Will Vaus

Listen for God’s word to you from Ephesians 4:1-16…   As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.   Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it  says: “When he ascended on high,     he took many captives     and gave gifts to his people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, ...

Pastor John Guest from England tells the story of coming to the United States many years ago to speak at a youth camp. He arrived after dark and was shown to his room where he quickly fell asleep, extremely tired from his long journey. Later that night, John was awakened by the camp director who asked him to put on some clothes and come with him immediately. John did so and he was then led to the camp office. As John walked through the doorway of the office, he saw a teenage boy sitting in a chair at a desk, slumped over, hand trailing at his side, with a pistol. This teenage boy had taken his own life. On the desk in front of the body was a note. On the note were written the words from the Beatles’ song: “All you need is love,” and then the words, “Somebody help me.” The tragedy of that young man’s life was that he didn’t wait around for the help. That teenage boy was handsome, athletic, very popular in school, but somewhere deep inside, he didn’t feel loved.   To love and to be l...

Listen for God’s word to you from Ephesians 3:1-13…   For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the G...