Dock
Resource Kit
Sunday sermon, 8 November 2026
Summary
Bishop Rod Green explores Paul's call in Ephesians 4–5 to walk differently as followers of Jesus. Through the invitations to walk in love, in the light and with wisdom, we discover how the Christian life is transformed from the inside out. As our minds are renewed, our words, relationships and actions begin to reflect the love of Christ. And as we learn to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, we're invited to live with purpose, gratitude and a life overflowing with worship.
Key Points & Takeways
Walk differently. Following Jesus isn't just about changing what we believe, but changing how we live.
Renew your mind. Spiritual transformation begins with how we think. As our minds are renewed by Christ, our words, attitudes and actions change too.
Walk in love. Christian love isn't simply a feeling. It's a choice to live sacrificially, showing kindness, forgiveness and generosity towards others.
Walk in the light. We no longer need to hide in darkness or shame. Jesus invites us to live openly, honestly and with integrity.
Walk wisely. Don't waste your life on distractions. Make the most of every opportunity to live with purpose.
Be filled with the Spirit. Singing, worship and gratitude are vital expressions of a Spirit-filled life, helping us grow in our relationship with God.
Walk daily. The Christian life is a daily walk with Jesus, allowing his Spirit to renew our minds, transform our lives and teach us to walk in love, light and wisdom.
Dock Discussion Questions
Renewing our minds: Bishop Rod reminded us that transformation begins with how we think. What patterns of thinking might God be inviting you to challenge or change?
Walking in love: Paul connects a renewed mind with how we speak and treat one another. Where is God challenging you to show more kindness, forgiveness or sacrificial love in your relationships?
Living in the light: Paul reminds us that we are children of light. What might it look like to live more openly and honestly with God and others? Is there anything you'd rather keep hidden?
Walking wisely and being filled with the Spirit: Rod challenged us not to waste our lives, but to be filled with the Spirit through worship and gratitude. What practical changes could help you make more space for God's Spirit in your everyday life this week?
Long-form, edited transcript
Ephesians:
Walk Wisely
Ephesians 4:17–5:21
Preparing for the Journey
Well, I know I've already said it, but I do want to say it again. It is wonderful to be with you this morning, because this really is a place of real formation for me.
I'm not just saying, "Oh, I learned everything I've got from here." That really was the case. I was enormously influenced by the ministry here. So it does feel like home, and it is really good, and slightly weird, to be preaching here again.
There are still some videos of me online from that period of time. I think I looked older than I do now, but that might be wishful thinking.
And we are loving being back in London, but there is one thing that Joanne and I miss about Wales, and that is walking. Family walks. Ask my daughter, she will tell you, we drag them around everywhere.
If you haven't done the waterfall walk in South Wales, you should. Some of the most incredible waterfalls, but it is 16 kilometres and quite demanding. Our kids did that when they were quite young and haven't let us forget that ever since.
We love outdoor adventures, and Wales is brilliant for that. But of course, you've got to prepare well, haven't you? If you're going to go on a serious walk, you've got to think about what you wear.
So I'm thinking about a new pair of walking shoes at the moment, partly because I'm thinking about doing a pilgrimage over Advent, but also just because I like walking.
And there's a lot to think about. I'm thinking about North Face, Hoka, Sorel. I don't know if any of those brands are familiar to you. They are a range of prices and different characteristics of their shoes. So I still haven't worked out what I want to get.
You've got to think as well about what provisions you bring. I don't know about your family, if you have one, but my children eat through a rucksack full of snacks, which can make the walk start quite heavy, and you feel a lot better as you go.
You've also, of course, got to think about where you go, which route you're going to choose, because it's easy to get lost. I remember being up on the top of a quite sizeable hill, it probably was a hill, in North Wales, and we were keeping on going, wondering where the next turn was. And slowly but surely it got dark, and we were still at the top.
It was quite concerning. We made it in the end, but the heart rate was high, I tell you that now.
So stick to the routes, like the Llwybr Cadfan, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Offa's Dyke is a good one between England and Wales. Yr Wyddfa, which is the Welsh name for Snowdon, which of course you all know, because Snowdon doesn't exist anymore. Or the Bannau Brycheiniog, which is the new name for the Brecon Beacons.
So I'm doing my part here for Wales tourism. It's important. Each of those choices obviously makes an enormous difference to the walk.
Ways of Walking
And walking is one of the ways that Paul describes the Christian life, and he uses two Greek words to do so. The first is peripateō, to walk around, where we get the English word peripatetic. And the second is stoicheō, which is to walk in line or to march. It's to walk with purpose and intent.
And so throughout his letters, Paul says to the Christians he's writing to: "Walk worthy of the call." "Keep in step with the Spirit." "Walk in newness of life."
And in our passage this morning, did you notice Paul encourages his readers to walk four times? I asked for it to be read in the English Standard Version, because in the NIV, you don't see the word walk. They choose live instead, for some reason.
So you get it in verse 17 of chapter 4: "Don't walk like the Gentiles." In verse 2 of chapter 5: "Instead, walk in love." In verse 8, "Walk as children of light." And then in verse 15: "Walk carefully and wisely."
So that's what I want us to think about this morning. Walking. What does walking have to teach us about the spiritual life?
And so I want to split it effectively into two, chapter 4 and chapter 5, really obvious.
Walk in Love
And do you notice how strong Paul is here? "I tell you this," he says. "In fact, I insist on it in the Lord." If he speaks to you like that, you know he means it, don't you?
Paul really means it. How these new Christians live really matters. Conversion isn't just a matter of changing your mind, getting your doctrine right. It's about changing your life and walking in a different direction.
But that doesn't mean that the mind doesn't matter. What Paul wants us to understand is that if you want to change your life, start with your mind.
The Mind and the Heart
Do you notice how he describes the Gentile way of walking? That's where he starts, with the mind. The futility of their thinking, the darkness of their understanding, the ignorance that alienates and separates them from the life of God.
But that's just the beginning. Because he also describes their walk, the walk of the Gentiles, in terms of the heart. He speaks of the hardening of their hearts.
They've lost all sensitivity, all connection to God and to one another. They've given themselves over to sensuality. He means by that, I think, that it's all about experience, stimulation, entertainment. Sound familiar?
They indulge in every kind of impurity, he says. They're full of greed. And all of these things are over-desires, idolatries, if you like. He's trying to say to us, this is what hardness of heart looks like.
Over time, the heart calcifies, like our kettle, maybe like your kettle, and dishwasher at the moment. It was never a problem in Cardiff. We had the beautiful soft water there.
In London, limescale is everywhere. Clogs up the filter, stops things getting clean. There's bits in the coffee. This is what it's like in our hearts.
So Paul paints a picture of a complete kind of spiritual psychology, but this psychology is rooted in habitual wrong thinking. We want the wrong things because we think the wrong way. We want the wrong things because we've believed lies about God, the world and ourselves.
So that's where renewal begins. In our minds, in our thoughts, how we think.
Learning Christ: The Renewal of the Mind
So look at verse 20. "This is not the way of life you learned," it says. Or literally, "Not how you learned Christ." You heard about him, you were taught in him, and then he speaks of "in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus."
So why do they walk differently now, these Christians? Because they've learned about Jesus. Someone used words to tell them the story of Jesus.
You see, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a message about the events of his life, his death and resurrection. These are truths that are to be proclaimed.
You see, a life can provoke questions. A life well lived can corroborate claims. But a life cannot, of itself, communicate historical events. The story needs to be told in words.
That's where transformation begins, you see. It begins with the gospel, with Jesus, who he is and what he's done.
So what is it you were taught, he asks? And this is where he introduces the first contrast of two between the old and the new.
This is what you were taught. "Put off your old self." It's not really the psychological self as we understand it today.
Again, in the Greek it's the old man, anthrōpos, the old human, the old mortal, your former way of life, if you like. And your whole way of life, your existence and your being, both psychological and social, all of it corrupted by deceitful desires.
And instead, he says, "Put on your new self." Like a new pair of walking boots or a new waterproof jacket.
Do you know, it's literally what baptism candidates in the early church used to do. As they came up out of the water, they were clothed in white robes, a new human being emerging out of the waters of baptism.
So how do we do this, though? How do we take off the old self and put on the new one? Well, Paul tells us in verse 23: "By being made new in the attitude of your minds."
You see, I wasn't lying. The renewal of the mind is key. We can't get away from it. What you think, what you understand, this is how God created you to be.
This is the new life planted in you through the renewal of your mind. Do you know, if you are a Christian, if you follow Jesus, you have a resurrected mind. How cool is that? The mind of Christ.
So Paul's encouragement, and mine this morning as your bishop, is: use it. Think different.
A Renewed Mind Changes How We Speak
Therefore, Paul says, walk like this instead. And he gives us this quick-fire list of virtues, a code, if you like.
And at first glance, it seems quite random and disconnected from what we've just been thinking about. But if you take a closer look and work through it carefully, you notice a pattern.
You notice that this list is all about one thing. It's all about truth and falsehood in our relationships with one another and with the world. It's about the way we speak to one another.
And that makes sense, doesn't it? How you think is reflected in how you speak. How you think impacts how you speak.
There's a close connection, isn't there? An intimate relationship between the words that we think and the words that we say, between our thoughts and our words, our speech.
So whether you're an external verbal processor like me or an internal processor, that remains true.
So how should we speak if our minds are being renewed? Paul's clear about that. Truth, not falsehood.
Be angry, but don't sin. Say it like it is. Don't mask the truth with your anger. Don't steal. Work. Be honest about what you do.
Don't pull down, build up. Don't grieve the Spirit. Don't live a life of bitterness and wrath, of clamour, slander and malice.
Instead, he says, be kind, tender-hearted, forgive. Imitate God as his adopted children, and forgive others as he forgives us.
All these thoughts and words is the way a renewed mind works. That's what the new self looks like.
Walking in the Way of Love
And Paul calls this, and here's the second walk, walking in the way of love. Imitate God, he says. "Walk in love."
Now, I don't know about you, but I think the language of love conjures up quite a lot in our culture that's not always that helpful. It doesn't really reflect what Paul is talking about.
So when you think about love, what do you think about? Do you think about it as an emotion, as a feeling? Probably. You think about romance or sex.
But remember, Paul is focusing on the mind, on our thinking. And that's because he's got a specific definition of love.
And he returns to his theme from verse 20. He's spoken about how they learned Christ, they were taught in him, and of course that means that Christian love has a particular form and shape.
There it is in verse 2 of chapter 5. Christian love reflects Christ's love for the world.
Christian love is a love that gives itself away as an offering, as a sacrifice. Christian love means obedience and allegiance to Christ.
Christian love is something that is done. It's a verb. It's a walk.
So don't walk like the Gentiles. Walk in the way of love. That's the first thing.
Walk in the Light
Second, walk wisely in the light.
Now, you will have already noticed, if you're following me this far, that there are lots of metaphors at play in this text. But Paul continues to use the language of walking, but he deploys a different contrast.
In chapter 5, verse 3, he moves on. He's been talking about not walking like the Gentiles, but walking in the way of love, putting off the old self and putting on the new. And then, and only then, he gives a list of instructions about how to live.
From verse 3, he's writing about walking in the light and walking wisely. So he moves to no longer living in darkness, but coming into the light. Do you notice that contrast?
But here in this chapter, he jumps straight into a set of virtues or behaviours. He's kind of working in the opposite direction. He's working backwards. And he only explains why we should live like this later on.
So what does he say?
The Body Matters
Well, his focus moves from the mind and the heart to the body. Are you ready for this?
And again, on the surface, it looks like another list of specific sins. But dig deeper, and you realise once again there's more to it than that.
He calls the Ephesians to sexual purity. "Not even a hint of sexual immorality, impurity or greed must be among you," he says.
And the Greek word there is porneia. Which most scholars would argue it's a catch-all word for all sex outside of marriage.
And what Paul is saying here is when things other than love motivate our sex lives, something's gone wrong. Greedy sex, he says, leads to pornography, adultery and addiction. And ultimately, that is idolatry.
A good thing has become the ultimate thing.
And as a culture, we idolise sex. We let it define our identity, who we are. We let it define our purpose, what we are for. And the results of that, I think, are clear to see across Western culture as a whole.
And you might be like, "Oh dear, this is embarrassing. The bishop is talking about sex. Oh no."
But Paul says these things really do matter. They're serious.
So he, do you notice how he encourages the Ephesians not to make light of these things? Don't joke about them, he says. Don't use innuendo or smutty humour. Don't ridicule or minimise.
It's actually quite hard with the humour we've seen in the media, isn't it?
And it's because the body matters. What you do with your body matters. Paul doesn't hesitate to say that.
He says you will face the judgement of God for what you do with your body. What we say about our body, even how we relate to others who say things about their bodies.
Ultimately, it all matters into eternity.
Why? You might ask yourself. Well, here comes the motivation.
From Darkness into Light
Usually Paul starts with the explanation and then moves on to the application. He starts with the truth, the reality or facts about what God has done for us, and then moves to the command, the instructions that follow, how we should respond to what he's done.
And that is the shape of Ephesians as a whole. Chapters 1 to 3 start with what God has done. Chapters 4 to 6, how we respond.
But here it's the other way around. He started with the application, and now he moves to the explanation.
Why should we live a life of sexual purity? Because you were once darkness, but now you are light.
He says, it's good news.
He conjures up this image of the nighttime economy, of brothels and bars, of late-night entertainment in the shadows, behind closed doors, hidden away.
And he says, that's how it used to be, but it is no more with you. Now that you've stepped into the light, now that you are light, he says, with all its fruits, all that is good and right and true.
You see, something has changed. Something decisive.
God transfers us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, into a new domain, a new mode of existence.
And so there is no longer any reason to hide. No reason to be ashamed. You are light. Live like you believe it.
Walk in the light, he says, in verse 8, the third way of walking.
What does he mean? Be transparent. Come out into the open. Enjoy that exposure. Be visible. Be seen by those around you.
Walk Carefully and Wisely
And of course, living like that in public, it takes practice, doesn't it? It's not easy.
That's why Paul says in verse 15, "Walk carefully." Fourth time he mentions it. "Not as unwise, but as wise."
"Make the best use of your time," he says, "because the days are evil."
So don't waste your life. That's my plea to you this morning. Don't procrastinate. Don't be distracted or sidetracked. Don't entertain yourself to death.
Don't get drunk, Paul says, specifically, because drunkenness leaves you vulnerable. Drunkenness leaves you exposed. When you lose your inhibitions, anything could happen.
Instead, he says, "Be filled with the Spirit."
Be Filled with the Spirit
It's actually what my bishop's ring says on it. What it's all about.
Go on being filled with the Spirit. That resurrection power that has raised you from the dead, that still animates your spiritual life, that energises your new human nature, that has made you new and alive.
Press into that and let him flood your soul. Sink into the Spirit and saturate yourself in the Spirit of God.
Amen?
How do we do that? What does that look like? How does it work? It sounds so mystical, doesn't it? So ethereal? Be filled with the Spirit.
But Paul, you know, as is often the case, is much more down to earth.
He says, "Be filled with the Spirit." Wait for it. It's all about singing.
If you want to saturate yourself in the Spirit, sing. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Verse 20, "Give thanks for everything."
You see, it's gratitude that changes the way we live. The recognition that our bodies are given gifts of God, something to be grateful for.
To be greedy and grasping always leads to the immorality Paul condemns. But gratitude and grace ultimately transforms us.
So sing like you mean it.
I loved worshipping with you this morning. I hope we're gonna sing a bit more soon.
It's why renewal movements throughout the history of the church always sing. The Reformers sang psalms, the secret weapon of the Reformation. The Methodists sang countless new songs, didn't they? The Charismatics sang choruses.
Walk in love. Walk in the light.
There's lots in that passage. What is he saying to you this morning?
Closing Prayer
Holy Spirit, just bring to mind that one thing that you want to take, you want us to take home this morning.
Maybe it's about our thinking. The way we speak to one another, to someone else. The way we speak to one another, to someone else.
Maybe it's about our bodies and what we do with them.
Holy Spirit, come, we pray. Bring your light. Help us to come out into the light, not to be afraid of you.
It feels scary, but it's the place of healing, the place of renewal, the place of safety and grace.
So Lord, as we gather around the table this morning, as we sing and worship, come and inhabit the praises of your people.
Come and meet us where we are. Transform us by the renewal of our minds.
We pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.