Ephesians 1:15-19

Key Passage: Ephesians 1:15-19

Key Points: 1.  Faith in Jesus produces a changed character that produces love. 2.  Paul acknowledges God's sovereignty through prayerful dependence 3.  Growing knowledge of God's grace changes the way we live and produces a life of thanksgiving and praise

Key Themes: o Paul hears about the faith of the Ephesians -This faith is demonstrated in their love for believers(15) o Paul prays regularly for other believers -Paul thanks God for genuine family in Christ (16) o Paul intercedes for other believers regularly -Paul asks that other believers grow in their intimacy with God(17) - Paul prays that believers minds would be transformed and renewed to have a kingdom perspective(18) o Paul asks that believers will remember God's grace so that they might grow in their understanding of God's greatness and glory (19)

Reflective Questions: 1.  Why would Paul thank God for other believers? a.  How does the bible say followers of Jesus will be recognized?  Specific passages? b.  What is the connection between faith in Jesus and a "love for all the saints?" c.  What passages of scripture help connect "faith in Jesus" and "love for all the saints?" 2.  How does vs 16 describe the way Paul prays for the saints? a.  How does your prayer life compare with the example given by Paul in vs 16-19? 3.  What does Paul pray for in vs. 17? a.  How does what Paul pray for contrast with the kind of prayers you typically hear in church gatherings? b.  Why does Paul ask that believers gow in their knowledge of God? 4.  How is our perception of the world affected by our knowledge of God? a.  How does the way we perceive the world affect the way we treat other people? b.  How does your knowledge of God affect the way you prioritize your life? c.  How does your knowledge of God affect the way you approach relationships with believers and unsaved people? 5.  What is the hope of His calling Paul talks about in vs. 18? 6.  What kind of inheritance can the saints look forward to receiving from God?(v19) 7.  Why does Paul ask that believers grow in their understanding of God's power and strength? a.  How does your knowledge of God's power and strength affect the way you pray to God? b.  How does your knowledge of God's greatness affect the way you live as a child of God?

Individual Challenge: How can your prayer life change to be more like Paul's this week?  How would a change in what and how you pray affect the way you treat God? How would it affect the way you treat others?

Community Challenge: How would our fellowship be impacted if everyone prayed for each other the way Paul does in Ephesians 1?  Would the change be something that would make an impact on the way our community views us?

Ephesians 1:9-14

Key Passage: Ephesians 1:9-14

Key Points: 1.  God's method and purpose of salvation don't change. 2.  God's work is purposeful, focused and consistent in all aspects of who He is in everything He does.

Key Themes: o God chose to reveal His plan to redeem His creation through Jesus(9) o God knew from the beginning He would redeem all of creation, things in heaven and on earth through Jesus (9-10) o The riches of God's love are found in Jesus Christ.(10) o God intended to bring Himself glory through His Son and placed Him in the position of preeminence(11) o God is One, there is no division in the God-head and everything works together to glorify God(11) o God's plan of salvation has always been through faith(12) o The Spirit of God seals believers the moment they place their trust in Jesus(13) o The Holy Spirit is an assurance of our coming reunion with God the completion of our salvation(13) o Both the Spirit and the  Son work together to bring praise and glory to God(9-14)

Reflective Questions: 1.  What does vs 9-10 tell us about God's character? a.  What does it reveal about His Sovereignty? b.  What circumstances and events cause us to doubt God's Sovereignty? c.  What does the evidence of a plan tell us about God? 2.  What does vs 11 tell us about finding fulfillment in the Christian life? a. What do we learn about the Holy Spirit and the Son's relationship to the Father in vs. 11-13? b.  How does our knowledge of how God operates within Himself affect the way we think about Him? c.  How does this knowledge affect the way we think about how we operate as the church? d.  What things need to change so that we live out the single-minded focus and purpose shown in the God-head? In your life? In corporate gatherings? 3.  What do we learn about the assurance of salvation in vs 13-14? a.  What do we learn about the way God provides salvation in vs. 12? b.  Did God change His method of salvation after Christ? c.  What passages of scripture help us understand God's method of salvation before and after Christ? 4.  What does the consistency in the method of salvation before and after Christ, tell us about God's character?

Individual Challenge: What areas of your life are in opposition or out of sync with the purposes of God? What single change can you make this week that would bring you more alignment with God's purposes and will?

Community Challenge: How would like-mindedness and focus change the way our fellowship operates?  How would a singleness of purpose affect the way we reach our our community and target demographic?

Ephesians 1:1-8

Key Passage: Ephesians 1:1-8

Key Points 1.  God in His sovereignty chose to show His grace to us by forgiving our sin debt with the blood of His Son Jesus. 2.  Jesus is the instrument of our redemption because He brings glory to the Father and so that He is pre-eminent over all creation

Key themes: Paul is chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus(1) Grace and peace come from God through Jesus(2) God blesses His children through His Son Jesus Christ(3) We are given every spiritual blessing through Jesus(3) God chose His children before the foundations of the world(4) God chose and purposed His children to be holy and blameless(4) God chose His children because He loves them(4-5) God's adopted Children have been chosen and paid for through Jesus (5) God chose to adopt His family through Jesus so that He would be glorified and Jesus would be glorified(5-6) God's children were bought with the blood of Jesus to forgive the debt of sin(7) God paid for our sin debt because of His grace and love.

Reflective Discussion Questions: 1.  Who is Paul an apostle of? a.  What is an apostle? b.  Who makes it possible for Paul to be an apostle? c.  How do you remind yourself that you are only  in this bible study/church/Christian because of the will of God? d.  How does the recognition of God's will affect your perspective on Church and Christian fellowship? 2.  What are two things we know God desires to give to His people?(2) a.  Why are the grace and peace of God important things to receive from God? b.  How does the knowledge of what God desires to give to you affect your prayer life? c.  How does the knowledge of what God desires you to have affect the way you approach your relationship with God? 3.  Why does Paul praise God? (3) a.  How often do you thank God for the gift of Jesus Christ? b.  How do we stay fresh in our thankfulness of God's gift of Jesus? 4.  What do you learn about God in vs 4? a.  How does your knowledge of who God is affect the way you treat Him? b.  Why did God chose His children according to vs 4? c. How do people misinterpret vs 4 and twist God's words to take advantage of His grace? d.  Why would anyone care about being holy and blameless in the sight of God?(4) 5.  What do you learn about God's sovereignty in v5? a.  Why are we adopted through Jesus Christ? b. How are we adopted through Jesus? c.  Why is Jesus part of the process of adoption? d.  What are other scriptures that help us understand why Jesus is central to our adoption/the gospel? 6.  Who is the beloved?(6) a.  What is the role between the beloved and followers of Jesus? 7.  What does redemption mean? a.  What are some modern examples of redemption? b.  Why do things need to be redeemed? c.  What redeems followers of Jesus? d.  Why do we need to be redeemed? e. How do people demonstrate an unthankfulness for redemption? f.  How does a person's view of redemption and God affect the way they treat God? 8.  Why does God choose to forgive sins at such a high cost? a.  What does it mean to lavish?(8) b.  Why would God lavish his children with wisdom and understanding? c.  What's the difference between wisdom and understanding? d.  How do wisdom and understanding work together.

Individual Challenge: How can you stay fresh in your thankfulness for God's grace this week?  How would keeping Jesus central in your life change the way you interact with Jesus this week?  How would it affect your relationships with other people?

Community Challenge: How would our fellowship be changed if Jesus and His shed blood were at the forefront of our minds?  Would it change the reason why we gathered?  Would it change who would come to our group?  What would our group do differently if we continually celbrated Jesus sacrifice and the beauty of our redemption?