We live in the most entertained, most medicated, most connected moment in human history. And we are emptier than ever.

We reach for things to fill us. And they don't.

Paul saw this same pattern in Ephesus two thousand years ago - a city drunk on wine and the worship of Dionysus, chasing fullness in all the wrong places. And into that world he wrote: don't be drunk with wine. Be filled with the Spirit.

In this message, Pastor David walks through Ephesians 5:15–21 in three movements - the trajectory, the waste, and the foundation - and shows that the question was never about a line. It was always about who is in control of you.

In this message:

• The ancient two-path wisdom tradition and why everyone is trajecting toward something
• What kairos means — and why the wise person seizes moments instead of drifting through them
• The Dionysus cult in Ephesus and why Paul's audience felt the word asōtia in their bones
• Why the things we reach for to fill us — screens, substances, approval, work — hollow us out instead
• What "be filled with the Spirit" actually means — and why it's reception, not self-effort

Key Scriptures: Ephesians 5:15–21 • Psalm 1 • John 6:40; 14:6 • Matthew 7:24–27 • 1 Corinthians 6:12 • 1 Peter 5:8 • Acts 4:12 • Romans 10:9–10

🙌 Join us Sundays @ 9:15 AM 1120 Madison St., Jefferson City, MO 🌐 https://memorialchurch.net 📩 getconnected@memorialchurch.net 💬 https://www.facebook.com/memorialchurchjc

🎧 Listen on the go:

• Podbean: https://memorialchurchjc.podbean.com/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/memorial-baptist-church-jefferson-city/id1478157245
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CuIDzWry5Y2oz8TBHOKoH
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@memorialbaptist9681

We live in a culture that worships sex. And honestly? So did Ephesus.

Temple prostitutes. Sensual parades. Fertility rituals. The city Paul was writing to wasn't so different from the billboards lining the highway today. And into that world, he writes: be imitators of God.

That's an impossible standard. And that's exactly the point.

In this message, Pastor Jimmy walks through Ephesians 5:1–16 and does something most sermons on this topic don't do - he refuses to give you a line. Because this isn't about how close you can get to the edge. It's a heart issue. A worship issue.

What does it look like to imitate God in the way we treat our bodies, the words we speak, and the jokes we laugh at? And what does wisdom actually look like when the days are evil?

In this message:

• Why the church of Ephesus and our culture are not as different as we think
• Two caveats that frame everything: no line-drawing, and this is about us - not them
• What porneia actually means - and why it's bigger than most people think
• Why crude joking degrades image-bearers of God (and why that matters)
• What "no inheritance in the kingdom" means - and what it doesn't
• How sanctification, struggle, and the gospel all fit together

Key Scriptures: Ephesians 5:1–16 • Genesis 1–2 • Matthew 5:27–28 • 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 • John Stott on vulgarity and thanksgiving

🙌 Join us Sundays @ 9:15 AM 1120 Madison St., Jefferson City, MO 🌐 https://memorialchurch.net 📩 getconnected@memorialchurch.net 💬 https://www.facebook.com/memorialchurchjc

🎧 Listen on the go:

• Podbean: https://memorialchurchjc.podbean.com/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/memorial-baptist-church-jefferson-city/id1478157245
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CuIDzWry5Y2oz8TBHOKoH
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@memorialbaptist9681

Last week: put off the old self. Be renewed. Put on the new.

This week Paul gets specific. The new self has to show up somewhere - in your words, your anger, your hands, your forgiveness. It has to have a face.

In Ephesians 4:25–5:2, Paul gives a list. But this is not random moral advice. Every command is anchored to one controlling truth: we are members of one another. What you do in the body either builds it up or tears it down. And Paul drops two spiritual reality statements as bookends around the whole thing - give no foothold to the devil, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

There is no neutral act in community. Everything carries spiritual weight.

In this message, Pastor David walks through seven movements - from truth and lies, to anger and the foothold, to corrupt speech, to forgiveness - and shows what happens when the life of Jesus actually gets formed in a community of people.

In this message:

• Why lying destroys the one thing a body runs on - trust
• How unresolved anger becomes a beachhead for the enemy
• Why Cain is the case study for Ephesians 4:27
• The three tests for every word you speak
• What forgiveness actually costs - and why the cross is the only place to find it

Key Scriptures: Ephesians 4:25–5:2 • Genesis 4:6–7 • Mark 3:5 • John 8:44; 11:33 • Matthew 5:21–26; 20:28 • James 1:20; 3 • John 13:35

🙌 Join us Sundays @ 9:15 AM 1120 Madison St., Jefferson City, MO

🌐 https://memorialchurch.net

📩 getconnected@memorialchurch.net

💬 https://www.facebook.com/memorialchurchjc

🎧 Listen on the go:

• Podbean: https://memorialchurchjc.podbean.com/

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/memorial-baptist-church-jefferson-city/id1478157245

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CuIDzWry5Y2oz8TBHOKoH

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@memorialbaptist9681