now I want to start things off this morning with a little bit of interaction. So I want you guys to talk back to me to talk to your neighbor and we're gonna give you a chance to share a little bit because it's gonna be very much a part of our service and message this morning. And so the question that I'm gonna use to kick off our message together is what's your jam? What is your favorite song? Or if you don't have a favorite song, maybe a favorite artist or if you don't have a favorite artist, maybe a favorite genre or decade of music. So right now go ahead with the person sitting next to you, go ahead and share with that person. Or if you're watching online, put it in the comment section. What is your favorite music? Favorite artist, favorite song, favorite genre. Go for it. Go ahead and share with your neighbor. Mm hmm. Mhm Look up. Alright, so as you guys are sharing, I'm gonna open up more opportunities. Does anyone have a favorite? Does anyone here have a favorite theme song of a tv show or a movie? Favorite theme song for a Tv show or a movie. You can add that into Mexico ahead and think of that. All right. And so I want you on the count of three those in the room. I want you on the count of three to share with me your favorite song, favorite theme song, favorite musician or decades. I don't know wherever you feel comfortable saying out loud here And I want you to go ahead and shout it out together. Okay. 1, 2 3 marvel here marvel. You two heard? Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song that was classic West philadelphia. Born and raised. Okay, I won't continue down that one. Hi shooting some B ball outside, let's go. Okay. Um now when you have that song, when you have that theme song, when you have your favorite artist or that music life just feels better, doesn't it? It does, it just feels better like it makes you want to roll down the windows unless it's summertime in Arizona, it makes you want to crank on the A. C. And you just listen and just puts a smile on your face or maybe you listen to it and just get stuck in your head and it changes how you go throughout your day. You know, I remember the theme song of Mission Impossible if that came on, you immediately felt like you were in an adventure. I remember one time I had just like random playlist on my phone and it came on while I had my airpods in and I was doing groceries and all of a sudden grocery shopping became way more exciting to the tune of Mission Impossible. I'm going down the aisle, Dun dun dun dun dun and then like going through it was like this is great, although I was very terrified that something was going to explode along the way, but but when you have a favorite theme song, I might not know what is your favorite theme song or your favorite artist or decade of music, but I can guarantee you what none of you picked. And that is the music stylings of Muzak, have you ever heard of Muzak? It is a genre of music. I'm not making it up Music which was created in 1930 for is recorded light background music played in public places. So this is kind of that like ambiguous, vague music that you hear in retail stores Uh phone call when you're on hold, waiting for the insurance agent to get back to you or your on hold for 45 minutes just for someone to get on the phone and say, Oh, that's not my department. Let me send you to my manager and then you hear this music again, right? Some of you actually started clenching up a little bit like this in your shoulders because it's giving you some pTSd of maybe some customer service calls you made this week. But you hear this music because the purpose of muzak, it's an actual genre of music. The purpose of music is to just be a filler right? To, to avoid dead space and fill it with almost white noise that you really can't identify. It's not that memorable, but it's just existing in your life. Now, why do I bring up music? I wonder for how many people in this room or maybe watching or listening later on podcast? I wonder for how many people Christianity is like this music Christianity is like muzak it's it's this recording and and you know it's music but you can't quite identify it and it just kind of lives in the background. So maybe you go to church on a sunday or every couple of months or or maybe on holidays and it's it's a box that you check. But for the most part Christianity or faith serves as background music because nobody loves loves waiting, Nobody is like man I can't wait to sit in the waiting room, I can't uh you know you're put on hold for 30 minutes and someone answers and like hold on a second, could you put me back on? I was really enjoying that alright. No one lives that way but we treat treat Christianity that way. Is that when we have nothing better to do, when we're just waiting on the next thing to come, we play the faith card and this is it. But what if there was a better way? What if Christianity was meant not to sit in the background but in to live and be in the foreground of your life? So the question driving our discussion this morning is jesus, your theme song or just background music is jesus your theme song or just background music? So not just is it just present in your life? Is it just kind of Okay. Yeah it's there? But isn't your rally and cry, is it what gets stuck in your head and you just sing out loud? Are you you just, you think about it and it changes how you walk, it changes how you live and and it really impacts all of who you are and what you do. We're gonna take a look at a passage today in Ephesians chapter two and we're gonna see how jesus at the end of the day should be our theme song. Our series is called battles and blessings and that's because we experienced battles and blessings simultaneously. Sometimes even experienced a blessing and then we walk into a battle and sometimes we find ourselves in a battle searching for the blessing and we have this incredible letter that the Apostle paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about 2000 years ago and this jewel of a letter is really seen as the spark notes or the summary of all of the new testament That compact in six little chapters. We see such deep and rich theological ideas to where every phrase, every word is so impactful and transformational and today's passage is no different. In fact, we're gonna take a look at Ephesians chapter two, verse one through 10 and this is seen as one of the best passages in all of the bible to understand what does it mean to be a christian? And so if you're new to church, you've come at a great time because now is the time for you to kick the tires and to hear what Christianity is all about. And if you've been a christian for a while, then my prayer and hope is that we can take a fresh look at this real path passage and just be encouraged and find joy and meaning within this these words. Now, I just want to set you up and some of you are looking at these words and I want to let you know that it doesn't start out great, but it's reality. And so paul doesn't mince words and so he starts out right out of the gate, he says this in Ephesians chapter two verses one through three, he says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked? I want you to notice that word walked. We're gonna come back to that following the course of this world, following the Prince of the power of the air, referring to the devil and satan the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature, Children of wrath, just like the rest of mankind. Ye aren't you so uplifted today that you came to church, but here's the thing when you go to the doctor and he gives you a reality check, he says, here's here's what you have and until you understand where you are, you can't get to where you need to go. And so paul in chapter one talks about blessing upon blessing upon blessing, talks about God, the father, jesus, son and the Holy Spirit, how we have our identity in christ, how we have, there are riches in the saints that we are God's inheritance, that he prays that you would know the power of God and the greatness of jesus that is available to you. But then he turns into chapter two and he says, but you we're dead not like kind of dead, dead, it's not about bad becoming good or sick becoming better, but dead becoming alive. This is the miracle story of the gospel and it starts understanding that there is nothing we can do without jesus, You might have heard the phrase dead to rights, We're dead to rights eternally speaking, there's nothing that you can do to justify yourself before a perfect and Holy God. Even if you think of yourself as someone who I don't spend that much. I mean every thought sin of commission, you do things that you're not supposed to do. Every sin of omission. You don't do what you're supposed to do, every attitude, motivation, words, actions, you can see where You can tally up quite a list throughout the day. But let's say, you're an amazing person and you only send 10 times a day, But you lived to be 70 years old, you have now sent a quarter of a million times. Imagine going to court standing before a judge and you had only accumulated 250,000 speeding tickets and you stand before the judge and he looks at your record and looks at you and your response is, I'm really a good driver And you should see the guy with like 400,000 like it doesn't work that way because you're standing before a holy and perfect, eternal God. And so it's sin that separates us from God, Adam and Eve in the garden when they sinned and God shared and the angels shared with him that they would die. Yes, there was a physical death, but they were kicked out of the garden and there was a spiritual death that happened immediately and then we have to understand that we cannot act are way better into heaven. We're dead, we're dead to rights were dead in sin. But he continues on and he actually says actually when you live by this world, you're actually led by satan that seems intense. It's because we're in a spiritual war and I wouldn't be doing my job as a friend and as, as your pastor if I didn't acknowledge the war that we're in. In fact paul emphasizes so much on spiritual warfare that he ends the letter talking about the armor of God and how you need that to win the war and how do we know that satan is real and that spiritual warfare is real. Well, you see evil exists, you see evil in the world, you, you can't turn on your computer or the news or see online and see bad things are happening or maybe you've struggled and you find yourself with such negative talk and and issues and struggles and, and voices in your head that are saying to do something that you know is not right, but yet you find yourself doing that, Sainz referred to as the king of Lies that he speaks lies. And so when you have a lie infiltrating your mind and that thought and that worrying, that doubt, where do you think that comes from? See we are at war spiritually speaking, and if you don't have christ in your life by default, you are walking in darkness and you're gonna follow that path that ultimately leads to destruction. And so we're dead in sin. Were led by satan without christ were also lost in worldly living. We're lost in worldly living. We had our house um for two summers, a little kiddie pool, but it was like a big kitty pool, you know, the ones that like to three ft high kind of thing. And so we filled it up and so it was small enough though that if if myself and the kids would all go in one direction, we create a really kind of fun whirlpool, it would just go around around around and then you would stop and you and you just keep taking you around around and it was great because uh two summers ago we were doing it. And so my, me and my two boys were just making this thing go fast and fast and fast and fast and then Chloe our little, my little daughter hopped in and she had no chance. Like she jumped in and just goes, just started like taking around around around that is the picture of our lives here in the world without christ that we are just in this whirlwind of the pursuit of pleasure and money and fame. And we think if I only have this, if I only get that if I could only be with this person or in that relationship or have this bank account and we think, okay, that will be enough. But what happens is if we lose that we've lost our identity and if we gain that we realize that that's not satisfying. And so we get lost and worldly living just thinking, I need to pursue what's new, what's bigger, what's better, but it doesn't work that way. And then it says in those first three verses that not only are we dead in sin? Not only we did are led by satan, not only are we lost and barely living, but also we're stuck in our old nature, we're stuck in routines, How many people do repeated things that they know do harm to their bodies or their mental health or to the relationship or to someone else, right? We're stuck. Have you ever helped a car that got stuck in mud? I've learned the hard way. You don't want to be directly behind the wheel, right? If you're in the center of the car, it might help, but if you're right behind the wheel that's stuck like all right, push and it's just like shooting mud, you're just gonna be covered. And the And the car is not going anywhere. But how many of us live that way? Well, I know this caused trouble in the past. I know this drink, this drug, this addiction, this computer, this show this relationship, this conversation, this gamble, this whatever. I know it caused me trouble last time, but this time will be different. And we end up with mud on ourselves and we're like, oh man, where'd that come from? And while we might kinda justify or make cute statements like it's not that bad. The reality is at the end, paul also tells us this that we are awaiting the wrath of God. That judgment is coming, that our time is limited. And if we stopped there, this would be really depressing. But think and God for this transition in verse for the single greatest but in all the bible. So he says in there verse four he says in here, he says, But God the first persons were you Now it's up to God and says, But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. I love that. He didn't just say. And he loved you. He loved you with what kind of love A great love A God kind of love and endless eternal love. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with christ by grace, you have been saved and raised up with him and seat and seated us with him in the heavenly places in christ jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in christ jesus for by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship. I love this phrase because he he first starts with you, he said, I mean we've all been there, then he goes to God and then he lands on we and it says we are his workmanship. The word there in the original language is puma. It's where we get our word poetry. I love that phrase. You are God's poetry. You were God's creative expression for all eternity. That when he looked into the world, he thought to himself, I want one of those and so all your uniqueness, all your personality the desires, ambitions, dreams, everything that you bring to the table is given to you as a gift and that God created you on purpose with the purpose. And he says for we are God's workmanship. We are God's poetry created in christ jesus for good works with God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Oh if you love literature and structure of writing, I love this picture that he starts off saying you were walking in darkness. But because of the grace of God, you can now walk in your purpose. You know, one of the ads that you see running around for Grand Canyon University is find your purpose. And that's a great phrase, don't get me wrong. Uh And and so if the person who came up with that marketing phrases here in church, we're watching like, hey good job way to go G. C. You probably added another 10,000 students today because it's like growing like crazy loops up. And so anyway, but the thing about that phrase find your purpose, it almost seems like it's like hide and seek, isn't it? Like come here purpose, Come here purpose. Come here purpose, purpose. Have you seen purpose anywhere? Ah That purpose is hiding again and like we feel like I don't have it, I have to go find it somewhere. But what this verse tells us is that we don't have to go find our purpose. It says that we can walk with purpose and that means that he gives purpose to every single thing that we do. That means that your current job matters. That that meeting matters. That those relationships with their coworkers and in the community and in the cul de sac and in the classroom and on the sports team. That matters how you speak to people, how you treat people. That matters because God created you for this. God made you for this, do me a favor and turn to your neighbor and say God made you for this. This this means that if you're walking through a difficult time, if you're struggling, you're battling that God created you for this very moment and therefore you can walk in purpose because your purpose is jesus and he is with you every single step of the way. So without christ we are dead, we are lost. We are stuck, we are awaiting wrath. But with him with christ we are given three things with christ number one, we're made alive. Together, we are made alive together in him. Have you ever experienced a moment where you feel alive? Sometimes it comes from shocking moments like if you've ever had a near death experience or like a car crash or something that like happens or happened next to you or if and maybe something artificial like a roller coaster or something drops or something goes and you go and all of a sudden you can feel your heartbeat, you know I'm talking about, you can hear your breathing just became you become very aware of everything around you maybe it's not a shocking moment. Maybe it's a moment of awe. A sunrise to sunset, The Grand Canyon, the ocean where you find yourself, wow. Maybe it's an intimate moments with a loved one. Or or hearing the words I love you from a child or or holding a baby or having a genuine conversation with a friend. And you experience that moment, that joy, that love and you just think this is awesome. That's life. This is the life that God has called us to that without jesus, we are dead in our sins. But with him we are made alive together. That means you weren't saved to go through life alone, that you were saved into a community into a family into a body known as the church that we are being made alive together, that we are no longer walking around blind walking around in darkness searching for purpose and things that the world promises that can't fulfill. But instead, recognizing That we have, then this is #2, that we have been saved by grace through faith. Grace means unmerited favor to receive something that you don't deserve. And we don't deserve eternity and forgiveness and redemption, but he gives it to us, Jesus trades places. He takes our penalty, our punishment and we get his blessing and his name. And so we get all the rights to be sons and daughters of God. And so we are made alive. But now we are made alive through Grace by faith. Faith is the mechanism through which we experience that grace. And so to have faith is to believe not just ahead acknowledgement, but to put the full weight of your life. And jesus as Lord and Savior. He's not just a nice man, he's not just a nice guy in a robe, He's not just a painting or a mural or a song. He is God and he is savior. And he's the only way to heaven. Amen. Here's what I love. We have been made alive together since we've been saved by grace through faith. Here's the last part for good works. He doesn't rescue you. And then say, all right, good luck from here. He says, no, I got a job for you. I want you to help usher in my kingdom. I want you to share the good news with others. I want you to share in this inheritance and in this plan and in this purpose and I created you for something you were made on purpose with the purpose and then he says that go ahead and walk in that. See this is why it's good news. This is why Jesus is our theme song, not the background music because Jesus changes literally everything your worldview, your attitude, the struggle with addiction, your hope, your perseverance, your courage, your strength, how you speak to one another, how you act, how you serve, how you give, how you live, it changes everything. The best thing you can give your kids is to love jesus, The best thing you can give your marriage is to love jesus. The best thing you can do for your workplace is to know God, because when you know God, you come alive and then you can walk with purpose and walk in purpose, the name, jesus literally means God saves or the God of salvation and we see that we can go from death to life from darkness to light. So be encouraged today that you are alive today, that we are alive together in him as the band comes up and I want to close with this here that, you know in this cafeteria, there's a little box kind of right by the door that caught my attention a couple of weeks ago and it was the Lost and found box and it's interesting because it's just kind of a mixture of stuff seemingly left behind. But if you've ever found something at the Lost and Found my God, Yes, and I feel like that kind of represents the church in some ways, we are a mixed box of stuff, different backgrounds, different experiences, different economic classes, generous ethnicities, but in jesus, we moved from being lost to being found and we can live in that because it starts when you make jesus, your theme song, the central component of who you are, becomes who he is and it changes how you live. It's time to take jesus out of the background music. Mhm. Into the foreground and to make it central to who you are, what you believe, what you do. Because when you do that, it changes everything. If you let it, it's not even just you changing, it's allowing God to change you just a moment. We're gonna take communion in remembrance of what Jesus did in remembrance of how Jesus sacrificed for for you and for me. But let us remember when we take that, when we take communion, some of you grab those on the way in, we'll pass them out if you didn't have one yet. But let us remember that the reason we celebrate communion is the fact that jesus didn't just die, but he rose and because he rose, that means he reigns and if he reigns that means we rain and we win and we are alive and we are redeemed and we are forgiven and we have purpose and joy and love and strength and courage so we can go into monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and every day that ends and why with a strength that can only be described by faith in jesus because we have moved jesus out of the background into the foreground away from being background music and becoming our theme song as we sing about our king, as we sing about who he is and what he's done and how we have life. I'm gonna pray for us. I want to give you an opportunity if you have never experienced that, I want to give you a chance to receive jesus today because this is what Christianity is. It's not just a series of practices. It's not a series of check boxes. But it is the belief in the relationship with jesus that leads to life. Mhm Will you pray with me? God help us? Mm hmm. To take you out of the background. Just something that's kind of present. But we don't pay attention to help us move you into the foreground of our life, of our thought of our passion. God, we know that we are sinners, that we are dead in our sins. There's nothing we can do apart from you but God through your son, jesus dying on a cross and rising again. We can experience life and grace and forgiveness and meaning. We put our faith in you. We believe in you as Lord and the savior. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for loving us. So we give this time to you and we commit our lives to you and your son's name. We pray Amen