Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 11, 2018

Guest Speaker: Dr. Barry McCarty

“The Endgame Prayer”
Ephesians 3:14-21

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The book of Ephesians can be divided into two parts.
Part I:  Chapters 1-3 – Deals with the mystery of the gospel.
Part II: Chapters 4-6 – Practical instruction on Christian living.

The prayer found in 3:14-21 could be called The Endgame for the Christian Life.
The Greek word, hina, occurring in the text three times, introduces three parts to Paul’s prayer.

The heart is the starting place for all actions, both good and bad. The word in Greek, translated dwell, carries the sense of making oneself completely at home.

Dr. McCarty experienced an example of the love of Christ when he visited a region of India to organize a translation of the Bible into the Bundeli language and give support for Christians experiencing persecution on a tragic scale. Those men, though, under a crushing burden of persecution, put Dr. McCarty’s needs first, providing his meal first, before they ate, and seeing that he could get to bed earlier than they.

The Alpe d’Huez is a French ski resort used by the Tour de France bicycle race. This leg of the race is 8.5 miles in length but climbs 6000 feet, a big challenge for the average person. One needs to be vested with all the strength and skill of a champion bike racer to participate. We are also challenged in living for Christ; but if we are filled up with all the fullness of God, we are doing things in God’s strength and not our own.