Churches grow as God leads each person into working at maintaining their unity,
as every member contributes their Christ-given gifts to the ministry,
and as they encourage one another to grow in maturity.
Read: Ephesians 4: 1-16
1] What three attitudes does Paul say we need to adopt (v.2)?
How will we think & act differently as we grow in each of these characteristics?
2] What does each person who attends church need to put effort into (v 3)?
3] verses 4-6 underline the special Spirit-given unity within the church.
What are the biggest obstacles to this kind of unity in our church?
What can we do to build up unity?
4] Bearing in mind that in verses 11-12 Paul goes on to talk about roles and abilities,
what does "grace" mean in verse 7?
5] What is the outcome of people fulfilling the roles God has given them (v 12b-13)?
6] What will it mean for us to speak the truth in love (v 15)?
And how should we respond when someone tries to speak the truth to us in love?
7] How does the image of the church that Paul gives in verse 16 add to all that he's
been saying in this passage?
Even though Paul is writing to many believers who were not Jews – they were Gentiles, in the second half of this chapter Paul uses the word Gentile to describe those people who are unbelievers, those who aren’t living their life with Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
Paul also writes about once we become Christians ‘putting off’ some attitudes and actions and ‘putting on’ new ones. Implied in what he writes is the image of taking off dirty clothes and putting on new clean clothes.
Read: Ephesians 4: 17-32
8] Can you relate at all to Paul’s description of life without Christ (v 17-19)?
Either through remembering your own life before coming to Christ
or as you look at the lives of those around you who don’t know Jesus.
9] How will we look when we ‘put on’ our "new clothes"?
For instance...
How will we / how won't we, speak (v 25, 29)?
What will we do, and not do, with our hands (v 28)?
How will we, and how won't we, respond in our hearts
when something makes us angry (v 26-27, 31-32)?
Prayer: Under the current government guidelines we have had to find new ways of being the body of Christ – his Church. Pray that God will continue to show you ways in which you can support others within the church and how together, as church, we can be a beacon of hope to our neighbourhood.
Tonight (Wednesday) at 8:00pm Meet with myself and Ron our Treasurer to hear an update on Church Business and try to answer any questions you have.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75462481758?pwd=Q1E2SXNKa0VSV3JJSkRrSGROVnZDZz09
Tomorrow (Thursday) at 8:00pm An opportunity to discuss topics raised in today’s bible study on Ephesians chapter 4.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71411869627?pwd=bXREUTA5dklzaS9oMGMxM0JHL0xVdz09
Friday: A ‘Guest Writer’ will give us something to think about
Sunday: We will consider Ephesians chapter 5 - Stephen