Coming out of Sunday’s teaching, “Ephesians: The Other Half spend some time in prayerful reflection and dialogue with your Home Church/Friends/Family around any combination of these questions (there are a lot this week so don’t try to get through them all!):
Read Ephesians 2:11-22 before starting. Pray and ask God to speak.
- How did God speak to you through the text and/or Sunday’s message? What jumped out to you? Why? What are some of the main ideas that Paul is communicating in this passage?
- Look back to Ephesians 2:1-10 as well. What do the first 10 verses of Ephesians 2 teach us about the Gospel? What do verses 11-22 teach us about the Gospel? Why do both ‘halves’ of the Gospel matter? What are some dangers/pitfalls of living into only one half while ignoring the other? Why do so many Christians seem to do that today = (ignore one half, especially the second half)?
- In verses 11-12, Paul addresses the Gentiles and how they were excluded and discriminated agains before Christ. Why were the Gentiles excluded and discriminated against? Who are the ‘excluded’ and ‘discriminated against’ today?
- In verses 13-18, Paul declares the good news of Jesus for the Gentiles What is so radical about Paul’s message in these six verses? How do they apply to us today, particularly in regards to the people who are most excluded today?
- What’s so significant about verse 14? What does it mean for Christ the phrase “in his own body” and “the wall of hostility”?
- In verses 19-22, Paul talks about this new temple called the church; a diverse group of Jesus followers who are learning to love each other and embrace each other’s differences. What’s so significant about Paul’s words in these four verses? Which words/concepts jump out at you? Why?
- Practically speaking, what does it look like to ‘live into’ this ‘other half’ of the Gospel? How can we respond to it? (Hint: think specifically about those who are most discriminated against in our society today re race, gender, sexuality etc) What is an appropriate ‘Gospel response’ to this kind of discrimination?
- Jeff challenged us with three words: “Be an includer.” What might this look like for you? What steps might God be inviting you to take to be an includer? How does the Gospel compel us to live into a more inclusive kind of lifestyle?
