Can God Restore a Broken Relationship? Ephesians 2 | Arroyo Church

Pastor Josh Smith on Ephesians 2:11-22 at Arroyo Church in Livermore, CA - can God restore a broken relationship? How He brings us back to Himself, and then to each other. Josh opens with a pickup basketball game, a foolish try at out-rebounding a six-foot-six former college player, and a foot that stayed purple for weeks. The point: "just like breaking a bone hurts breaking a relationship hurts." But "just like a broken bone can heal so can broken relationships heal," because "God is a God of relational restoration." In this fifth message of "Grace for You," our verse-by-verse walk through Ephesians, Josh shares three truths on how God reconciles broken relationships. WHAT PASTOR JOSH COVERS 1. No one is too broken to be restored - Ephesians 2:11-13, Luke 15:11-32 Paul starts with being reconciled to God. Those who were "without hope and without God in the world" have been "brought near by the blood of Christ." God runs after those who wander away, like the father in what Josh calls "the parable of the loving Father," who runs to his son "while he was still a long way off." "God is not a reluctant runner" - "he's not surprised by your sin he's not fed up with you." And God gives hope to the hopeless. Like Josh's father-in-law Ralph, a contractor who turned an awful house into something beautiful, God "can bring something beautiful out of" our brokenness. 2. Peace with God creates peace with others - Ephesians 2:14-18, 1 Corinthians 13:5 "He himself is our peace," and the cross "put to death their hostility." Peace with God ends our hostility toward others, for two reasons. The record has been ripped up: "love keeps no record of wrongs." Yet "we love being forgiven but we don't always like being forgiving," and some of us keep a spreadsheet of someone's wrongs going back decades. Forgiveness isn't "sweeping sin under the rug." You can forgive "whether they admit it or not," but true reconciliation takes both: the one who was hurt forgives and the one who did the hurting owns it - and often, Josh says, "you both have sinned against one another." And your sin has been seen: if you know you are a sinner who needs a Savior, "you can't look down on" the people who hurt you. Some people hurt others on purpose, Josh says, but "a lot of the times" it's because "they're hurt and out of their hurt they're hurting you." 3. Jesus turns us from tension to togetherness - Ephesians 2:19-22 We are "no longer foreigners and strangers" but "members of his household." Josh gives four reasons for Christian togetherness: the same citizenship (heaven), the same family (children of God), the same foundation (the apostles, the prophets and Christ the cornerstone) and the same Spirit. Christians can disagree on non-essentials, like pizza toppings, and still unite on the essentials. And Christians walking in step with the Spirit stay together, because "division is when there's more than one vision." Togetherness with someone who isn't a Christian is still possible, he says, but "a whole lot harder." KEY TAKEAWAY "What relationship in your life right now feels completely beyond repair?" "There is no relationship with God or with another person that is beyond God's repair." Josh points to the Roman Colosseum, broken by an earthquake in the 1300s, that no one could rebuild alone: "You can't repair it," but "God specializes in repairing and reconciling relationships." Then his invitation: come to God "with the empty hand of faith" and say, "Lord, I can't, you can. Will you by your grace help me?" SCRIPTURE IN THIS MESSAGE Ephesians 2:11-22 | Luke 15:11-32 | 1 Corinthians 13:5 SERIES Grace for You - a verse-by-verse study through Ephesians. READ THE FULL RECAP https://www.arroyochurch.com/arroyobl... SERMON NOTES https://links.arroyochurch.com/notes/... NEW HERE? PLAN YOUR VISIT https://www.arroyochurch.com/#ac-visi... Website - https://www.arroyochurch.com Give - https://www.arroyochurch.com/give All our links - https://links.arroyochurch.com Instagram -   / arroyochurch   Facebook -   / arroyochurch   JOIN US IN PERSON Sundays 10:00 AM - 945 Concannon Blvd, Livermore, CA 94550 Arroyo Church is a Bible-teaching church in Livermore, California, serving families across the Tri-Valley - Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon and the surrounding East Bay. Whether you have walked with Jesus for years, are coming back after time away, or are just curious who He is, there is a seat for you. #ArroyoChurch #Livermore #Ephesians #Reconciliation #GraceForYou