ICF Delft

Many things are happening in the world, these days. They may frighten us. We may wonder what we can do about these things and where this will all lead. Yet sometimes we feel we cannot do so much. We may wonder: what is God doing? The heart of the Christian faith is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is not primarily something that we have to do, or something that God may or should do today. The Gospel informs us about something marvelous and extraordinary that God has already done for us. He sent his Son into this world, to obtain the greatest victory ever. He gave his Son, the Savior, as a gift, that through Jesus we might have eternal life, joy, peace and hope. Christ ransoms us from a perishing world for the world that is too come. We may receive this gift for free, by faith. Yet, we may wonder, what does this practically imply for my everyday life? In this sermon, we continue to read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We see that Christ equips believers with a variety of gifts. On the way, during our lives, we may learn to happily use what we received to serve others. And to receive and benefit from what Christ has given to others so that they may build us up as well. You are so welcome to join and to learn more!

Last Tuesday the new season of the Dutch parliament started with the king’s speech. The speech started with a reference to the achievements of the Dutch athletes at the Summer Olympics. We may be a tiny country, yet we may be proud of what we have achieved and can achieve – the message was something like that. It is a very common thing to base your identity on what you perform and achieve. However, there is a huge risk in that. What is your value, once you are not able to achieve so much? Are those who achieve much more than others of greater value than those who hardly seem to contribute anything? Thinking in worldly ways can easily creep into the minds of Christians, creep into the church and lead to dissension and trouble. We read on in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 4:1-16). All Christians receive a portion and gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet, not all receive the same portion – says Paul in verse 7. Such a difference, not only as regards the kinds of gifts, but even as regards the amount of giftedness might easily lead to trouble. Either to boasting and pride, or to envy, to jealousy. It seems to make unity among Christians hard, if not impossible. The difficult and important question is why Christ does not distribute equal amounts of spiritual gifts. The answer Paul gives in this passage is – as we will see – perfectly satisfying and most encouraging. You are so welcome to join and to learn more.

In the beginning of a new season we all need strength. Strength to be able to accomplish our tasks and to thrive. Yet, not only whether or not we are able to succeed matters. The way and manner wherein we do things also matters. Matters a lot. And for that we also need strength. Upcoming Sunday we continue to read in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 4:1-6). We learn that the first characteristic of the Christian life is and should be humility. In Paul’s time, humility was not seen as a virtue, but as a vice. Maybe that is still the same. However, we will see in this Sunday sermon how beautiful and attractive true, Christian humility is. Also, why it so necessary, though we find it hard. Last but not least, also how one might obtain and exercise this humility. You are most welcome to join and listen to this service and to learn more.

For many in the end of August a new seasons is starting. A new year of your studies, work, maybe even a whole new period in your life. That may feel exciting, but also (a bit) threatening. Can I make it? Where do I find the strength? In this Sunday sermon we read a small passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:14-21), where Paul prays for strength for the Christians at Ephesus. He knows that they live in a world wherein godliness is far from easy. Yet through his prayer the Spirit of God has strengthened both them and many ever since.May we receive the same, in this sermon, when we explore this empowering prayer. You are so welcome to join and learn more!

The feeling that you are a bit an outsider as regards the people of God, the saints and the Gospel, is not uncommon. You can think of others as those who are the real saints, the real believers and hence the right ones to make the Gospel known to others. Upcoming Sunday we read on in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (3:1-13). We will see how Paul also received it all as a gift, by grace, once he was an outsider himself. We will read that he regarded himself as `the least of all the saints’. Yet, just as the riches of the Gospel first were made known to him personally and then he was entrusted with the task to make it known, so also the church of Ephesus and all believers may first receive the fulness thereof and then they will also be used to make it known. We encourage you to hear more and to see how this is relevant for you as well.

In new situations, we have to adapt. Though the situation is new, we may be inclined to act in accord with what we were used to, rather than in accord with what is appropriate now. Everyone who comes to true faith in Jesus Christ, finds himself or herself in a totally new situation. You are born of God. Part of God’s family, God’s people. Spiritually you have been made alive. By Jesus’ blood you have received God’s forgiveness, peace and adoption. Now, you are the Spirit’s project. You are being built into a temple, fit for God’s own dwelling place. We read on in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and we explore about what the peace that God has given to us, means and implies for us. We read Ephesians 2:11-22.

Always, when you go to a Bible-believing church, you will hear, again and again, the word `Grace’. And you will hear `by grace we are saved’. But what does this mean? This Sunday we looked at that. The children stayed in the service, so the preaching was for them as well, for all ages. Though the message of grace on the one hand is not complicated and though a child can understand it, we are seeing that nowhere there are more misunderstandings, than around this point: what grace is all about. We read Ephesians 2:1-10.

Do you live as may be expected of a Christian? This may be a hard question for you. Either, because you are aware that in some areas you don’t. Or, because you find it hard to know what it would look like in your daily life to live as a Christian. Upcoming Sunday we start a new sermon series: `Encouraged with the Ephesians’. Paul wrote a letter, fully aware that for the Ephesians it was hard to live as Christians and that they also needed a clearer understanding of what the Christian life looks like. The purpose of the letter is both to empower and to equip the Ephesians, so that they may live the life and the identity that they have received. We are reading Ephesians 1:1-14 and we will discover why Paul chose to open his letter with these words of praise.

Do you pray for others? Probably most of us do. Are others praying for you? Probably also. Do you know what others are praying for you? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Sometimes it is good, not only that people pray for you, but also that you hear and know what they are praying. We read on in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He wanted the Ephesian Christians to know why he was praising God for them. We explored about that in last sermon. In this sermon we will hear what Paul prayed for the Ephesians and why he wanted that they heard his prayer.

We know that Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus. But read the accounts about the resurrection and you will see that it is also about the resurrection of Jesus’ disciples. The resurrection account forms the end of the Gospel-record. But the account is not just a happy end to the story. The account forms the start of something new. Something that is still going on. People who rise up through the risen one.