Life Groups // Fall 2024 // Week 2
Posted September 13, 2024 — Lincoln Berean
The Confident Church in a Perilous World // Ephesians 1:15-23
Introduction
This week, we continue the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus and learn the things that he wanted the church to understand about God. In case you missed it last week, here is a link to watch an overview video for the book of Ephesians: (https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/ephesians/). This will give you a bit of history about the Ephesian church and help you understand how the whole letter fits together.
To think through the main ideas in the sermon and prepare for your discussion together, we invite you to look over all the questions on the following pages and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group. Due to preferences over a wide range of groups, we do not expect you will cover every question each week.
Warm Up (Suggested time: 30 min)
1) What is something in your life that triggers a feeling of nostalgia?
2) If you could be given the correct answer to any one question, what would that question be?
Getting Started
Transition into group discussion.
1. Open group discussion with prayer. Here are a few potential prayer items:
a. For the Spirit of God to lead you in truth
b. For the fruit of the Spirit to be cultivated in your lives
c. For grace to hear and apply what the Spirit says to you
2. Choose someone to read the passage aloud for the group.
Study Questions (Suggested time: 40 min)
1) In verse 15, Paul commends the Ephesians for their faith in Jesus and their love for all the saints, meaning all believers. Have somebody in your group read 1 John 4:20. What do these passages say about how God expects us to view those around us?
What is the difference between the “inheritance” mentioned in verse 18, and the one mentioned back in verse 14?
What does it mean for the saints to be God’s inheritance?
2) Paul explains his prayer for the church in Ephesus in verses 17-19. Put this prayer in your own words, as though you were praying for the believers in our city today.
Paul’s prayer comes down to three main themes: that the saints in Ephesus will come to know God better, that their eyes would be opened to know the hope that God has called them to, and that they would understand the boundless power of Christ. Which of these three things would you most like God to enlighten your heart to? What made you choose the one you did?
How would the enlightenment of these things that Paul prays for change how you see your life circumstances?
3) This passage of Ephesians is intimately linked to the theme of a community united by loyalty to God. How would you like to pray more for your community? (Consider different sizes, such as your group, your church, your city, etc.)
Is it easy or difficult for you to trust God with the flourishing of your close community (i.e. friends and family)? Why?
4) Imagine if the words of Paul’s prayer came true for every person at Lincoln Berean Church. What might it look like to be a part of a church with that sort of impact?
Verses 20-21 remind us again of the rule of Jesus above all powers and authorities of this world. How does this define our heart posture in our modern culture?
Personal Spiritual Exercises
Just like physical exercises help strengthen and stretch our bodies for healthy living, these spiritual exercises are meant to move us spiritually in ways that may be new so we might experience inner growth. Since God longs for us to experience Him with our whole selves—mind, body, spirit—we invite you along each week to strengthen your souls with suggestions and prompts. Next week in Life Group, take a few moments to share how the Lord may have used this exercise in your life.
Scripture Focus: Search in your Bible for more passages of scripture (possibly use www.biblegateway.com) about the ways that believers are told to love and support one another. Pay close attention to anyone that the Holy Spirit might bring to mind as somebody in your life who could use that love and support from you!
Prayer Focus: This week, make a habit of praying Paul’s prayer over the people that you are closest to: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.” –Ephesians 1:17-19
Prayer (Suggested time: 20 min)
A significant part of “coming together” is being open and honest with our lives. Sitting in a group of people for prayer may be new or it may be familiar to you. If you would rather not pray aloud when it is your turn, feel free to pray silently and then say “Amen” aloud signaling the next person in the group to pray. Whether or not you choose to verbalize your prayer, everyone is a participant in sharing this time before God together.
Take a few moments to prepare a prayer request. What did the message, working through the above questions or the discussion cause you to notice about your own relationship with Jesus? Would you be willing to share your prayer request with the group?