“You can know all the right answers about God’s love and still never feel it, so Paul prays for us to know a love too vast to fully know.”
Sermon Summary
Why do we have such a hard time believing that God really loves us? Preaching from Paul’s second prayer in Ephesians 3:14–21, Pastor Todd points out that the prayer follows three chapters on the mystery of the gospel, in which Jew and Gentile become one household and a living temple for God’s Spirit. Paul prays that the church would grasp the love behind that eternal plan.
Six observations unfold from the text. Many Christians are content to know about God’s love without experiencing it. Knowing it is a gift, and we struggle to receive it because we know we are unlovely and because even the best human love is limited by mortality, so we pursue the Giver rather than a feeling. It takes both head and heart, and it is the work of the triune God, with the Father granting, the Spirit strengthening, and the Son dwelling in us. Paul is knowing the unknowable, borrowing the measureless language of the Psalms, and this experience is possible for every one of the saints.
From there, borrowing Spurgeon’s image of a ladder, Pastor Todd shows how we become rooted and grounded in that love. We begin by confessing we aren’t there yet, since even the most mature believer knows perhaps a 2 out of 100 of an infinite love. Then we know and believe the truth, contemplate Christ’s love through Psalms 103 and 136, delight in the price God paid for us, walk in the way of love, and share that love with others as 1 Corinthians 13 describes.
The message closes at the Lord’s Supper, with the bread for thanksgiving and the cup for prayer to be rooted in his love.
Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19
Date: October 25, 2026
Preacher: Todd Pylant
Watch & Listen