Going Beyond Imagination

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3: 14 - 21 (NIV)
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Message: Going Beyond Imagination
A Prayer of Compassion - Discover more
This is Paul’s famous prayer for the Ephesians (2nd prayer in the book of Ephesians, 1st in chapter 1, verses 18 to 23)
Paul prays for the power of the Spirit in their inner being
He prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith
He prays that they will be rooted and established in love
He prays that they would have the power to grasp something of the greatness of the love of Christ (love that surpasses all knowledge)
He prays that the Ephesians will be filled to measure of all the fullness of God
And then ends with the wish that all of this will be to the glory of God, in the church throughout all generations
Beautiful, isn’t it?
But here in the lead up to the end of the prayer, Paul mentions that Jesus is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine
The focus of our reflection on this prayer today will be on this idea that Jesus is doing things that is beyond our imagination
Jesus the Revolutionary - surpassing imagination
In Jesus’ ministry on earth, He did revolutionary things that was unimaginable in their time
That’s why it is so important to understand the context around what we read in the Bible
He redefined what is holy and what not - by touching unclean people and lepers
He redefined offering by being the offering Himself and obliterating the idea of earning your salvation through the offerings you bring - He was the final offering
He crossed barriers - gender (woman at the well), social status (reaching out to widows and foreigners), generation (children)
His healings were more than just physical healings - we still have meaning in it today (John 9 and spiritual blindness)
He redefined religion - taking on the religious institutions of his time (He did not come to start a new religion, but rather to restore a relationship with God)
And speaking of a relationship with God, He broke down the barrier between God and people - take prayer as an example
He called ordinary people to be leaders in the church - fishermen, sinners and outcasts
He had meals with the unholy
He redefined the way people thought about God - God was not seen as distant anymore but close (Immanuel), God was not seen as angry anymore but loving
Am I willing to go beyond my imagination?
If Jesus was stretching the imagination back then, in what ways is He stretching our imagination today?
Firstly, I need to point out that there is a connection between faith and imagination
We will be unable to be stretched in our imagination without faith
And in this sense it comes down to a willingness to be challenged through our faith (when last have you been challenged through your faith? Little girl at camp…)
The question is essentially: Am I willing to be challenged beyond imagination?
These are areas I guess Jesus is working in our lives today to take us beyond our imagination:
The church - the church is being redefined in front of our eyes - old structures are becoming more and more irrelevant - moving from institutional back to organic
Personal - Jesus is challenging us to grow less dependent on formal religious rituals to practice our faith and more personal in our prayer and interactions with Scripture
Connection with the world around us - less us and them, see people through the loving eyes of God - even the “bad” ones - less judgement more acceptance and love
Environment - We cannot be oblivious to what is happening around climate change and we need to discover new ways to live in harmony with nature and not destroying it
Allow yourself to be challenged
I guess the central theme of todays message is to dare to go beyond your imagination as a follower of Jesus
Another way of putting it would be to allow yourself to be challenged
There is still so many areas where we can grow - grow beyond our imagination
Let’s not be set and stuck in our ways
Let’s grow by opening up a new willingness to grow in our faith
Let’s allow ourselves to go to new places in our faith, beyond our imagination
May we glorify God by going beyond what we imagined possible in our faith:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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