Day 1 — When Boasting Breaks Peace
Scripture: Ephesians 2:8–9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith… so that no one may boast.”
The sermon begins with an unexpected place: football fandom. When the Chiefs were underdogs, people rooted for them. When they kept winning, the resentment grew. What changed? Not just success—but boasting.
Boasting has a way of turning success into hostility. It creates distance. It stirs resentment. And Paul tells us plainly why: boasting assumes credit that doesn’t belong to us.
In Ephesians 2:8–9, Paul makes a radical claim—grace removes boasting. If salvation were even partly earned, there would always be room for pride, comparison, and division. But because salvation is entirely God’s work, boasting is stripped away at the root.
This is not just true in sports or online arguments—it’s true in relationships, communities, and even churches. Wherever people feel the need to prove themselves, peace begins to fracture.
Reflection:
Where are you tempted to boast—about your success, your morality, your knowledge, or even your faith?
Prayer:
Lord, expose the quiet ways I cling to pride. Replace my need to boast with gratitude for grace. Amen.
Day 2 — Remembering Without Despair
Scripture: Ephesians 2:11–12
“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ… having no hope and without God in the world.”
Paul begins the section on peace with a command that feels uncomfortable: remember.
Remember exclusion. Remember alienation. Remember hopelessness.
But this remembering is not meant to crush us with shame. Paul is not calling the Gentiles—or us—to relive guilt. He is calling them to remember in order to rejoice.
The point is not how bad we were, but how far God has brought us.
Some believers can clearly remember life apart from God. Others grew up in the church and feel like they’ve “always belonged.” Yet Paul makes clear: both paths lead to the same truth—apart from Christ, there is no hope.
Whether our past sin looked rebellious or respectable, we were all separated from God.
Reflection:
When you look back on your life apart from Christ, do you see mainly shame—or redemption?
Prayer:
Father, help me remember my past not to despair, but to marvel at Your mercy. Amen.
Day 3 — Brought Near by Blood, Not Belonging
Scripture: Ephesians 2:13
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
This verse is the hinge of the sermon—and of the gospel.
Paul is clear: the Gentiles were not brought near by changing their culture, adopting Jewish practices, or earning a place. They were brought near by the blood of Christ.
The language Paul uses is passive. You have been brought near.
You didn’t walk yourself in. You were rescued.
That truth dismantles both pride and despair. Pride says, “I earned this.” Despair says, “I don’t belong.” The gospel says, Christ has done it all.
God does not hold His children at arm’s length. In Christ, He draws us in. He embraces us. He calls us sons and daughters.
And without believing this—deeply—we cannot live at peace with others.
Reflection:
Do you live as though your place with God is secure because of Christ—or fragile because of you?
Prayer:
Jesus, help me rest in Your finished work. Let Your blood silence both my pride and my fear. Amen.
Day 4 — Christ Killed the Hostility
Scripture: Ephesians 2:14–16
“For he himself is our peace… breaking down the dividing wall of hostility.”
Paul doesn’t say Christ teaches peace. He says Christ is our peace.
The dividing wall between Jew and Gentile was real—both physically in the temple and spiritually in the law that separated clean from unclean. That wall created insiders and outsiders. And with it came resentment, pride, and hostility.
Christ did not simply invite Gentiles into the Jewish inner circle. He abolished the inner circle altogether and created something new: one new humanity.
Peace came not by compromise, but by the cross. Hostility wasn’t managed—it was killed.
This challenges us deeply. We are quick to rebuild walls Christ has torn down:
- cultural expectations
- political litmus tests
- theological gatekeeping beyond the gospel
The church is not a group of people who passed the test. It is a family of people who admit they couldn’t.
Reflection:
What walls are you tempted to rebuild that Christ has already destroyed?
Prayer:
Lord, tear down the walls I cling to. Teach me to see others through the cross. Amen.
Day 5 — You Belong, and You Have a Purpose
Scripture: Ephesians 2:19–22
“You are no longer strangers and aliens… but members of the household of God.”
Paul ends this section by answering a question many people quietly ask:
Do I really belong here?
His answer is unambiguous: Yes.
In Christ, you are not a guest. You are family.
But belonging is not passive. Paul shifts the image from family to construction. The church is a building—alive, growing—and you are a necessary part of it.
You are not excess material. You are not a leftover board. You are being joined together with others so that God Himself might dwell among His people.
Peace in Christ doesn’t just give us comfort—it gives us purpose.
To belong.
To build.
To love.
To welcome others the way we have been welcomed.
Reflection:
Do you see yourself as someone who truly belongs—and someone God is using to build His church?
Prayer:
Father, thank You for giving me a home and a purpose in Christ. Use me to build Your dwelling place of peace. Amen.