Sun. Dec. 4, 2011 (Santosh Ninan)

On December 4th, Santosh Ninan (Regent graduate, former pastor, active speaker and writer, and presently a stay-at-home-Dad) spoke on "Love which surpasses all knowledge". During his years in prison, Paul had ample time to reflect, pray and write. During those times of confinement, he became particularly concerned that the new Christians in Ephesis be somehow corporately grounded in love, even as they faced brokenness in their personal and corporate lives. Every modern family, of course, carries it secrets, hurts and concerns, and too often individuals then construct protective barriers which distance them even from people they ostensibly love. At times, Santosh suggested, these mental barriers can unthinkingly be carried over into our relationship with God. Knowing this, Paul prayed that the Ephesians could both grasp and somehow know the love of God, a love that 'surpasses knowledge'. Santosh dramatically contrasted believers having a theoretical knowledge about God as opposed to them actually experiencing God's love: Think of the contrasts between meeting someone online via eHarmony and meeting them in person--two entirely different things. Santosh then made three suggestions: (1) Take an honest emotional audit on how well you receive love and accept forgiveness, (2) Spend time with God in quiet prayer and fasting, and (3) Dare to seek to create close 'soul friends'. A recent survey conducted by the Vancouver Foundation identified "isolation" as the number one concern for Vancouverites. Paul directly addressed this concern in his letter to the Ephesians. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, December 4th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.