we sin, we are bowing the knee to another Lord and Saviour, exclaiming, “Save me!” We are saying that Christ is not enough to give me everything I need for life and godliness. I need this other. At such times, we are creating a structure of monstrous proportions. No wonder sin is so offensive to a holy God!
And this applies even more so to everyone cosmically outside Christ.
Why? Because every person must live for something. Must. We don’t have the capacity otherwise. We can’t refuse to apply. This happens at the automatic-level. While this can take many modern forms, think about the halls of fame, power, commerce, or sport, as these modern pantheons of worship, where our internals requiring every-moment-Meaning, take their entreating, and gain special pleading and pleasing.
Even right now as you read. Your life is on the prowl. What are you practically living for right now? What has consumed your inner space on this today? Are you tasting and seeing that the Lord is good? Has this become more about an idea or principle, than a wellspring?
The point is we all need the Holy Spirit’s message, through the Apostle Paul, from his Letter to the Ephesians. Be who you are!
Only the Gospel is redemptively and experientially tactile enough to be able to handle the demands of ultimate reality, and the unfolding Flourishing we daily seek. Every other option only lasts long enough to destroy its God-intended purpose.
We thank God for His Gospel. Our living should exclaim, “Grateful!”
On that expression of true worship, I think that is enough from the Lead. I now encourage you to make the most, and to do so, by audioing the Introduction from Pastor Dan.
Enjoy!
Introducing the Ephesians: Who Are the Ephesians Anyway? – Pastor Dan
For the Fame of His Name