Underlying Assumptions – Nov. 2, 2025

Ephesians 1:15-23 & 3:14-21

Susan asked us what kind of assumptions we have about God. Our picture of God shapes how we pray just like our assumptions about other people shape those conversations. We're all afflicted with unconscious bias, which we know, but often don't recognize.

The lectionary readings in Ephesians brings us to a great prayer. The prayer, which begins in chapter 1, is interrupted by the author's enthusiastic theological reflections and picked up again in chapter 3. This is a prayer that is useful for any of us. And it's useful for us as a congregation at a time of transition as we're looking to see who God is going to bring us.

Even when you may not feel it, or feel like your prayers are being answered, know that God is utterly caught up in the details of our situation and cares for us more than we care for ourselves. You are precious to God, you are loved, and God is glad to hear from you.

A great help in surviving trying times is the knowledge, or even just the hope, that God is present to us and loves us. Knowing you are loved goes a long way in our ability to persevere.