Alive By Grace

Many people have no idea that they're the walking dead, living life wholly apart from the God who made them. But for believers, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller. Today you'll hear another message in a series from Ephesians.

That series is called Alive in Christ, and today our focus is on being alive by grace. Here now is Pastor Philip. Well, good morning, Moody Church. Good to see all of you.

Welcome on this muggy day here in Chicago. We're so glad you're here this morning. However you got here, whether you're local or drove in from the suburbs or whether you're joining us online or over the radio, we're so glad that you've chosen to worship with us this morning. We're celebrating that we are alive in Christ today. Amen?

Amen. God has made us alive, and that life has purpose and meaning, and it's going somewhere glorious. And so let's stand and let's begin our morning with prayer as we ask our Lord to come and meet us and make us new today.

Let's pray. Father, we come here this morning and we confess that apart from you, apart from your grace, we're as good as dead. But in Christ, we have been made alive by your mercy and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Help us to live lives that are worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so we pray, Father, that you would show us more of the son and all that he has done to make us alive and give us more of your Holy Spirit that we might walk in obedience as you have called us today. We pray this in Jesus' matchless name and all God's people said, Amen. Amen. And now our scripture reading this morning is from our good friend, Lucy Alvarez.

Good morning. This is the word of the Lord. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.

And we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly praises in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. My hope is filled on nothing less than Jesus' love and righteousness. I dare not trust the love of Jesus' name, the holy name of Jesus' name. On twice the solid, on the stand, all around him some may stand. In darkness fails his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale, my anger holds within a limb. On twice the solid, on the stand, all around him some may stand, all around him some may stand. To this common name is God, so come ye, Lord, and fly.

In all around my soul is he, he that is all I see. On twice the solid, on the stand, all around him some may stand, all around him some may stand. On twice the solid, on the stand, all around him some may stand. To this common name is God, so come ye, Lord, and fly. In every high and stormy gale, my anger holds within a limb. On twice the solid, on the stand, all around him some may stand.

On twice the solid, on the stand, all around him some may stand. From the moment man first disobeyed the Father, we were then held captive by our sins. The law of God demanded a sacrifice restoring to himself his own again. So the Lamb, God's only Son, was freely offered. Atonement for our sins, forever made.

He innocent and holy, still God and God only, can rent so many demons back again. So I say, Alleluia! Praise the Lamb!

Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! My heart seeks His praise again.

Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! So to the cross they carried Him. With all our guilt and all our sin, the Lamb of God was slain for our transgressions. And from the cross those nail-pierced hands reached up to God and down to man. And just as if I'd never sinned, He took me in His arms. Embracing me, He willingly fought again.

All our secrets and love led those no bounds. Though guilty and condemned, I now am free. Forever unforgiven, for Christ the Lord has risen.

And risen with Him, He shall only be. Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! Alleluia! Praise the Lamb!

My heart seeks His praise again. Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! Alleluia! Praise the Lamb!

My heart seeks His praise again. Alleluia! Praise the Lamb!

Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! My heart seeks His praise again.

Alleluia! Praise the Lamb! Praise the Lamb! A few days ago, my dad and I were talking and he said, Son, you've really got to pick up your pace here in your preaching. If you only preach through one sentence a week, you're never going to get through Ephesians. And of course, the last two messages have been about one sentence each and as we covered all of chapter one almost. So I'm going to take my dad's advice today and I'm actually going to preach through two sentences.

Look at me, two sentences. So grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Ephesians chapter 2. We're looking at verses 1 down to 10.

You'll find today's reading on page 976. 976 and the two sentences, in case you're wondering, are verses 1 through 7. That's one sentence and verses 8 through 10. That's the second sentence and this is the word of the Lord.

Ephesians 2 verse 1. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not the result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus four good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word. A few years ago a friend of mine had a near-death experience and by the grace of God he survived and I asked him I said how did it change you this brush with death and this is what he told me he said when you're a dead man and God gives you your life back it means he has a purpose for you. When you're a dead man and God gives you your life back it means he has a purpose for you and then he went on to describe all the ways that had changed him he'd rededicated his life to Christ he was loving his family more intentionally he had he was spending his time more wisely it changed the course of his life was changed because of his encounter when you're a dead man and God gives you your life back it means he has a purpose for you that's what Ephesians 2 verses 1 to 10 is all about we were dead God has made us alive and that means there's a purpose for our lives dead alive purpose there's your outline for this morning dead alive purpose and if you're a follower of Jesus Christ today this is your story you were dead you're now alive and you have a purpose and if you're curious about Jesus today this is what he can do for you he can take your deadness and make you alive with purpose so let's bow our heads and pray and we'll jump in all right heavenly father we pray today that we would catch a line of sight to the wonder of what you have done in resurrecting our dead lives and giving us meaning and purpose for the rest of our days and into eternity we pray that in seeing what you've done we would love you more dearly and follow you more nearly that we would be more and more like Jesus because of what you have done we thank you for this life we have in Christ by grace it's in Jesus name we pray amen amen first of all dead dead let's dig into the first two sentences why don't we Ephesians 2 1 and 2 when you were dead in your trespasses and sins and what you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience just pause for a moment so Paul is writing to formerly dead people right formerly dead people of course he's referring not to physically dead people but spiritually dead people this goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve rebelled against God and ate the fruit from the forbidden tree the tree of knowledge of good and evil remember God had told Adam in the day that you eat of it you will surely die but when they ate of the fruit something strange happened they didn't drop dead they ate of the fruit and their bodies kept on living but something died that day they died on the inside their spiritual vitality that was sustained through a living connection with God when that connection was severed when they broke relationship with him in their sin they began dying from the inside out their spiritual death would eventually rot them out from the inside and bring physical death as well the spiritual death would metastasize into physical death but its root was on the inside spiritual death and as part of Adam's race friends we all partake in his demise we were each of us born physically alive but spiritually dead and we each ratify Adam's rebellion against God through our own sin and our own disobedience as Paul writes in Romans 3 23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God in Romans 6 23 says the wages of sin is death 1st Corinthians 15 22 tells us in Adam all all die so that's where Paul begins you were dead your story begins in a morgue and he's about to do an autopsy why did we die three causes of death number one you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked trespasses trust do not trespass right trespassing is when you stray out of bounds it's when you cross the line you shouldn't cross it's when you do something you should not have done trespasses sins sins means missing the mark it means falling short of the target it means you didn't do the thing you were supposed to do so all of us are in this sense dead in our trespasses and sins all of us have failed to love the Lord our God with all of our heart soul mind and strength all of us have failed to love our neighbor as ourselves we've missed the mark we're sinners and not only that we've been selfish and prideful and mean and hurtful we've crossed the line we are trespassers as well that's how we once walked he says those were our embodied choices our habituated practice we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked so in other words our death is of self-inflicted wounds in a sense we we did this to ourselves proverbs 14 verse 12 says there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death so that's the first cause of death self-inflicted wounds secondly the second cause of death is that we were following the course of this world following the course of this world we were dead and we were just going with the flow we were everybody was doing it and so we did it to 1st John 2 verses 15 to 16 say this do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world the desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes the pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world you see friends sin is not just an individual thing when sinful human beings come together we build culture and those that culture the culture of the world of sinful humanity together becomes a kind of environmental force that shapes us and acts upon us so that if we just go with the flow go with the culture the culture of the sin curse world we will end up not in life but in death we were dead because we were following the course of this world it was our cultural environment we were swept along by the deadly current of this world the third cause of death here is that we were following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience so we were dead under the oppression of spiritual darkness satanic tyranny remember the Ephesian believers the Gentiles in particular had turned away from magic arts in order to come follow Jesus so they were very spiritually engaged they turned from their magic arts and practices in order to follow Jesus they knew of the power of Satan and his minions as Paul will say in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against rulers and against authorities and against cosmic powers over this present darkness against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places in other words our sin the sin of the sons of disobedience that he describes here is symptomatic of a far deeper far more pervasive diabolical agenda because Satan is hell-bent friends on destroying humanity he's a terrorist Satan cannot defeat God so he goes after his kids he holds us hostage to get at the father's heart so here we are we were dead we were following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that's now at work in the sons of disobedience we were under satanic tyranny held hostage by his oppressive power so what was the cause of our spiritual death Paul three things we had self-inflicted wounds it was our trespasses in sins that put us here secondly it is a world inflicted death because the world was leading us astray and we went along with it and it is a Satan inflicted death because that tyrant had taken us hostage now by the way do you see how robust the Bible's understanding of sin and evil is here this is so nuanced human choices cultural influences and supernatural oppression behind evil and sin you always find human choices cultural influences and supernatural oppression and all three are simultaneously at work in a way that doesn't negate the others let's say I come from a long line of angry men okay and and so I get angry with my kids because my dad got angry with me and his father got angry at him it's all we know am I 100% responsible for my own sin my anger yes I am a hundred percent responsible for my sin are there cultural influences from my family system that are making me prone to anger yes yes the Bible says that the sins of the fathers are visited on their children to the third and fourth generation are Satan and his minions at work in my anger trying to destroy me and my family yes we do not wrestle against flesh and blood so so here's the reality I can't hide behind my family culture I can't say well I'm just from this family and I think we get angry that's just who we are that's not taking responsibility I can't say the devil made me do it because that's not taking responsibility and yet I would be naive if I thought I just walked into the world empty-handed and I was just building my life in my own story without any cultural influences from my family or any spiritual oppression going on in in my anger I would be naive if I screamed those things out friends do you realize this gives you such a lens to see the great problems the spiritual death that is ravaging our lives our families our neighborhoods our city our nation and our world there are human choices that matter there are cultural influences at play and there's supernatural oppression at work which is why by the way our politicians can't seem to find solutions because the political left sees the problem as cultural influence environmental factors and systems and so their solutions are always about good resources will make for good people they tend to downplay individual responsibility the political right sees the problem as largely human choices individual responsibility and so good accountability will make for good people just make an example of those bad apples and they tend to downplay the cultural influences that are at work in shaping evil in our society and neither side left or right sees the problem with supernatural oppression they just don't pay attention to it at all and friends listen as long as your diagnosis is reductionistic doesn't take all the factors into account your prescription will be reductionistic as well the only answer to spiritual death arising from human choices cultural influence and supernatural oppression is a solution that addresses all three sources of evil at once now what solution is that you're gonna have to wait for it because Paul is getting there okay it'll come I promise now in verses one and two Paul seems to have his Gentile readers primarily in focus the non-Jewish contingent of his audience they were the ones who are following the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air they were the ones with the magic arts that laid down their books as they converted to Jesus but Paul quickly points out that the Jewish followers of Jesus were just as bad off as the Gentiles were when it comes to their own trespasses and sins and disobedience look at verse 3 among whom we all so now he's count Jews and Gentiles account about everybody among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by nature of children of wrath like the rest of mankind Paul does a very similar line of argument in Romans chapter 3 when he says chapter 3 verse 9 what then are the Jews any better off no not at all what we have already charged is that both Jews and Greeks are under sin Romans 3 23 again all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God which means that all people Jews and Gentiles alike are children of wrath like the rest of mankind we're all in this death state together now I know it's hard to imagine but God's wrath is actually a function of his love God's wrath is actually a function of his love think about it a loving father gets angry at those who inflict harm upon his children doesn't he a loving father gets angry at the self-destructive choices and behaviors that his own children are making that are ruining them a loving father gets angry at the ego and selfishness and hard-heartedness that is strange is a child from their family from the relationship with the father and friends all of us Jews and Gentiles alike religious and irreligious people we have all inflicted harm on other people God's children we have all engaged in self-destructive behaviors our sin is ruining us we have all estranged ourselves from God with our selfishness and ego and hard-heartedness and friends if God were to just wink at all of that just pretend it's no big deal he would not actually be loving would he his wrath is in fact proof of his love and here's the bottom line apart from grace we are hopelessly dead apart from grace we are hopelessly dead what can a corpse do to save itself absolutely nothing right why because it's dead right it's dead point number one dead point number two alive alive I love this verse four but God aren't you grateful for the way this sentence begins but God oh the wonder the miracle the hope but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus just look at the contrast here you were dead now you're alive you were in your trespasses and sins now you're in Christ you were bullied by Satan and now you're seated in the heavenly places you were anticipating wrath and now you're awash with mercy and God did it all God did it all when you when we were hopelessly dead God made us alive together with Christ why why did he do it three reasons three grounds number one because of the riches of his mercy when we deserve death he gave us life when we deserved hell he gave us heaven when we deserved nothing he gave us everything why because God is rich in mercy it's who he is second reason because of his great love with which he loved us when the friends when there was nothing lovable about you and me God loved us with an everlasting love why because God is love it's who he is and the third reason by grace you have been saved friends the difference between mercy and grace mercy is not getting what you do deserve grace is getting what you don't deserve in his mercy we're not left for dead in his grace we've been raised to walk in newness of life why because God is full of grace it's who he is in God's mercy love and grace friends he has made us alive together Jews and Gentiles together with Christ one new man in him we're going to talk more about that next week but we have been raised up with Christ in his resurrection life the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is powerfully working in us remember back to chapter 1 verses 19 and 20 and now we have been seated with Jesus in the heavenly places which remember back to chapter 1 verse 21 is far above all rule and authority and power and Dominion Jesus has been enthroned over all the supernatural powers in this universe so friends in the mercy love and grace of our Father we have been brought into union with Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as Galatians 2 20 says I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live by Christ who lives in me and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and so not only have we been united with Christ in his death and his resurrection life Paul says we have been united with him in his ascension and enthronement in glory where he is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty in heaven above all rule and authority and power and Dominion friends the spiritual forces of darkness they used to dominate spiritually dead people our lives the prince of the power of the air the spirit that's at work in the sons of disobedience those demonic powers they now answer to the crucified resurrected ascended and exalted Christ they answer to him he is seated in the heavenly places above all rule authority power and Dominion and friends listen listen listen listen if we are seated with him in the heavenly places those powers have no authority over your life oh they can mess with you but they cannot dominate you any longer as Paul says in Romans 16 verse 20 the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet so friends this is what this means God has made you alive in Jesus Christ he's raised you to walk in newness of life he's seated you in the heavenly places above all rule and authority above all powers and it is all because of grace because of grace we are gloriously alive because of grace we are gloriously alive I came across this quotation from John Owen in a in a book he wrote he's one of the Puritan writers from a bygone era he wrote this little book sin and temptation here's the quotation the spiritual life which I have is not my own I did not induce it and I cannot maintain it it is only and solely the work of Christ it is not I who live but Christ lives in me my whole life is his alone that is good and friends when you're when you're a dead man and God gives you your life back it means he has a purpose for you from death to life with purpose let's talk about purpose point number three purpose for what purpose has God shown us his mercy his love and his grace in making us alive together with Christ what was his purpose verse 7 so that there is your purpose language in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus this is amazing so God made us alive by grace yes in order that he might show us more grace we are saved by grace for grace grace is the means of our salvation and grace is the end of our salvation God intends to spend eternity unveiling vista upon vista of the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus all of eternity friends will not be enough time to explore the furthest reaches of his boundless grace glory will be an endless supply of ever abounding grace upon grace upon grace verse 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of work so that no one may boast what can a corpse do to save itself absolutely nothing friends our life in Christ our salvation this grace in which we stand this faith by which we take hold of Christ it is all by grace it is all by grace it's not of our doing our own doing it is the gift of God we get no credit we contributed nothing we didn't work our way into this salvation oh but this salvation is going to work its way through us verse 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them I love this God's the workman he's the one doing the work we're the workmanship we're the project God gets all the credit for taking a spiritually dead corpse and raising it to walk in newness of life it is by grace and it is for grace his purpose all along was to make us this new creation in Christ Jesus we are his creation 2nd Corinthians 5 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old is gone the new has come and as a new creation friends we are now called to walk in newness of life into the very good works that God has prepared in advance that we should walk in them so we didn't walk our way into salvation but now that salvation is going to walk its way out in our lives it is faith alone that saves friends but the faith that saves is never alone we work out what God works in and if we are to walk in newness of life and do these very good works that God has prepared for us we're going to need something we're going to need the riches of his immeasurable grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus every day of our lives yes now and forever we're going to need tons of grace and it's so good to know that that's what God wants to do all along he himself is on the job he's the workman he's the creator he's the grace giver we're his workmanship we're his new creation we are adopted children by grace in Christ and friends through grace we have transforming purpose through grace we have transforming purpose friends God's got a perfect path for you he's got a perfect path for you he's called you and enabled you and equipped you and filled you with the Spirit and poured out his mercy and grace upon you in order that you might walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ that you might become more and more like Jesus inside and out that you might be transformed from glory to glory as you become in Christ the person you were always meant to be a son a daughter of God friends you were born for this you were made alive and resurrected for this you have been graced by God for this and you are destined for glory for this Philippians 1 verse 6 he who began this good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of Christ Jesus friends do you realize what this means it means that by grace you can break the cycle by grace you can break the cycle you don't have to do all the sins that have come before you you don't have to be just like your mama or your daddy you don't have to follow the pattern of the world around you you get a new start by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit you can break the cycle in your family tree do you realize that God is addressing here by grace all three roots of evil and sin they're all three addressed here in terms of supernatural oppression Jesus has broken the power of Satan he's seated and enthroned above all the powers and we are seated with him which means they don't have dominion over our lives anymore in terms of cultural influence he's made us a new creation he's taken us out of this old world with his decay and sin and his culture of death and he's brought us into a new creation that is destined for life and glory and you get to live from the resources of the new creation and in terms of your own human choices he's given you his grace a new way to walk a pattern of life as he fills you with his Holy Spirit so you learn to stop doing what you want to do and start doing what the Spirit wants to do in and through your life he's prepared good works for you to walk into if you would just say yes so by grace do you see God is rooting out evil from all of its deep sources the powers of darkness have been dethroned the world and its allure has been dispelled our way of walking in life has been displaced we are now made alive together with Christ Jesus is Jesus is changing everything God in Christ is rooting out evil that's in the very source of our being he's turning death on its head he's reversing the curse he's reconciling all things to himself all the sin and death and spiritual oppression that Adam let in here God is setting to rights in Jesus Christ first Corinthians 15 22 as in Adam all die so also in Christ all shall be made alive Romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord as we read a few weeks ago in Ephesians 1 verses 9 and 10 for all along this has been God's purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in himself things in heaven and things on earth and it's already begun in you and me who have trusted in Jesus Christ by grace through faith in him this grace has made us alive this grace is growing us up this grace enables us to walk this grace keeps us going this grace takes us home this grace will make us glorious and it is grace upon grace upon grace that will be our story from beginning until end and friends grace grows godliness don't you see that grace grows godliness friends God has purpose that you will one day stand before him holy and blameless and glorious one day you will see Jesus face to face and you will be like him for you will see him as he is and even now your father has prepared good works that you might walk in them to be conformed to the image of his son as you walk by the power of his Holy Spirit and every step of the way it is grace grace grace by grace you are alive in Christ by grace Satan has been overthrown by grace death is defeated by grace sin is forgiven by grace you are God's workmanship by grace you are called to walk in newness of life by grace you have good works that God has prepared for you to walk into by grace we walk in obedience by grace we are conformed to the image of Christ by grace we keep in step with the Spirit by grace we strive with all his energy that so powerfully works in us by grace we work out what he is working in us it is grace that gets us in it is grace that grows us up it is grace that gets us to glory and in the end it is grace upon grace upon grace forever more we are alive by grace friends when you're a dead man and God gives you your life back it means he's got a purpose for you so go live it out in the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ amen let's pray father who would have thought you could take this sin-cursed death warmed over life that is ours apart from grace and that you could make us alive that when we admit we are sinners and believe that Jesus has done everything to make us right with you and commit our lives to to him say be my Savior be my Lord be my everything you change us you raise us up with Christ you give us glory and an inheritance and a authority that is unbelievable it's hard to imagine this could be real and true and yet it is your Holy Spirit is in us sealing us for this destiny in life animating our inner being and giving us power to live so father help us to keep close to your Holy Spirit to walk with him to keep in step with him to go where when he says go to stay when he says stay to stop trusting our own hearts and our own thoughts and our own impulses and to say yes to your leading in our lives we need your grace we need grace that's greater than all our sin we need grace that's greater than all our stubbornness we need grace that's greater than all the death that ever was father we need glorious grace and we thank you that it is ours because we are alive in Christ we give him all the praise and glory today in his name we pray amen amen on today's Moody Church hour we heard pastor Philip Miller continue a long series of teachings from the book of Ephesians we heard about being alive in Christ all thanks to the grace of God we live in relationship to others and as believers we find ourselves part of a glorious union with fellow believers next time don't miss part 5 in this series and find out what it means to be one in Christ fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household The Moody Church hour is a listener supported ministry we count on the ongoing financial support of listeners like you together we share solid biblical teaching that transforms lives across America and around the world you can call us at 1-800-215-5001 that's 1-800-215-5001 online you'll find us at Moody Church hour.com that's moodychurchhour.com or write to us at Moody Church media 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614 this broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church