Pillar Church Podcast

Following Jesus was never meant to stop at believing the right things. The more we know God, the more His character should begin shaping the way we actually live. Ephesians 5 begins with a simple but weighty command: “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.”

In “What Does It Mean to Imitate God? | How Knowing God Changes the Way You Live,” we walk through Ephesians 5:1–20 with four practical questions: Why should we imitate God? How do we imitate Him? How can we recognize when we are not? And how do we consistently live this way?

In this sermon, you'll discover:
Why we imitate God from our identity as His children, not to earn His approval
How knowing the Father helps us increasingly reflect His character
Why living a life of love requires spending meaningful time with God
How old patterns can keep believers living unlike the Father they belong to
Why freedom begins by changing what we continually feed our hearts and minds
What it means to carefully consider what pleases God in everyday life
Why becoming like Jesus requires continually being filled with the Holy Spirit

God did not save us so we could remain unchanged. He brought us out of darkness, called us His children, and invited us to learn His ways. That means the goal is not simply to become “better people.” It is to become people whose lives increasingly resemble our Father, and we cannot imitate someone we do not know.

As we spend time with God—not only when we need something, but simply because we desire Him—we begin learning His heart. Our desires change, our appetite for old patterns changes, and His character begins influencing the way we speak, love, choose, and respond.

Paul ends by reminding us that this transformation requires more than discipline. We must continually be being filled with the Holy Spirit.

You do not have to remain who you once were. You were once darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. Know your Father. Stay filled with His Spirit, and let the way you live reveal whose child you are.

Everyone imitates someone. We absorb the habits, values, language, and priorities of the people we look to for direction. In Ephesians 5, Paul takes that natural tendency and gives believers a clear command: imitate God, because you are His dearly loved children.

In “Do You Live Like Your Father? | How To Shine Bright In A Really Dark Day,” we walk through Ephesians 5:1–20 and what it looks like for the children of God to actually resemble their Father in the way they live.

In this sermon, you'll discover:
Why our identity as God’s children is the foundation for imitating Him
What it means to live a life of love rather than simply talk about love
Why genuine love is always connected to sacrifice
How believers can live as light without isolating themselves from people in darkness
Why carefully determining what pleases God should shape everyday decisions
What it means to make the most of every opportunity in difficult days
Why being continually filled with the Holy Spirit is essential to living like Jesus

Jesus did not simply tell us He loved us. His life made that love undeniable. He gave Himself for us, and Paul says that sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to the Father. That same love should become visible through us. And in a dark world, God has not called His people to retreat. Light is most valuable in darkness. We are called to live among people who do not yet know Jesus in such a way that the character of our Father becomes visible through His children. But we cannot do that through human effort alone.

Paul’s instruction is not simply to be filled with the Holy Spirit once. The invitation is ongoing: be being filled. We need His presence and power again and again to love well, walk wisely, recognize what pleases the Father, and make the most of every opportunity He gives us.

So before you simply look at your calendar and begin another day, start with a different prayer: Holy Spirit, fill me again. Give me everything I need today to live like my Father.

Spiritual warfare is often more practical than we think.

Ephesians 4 shows us that the battle is not only happening somewhere in the unseen realm. It is also showing up in our thoughts, habits, relationships, words, reactions, and everyday decisions. The way we live can either agree with what God is doing in us or give ground back to the enemy.

In “What Does Enforcing Victory Look Like? | Three Ways to Stand Firm in Spiritual Battle,” we continue through Ephesians 4:17–32 and look at what it actually means to live from the victory Jesus has already won.

In this sermon, you'll discover:
How believers can unknowingly partner with the enemy through agreement and repeated sin
Why the way you think eventually shapes the way you live
What it means to put off the old nature and live from the new life Christ has given you
Why grieving the Holy Spirit is relational, not merely behavioral
Why sensitivity to the Holy Spirit matters in spiritual warfare
What it means to “walk in the opposite spirit”
How truth, generosity, encouragement, kindness, and forgiveness become acts of spiritual resistance

Paul does not tell believers to simply stop doing bad things. He gives us a different picture: throw off the old nature, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes, and put on the new nature created to reflect God.

That means enforcing victory is active.

When the enemy invites you into fear, move toward trust. When greed tells you to hold tighter, become generous. When dishonesty feels easier, tell the truth. When bitterness feels justified, forgive. You do not simply refuse the enemy’s direction, you move deliberately in the opposite one. And we do this with the help of the Holy Spirit, our greatest ally in the battle. He is not a power to use or a presence to visit occasionally. He is the Person of God who lives within us, leads us, speaks to us, and forms us into the likeness of Jesus.

Spiritual warfare does not always look dramatic.

Sometimes it looks like telling the truth. Giving generously. Choosing kindness. Forgiving someone who hurt you. Turning away from an old pattern and walking back toward God.

Jesus has already won the victory. Our invitation is to stop giving ground away and start walking like it.

Spiritual warfare is often more practical than we think.

Ephesians 4 shows us that the battle is not only happening somewhere in the unseen realm. It is also showing up in our thoughts, habits, relationships, words, reactions, and everyday decisions. The way we live can either agree with what God is doing in us or give ground back to the enemy.

In “What Does Enforcing Victory Look Like? | Three Ways to Stand Firm in Spiritual Battle,” we continue through Ephesians 4:17–32 and look at what it actually means to live from the victory Jesus has already won.

In this sermon, you'll discover:
How believers can unknowingly partner with the enemy through agreement and repeated sin
Why the way you think eventually shapes the way you live
What it means to put off the old nature and live from the new life Christ has given you
Why grieving the Holy Spirit is relational, not merely behavioral
Why sensitivity to the Holy Spirit matters in spiritual warfare
What it means to “walk in the opposite spirit”
How truth, generosity, encouragement, kindness, and forgiveness become acts of spiritual resistance

Paul does not tell believers to simply stop doing bad things. He gives us a different picture: throw off the old nature, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes, and put on the new nature created to reflect God.

That means enforcing victory is active.

When the enemy invites you into fear, move toward trust. When greed tells you to hold tighter, become generous. When dishonesty feels easier, tell the truth. When bitterness feels justified, forgive. You do not simply refuse the enemy’s direction, you move deliberately in the opposite one. And we do this with the help of the Holy Spirit, our greatest ally in the battle. He is not a power to use or a presence to visit occasionally. He is the Person of God who lives within us, leads us, speaks to us, and forms us into the likeness of Jesus.

Spiritual warfare does not always look dramatic.

Sometimes it looks like telling the truth. Giving generously. Choosing kindness. Forgiving someone who hurt you. Turning away from an old pattern and walking back toward God.

Jesus has already won the victory. Our invitation is to stop giving ground away and start walking like it.

In Ephesians 4:1–6, Paul called us to walk worthy of our calling by maintaining the unity of the Spirit — through humility, gentleness, and bearing with one another in love. That’s how we protect unity as individuals. But in verse 7, Paul turns to how we maintain it together as a church.

And it starts with a gift.

In “Your Gift Isn’t for You | How Spiritual Gifts Build The Church,” we walk through Ephesians 4:7–16 and the grace Christ has given to each one of us. This isn’t only saving grace — it’s enabling grace, a spiritual gift that empowers us to do what we could never do on our own. And Paul makes clear that these gifts were never meant to be kept to ourselves. They were given to build up the body.

In this sermon, you’ll discover:
Why Christ has given a grace gift to every believer
The difference between unity and uniformity
Why fear, comparison, and jealousy keep us from using our gift
What Psalm 68:18 reveals about the gifts Christ won for us
How Christ equips the church for the work of ministry
Why using our gifts helps us grow into maturity and unity
What it means for each part of the body to work properly

Unity has never meant sameness. Like different voices singing in harmony, our different stories and gifts come together into something more beautiful than any of us alone. Every part is needed — if we don’t use the gift God gave us, what He gave it for won’t get done.

So why do we hold back? Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes we think our gift isn’t valuable. Sometimes we’re jealous of someone else’s. But none of us earned our gift. It belongs to Him, and we are simply stewards of it.

Paul draws on Psalm 68:18 — the picture of a conquering king handing out the spoils. Christ has defeated sin and death, and our gifts are the spoils of His victory. Every time we use them, we declare that the enemy could not hold us.

Your gift isn’t for you.

It’s for the people around you — and their gifts are for you. As each part works properly, we grow up into Christ, no longer tossed around by every wind of doctrine, and the whole body is built up in love.

Because the unity Christ created becomes visible when every gift is in play.

The question isn’t whether you have a gift. The question is: Are you using it to build up the body?