Bill Craig | Life Groups Week 2 Ephesians
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Life Groups Week 2 Ephesians

Life Groups Week 2 Ephesians

Posted on January 30, 2018
in church, life group, Trinity Church
0 Comments

By: Paul Nunez

Suggested flow:

 

  1. Read the passage together
  2. Facilitator read the sermon summary
  3. Ask the broad questions and insert specific questions as they fit with the flow of discussion
  4. Close with prayer for one another

 

I- Sermon Summary (Ephesians 1:1-5; Revelation 2:1-7)

Big Idea: Christ calls his church to have a “what about us” perspective instead of a “what about me” perspective so that we may experience the fullness of our spiritual blessings that are in Christ.

 

  1. Two conflicting questions

 

As a church we need to be on the same page about what we are hearing and believing about the Bible. This means a church must be under clear biblical preaching (Acts 2: 42) . What would happen if we were not all devoted to the sermons on Sundays? (Application: Bill strongly recommends taking notes on Sundays)

 

What’s gotten the church in trouble is biblical illiteracy

 

To combat biblical illiteracy we have to stay on the same page about what the Bible teaches as a church . That’s why we are  doing 5 day fast- to especially ignite unity around first and foremost God’s word and his calling on the church to be a people set apart for himself.

 

What gets a church in trouble is when members are more concerned about the question “what about me?”  They make the biggest issues out of things from the perspective of worry for how it affects themselves.

 

A better question is what about us? 

 

  1. Paul teaches unity and love

 

Paul preaches the Gospel to a tough place- Ephesus hosted a huge, internationally famous temple to a fertility God- Ephesus protested the Christian church because it went against what the culture was selling (Compare with Acts 19:21-41). The artisans and businessmen became upset because Christianity was interfering with their business. They didn’t stop to think about the truth of the religion, but about the damage to their earnings.

 

Culture wants us to ask the question what about me? The church is not meant to be like that- the question is what about us?

 

To move forward Paul lists their blessings in Christ (Eph 1:3-14) – there are so many blessings in Christ it’s a breathtaking run on sentence. But these blessings are only found by being united together in Christ. When we are not in oneness as a local church we don’t experience these blessings. Unity is broken when Christians began to act like they deserve blessing. This means their starting point is what about me?

 

Ephesians 1:1-2

 

Jesus is the senior pastor – he is the head of the body

 

But we are to submit to a plurality of leaders referred to as elders to lead towards oneness  (See Hebrews 13:7, 17; Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5-7)

 

The point is that for members of a church it’s not who am I- It’s about who are we? What about us What about God and Christ who is greater than and our high priest?

 

It not about us but how Christ is living through us.

 

Rev 2:1-7

Jesus says they have been

– faithful to endure, to have sound doctrine, and to be protective of the church

 

But he has a charge  against them: “you’ve abandoned your first love”- it’s become about you

This is something they must repent of.  They could of made excuses. But excuses are examples you are giving up your first love. Instead we must Love and Be on Mission. Have Compassion. And KEEP GOING. There are right reasons and wrong reasons to leave a church. If the church does not have leadership accountability or is not teaching scripture faithfully. Otherwise you may be leaving for me-reasons not we-reasons

 

Application

  • Make sure you are investing in people. It is easy to leave church if not invested in people. Investing in people helps you move through difficulty and endure the hardship of church life over the long haul.
  • DONT GIVE UP and you’ll have those blessings. Realize that spiritual blessings are experienced as we are united to Christ in his body, the church. The longer we endure through hardship, the deeper our roots will go and the more we’ll experience Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

II-  Questions for discussion

 

Broad questions (these are questions you can ask every week)

  1. [Light bulb] What stuck out to you about the passage or sermon? What shined?
  2. [Question mark?] What confused you or raised questions?
    1. Ex: Have you ever thought about how we can only experience our spiritual blessings through unity in a local body of believers?
  3. [Christ connection] Where do you see Christ in this passage?
  4. [ Application] What is something the Spirit is leading you to identify and commit to this week in response to this passage and message?
  5. [ Tell] Who is someone you think would benefit from hearing what you learned in the Bible? (it can be someone inside or outside the church)

 

 

Specific questions

  1. Flush out what you think happened to the church in Ephesus. What did Jesus mean when he said they lost their fist love? How might that have been manifested in their church life?
  2. Pastors and leaders are not infallible. Discuss the difference between healthy and unhealthy disagreement. How should members handle disagreements they have with church leadership?
  3. Describe the difference between a “what about me” perspective and a “what about us” perspective. How does Christ as our Senior Pastor help us with this problem? Share how you might struggle with this.
  4. How might investing in the next generation help members be more we-focused than me-focused?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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