Combined Worship Celebration – Imagine
Readings: Ephesians 3:7-21 Preacher: Phil Swain
This is the sermon from our combined worship experience where we brought together our 9am, 10:45am, and EVOLVE communities into one joyful and inspiring service. The theme was IMAGINE, and we reflected on Ephesians 3:7–21, which reminds us that God is at work in ways far greater than we could ever ask or imagine—and that we’re invited to be part of it!
Sermon Text
There’s something special about having the breadth of the TUC community being together today, isn’t there? I know that it is sometimes an effort to get a service like this organised (especially in terms of the music) … but when we are all together, I find it really exciting. I’m so glad we’re here.
We’re leaning into the theme of IMAGINE. Earlier Daniel helped us open that up beautifully with the kids — reminding us that imagination is a gift from God. But imagination is not just for children playing pretend. It’s something deep in our faith—it helps us see what could be, not just what is.
And this theme fits so well with the passage from Ephesians 3, especially that breathtaking ending where Paul says: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” Can we just sit with that for a second? What might it mean if God really is already at work in ways beyond what we could ever dream up or plan out?
Let’s take some time this morning to explore what this might mean for us—for you and me, for Turramurra Uniting Church—as we listen for God’s call, as we imagine our future, and as we continue this journey of being the church together.
1. God is at work — more than we could ever imagine
Let’s start that verse I just quoted – Ephesians 3:20. This is particularly relevant as we are 2/3rd the way through our mission planning process … as we try to discern or imagine where God is leading us and what it means to be a 2030 church.
It’s a reminder that God is not limited by our expectations. That even when we think we’re dreaming big, God’s dream is bigger. More expansive. More hopeful. More generous. More inclusive.
And yet sometimes, if we’re honest, the church has fallen into a small way of thinking. Sometimes we get caught thinking that is our job is to generate God’s mission. You know, like:
“If we could just come up with the right plan… or the perfect mission statement… or the ideal program—then God will move!” But what if… God is already moving?
There’s this powerful idea that runs through a lot of theology called the Missio Dei (Latin for the mission of God). It emphases that mission starts with God … it is God’s mission. Our job is not to bring God to the world. Our job is to discern where God is already at work—and join in. Not because we have to carry it all ourselves. But because God is already doing more than we could ever ask or imagine.
It has been my prayer that this idea has been a key part of the foundation of our mission planning. As a church, we’ve begun to imagine a future — not one that simply preserves what we’ve always done — but one that asks, “Where is God calling us to join in?”
This is what Paul was writing in our bible reading for today. Paul was acknowledging that while he felt God’s call to share … how does Paul say it … “insight into the mysteries of Jesus”, it was not Paul’s idea to take that to the Gentiles. Nor does Paul take credit for it either. No, Paul describes himself as a servant of the gospel … that it was God’s grace that he was invited to preach to the Gentiles about Jesus.
Paul admits that it was all God … God was already at work in their lives and communities and all Paul did was join in the mission that God was already doing.
David Bosch, a missional theologian, puts it this way:
“Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but a core attribute of God. God is a missionary God.” In other words, God is the one already out there loving, healing, restoring—and the church is invited to participate. And I love how Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, summed it up:
“It is not the church of God that has a mission. It is the God of mission who has a church.”
So as we continue on our journey of mission planning at TUC… let’s remember, we’re not trying to manufacture activity. We’re listening. We’re imagining. We are looking to see where God’s Spirit is already stirring, already reaching out, and we’re asking: “How can we join in?”
2. God’s love is known most fully when we’re together
There’s another beautiful moment in our reading that I just want to zoom in on. In verse 18, Paul says: “…that you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
Did you pick up on the amazing word in that sentence?
Together. Together with all God’s people. That’s the key.
Yes, we can know God’s love on our own. But there’s something powerful, something sacred, about being with all of God’s people—and seeing God’s love reflected through one another. Isn’t that what we experienced already this morning?
We’ve commissioned our Church Council. We’ve welcomed new members. We’ve sung and prayed and shared space across age, experience, and background. And I don’t know about you, but when I look around this room, I get a fuller glimpse of God’s love than I could ever see alone.
At the recent Synod, Rev Dr Peter Walker said something that’s stuck with me ever since. He said: “For any change or transformation to come to a community, there needs to be trust. And trust can only be nurtured through relationship.”
That’s why moments like this combine worship today matters. This is not just a calendar event or a logistical challenge. This is a relational moment. A reminder that we belong to one another. That your presence matters. That every person adds something to our understanding of who God is and what God’s love looks like. If we are going to continue imagining what a vibrant, Spirit-led, Christ-centred, courageous TUC looks like in 2030 and beyond, we need to do it together.
And do you know the blessing that comes with that? When we do this together we will begin to grasp even more the height and depth and width and breadth of God’s love.
3. The invitation: imagine… and join in
So where does all this leave us? I think God once again is reminding us of our calling as a church.
To keep imagining.
To keep listening.
To keep noticing where God is already at work—and to courageously step into it together.
This mission planning journey we’ve been on—it’s not just a strategy. It’s an act of hope. It’s saying, “God, we believe you’re still moving. We trust that your Spirit is at work in our neighbourhood, in our community, in us.” And we want in.
Let’s go back one more time to Paul’s beautiful benediction:
“Now to the One who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power at work within us,
to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
May we imagine.
May we trust.
May we join in.
Amen.