Family Revival

Family Revival

Where Do We Even Start?

Ephesians 1:1–10

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:

To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. ⁵ He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸ that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.

First Thought: God has always been after a .

Matthew 12:46–50

While he was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ He replied to the one who was speaking to him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ .”

Family can be and difficult, rewarding and .

Family can be the setting of most destructive work.

can be the setting of God’s restoration and a display of His power.

Ephesians 1:3–6 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. ⁵ He predestined us to be through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.

“Think of this like a video teleconference in which you’re in two places at once—seated physically in one place but operating in another. Believers are present in two places at the same time: we’re physically located on earth but operate from heavenly places. God wants our position there to dictate our activity on earth. Only by operating from a spiritual perspective will you have access to God’s kingdom power and provisions to deal victoriously with life in the physical realm.”^[1] –Tony Evans

Ephesians 1:7-8 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸ that he richly poured out with all wisdom and understanding.

“A friend of mine likes to say that he knew that parenting would be humbling; he just didn’t know that it would also be humiliating. Even when all is going well, one never knows when a toddler will tell his Sunday school class the new words he learned when Mommy was yelling at Daddy last night. And that only increases. As a child ages, every day could bring word of a catastrophic pregnancy or a failed school term or a lost job or a broken engagement or a car wreck. And, it seems, there is nothing one can do about any of it, except look back on pictures at how sweet that baby used to be—and all the ways you failed as a parent.”^[2]—Russell Moore

Family Revival has a necessary starting point: to Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:9-10 He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.

What we are in this season: Family Revival.

1. Evans, Tony; CSB Bibles by Holman. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ↑

2. Moore, Russell D. (2018-09-14T23:58:59). The Storm-Tossed Family . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ↑