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Sermon preached on Ephesians 6:21-22 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/18/2026 in Petaluma, CA. This week’s message considered Christian fellowship as seen in the relationship of Paul and the Ephesians.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
As we near the completion of our Ephesians sermon series, we come to a couple verses that are rich with practical application for our Christian fellowship. Ephesians has described the wonderful communion we have together with all the saints. That fellowship is seen firsthand, here. The Apostle Paul shows himself intimately connected with these Ephesian Christians. Paul’s Jewish heritage and their Gentile heritage gave them a different ethnic and cultural background, but they had been brought together through their common salvation in the name of Jesus. Whatever differences they had in their background according to the flesh, it was insignificant compared to the unity and fellowship they now enjoyed as fellow Christians. That’s what Paul taught so much about back in chapters 2 and 3 in the heart of this letter. But it’s these final two verses that show the practical outworking of this truth. Paul really cared about the Ephesians and he knew they really cared about him. Their relationship was founded on the reality of the communion of the saints. We too, come from different walks of life and have various external differences. But in our union with Christ, we have been connected together in a way far greater than anything that would threaten to separate us. And so today’s two verses show Paul and the Ephesians cultivating their relationship, and we should surely look to do the same with our fellow Christians.
I direct your attention to the outline in your bulletin. First, we’ll consider the line, “that you may know.” Paul was concerned that the Ephesians would know how he and his companions were doing. Second, we’ll consider the line, “sent for this very purpose”. Paul took initiative to cultivate his relationship with the Ephesians. Third, we’ll consider the line, “to encourage your hearts.” Paul understood the good that Christian fellowship is for our souls. I hope this message will promote the value of Christian friendship and fellowship and encourage you to invest in it.
First, then, we begin with the phrase “that you may know”. Notice that these words appear at the start and the end of our passage, providing structure for our verses. Notice, as well, that there is slight difference in how he uses these words in both places. In verse 21, Paul want them to know about how he himself is doing. But in verse 22, Paul wants them to know how “we” are doing. Paul includes his other missionary companions there. Paul recognizes that for a relationship to be meaningful, you have to know what is going on with each other. Certainly, as Paul sends Tychicus to them, he will likewise return to Paul and give Paul an update of how the Ephesians are doing. While it is true that Christians have an inherent unity in Christ, nonetheless, Christians should seek to develop our relationships with our fellow saints. That is why we must get to know our fellow Christians and seek to develop godly friendships.
Now we can learn something about the connection we Christians have together when Paul says that he wants them to know about both himself and his fellow ministry companions. Surely one of those companions is this Tychicus. Notice how Paul commends Tychicus to them. He says he is a beloved brother and a faithful minister in the Lord. The way Paul commends Tychicus to them explains how the Ephesians have a relevant connection with him. By the way, I think the “in the Lord” applies to both the brother and minister reference. To tell the Ephesians that Tychicus is a brother in the Lord is to say that they are spiritually family. Christians come from different families according to the flesh, but we are all kin together in Christ. Likewise, to tell the Ephesians that Tychicus is a minister in the Lord is to remind the Ephesians that Christians all have a shared common gospel ministry together. It’s not just pastors, missionaries, elders, and deacons that are involved in the gospel ministry. Every Christian is a part of the ministry of the church. We each have different gifts to use in one way or another in support of the ministry. Praying for the ministry, giving to the ministry, cleaning up the church, showing hospitality, and fellowship together after service, are just a few examples that don’t require you to be ordained to serve in the church. So then, Paul’s two descriptions of Tychicus remind us of these two important aspects of our connection with our fellow Christians. We are spiritually family and co-workers in the ministry of the church. That connects us with each other.
Notice then how comprehensive Paul here is about what he wants the Ephesians to know about. In verse 21, he wants Tychicus to tell them everything. Now, there may be some linguistic hyperbole in there, but it nonetheless speaks to how Paul intends Tychicus to give them a comprehensive update. We get a sense of that at the start of verse 21 when Paul describes how he wants them to know both how he is doing and what it is that he has been doing. That’s both the person and the work of Paul. Paul wants to update them on his current personal estate and also about his labors for Christ. This kind of comprehensive info to share is, in general, representative of how we are to get specific and detailed in our Christian fellowship. And that would especially be helpful for Paul, since they know he’s been arrested and are surely wanting to get some details on how he’s doing and what he has been able to do at this time.
So then, let’s take some application here. We realize that this is a personal communication between Paul and the Ephesians. We could mistakenly think it is not relevant to us. But surely the nature of their communion and fellowship teaches us something that we should recognize and aspire to. In this first point then, I want us to take the application that Christians need to know what is going on with each other as fellow servants for Christ and as family in Christ. We are to be all treated as beloved family members and may we all seek to faithfully serve the Lord together. Now, yes, naturally, you will have some deeper connections with some Christians than others. But especially in a local church body where we have such a close-knit group in the first place, we should remember the need to truly get to know one another in the Lord. That happens through conversations and time spent exchanging information. It requires us to open up and share what is going on in your life, while at the same time asking about the other person and learning more about them.
Let’s turn now to our second point and consider the phrase “sent for this purpose”. This phrase is in verse 22. Let’s think about the “sent” part of that first. This describes something Paul has done. Paul says, “I have sent” Tychicus to you. Now, remember, we believe that Paul is writing this when he was under house arrest in Rome, as recorded at the end of Acts. That means Paul is sending Tychicus presumably from Rome to Ephesus. That was a substantial journey, probably involving several weeks of travel to get there. This would have involved significant time and thus also significant cost for Tychicus to be sent to them. To point out the obvious, if Tychicus is traveling to Ephesus and back, he won’t be doing any ministry work in Rome with Paul while he is gone. Also, surely, Tychicus is the one who is delivering this epistle that we’ve been studying to the Ephesians. That means prior to Tychicus heading out to visit them, first Paul had to write this long letter. Besides Paul’s time, that would surely have involved the use of a professional scribe as well as the expense of materials for the letter. What’s my point? There was a great cost especially in human resources to send Tychicus and this epistle to the Ephesians. It was a resource allocation decision that Paul made.
Paul was glad to do this because he saw the importance of it. This is how you know if someone truly values something or not. When they are willing to commit significant resources, you know it is important to them. It’s like the saying, “put your money where your mouth is.” Paul truly invested in this relationship he has with the Ephesians. Paul saw great importance in the Christian fellowship and edification that would take place by sending Tychicus to them. We can recognize this by noting that Paul said he had a purpose in sending Tychicus. Sent for this “purpose” means Paul had a clear intention in his mind, a goal he was seeking to achieve in allocating all these resources to send Tychicus. Paul wanted to update the Ephesians on how he and his missionary companions were doing, and to encourage their hearts. Paul saw that as worthy to invest in.
We can glean a very practical application from this. Are you purposeful in your efforts to get to know your fellow saints and to commune with them? Paul’s “sent with a purpose” commends such purposeful efforts to invest in Christian fellowship. While we automatically have communion with every Christian, we need to purposefully invest time and energy to get to know one another. It doesn’t just happen.
Let us consider some of the several venues that we can get to know our fellow saints and develop those friendships. Paul himself had different venues for how he developed his relationship with the Ephesians, including some three years of in-person ministry with them (Acts 20:31) which involved both a public and a house-to-house ministry. Paul was also developing his relationship with them through this correspondence that would be happening through Tychicus. We too, have various venues to develop relationships with each other. First, we have the various public, local church fellowship opportunities. Before and especially after the services are great times to get to know each other. Our midweek ministry has a fellowship hour each week, as well as a time to share and pray together. Beyond official church functions, there are many ways to purposefully fellowship together. I know some people have started to occasionally go upstairs after service and pray together, and I know they would love more people to join them. As a pastor, I am always so full of joy when I hear that people are calling each other during the week, or sending little notes of encouragement to others, or getting together to hang out, play games, or just visit. But let me say, some of us are better at this than others. Some people rarely stick around for fellowship. Some people never connect with others outside of church. And yet others are really good at receiving but never at giving. They are glad to be invited over, to receive a phone call, to get a note, but never do any of those things in return. But do you see that Paul took the initiative here to develop his relationship with the Ephesians. The Lord would have you to take the initiative and act with purpose in trying to get to know your fellow church family members better.
Let me add that Paul’s example here shows that our Christian fellowship and connection isn’t just for the local church family. Paul finds a way to connect to Ephesus from Rome! Now, it is true, we are finite creatures and you can’t know every Christian in the world. We are united in Christ to all of them, but you can’t truly know them all. But we are clearly reminded here that there is a value of being connected beyond just your local church family. Part of how we do that is through the updates we provide about what is going on in the presbytery and the denomination. When we post updates around the church building, that is helping you to know these fellow Christians. You can be better at praying for them and think of how your financial giving is also going to support their labors. Likewise, our presbytery puts on various events. Ladies, there is a women’s retreat this Saturday that you can still make, for example. Or we occasionally have missionaries come through to visit and give a presentation. It’s always a great encouragement to them when many come out and hear of the work they are doing, and it is a way to get to know them a little, too.
So then, this is my encouragement to be intentional to make the effort to really get to know other Christians, especially your local church family. Now, let’s turn to our third point and consider the phrase “to encourage your hearts” which is in verse 22. This speaks to the benefits that you can receive and also give in Christian fellowship.
Paul explains that he is sending Tychicus with the very purpose of updating them on how he and his companions are doing for the goal of encouraging their hearts. Paul believes this will bless their hearts to get these updates. Let us think of how these updates can encourage their hearts. Now, in general, updates from ministry should encourage the hearts of the saints. When Tychicus comes and is able to go into all the recent ministry work Paul and his partners have accomplished, it is encouraging. Likewise, if a missionary comes through and tells us about the fruit of his work, we should all be encouraged.
But let us especially appreciate why the Ephesians may need to be encouraged with regards to hearing more about Paul. Paul is in prison as he writes this. The way Paul writes this letter, we can probably infer that they had already heard about this in some way. In fact, just before Paul’s arrest, he had met with the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 on his way to Jerusalem. Paul told them he had received a prophecy that imprisonment and affliction awaited him. So, surely, by now, the Ephesians were very concerned for Paul, the apostle who was so foundational in establishing their church. And yet, Tychicus would be able to help them know more about what is going on. While you wouldn’t want to be arrested, surely God blessed Paul’s time in that first Roman imprisonment. He had really wanted to go and preach the gospel in Rome, and while he surely would have chosen a different way to get there, nonetheless Acts 28 shows that he made it and did get to preach there. Furthermore, he didn’t end up in some dank dark prison for two years, but he was under house arrest and allowed to have visitors. During that time, he continued gospel ministry from his home. For example, that is where Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus ended up meeting Paul and hearing the gospel from him and being converted. It is very likely that Onesimus would have come along with Tychicus on the way to see Philemon in Colossae afterwards. Likewise, in Philippians 1, Paul mentions some of the benefits of his Roman imprisonment, that it has helped to spread the gospel through the imperial guard and possibly even through Caesar’s household. Paul’s imprisonment also encouraged others to become more bold for Christ. In addition to all this, Paul wrote likely four epistles during this time, which continue to bear fruit today. You see, Tychicus could tell the Ephesians about all these sorts of details about how Paul is doing and what he has been doing amidst his sufferings. This would greatly encourage their hearts about their beloved Paul.
Another benefit of Paul sharing all these updates to them is so they could better do what he just asked them to do. Remember, verses 18-20 from last week’s sermon, where Paul asked them to be praying for him while he seeks to be an ambassador in chains. The more you know about someone and what they are going through and what their needs are, the more effectively you can be praying for them.
So in this third point, I’m hoping to make it clear that Christian fellowship is meant to encourage each other. I think of how Paul in Romans 1:12 told the Romans that he hoped to one day visit them in Rome so they could be of mutual edification to each other. That’s why this call to develop and cultivate good Christian relationships is so important. As you are intentional in those relationships, you will be encouraged and you will be an encouragement. And notice that Paul says this would encourage, specifically, their hearts. Our hearts need this kind of encouragement. It also means that in your relationship with other Christians you will need to open up your hearts to one another.
Trinty Presbyterian Church, as we talk about the benefits of Christian fellowship to your heart, I want to point us ultimately to Christ. Remember, earlier in the message I explained why we have connection to other Christians. They are brothers “in the Lord”. They are fellow servants “in the Lord”. It’s our connection “in the Lord” that is the basis for why we can encourage one another. Christ is what connects us. If you have not yet first come to know the Lord, that is my call to you today. Some people seek out a church to find community. But the right order is to first seek Christ, and the community will then follow. Come to know Jesus by his word and Spirit, trusting in him through faith. Then, see how your relationship with Christ calls you to develop meaningful relationships with Christ’s people. Indeed, the blessing we receive from Christian fellowship is ultimately Jesus encouraging our hearts. Let us all be encouraged, then, by Christ to know the blessing of Christian friendship and fellowship.
Amen.
Copyright © 2026 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
