Series: Beautiful Things

Ephesians 1, part one

Welcome to the FIRST EVER Messy Coffee Table Bible Study! Over the next couple months, we will be journeying through the book of Ephesians together. A number of things have kind of inspired the desire to do a Bible study on this blog: The Bible is the unchanging, living, God-breathed Word. It's where my faith is based and the place from which I long to encourage my readers. Ephesians is a book I've always loved in different phases of my faith journey, but have never walked through in an exegetical fashion, so I'd love to do that in the context of a larger community. Priscilla Shirer said at the Passion Conference in 2018, that if you hadn't read through the book of Ephesians yet, that you just had to do it, and that was the last little push I think I needed. Part 1 of Ephesians Chapter 1 (Verses 1-14) There’s a lot going on here...so to be clear from the get-go: I am not a pastor. I do not have a seminary degree. I am just a Jesus-lover exploring the Word of God...

On Light & Rest

Good lighting has become really important to me. I'm a big aesthetics person, so for me, the right light at the right time is everything. It instantly creates a mood and sets the pace for whatever place you're in. I have three favorite kinds of light: morning light, warm glow, and the golden hour. That has to be one of the dorkiest things I've ever said, but I don't care. Morning light is that cool, natural sunlight that streams into your windows at the beginning of a clear spring day. It's a light breeze making the curtains flutter ever so slightly, and the sound birds chirping outside. It's the first sip of coffee curled up on the couch on a Saturday morning. It's the kind of light that makes our dog all squinty-eyed as he emerges from the dark coziness of our bedroom, stretching sleepily. Warm glow is exactly what it sounds like. Think of a string of warm white lights on a Christmas tree, or lining a covered backyard patio. It's the kind of light tha...

Ephesians 4 part 1

Let's dive into Ephesians 4 together. Today we're looking at verses 1-16. (If you're still catching up, select "bible studies" from the top menu. All previous studies are there!) One God, One Body, One Fullness We're back to that theme of unity in the body of Christ. Paul re-emphasizes the importance of pursuing unity within the body because we are all unified under ONE God. He repeats the number "one" eight times---seven times in reference to God and once in reference to us. It's interesting how he does this because Paul is recognizing that we are unified body made up of individuals...each with our own gifts and our own stories. Though our faith journeys may look different from the next person the same message is threaded among all believers, and all combine together under one greater story...God's story. But this is not in a manner of pride...rather, verse 2 describes the character of this walk as very humble. In the time Paul is wr...

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