I AM APPRECIATED

EPHESIANS 1:15-2315 For this reason, ever since I heardabout your faith in the LordJesus and your love for all God’speople, 16 I have not stopped givingthanks for you, remembering you inmy prayers.

EPHESIANS 1:15-23

17 I keep asking that the God of ourLord Jesus Christ, the gloriousFather, may give you the Spirit ofwisdom and revelation, so that youmay know Him better.

EPHESIANS 1:15-23

18 I pray that the eyes of your heartmay be enlightened in order thatyou may know the hope to whichHe has called you, the riches of Hisglorious inheritance in His holypeople,

EPHESIANS 1:15-2319 and His incomparably great powerfor us who believe. That power is thesame as the mighty strength 20 Heexerted when He raised Christ fromthe dead and seated Him at His righthand in the heavenly realms,

EPHESIANS 1:15-23

21 far above all rule and authority,power and dominion, and everyname that is invoked, not only inthe present age but also in the oneto come.

EPHESIANS 1:15-2322 And God placed all things underHis feet and appointed Him to behead over everything for thechurch, 23 which is His body, thefullness of Him who fills everythingin every way.

YOU ARE

APPRECIATED BY

JESUS

EPHESIANS 1:15-1615 For this reason, ever since I heardabout your faith in the LordJesus and your love for all God’speople, 16 I have not stopped givingthanks for you, remembering you inmy prayers.

Paul wants to say this: “I want to thank you for two things: your love for Jesus and your love for

God’s people, the church.”“Your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and

your love toward all the saints.”

The love here means that:you’re praying for people,

you’re giving, you’re serving, you’re caring,

you get into cell groups, you give time and energy to serve

through your ministry, you’re working with the kids.

Second thing that he says, is about the implications of knowing

you’re appreciated by Jesus, and the big theme is identity in Christ through the book of Ephesians, and

knowing, “Man, Jesus appreciates me.”

1. APPRECIATED

PEOPLE EXCHANGE

GRUMBLING FOR

PRAYING

Grumbling is when you talk about people to other people.

Praying is when you talk to Jesus about people.

PRAYER IS ALWAYS BETTER

THAN GRUMBLING.

He knows that Jesus appreciates his hard work by the grace of God, and

his generosity, and his service, and his sacrifice rather than grumbling about

how hard his life is.

Paul knows that Jesus appreciates his life, and his service, and his sacrifice, as he appreciates the life, and the service, and the sacrifice of Jesus.

PRAYER IS WHEN

WE TALK TO GOD.

Paul’s life is very hard. He’s hated, he’s criticized, he’s opposed, he’s physically beaten, he’s separated from his church, he’s sitting in jail, and

what he’s not doing is grumbling.

The key to overcoming your grumblingis to know that the Lord Jesus

suffered for you, that the Lord Jesus loves you, that the Lord Jesus is

generous toward you.

In any way that you are obedient to Him, He sees, He knows, He

appreciates, and He’s thankful for you.

2. APPRECIATED

PEOPLE EXCHANGE

COMPETING FOR

CELEBRATING

EPHESIANS 1:17-20

17 I keep asking that the God of ourLord Jesus Christ, the gloriousFather, may give you the Spirit ofwisdom and revelation, so that youmay know Him better.

EPHESIANS 1:17-20

18 I pray that the eyes of your heartmay be enlightened in order thatyou may know the hope to whichHe has called you, the riches of Hisglorious inheritance in His holypeople,

EPHESIANS 1:17-2019 and His incomparably great powerfor us who believe. That power isthe same as the mightystrength 20 He exerted when Heraised Christ from the dead andseated Him at His right hand in theheavenly realms.

We should really appreciate Jesus: that God the Father sent God the Son into human history to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live among us as

one of us,

and He lived without sin, and He died, and He went in the ground, but He didn’t

stay there; that our Jesus rose from death, and He conquered Satan, sin, death, hell, and the wrath of God;

and that He ascended into heaven and today He’s ruling and reigning from this

authoritative position.

1. He starts with:“Dear Christian, always appreciate who Jesus is and what He’s done.”

2. He prays for them two things:

a. One, that they would learn more about Jesus. It doesn’t matter how long

you’re a Christian; there’s always something new to learn about Jesus.

b. He prays for not only that they would have more knowledge about

Jesus, but they’d have a deeper experience of Jesus.

Holy Spirit’s ministry to us:to take the life of Jesus, to place it in us, and to give us power to live a new life, increasingly more, and more, and

more, and more like Jesus.

3. APPRECIATED

PEOPLE EXCHANGE

BITTERNESS FOR

THANKFULNESS

“BITTERNESS IS A DEEP RUT IN MY SOUL.”

EPHESIANS 1:21-23

21 far above all rule and authority,power and dominion, and everyname that is invoked, not only inthe present age but also in the oneto come.

EPHESIANS 1:21-2322 And God placed all things underHis feet and appointed Him to behead over everything for thechurch, 23 which is His body, thefullness of Him who fills everythingin every way.

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-1110 That at the name of Jesus everyknee should bow, in heaven and onearth and under the earth,11 and every tongue acknowledgethat Jesus Christ is Lord, to theglory of God the Father.

When you think it’s about your name, you get bitter, but when you realize

it’s about Jesus’ name, you get thankful.

We live for the name of Jesus.

Paul is thankful for two things: he’s thankful for

Jesus and the church.

1. JESUS who is ruling and reigning right now, and He’s in glory, and He’s

enthroned, and He’s in charge, and He loves us, and He appreciates us, and He

sees everything we say,

and everything we do, and every dollar we give, and every effort we make. He looks at us and he says, “I thank God for you all the time. You’re continually

in my prayers.”

2. THE CHURCH“We really want you to love Jesus and

love the church.”

Appreciated people exchange

bitterness for thankfulness.

PAUL’S PRAYERS

One of the keys to Christian

leadership is prayer.

The shortest distance between two people is prayer.

” Prayer oftentimes lines up with God’s will and God’s heart.”

When you appreciate Jesus and you know that He appreciates you, it becomes very easy to talk to Him

about everything.

4. APPRECIATED

PEOPLE EXCHANGE

PERFORMING FOR

SERVING

Knowing that God appreciates us allows us to exchange our performance for service.

PERFORMANCE is done for the sight and approval of others.

SERVICE is done knowing that God is watching and approving, whether or

not anyone else is.

PERFORMANCE causes us to be enslaved to others’ opinions, unable to say ‘no’,

and prone to being overworked.SERVICE frees us to do what God wants,

thereby saying ‘no’ is needed.

PERFORMANCE presses us towards perfectionism, where we seek to do everything

just right so that others will praise us.SERVICE allows us to do our best knowing that God’s appreciation of us is secure, regardless of

our performance.

PERFORMANCE causes us to focus on the “big things” and only do what is highly visible or

significant.SERVICE allows us to do simple, humble, menial tasks, “little things”; knowing that the peasant

Jewish Carpenter we worship equally appreciates them both.

PERFORMING is where people are an audience and you want their praise.

SERVING is where God is the audience.

Would you say that your life is marked primarily by

performing or serving?

5. APPRECIATED

PEOPLE EXCHANGE

BOASTING FOR

ENCOURAGING

What happens when we feel unappreciated?

“I obsess about making known everything that I do.”

Exaggerate.

Have you ever done things, and people didn’t praise you?

Exaggerating is what people do when they feel unappreciated.

Lie.

WHO DO YOU NEED

TO THANK?

When we criticize one another, we make withdrawals.

When we appreciate one another, we make deposits.

With your friends, with your roommate, with your spouse, with your children, with your leaders in church, with your co-workers in the ministry