Page 216 - 如溪邊喬木40th 紀念特刊 _Neat

Word of Encouragement
Formosan Presbyterian Church of Orange County
on the Occasion of their 40th Anniversary April 21, 2018
◆
Rev. Tom Cramer, Co-Executive Presbyter for Vision & Mission
o Pastor Ming Yuan Hsu, his wife and
family, the session, and members of
this congregation, it is an honor for Forrest
and me to be with you on this special anni-
versary celebration on behalf our presby-
tery. Thank you for having us.
The apostle Paul offers two prayers in
Ephesians, the second of which I would like
to read today on the occasion of your 40th
Anniversary. The letter is written while
Paul is under house arrest in Rome and
he’s reflecting on all the great things he
has experienced since the Risen Christ en-
countered him on the Road to Damascus.
Ephesians is a letter of praise and hope,
as Paul gives thanks for God’s initiative to
reach out to all people with love and
grace. In his first prayer, Paul asks that God
give the Ephesians the “Spirit of wisdom
and revelation” so that they may know
God better (1:17).
For Paul, this is where the life of faith be-
gins, when people have their hearts opened
up through a direct encounter of God’s grace.
The God who pursued a person like Paul, a
person who was ravaging Christians and
shunning Gentiles, is the same God who can
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breathe grace into everybody’s life through
the power of the Spirit.
In my former church, we had a chil-
dren’s and youth program called ‘Logos’ in
which there was only one rule. It went like
this, “You are a child of God and I will treat
you that way.” Whether you were behaving
like an angel or like a spoiled brat, whether
you were paying attention in choir or
throwing spitballs at your friends (and I’m
not just talking about the adult volun-
teers ), we remembered out loud on a reg-
ular basis that the same Christ who
suffered and died for me also suffered and
died for you.
This is Paul’s great insight in Ephesians.
People who were once foreigners and al-
iens of each other become fellow members
of God’s household, not based on anything
they had done, but based on what God had
done in Christ on their behalf. Jews, Gen-
tiles, everyone was invited in.
Repeatedly, Paul calls this work of the
Spirit ‘a mystery,’ something which is be-
yond human comprehension, but is worth
living and dying for, because it changes the