The sermon closes out a series on Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, focusing on its final two verses, 20 and 21, which form Paul's doxology. The preacher opens by describing a recent tribute to tennis great Rafael Nadal at the French Open, where spectators stood applauding for several minutes to honor his fourteen championships. If a mere human achievement commands such prolonged reverence, the sermon argues, how much more ought Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings, receive glory and honor. This doxology, the preacher notes, is the climax not only of Paul's prayer but of his entire life, and should be the climax of every believer's life as well — echoing the Lord's Prayer's own doxological ending ("for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory") and the Westminster Shorter Catechism's opening question, that man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. The sermon contrasts this doxology with others in Scripture, such as Jude's, which emphasizes God's power to keep believers from falling (the perseverance of the saints), showing that each doxology carries its own emphasis.

In Ephesians 3, Paul's emphasis falls on God's power — the Greek word dunamis, root of the English "dynamite" — to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. The sermon connects this power directly to the ascension of Christ: when Jesus ascended and sat at the right hand of the Father, this was not merely a return home but an enthronement, comparable to a king's coronation, marking Christ's assumption of universal authority no longer limited by space and time as he was during his earthly ministry. Yet the ascension does not mean Christ withdrew intimacy from his people. The sermon draws on Jesus's words to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb — "do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father" — arguing that Christ's departure in the body enables an even deeper, Spirit-given presence in the hearts of believers, quoting Augustine's line that "you ascended from before our eyes, and we turn back grieving, only to find you in our hearts." Seated at the Father's right hand, Christ also intercedes for believers, giving them confidence to approach God.

The sermon then turns intensely personal, with the preacher recounting his own regret — after nineteen years of ministry in Melbourne — that he and his wife chose not to have more children early on, out of fear and limited faith rather than trust that God could do more than they could ask or imagine. He extends this into the story of the church's own history: beginning with a five o'clock evening service attended almost entirely by students, a Sunday school of only four children, and a church treasury of just twenty dollars, the congregation could not have dared to pray for what it has since become. Every step of growth — a larger space, a morning service, families gathering from across the city — testifies that God works far beyond what was imagined or prayed for, and the preacher warns against the temptation, once settled and comfortable, to take that growth for granted.

The sermon identifies the church as "the theater of God's glory," a phrase drawn from John Calvin, who described the heavens themselves (Psalm 19) as displaying God's glory in general revelation. Ephesians 3:10, however, points to a special revelation: that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God is made known even to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. Christ, as head of the church, is the central actor in this theater — not Paul, not Calvin, not Luther, not any preacher — since, as one preacher is quoted saying, the giants of church history are like meteors flashing briefly across the sky, while Christ is the sun that shines forever.

The sermon concludes by uniting two great truths that converge in the believer's soul to produce this doxology: the power of God that exceeds all we can ask or think, and the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). When these two truths — God's immeasurable power and Christ's immeasurable love — take root together in a believer's life, they produce a bold, joyful doxology and a life of faith that steps forward beyond mere calculation, trusting God to work far beyond what is asked or imagined.

Bible Verses Used

• Ephesians 3:20-21: The central text and doxology of the sermon, celebrating God's power to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, and grounding the call to give him glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever.

• Ephesians 3:10: Cited to show the church's special purpose — that through it God's manifold wisdom is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, making the church "the theater of God's glory."

• Ephesians 3:19: Referenced for the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, paired with God's power as the second of two truths that produce genuine doxology.

• Jude 24-25: Quoted as a contrasting doxology emphasizing God's power to keep believers from falling, illustrating that each biblical doxology carries a distinct emphasis.

• Psalm 19: Cited via Calvin's "theater of glory" language, showing general revelation of God's glory in creation as distinct from the special revelation given through the church.

• John 20:17 (the Mary Magdalene encounter, referenced but not chapter-numbered in the sermon): Used to explain that Christ's ascension deepens rather than diminishes his intimacy with believers through the Spirit.