Because We All Live in Ephesus

“How did the Gospel proclaimed in Ephesians play in the culture of Ephesus?”

Sermon Summary

You've probably been told the gospel boils down to being good and being religious, and that's the exact same half-truth the church in Ephesus was living on. Paul planted that church, watched it wrestle with doubt, occult obsession, wealth, and false teachers rising from within, and then wrote them a letter from a Roman prison that never once dumbs the gospel down to meet them where they were; it lifts them up instead.

As we begin this slow walk through Ephesians, you'll see that the culture of ancient Ephesus is the culture we live in now: incomplete faith, intellectual doubt, spiritual forces we can't out-muscle on our own, and a hunger for wealth that money can't satisfy. Over the coming weeks, we'll open up what Paul calls "the unsearchable riches of Christ," riches so deep it'll take an eternity in heaven just to start understanding them.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:1–2

Date: August 2, 2026

Preacher: Todd Pylant

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