By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
August 25, 2024
Click here to join our Meeting For Worship
Ephesians 6:10–20 (ESV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
This week I spent time in study as usual. I did my usually workflow as I prepare to write. I read the scripture. I prayed with the scripture. I let the words soak into my mind and heart. And then I began to look deeper.
I do not know if my methodology is good or not but it seems to work for me. I find it interesting in how often as I pray with the scripture I am usually lead toward the aspect of the passage that I need to speak on. That is why I mention this method today.
I love this passage of scripture. I grew up with this, as many of us did. In Sunday School my teachers would have us form the various parts in paper and we would march around the room clothed in the armor. I have many fond memories surrounding this passage. But as I reflected on it this week, I found that much of my understanding of this passage has been skewed.
The reason I developed a skewed understanding is not because my teachers were telling things wrong, but because so often we look at scripture out of context. We take passages and try to make them stand on their own and because of this we risk placing an emphasis on a minor aspect of the passage instead of the over all theme.
Today’s passage begins, “Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” As I prayed I wanted to jump forward to the meat of the passage but for some reason I was drawn to this first verse. I sat in reflection as I could not move forward and was prompted to reflect on the previous lessons found within this letter that Paul wrote.
Paul has spent five chapters building up to this point. And in those chapters he says that we should put off our old self, its idolatry, and falsehood. And as we shed that and toss it into the rubbish bin we are to become something new. Something that is true.
Paul then encourages us to walk in love, submitting one to another in reverence to the sacrifice Christ made for us. And he then give examples as to how this submission should look. Wives submit to your husbands, and husband approach your wife with the same love as Christ has for the church. Children honor and obey your parents as Christ was obedient to his father. Honor your parents as you would honor Christ. And fathers do not provoke your children to anger but discipline and instruct them in the Lord.
Then Paul concludes his examples of submission with slaves or servants obey your masters, serve them as if you were serving Christ and masters do the same toward your servants, treat the people under your care as if you were serving Christ himself.
I am giving you a paraphrase of these things of course, but I want us to just consider these submission statements before we move forward. Notice what Paul is speaking of. He is not speaking of nations, or states, or even the church community. He focuses these submission statements on the things everyone will recognize, the home. We all live in community and that community begins in the family. That is where we begin to learn how to interact with other people.
These commandments of putting off falsehood and submission come before everything else Paul says in this passage. And I want us to just think about your relationships before we move forwards. Parents how often this week have you angered your children? Children how often have you disobeyed and dishonored your parents? Husbands how many times this week have you given your life for your wife, and wives are you submitting to your husbands as if you were submitting to Christ? Do not all speak at once. Now lets consider the second tier.
We can argue if scripture in this case is condoning slavery or not, but I think that argument is distracting us from the truth of the passage. It speaks of work. We all work or go to places where service is given to us. Are we working as if we are working for Jesus when we punch our time card. Are we treating the wait staff at the restaurant or sales associate while we are shopping with the respect we would give Jesus if he were standing before us? If you are a manager are you willing to give of yourself for your employees as Jesus gave himself for you?
We need to come to terms with these things before we can fully move forward. I will be honest. I provoke my children to anger often, and I could do better at teaching them the ways of the Lord. I fail. I fail so often.
And this is where Paul begins, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” To be strong in this sense does not mean that we need to go work out and push harder to achieve greatness as an Olympic athlete, but it speaks of being strengthened, to be enabled, or become rendered more capable. This is not speaking about what we can do but we are to be strong in the Lord. The Lord, the Spirit of God is enabling us, giving us the strength to do the things we have already proven to ourselves we are incapable of doing.
Be strong Paul says and put on the whole armor of God. This goes back a few chapters, “Put off falsehood.” Paul said earlier in this letter. We are supposed to shed and rip off falsehood like the gross and dirty clothes we wore while cutting the grass. I grew up on a farm and when we were out working our clothes were often nasty when we got home. In our house, in my grandparent’s house, and in my great grandparent’s house we would always go in the door next to the laundry. We came in that way and often the shower was right there next to the door. My grandfather would go directly into the shower, his clothes went directly into the wash and before he came into the home he was clean. This was often how my dad and I also approach things as well. We did not want to bring that grim into the house, we shed it, put it off before we entered.
This is the image I want us to consider when Paul says put on the armor of God. The first thing we have to do is take off everything else. And we put on this armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
I stopped again at this point as I was praying with the scripture. My mind did not stay in Ephesus but instead I was transported to the deserts of Judea, where Jesus was tempted, in every manner that we are temped, by the devil. Jesus faced the same trials that we face every single day and yet he did not sin. Temptations are not sin. Temptations are the schemes the devil uses to distract us from the truth. I sat thinking about this. How was Jesus tempted and how did he overcome these temptations?
Everything the devil used to tempt Jesus were good things. Make bread because you are hungry. Take the risk because scripture says that no harm will come to the anointed of God. You can have all the power and authority on earth. All of these things are things we want and need. We need food, we want protection, we would like power. But Jesus looked at his adversary and quoted scripture. The devil quoted scripture right back to him. Which should tell us something profound, we need to go deep in the word, we need the word and wisdom of God to course through our veins so we can see the full process and the wider teaching of God’s whole story, because even scripture can be twisted to tempt and distract us from the truth.
“Put on the whole armor,” Paul tells us, but what is he really telling us? Be strong in the Lord, means that we are enabled by the very spirit of God, to put on the armor is that we put on the life and lifestyle of Christ. We cannot face the schemes of the devil alone, we will and so often do succumb to temptation. We fall, and we fall in the places it should be easiest to succeed, with the ones we love the most.
“Put on the armor,” Paul encourages us, “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
We wrestle. I think this is probably one of the greatest word pictures given in the pages of scripture. We wrestle. We have wrestlers here in our Meeting and they could tell us more about this sport and art. Wrestling the act of engaging in close hand to hand combat, it a struggle face to face against a foe. They are grabbing hold of us attempting to pin us down, and we contort our bodies to squirm out of their grasp as we attempt to get the upper hand. This is often the image of life because life is a struggle.
But we are not struggling against flesh and blood. We do not struggle against each other, we do not struggle against humanity or even nature. That person you are having the most trouble with at work is not the problem. They are not the one you are wrestling with, even though so often they are the one that struggle is focused on. This is a distraction. No we do not struggle with flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities and the cosmic powers.
Again I stopped. If we are not struggling against flesh and blood, who exactly are the people of Ukraine and Russia fighting against? Who are the various nations within Africa at war with? Who or what is causing me so much trouble when I get the phone call from angry customers or employees?
This is why we need to look deeper and study scripture. We need to look at the whole picture as well as the nuances of words and grammar. We are all reading a translation, and translations often cannot always fully capture the nuances of the original words. Rulers. In English our minds often go to the elected officials are about to vote for in a few weeks, but this is not what Paul is speaking about. The word used here means the initiator or one who influences. Rulers is a good translation, but there is a nuance that we miss, the ruler is supernatural. The rulers that Paul is referring too are the practitioners of magic and the ones that use divination. More accurately he is speaking not of the people but from where this power comes from.
Authorities is similar to rulers. Authority is power or those with the right to exert power over others. Again you might think that authority is of flesh and blood as well. But where does this power come from? The protest that sparked the reformation of the church looked at this power. The civil war within England out of which the religious Society of Friends emerged, examined this power. Our own revolution that gave our nation independence challenged this power. Authority, the divine right to rule. Which plays in to cosmic powers, or world ruler.
All of this seems to point to human agents, and yet Paul tells us that it is not against flesh and blood that we are wrestling. It is not our government or the government of another nations we are fighting. We are wrestling against spiritual forces.
I want us, to again, consider the fall of our first parents. They were at peace in the garden but the serpent came in and spoke to the mother of the living and convinced her along with the mud man Adam into believing that God was withholding something from them. The serpent convinced us that we could be more, we could be equal to God. He convinced us that we could have knowledge and power, that we could have authority if we would only take it for ourselves.
I want to ask a simple question, what did that gain? They already had power and authority. They were already image bearers of the creator. They bore the image, they already possessed the very thing they desired, but they wanted it on their own terms not God’s.
Three times in Genesis we are given a similar story. A story that repeats throughout history. We want power, we want authority, we want influence over others. These are the very temptations that Jesus faced in that desert. They are already ours except we have clothed ourselves in falsehood instead of the truth. We have believed lies instead of listening to the wisdom of God.
It is already ours, yet we struggle. We wrestle against the falsehood of the cosmic powers. We wrestle with the great adversary and father of lies. We want authority and power. We want it and what are we willing to do to obtain it? Who are we willing to hurt? What are we willing to steal? What lies will we tell to gain control? This quest for power is the original sin. It is the desire to be equal to God. It is the desire to rule on our terms instead of submitting one to another. We want to be god.
“Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Take up, Paul says, this is the polar opposite of put off. We are to take up or put on God as our protection and fortress. I am thankful that Vicky began worship this morning with “A Mighty Fortress” because that is what the armor of God is. It is not what we do but it is God himself working in and through us.
“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.”
The armor begins with truth. Paul told us to put off falsehood and we are to begin this transformation by putting on truth. The belt is the core of armor. The Israelite were told to gird up their loins in preparation of the Exodus out of Egypt. This is what the belt of truth references. To gird oneself means that they pull their robe forward through their legs and secure it within their belt. This secures their clothing and removes the hindrance so they can move freely. Gird yourself in truth.
“Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” The breastplate is probably the most important part of armor because it protects your vital organs. It guards your heart the core of who you are. Protect your heart, or guard your heart scripture says. So often we take this as meaning the heart is full of wickedness and yes unfortunately it is if we believe falsehood, but the heart is essentially you. It is your hopes, and dreams. It is your passions. It is where you reside. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. Or let the righteousness of God become who you are.
Place the shoes of readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace on your feet. This is interesting, Be ready. Or as Peter tells us in his epistle always be ready to give an answer to the hope that you have. We should be ready to move forward in Christ. Ready to go where the Lord leads and be ready to speak of the hope we have. But the shoes are the gospel of peace. We are putting on armor but ready to make peace.
Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts. It is by faith we are saved is the mantra we often hear within our churches. But do we know faith? Faith is trust, it is entrusting our lives to God. It is believing that through all our struggles God will guide us through. Paul says our shield is faith. The shield is the piece of armor we get behind. It is the first line of defense. And men of arms trusts that their shield will withstand the arrows. But let us go a step deeper. Roman warfare revolved around the shield, they would interlock their shields and move forward as one. They would entrust their lives to the men beside them as they moved forward into battle. The shield of faith is not only for us, but it is trusting those around us and walking together as one.
“And take the helmet of salvation.” The helmet protects our head. And the head protects our brain, our minds, our wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the the beginning of wisdom the teacher says in the books of wisdom. It is in our minds, in our heads, where we first believe falsehood and truth. And it is salvation that protects our heads. Salvation here is the means. It is how. Our salvation does not come from ourselves, but it is through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that the means of grace are provided. Christ is our head and he is our helmet.
And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayers and supplication. Through out my life, I have been taught that there is only one offensive item in this list, and that is the sword. This week I sat in prayers and in study looking at this passage and I began to see something, the Spirit is the sword. God is the sword.
Jesus told us that the spirit blows where it wants, we know not where it comes or where it goes. The Irish monks likened this to chasing the wild goose and in St. Patrick’s church in Chicago you will see it decorated with images of geese. We do not control the Spirit. To say we can wield the Spirit is saying that we can control God and that is the very falsehood that our first parents entered. We do not control God, because we would have to be greater than God to do that.
As I contemplated that I began to realize, there is no offensive weapon in this kit. And this caused me to pause. I had been taught my entire life that I needed to sharpen my sword, that I needed to memorize and get into scripture so that I could battle Satan. I want us to again consider the temptation of Christ. Satan used the words of scripture as much as Jesus did. We can use and misuse scripture. We can twist the very words inspired by God to justify terrible things. This is why it is a sword. It can cut, it can both protect the innocent and cause harm. The sword is part of our kit but it is not ours to hold, because the sword is the Spirit of God.
What then do we have? What can we do as we wrestle with the rulers, authorities and the cosmic powers? Pray.
You see the armor is not ours. The armor is God. It is Christ before us, beneath us, beside us, and over us. It is Christ that takes our struggles for us. And we are called to not stand and fight, but to submit and rest behind the shield wall of faith. And as we stand in faith we are to pray in the Spirit, and allow the Spirit, allow God to fight the battle. As the Spirit moves forward, our shoes are on ready to administer the gospel of peace.
What is left behind the advancing shield wall? Broken and hurting people. People that once believed the lies and falsehood that they could have power and authority over themselves and others. Children broken by their parents, wives battered by their husbands, people that were beaten down by a system of justice that did not provide justice. These are the things of human quests for power. The rulers and authorities and cosmic powers of darkness. In our best attempts of wielding power we cause destruction, because we are not meant to have it. We were created to bear the image of God, we were created to be God’s ambassadors. Ambassadors are instruments of peace not war.
Put away falsehood, and put on God’s armor. Put on truth. Our sword is prayer, and our mission is peace. We are to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and bring hope to the hopeless. Our position in the cosmic battle is not the frontline. God is our armor, our place is in the rear, ready to speak the gospel of peace and to pray.
There is so much more that can be said. We want power and we believe we could use it for good. We want authority because we would influence for good. We want. But we cannot have it because it is not ours to take. We are called to submit one to another in reverence to the sacrifice Christ made for us. He in the fullness of God and man fights the battle we were not created to fight, and in him we have salvation.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 10, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV) 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
August 18, 2024
Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship
Ephesians 5:15–21 (ESV)
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Last week our scripture ended by encouraging us to be imitators of Christ. To be an imitator means that we reflect or exemplify the nature of Christ. We reflect the nature of God: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. We discussed what it means to be slow to anger, and to be angry without sin. To be slow to anger we need to shed the life and lifestyle falsehood and self gratification, and to put on the nature of Christ. Today we continue with this theme.
Paul tells the Ephesians, “Look carefully then how you walk.” The idea surrounding look in this case is not looking with our eyes, but to process information. To investigate or process thoroughly. Look carefully then how you walk. Walk is a figure of speech in Hebrew like the hot nose from last week, except instead of anger walk points to how a person lives or how we conduct our lives.
Paul is urging us to be mindful of our conduct. He issues three comparisons: unwise and wise, foolish and understanding, and finally drunk and filled. If you notice there is something similar to each of these statements. One is positive and the other is negative.
Paul is giving us a view of the live we put off or shed and the life we are moving into. We have died to the old life with Christ and are now at this moment something new.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.
Walk having or being prompted by accumulated knowledge or discernment. Walk utilizing the skills you possess. Sharing with others the lessons you have learned from your experience. Paul was inspired by the Spirit of God to urge us to use the wisdom that God entrusted to us. We are commanded to look to observe and be mindful of how we conduct ourselves.
Over the years I have thought about this often. We as followers of Christ should strive to use the things God has gifted us to encourage our community. What are we doing to increase our knowledge? How are we using our experiences to encourage those around us? Do those around you even know that you have something to offer? In a smaller meeting like ours we do encourage one another. We cannot fade into the background because each of us are needed and have a place in the wider ministry. But what about within the wider community?
The opposing view to this is unwise. To be unwise is to lack the accumulation of knowledge, to lack discernment, or lacking experience. Not simply not having knowledge because each of us have ignorance in some areas. I am ignorant when it comes to working on cars. I used to be the type of person that would change my own oil, mainly because I drove so many mile I was spending all my money on gas, tires, and oil changes. So I learned to do limited maintenance on my old Pontiac Grand Am. Then I got married. I really wanted to prove to my wife that I was a good husband. I wanted to show her that I could do everything she thought I could. I even wanted her to have the illusion that I was better than I actually was.
We had been married for only a couple of months. We got back from our honeymoon and settled into our first apartment, and I thought I would take care of her car for her. I got everything set up, my tools were out and I was ready. Then I crawled under her CRV only to be met with something I had never saw before. Everything was covered. I crawled back out and looked under the hood, I looked everywhere and I could not find where the oil filter was, so I opened the owners manual. Men do occasionally refer to the instructions when necessary. Then I had to admit defeat. The owners manual only showed a picture of the filter. It was a wonderfully drawn image of the filter just hanging out on the side of the engine, but it did not give any indication as to what portion of the engine it clung. I had to go inside and admit that I would not be the husband that could fix everything. And I grabbed the keys and drove to the service station.
I was ignorant, but in my ignorance I still possessed wisdom. By being able to admit to yourself that you are unable, or inexperienced and releasing that task to someone that has the experience you are being wise. You are wise if you use the time you released from yourself to gain or strengthen your own gifts.
This is where the second part of this statement comes in. “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
Paul is telling us to make the most of what we are given. To grab hold of the advantages you have and to not let the opportunity you have been given go to waste. I could not change the oil in my wife’s vehicle. I later learned that had I been able to find the silly oil filter I still would not have been able to do much because I did not have the proper tool to remove the filter anyway because like many vehicles today everything requires some special tool. But there was something that I could do. I was attending school at that time, I had just enrolled at Friends University to obtain a master’s degree in ministry. I enrolled in this program because as a young pastor I quickly learned that I needed more knowledge.
As Friends, we do not require pastor’s to have degrees. We believe that God will provide the knowledge we need as we are obedient to him. I firmly believe this. But I also knew that the people I served required something from me that I did not have the words to speak, I did not have the confidence to encourage, and frankly I did not know where to even start. God provided an opportunity to me, because Friends University had a scholarship to the master’s program that greatly reduced the cost for Friends ministers. So I enrolled.
I had just purchased all the books for that semester. I had attended the first class and I had more reading that needed done than hours in a week, not to mention working a full time job, and being a pastor. I stared at that owners manual. I gazed at the wonderfully drawn but completely useless image of the oil filter and I realized that I was not making the best use of my time. I am not a mechanic. I knew I was not a mechanic. I only did maintenance on my car because I was too proud and broke to take it in for service. But I was in a different place. I also did not have time, because I had to read a couple chapters of Barth and other theological texts. I had to write a paper applying my theological position to some random situation. I had to figure out if I even had a theological position to apply to that situation. My ignorance allowed me to make a wise decision to take my wife’s car to the shop, while I sat in the waiting room reading.
Make the best use of the time. We have had to come to terms with this in our own meeting. Just last week we decided that it would be better to hire someone to do repairs. We did this because we need to make the best use of our time, as well as, getting our meetinghouse back into shape as fast as possible. We need to be mindful of what we have available and make wise decision. We need to be honest and humble about who we are and allow others to help when necessary, while stepping up when we have the ability. We need to do this because we are here for a reason and for a purpose.
Paul says to make the best use of the time because the days are evil. I know that when we read that portion of this passage our minds just went all over the place. We have images flashing through our mind about the news reports we recently watched, the memes we recently shared. Our anxiety just shot into overdrive as we consider the political figure we are considering voting for, or more accurately against. But I want us to apply the brakes for a moment. Yes the English translation here says evil. It says evil because the idea surrounding the Greek word that Paul used does not have a simple and clear cut equivalent. We are to make the best use of our time, we are to apply the wisdom that we possess in the world we live at this moment in this age of history because the world that we live in is trapped in cycles of moral and social worthlessness.
Yes there is evil within this world, but that evil does not necessary mean that there are demons under every designer area rug. What Paul is saying is that we live in a world that is opposed to the ways of God. We live in a world where people are driven by their selfish desires, by greed, envy, and the lusts of the flesh. This manifests itself in so many ways. We are often hyper focused on just a few of the ways, and Paul listed some of those ways just a few verses prior to today’s passage. In Ephesians 5, Paul says, “ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” He then continues by saying, “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
We look at that list and we know that it is evil. We know that those things are happening all around us. But I want us to take a step back. I want us to take a step down from the soap boxes we are standing on and recognize that many of those things are the very things we promote and encourage within our community. We justify this as we vote saying that at least they are not as bad as the other individual but the reality is we are participating in and justifying the same evil within this world. One might support abortion but the other supports covetousness. We cannot get away from the evil within our world, we must speak the truth and stop giving our political parties a pass when we know they are just as bad.
Ok, that was my soap box. And I apologize but the reality is we often get distracted. We are often divided and manipulated. People use our God given emotions to insight rage within us and we need to understand what they are doing, and take a step back and speak truth when we see falsehood being said around us. We live in this place at this moment to be a light in the darkness. We are here to being discernment into a world that does not know how to respond except with base emotions. We are to be a voice of hope within a world bent on destruction.
“Therefore,” Paul continues as he writes the second dual comparison, “do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” There is a reason Paul repeats these dual comparisons. A few years ago I spoke out of Ephesians, and I probably made several of you a bit uneasy. We know that the people of Ephesus were largely pagan. This city was a central location for the cult of Artemis, and because of this the commentators on scripture largely taught that Paul wrote this book primarily to the Gentiles. As we have learned more about this city and the culture surrounding it, as we have made discoveries of documents like the Dead Sea Scrolls and as we have obtained a greater understanding of the original languages scripture was written in, we are gaining a greater picture of what Paul was addressing.
Ephesus was a largely pagan city, but there was also a significant population of people that held to the faith of the Hebrews. Although we do not know exactly where the Hebrew people met for worship, there is a building attached to the ancient gymnasium that housed Jewish artifacts. This points to something interesting. Paul was speaking to the those of both Hebrew and Gentile heritage and was making his point using similar teaching formats that were present in the Essene teachings uncovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Hebrew people were right in the center of the Greek culture, they were right alongside the idolatrous activities going on within the gymnasium. They were right there with the rest of the Greek culture, apart yet participating.
“Do not be foolish, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” This is similar to the previous duality, but there is a slight difference. In the first comparison the commanding verb was to look, but in this statement we have two commands. Do not be foolish and understand. This shows us s shift in intensity. He begins with mindfulness, now he is telling them to take another step. Foolishness is devoid of wisdom, good sense, or sound judgment. To be foolish is to have willful ignorance. It is rejecting facts when they are presented and purposefully contributing to base nature of society. Do not be foolish, Paul says. Not just says but commands. Instead we should understand the will of the Lord.
Last week I spoke about looking into why we began feeling the emotions of anger. The base response to anger is to act without examination. Foolishness is hitting the share button on facebook without taking the extra step to actually google the information presented on the meme deceptively constructed to incite your emotion. To be understanding and wise is to take the step back to examine what is going on within you and what is going on within your community. It is to look at how things will play out in the future if we continue down that path and how making a certain statement might affect those you care about. To be understanding we must move away from willful ignorance and seek a deeper examination. As followers of Christ this is imperative and of even greater importance because we not only need to consider the community in which we live, but also how this resembles the nature of God.
When we speak of will it is an attitude of the mind. The will favors one alternative over others. We make decisions of will. When we understand the will of God, it is more than merely obedience to a rule. It is looking deeper into the process. The ten commandments give us wonderful rules, but if all we do is keep the letter of the commands we miss the deeper teaching. We neglect the process of thinking God is attempting to initiate within our society. The command to not steal, or kidnap if we want to get technical is not only about not taking what is not yours, it is telling us that we should not be envious of what others have. God is attempting to teach us how to be content and thankful what we have, and to protect and maintain not only our property but extend that protection to those around us.
Understand what the will of the Lord is, Paul says. We could rest just on that, but Paul taking the lead from the teachers within the Essene community, completes the though by adding a third example. This third example also contains imperative or commanding verbs. “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”
This was a verse that was spoken often in the meeting I grew up in. We had a strong Women’s Christian Temperance Union that remained active in our Church. One of my first bibles was given to me by the WCTU when I entered junior high. Unfortunately this verse often gets misused by many. To get drunk is to cause to become intoxicated, it is to consume in excess. This is why Paul makes the statement, “For that is debauchery.” It is not a sin to consume alcohol, much to the shagreen of my WCTU Sunday school teachers, the sin is what we are opening ourselves up to. Debauchery is recklessness, abandon, wild living and spending or using something in excess. Many things could fit into this category of debauchery. I want us to widen our view. Paul uses the illustration of wine because it is easily observed. We know when people are drunk. We know how they act while they are filled with that intoxicating drink. They consume this for various reasons but usually it is to lower their inhibitions, there is a reason it is called liquid courage. It deadens your mind so that you no longer stop yourself with sound logic. And you become capable to do something you normally would not do.
There is a reason you normally would not do those things. Usually because you brain is telling you you should not because its stupid and dangerous. To be drunk with wine is to put focus on yourself and your own desires. It is seeking the momentary gratification over the wisdom found in patience. Again it is not just about alcohol. If you go to the store and have the momentary urge to make a purchase you did not intend to buy, if you are swept away on that momentary urge you run the risk of debauchery just as much as if you consumed wine to excess. What if you placed that item on a list of potential purchases, and revisited that list a couple of days later? If the desire remains then maybe you do need it.
Paul says do not get drunk, instead be filled with the Spirit. I want us to stop here for just a moment. Within the church there are those that encourage and teach that we should be drunk with the spirit. This is not the intent of the wording. Intoxication leads to or empowers poor choices, foolishness, and falsehood. These things are not the fruit of the Spirit. To be filled is to be or become generously supplied with, complete, finished and fulfilled. To be filled is to content and satisfied. The Spirit does empower and it can give us courage to do things we normally would not do if left to our own devices. I am living proof of this every Sunday morning. If left to myself I would not stand up in front of you all. I love teaching, but I my preference is one on one, not a crowd. And I definitely have no desire to sing or play the guitar in front of anyone, yet I do. I do this because the spirit empowers it. I am not content within myself unless I am obedient to the spirit. I do not want to speak, yet I am compelled to speak.
The difference is stark. Both speak of being filled. One encourages mindfulness the other mindlessness. One focuses on the momentary gratification of our own desires, the other looks for what is best within our community. One promotes recklessness and the other thoughtfulness. One focuses on self and the other empowers the community.
“Look carefully then how you walk.” Paul tells us. Paul urges us. Where is your focus, what are your intentions? What resides at the core of who you are? Be filled with the Spirit Paul encourages, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. This reminds me of another letter Paul wrote to a church, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, what ever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
What are we here for? Are we here to sing songs? Are we hear out of duty? Do we think by sitting in these seats we are gaining favor? No, what Paul is telling us is that when we speak, we should encourage those within our community to move closer to God. We do this because this is what our mind and spirit are focused on. We speak what is within us. If we are filled with fear we speak fear. If we are filled with anxiety, anxiety will pass through our lips. The center of our being, if the core of who we are, if our heart is filled with hate, we will speak hate. If our heart is filled with hopelessness we will promote hopelessness. But if our hearts are filled with praise and thanksgiving. Those are the words we speak. When our hearts are filled with love for God and love for our neighbor, the love of God will flow out of us and enrich the parched souls needing the hope found in Christ. If we are to sing praises to God as we speak to our community we need our very core essence to be turned toward God. We need every aspect of our lives in tune with God.
Look carefully then how you walk, Paul says. Look be mindful, be aware. Are we focused on God. Are we in harmony with the tune of Christ, who left his throne in heaven to be born of Mary. To live among humanity, within a community. Making it his custom to worship within the synagogues along side his family and friends, withdrawing often to the isolated places to pray, and serving his community with teaching and acts of charity? Are we reflecting, or bearing the image of God?
Paul concludes this section of scripture with words I think are the most powerful of this whole passage. “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” We do not like that word submit. It is not a commandment but a description. I we are singing the praises of God, if we have put off falsehood,the idolatry, or evil of this world submitting to one another is what we do. We do this because that is the example Jesus showed us, and that is the lifestyle he is calling us to put on. Our focus is no longer on ourselves, but how we can encourage one another. “Look carefully then how you walk.” Love God, embrace the Holy Spirit, and live the love of Christ with others.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 12, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:3–9 (ESV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 05, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili John 20:1–18 (ESV) 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
Enhance your Bible Study with Logos. I use it daily and I am sure you will love it too!
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 29, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 3: Do you attend regularly the services of your church and participate in them actively? Do you prayerfully endeavor to minister, under the guidance of the Holy…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 15, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Ephesians 5:8–14 (ESV) 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 22, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 5:12–19 (ESV) 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all…
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
August 11, 2024
Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship
Ephesians 4:25–5:2 (ESV)
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Over the past few weeks I have been getting deeper into the grammar of scripture. For some of you this might be a bore, but it is something I need to do. I need to do it because we live in an era of history where scripture can be twisted and used to justify many things. Sometimes, as we read scripture, we can place emphasis on certain words or phrases and change the understanding of what a verse could mean. When we do this we might consider one thing to be a command written in the holy, authoritative scriptures, when in reality it could be a description, instead of the command. I apologize, but this week we might go a bit deep. We need to go deep because today’s passage is incredible. It speaks right to the very heart of our collective experiences.
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
We will begin with “put away.” And as we begin I want us to really let these words soak deep into your inner being. Visualize and imagine what these words that Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus would have been thinking. These people live in a city. They live in a central hub of religious aberrance. They were the central location of the Hellenistic cult of Artemis. This goddess that represented life and the expansion of life.
Paul tells them put away falsehood. This idea of put away is to take off, to shed, and lay aside something. Earlier in this chapter in verse twenty-two, he says, “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.” This is a continuation of this line of thinking. The idea is an emergence. Disposing of the old, discarding that which is dirty, and putting on something new and fresh.
He is saying, not commanding but describing our new life, we take off the old. We take of the deceit, the corrupt, the falsehood. We leave that behind. Laying on the floor as we get into the shower, and we emerge refreshed and clothe ourselves with truth.
We remove one to put on the other. We put away falsehood. This is a very important concept. One that we need to fully grasp. When Paul speaks of falsehood he links it to idolatry, and John links it to the eschatological judgment when the beast is tossed into the lake of fire. This is something we need to take seriously.
Jesus also speaks of this same thing in the gospel. In John chapter 8, Jesus is facing opposition and he says that they are from their father the devil who is the father of lies. Falsehood is deception, it is everything that is opposed to God. And anything that opposes God is as Paul says idolatry.
This is where we will begin to squirm a bit. We are to shed the falsehood, discard it like the rags they are. This is where the first imperative, or commanding verb comes in. We put the falsehood away and we then, speak the truth with our neighbor.
Speak is not that interesting other than it is the first command in this passage, but it is more than just saying words. The reason Jesus said those that opposed him were of their father the devil was because they said words with their mouths, but their actions did not resemble the words that they spoke. Hypocrisy is deceit. If your words and your actions do not match you are living falsehood, and are participating in the rebellion against God.
We are to have nothing to do with falsehood, but we are to speak the truth with our neighbor.
I hope this causes us to gasp a bit. I hope it prompts us to consider and even examine our lives for a moment. I hope we like Pilate at the trial of Jesus ask ourselves, “What is truth.”
We often give Pilate a bad rap for this question, but it is one of the most honest words uttered in scripture. What is truth? Post modern philosophy asks this question, they speak of finding our own truth. We as Christians do not like this terminology, because we believe we know the truth. But I want us to take a step back, and consider it. What is truth?
When we look up the word that Paul uses in this context it speaks of honesty, dependability, uprightness, and reality. The reason Paul uses this word is because it is the word that was used in the Greek translations of the Old Testament for the Hebrew word emet. This word was used in the law and it speaks of the truth of a process or cause. I found this to be interesting, if it speaks of the process it points to something deeper than surface obedience to a rule, it goes to the root. We can be right and still be wrong. We can be right and still miss the point of a command of God if we do not take into consideration the deeper teaching, or the wider implications of why.
Truth is always truth. It does not matter if you are A Muslim or Christian, Hindu or Atheist. Truth is truth. This is why we struggle with the idea of post modern philosophy, when they say find your own truth. We think that that line of thinking threatens our core belief that as to the truth of the gospel, but it comes along side and highlights the reality of the gospel.
What do these philosophers mean when they say find your truth? The key to the statement is not truth, but find. We are to find reality, but often our perception and our experiences can cloud our understanding of the reality we see. What might lead someone to believe something false, what might lead me to believe something false?
This is why Paul says speak truth with our neighbor. He is not only encouraging us to say the right words. He is not commanding us to go out into the world to hand out gospel tracts that present the four spiritual laws to everyone we meet. He is telling us to live among our community and show them the reality of what we believe. We are to speak the truth with our neighbor, for we are members of one another.
The word translated as members here, literally means limbs, like an arm or a leg. We are part of a body. This speaks of organisms and organization. It speaks of relationships within our family, our church, our community, stretching out to our wider society, and to the ends of the earth. Those that challenged Jesus once asked who is my neighbor. Who are we organized with, with whom are we members? Jesus answered that question by telling a story of a man that was beaten and robbed, and how different members of society reacted to the situation. This story that we affectionately call the story of the Good Samaritan was scandalous to those of Jesus’s day. It was like saying the good Russian to a Ukrainian, a Good German during the world wars, a good terrorist in our American context. It is scandalous, how can our enemy be good?
This goes back to truth. And finding our truth. It is putting off the falsehood and speaking truth to our neighbor. How do we recognize a good healthy relationship? What is a good spouse? What is a good child? Who is a good friend? Every aspect of our lives is based on relationships and how do we know when we are in a good one?
Before we go there, we need to continue. We are to speak the truth with our neighbor. And then we come to the second command within this passage. Be Angry.
Yes, this is a command in scripture, we are to be angry. I stopped at this word this week. I sat staring at my computer screen as I was studying, because when an imperative or commanding verb is in a passage my computer software highlights it with bright fiery letters highlighted in yellow. Be Angry it screamed out at me. Why would the apostle Paul tell us, encourage us to be angry?
Obviously, this sent me on a quest to understand what anger meant. And if found that this is actually not what we think it is. It is a Hebrew idiom or figure of speech. Meaning a hot nose, or more accurately long hot nostrils. Paul in this statement is taking people back to Exodus 34 where we are told about the character of God. God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness.
As I looked this up and saw that anger was an idiom and not exactly what I thought it meant I found a great podcast by the Bible Project, and if you have a chance I encourage you to look this group up because they are amazing. But as they discussed this concept they pointed out that anger Exodus is really an attribute of God’s character but a reaction. Slow to anger, or the King James version says long suffering. Neither really capture the fullness on the idiom.
In our culture, we think of anger as an emotion, and it is. This is seen even in the Hebrew idiom. A hot nose is one that has flared nostrils. Like a bull ready to charge. Smoke escaping along with the dragon’s breath as it readies itself to spew fire upon it’s opponent. Anger is an emotion, but anger is a sign. NT Wright would call it a sign post point us to something else. We get angry when we sense some sort of injustice, when we feel as if someone has done something wrong or unfair. We burn, we are provoked into action.
But this command is immediately followed with yet another command, “Be angry and do not sin.”
Anger like fire can have two effects, one being positive and the other negative. To me fire is one of the most fascinating things in this world. It is terrifying and memorizing. It can provide warmth and it can consume us. It can rejuvenate life in the prairie and it can devastate an entire community. That is anger. Anger can move us to right a wrong or it can provoke us to cause harm.
“Be angry and do not sin,” Paul tells us. Sin is to miss the mark. So often we think of sin a transgressing a rule or law, and often it is, but to sin is to miss the point or to stray from what is true. Anger as an emotional sign post should point us to something, but we sin if we do not examine deeper. If we allow ourselves to enter into a fit of rage like the Incredible Hulk, often we miss the point. Paul is telling us to be like God, slow to anger. That does not mean that we bottle up our emotions and push them down into the recesses of our being. This means we slow our breathing, and we seek.
I want us to consider the relationships you have had or are currently in. I am guessing someone this week has upset you, someone has caused you to have hot nose. You know what the worst thing about it is? They have absolutely no idea that they have made you angry, unless you tell them. And that just makes my nose even hotter. How can they not know? Perception. Truth and falsehood.
We are to put away falsehood, we are to put off our old self. The old self is self consumed and selfish. This is the root of deception. Sin entered the garden of Eden because the serpent deceived our first parents that God was withholding something that we wanted. I want knowledge and God said that we could not have that knowledge because it was on a tree. I want it. I am angry. I have a hot nose, because I have been wronged. The old self is consumed with itself. What happens in a relationship when we are consumed with ourselves? We are constantly angry and offended. We snap at each other and go to war, why? Because we are so focused on ourselves to speak. We missed the point of the emotions that we are feeling.
The anger we feel is screaming at us, telling us this is not fair, but why is it not fair? This bring us to the forth command, Go, or to set and the fifth command give. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”
Does Paul want us to yell at each other all night long? No. What he is meaning is that we should respond to the sign post of our emotions. And we should respond immediately. This begins first with ourselves. Am I angry because I wanted something and it did not happen how I wanted it to be? Or am I angry because this was wrong? If it is something selfish it is possible that we need to change our perspective because we are living in the falsehood of our old life, the idolatry of self. But what if it really is wrong? We need to speak truth and we need to speak now. We cannot let it wait or it will cause greater division within our relationships.
There is anger within our relationships. There is anger in our families, and within our nation. There is anger raging between nations. Be angry and do not sin, don’t let the sun go down on your anger.
Why are you angry? I have asked this question many times. And I am going to honest with you all. Most of my anger is based on falsehood. It is based on lies I have told myself, and deception perpetuated by other. This falsehood only wants one thing to divide. It seeks to cast clouds of doubt. It seeks to manipulate us into thinking we have been treated unfairly and we should respond in rage. Now I have admitted I am often angry. Now I want to turn this a bit, why are you angry?
Why do people get upset at the idea of new math or critical race theory, or any number of things? Why are we angry? It is because we are all too often allowing the devil to get a foothold in our lives. I sat and thought about this for a while this week. I played conversations that I have had back in my mind. Our world today tells us that we should find our truth, and scripture tells us to speak the truth. But how can we speak the truth in a world where we are all reacting to clouded persecution? I realized that often I get angry because I do not listen.
I used to work the overnight shift in retail. And often I would have conversations with my coworkers. Many of the people I worked with came from various parts of the world. We each had different perspectives and rarely did we ever agree with each other. Several of the people I worked with knew that I am a pastor, so often religion would be brought up. I remember several discussion that I had my Muslim coworkers. I listened to them, and they listened to me. I found that many of the things that upset me about them and that they were upset with me about were falsehoods. They thought that we worshiped three gods, God the father, the son, and Mary. This floored me. I asked them is this really what you believe about me and my faith, and all of them said yes. I realized in that moment that lies are easy to spread. Somewhere along the line someone began to spread a deception about Christians in an attempt to encourage them to find it reprehensible and that deceit became the understanding thousands believed from nearly every corner of the Islamic world.
I then realized that maybe I too had been told lies. I told them everything I know about their faith has come from one book written by someone that was once a Muslim but converted to Christianity. And I told them that as a Friend, integrity is important to me. I do not believe in their theology, and they may never come to believe mine, but I asked them to read only the chapters of that book that spoke about their understanding of faith and tell me if there is any deception there because I do not want to speak falsehood. The interesting thing is that they willingly took the book and read it. The next day they told me what was accurate and they then asked me what if there was something they were teaching about our faith that was inaccurate.
We listened to each other. We shared meals, and conversations. I asked them to forgive me for any untruth I shared, and they were open about their lives as well. I prayed with them and for their families and they prayed as well. I left that job and took another, and a few months passed. Then as I was working my new job on the other side of the metro area, one of those men I ate so many meals with came by my new store. He walked up to me and said, “I can no longer call myself a Muslim.” I asked him why. And he said he began looking deeper into the lives of the people he once held as pillars of his faith and he saw falsehood. He then turned away and walked off before I could respond.
Speak the truth with your neighbors. This does not necessarily mean we need to go out and knock on doors. It means we live our lives open and honest. We share our perspective and are willing to listen to theirs. We seek the truth even if it makes us angry and we do not sin.
What caused that man to seek me out? It was one conversation followed by another. And the one that really caused him to think. He asked me once if it was ok to have multiple wives and I told him that from my understanding the answer was no. He then asked me why. I told him that according to my faith we are to walk as Jesus walked, that we should follow his example and give our lives for each other, to do nothing out of selfish ambition but to treat others better than ourselves. And for me to seek multiple wives would mean I was seeking my own pleasure instead of giving my life to my family. He looked at me that day and I am sure he thought I was weird, because most did. He then asked me another question, “what do I think of people that do have multiple wives.” I told him that people that want power and that seek to manipulate others tend to seek after their own desires. And they will often justify their actions and use their influence to get what they want. But I cannot live like that. I cannot live like that because I believe that Jesus loved us and gave himself up for us so that we could return to the life and lifestyle God intended for us.
Speak truth, live it out in your life among your neighbors. Recognize your anger and seek out why those emotions are emerging. And address the issue not out of rage but compassion and love.
I cannot tell you if that young man turned to Christ. I cannot tell you honestly if anyone I speak to has ever come to Christ. All I can say is that we live in a world that seeks to divide us. We live in a world that wants to manipulate and spread falsehood. And we so often get caught right in the middle. They play our emotions like an instrument in a band and we respond with flared nostrils. That is not of God. We are missing the point. What makes God angry?
Paul says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Be imitators of God, as beloved Children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
The command of God is love him with everything we have and all that we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is what God loves, what he desires, that we reflect in our relationships the very love that he has for us. This is truth. But what angers God is falsehood. It is the opposite. We anger God when we love ourselves with all that we are and all that we have, and expect those around us to do the same. Are we speaking truth or perpetuating falsehood? Are we angry without sin, or is our anger focused on ourselves? Put away the old self and walk loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit and living the love of Christ with others.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 15, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 2 Peter 1:16–21 (ESV) 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 8, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship 1 Corinthians 2 (ESV) 1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 01, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 (ESV) 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
Enhance your Bible Study with Logos. I use it daily and I am sure you will love it too!
