7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

– Ephesians 1:7-10 (ESV)

 

This past week we had a birthday in our house. Number one turned fourteen! It’s crazy how quickly time moves. As I looked at my oldest, it was hard to grasp that we’ve had the privilege of parenting him for nearly a decade and a half. Fourteen birthdays. Fourteen parties. Fourteen cakes. Fourteen “Happy Birthdays!” I think you get the point. The only problem was this year his birthday was not so “happy.” Sadly, my main man was sick on his birthday. 
 
In addition to not being able to go to school, despite trying, the poor guy just wasn’t able to muster a typical birthday spirit. We were kind of left in a weird quandary. Do we still try and press through with all the happy traditions we commonly share as a family? As we processed what to do, we were reminded how birthdays are very much a whole family affair. While all of our spirits were a bit dampened by the postponement of festivities, one younger brother actually burst into tears when he realized we might not have cake (Can you guess who?)! To older brother’s credit, he pushed through. We at least sang and everyone but him had cake. Said younger brother was able to dry his eyes with a birthday napkin just prior to devouring his cake.  
 
Ty is now feeling better. This weekend we will make up for his birthday downer with a party filled with all the happy traditions his actual birthday lacked. Oddly enough, this experience actually reminded me of another birthday that included sickness. Stop and think about it, friends. As Christians, the Bible says we’ve all been born again. We each have a spiritual birthday. And on this birthday, we all went from being dead, sick in our sin, to being redeemed and made whole by the power of the gospel. 
 
The Scriptures say that heaven had a party for you on that day. If you are like me, you may not have quite grasped just how significant that day was. If we did, we would have stopped and joined the angels’ festivities. Here’s the point, this Sunday, in our study of Ephesians, Paul is going to continue enlightening us on how we need to celebrate God’s work in salvation. He reminded us last week the Father chose us to save us. And now this week, he’ll share how Jesus redeemed us that we might experience a spiritual birthday. In other words, this Sunday is going to be a celebration of God’s saving work. 
 
Despite the circumstances that surround us, let’s come ready to praise God for healing us from sin and giving us a life full of the Spirit. 
 
Let’s come celebrate our spiritual birthday!
Here is the worship set to help you prepare your heart for this week's celebration.

Love you Church,

Jerry Lingenfelter
Senior Pastor