Pastor Matthew Hopkins - Salvation Identity: Before the Father

Part of the sermon was not recorded and so it starts in the middle. Here is some information to help fill in the context: It needs to be recognized that being overwhelmed by something always elicits a response. And Ephesians 3:14-21, starts off with Paul being overwhelmed and contains his response. But first we must ask ourselves what was Paul overwhelmed by and what his response was. To answer this, read Ephesians 1-3 because this is the build up to Paul being overwhelmed. In short, it is because of God's great blessings and love for His people whom He saved through the death and resurrection and ascension of His Son and brought them in as His children and reconciled them into one humanity, no longer divided, in Jesus. Paul is flooded with God's incredible salvation so much so that it brings him to his knees. With this mind, we are able to move into looking at Paul's response and what that means for us. Paul's response is to pray for the believers. This is where the sermon picks up right after reading Ephesians 3:14-19. The sermon also closes with the reading of Ephesians 3:20-21.