WELCOME to our brand-new teaching series: No Longer Strangers.

For six weeks, we’ll take a deep dive into Ephesians.

If you were with us last year, we did a teaching series on 1 Corinthians,

with the title, MESSY SAINTS. These two letters—1 Corinthians and Ephesians—belong to the same group of letters St. Paul wrote when the early Church was spreading in the first century.

Some Bible scholars call Ephesians the Queen of the Epistles, the masterpiece of Paul’s theology. Ephesians declares God’s cosmic, eternal plan from the very beginning of history to its ultimate completion.

And what is that cosmic plan? The unity of everything under Jesus.

The key message of Talk 1 is: God Has a Plan.

WELCOME to Talk 2 of our new Feast Talk series: No Longer Strangers.

Talk 1 explored the first chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he opened with a majestic hymn of praise celebrating the Father’s glorious Plan. He recalled how God wanted to bless the entire world, starting with the family of Abraham. Through Jesus, that small circle has burst wide open. What was once exclusive to one ethnic group—the Jews—has now extended to everyone—Jews and Gentiles alike. That means everyone can now belong to God’s House.

Talk 2 starts the second chapter of Ephesians.

Paul preaches the same message in two parts, with each part looking at the same story but using a different lens.

The first part—verses 1 to 10—takes on a more meta view—retelling the entire history of the world from a cosmic perspective.

The second part—verses 11 to 22—is more micro—retelling the same history of humanity—but from a Gentile vs. Jewish perspective. 

The key message of Talk 2: You belong to God’s House.

We are now in the middle of our series, No Longer Strangers.

Talk 3, God Has a Family, affirms that we are not strangers from one another. 

Every single human being has equal dignity, equal identity, and equal inheritance—because we’re all children of God. No exception.

Even if we look at the world today, there is so much painful inequality. Which makes us think: “Maybe God loves some more than others.”

Sadly, inequality is the undeniable mark of the world around us.

But Ephesians says this is not God’s Plan.

In Ephesians 3, Paul gives a summary of everything he’s talked about so far and then prays that we’ll be able to understand—just a bit more—the greatest mystery of all— God’s awesome Love for us.

The key message of Talk 3: We are equally loved.

We continue our enlightening series,  No Longer Strangers.

Last week, Talk 3, God Has a Family, affirmed that we are not strangers to one another. 

Since we are all in just one family, does it follow that we are united? If you’re a member of a family, you’ll most likely answer “No.” We struggle through conflicts in our family. 

Talk 4, however,  tells us that unity among family members is possible. How? 

The entire letter to the Ephesians has two parts. The first half—which consists of the first three chapters—explains our identity in Christ. The second half– which consists of the last three chapters—explains how to live out that identity. 

Talk 4  focuses on the second half of Ephesians.

And the first thing Paul tells us?

Our identity in Christ gives us real unity.

If we follow Jesus, then we should be willing to sacrifice for our unity.

The key message of Talk 4 is: Without sacrifice, there is no real unity.

WELCOME to the second-to-last installment of our series, No Longer Strangers, our deep dive into Ephesians, the queen of the Pauline Epistles.

      In our modern world today, it’s normal to lie, steal, fight, get drunk, watch porn, act selfishly, and forget the poor.

     Our Christianity is about piety, not integrity. Filipinos are religious, not ethical. There’s a massive gap between our identity and our behavior.

     We see our old habits resurfacing, our sinful knee-jerk reactions reappearing, our old sins—sins we thought were gone—coming alive again.

Reason? We forget who we are. 

The key message of Talk 5 is: Be who you really are.