Sunday's Sermon Preview

Sermon Preview: “Marriage”  
Scripture: Ephesians 5:21–33  
Key Verse:“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” — Ephesians 5:21

This Sunday, we’ll continue in Ephesians by looking at what it means to **yield**—first to the Holy Spirit, and then to one another. Paul teaches that a healthy church reflects Jesus through humble, willing submission, not forced control or dominance.

We’ll look at Paul’s first example: **marriage**. To understand it well, we’ll go back to Genesis and see God’s original design for husband and wife as united, complementary, and made to become one. We’ll also consider how sin distorts relationships through the desire to control, and how Jesus restores us to a better way.

This message will explore how wives are called to respect and yield to their husbands, and how husbands are called to sacrificially love their wives as Christ loved the church. This is not a picture of domination, but of mutual, Christ-centered love—each person lifting the other up before the Lord.

Prepare By Reading:
-Ephesians 5:21–33
-Genesis 2:18–24
-Genesis 3:9–16

Questions to talk about before Sunday:
- What does it mean to “yield” to someone else?
- How is yielding different from being forced or controlled?
- Why is it hard to put someone else’s needs above our own?
- How did Jesus show sacrificial love for the church?
- What would it look like for our church family to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ?

Main idea:
Because Jesus has broken the power of sin, we are no longer called to dominate or control one another. Instead, we are called to yield to Christ and lovingly lift one another up.
A healthy church learns to say, “Not my way, Lord—Your way.”