Sanctuary

Read Ephesians 2.1-10. What does this text tell you about God’s character? What do you learn about His nature? How do you sense His love in these verses? 

Review the introduction to the letter. Who is Paul’s primary audience? What’s the difference between Paul writing a general letter to all people, and him writing specifically to Christ followers? 

As you’ve considered being “In Christ,” what beliefs about God are beginning to change? What beliefs about yourself are beginning to change? 

At the beginning of chapter 2 Paul writes, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions.” What does Paul mean by that? 

What do you believe was the primary mission of Jesus? 

Read and reflect on Dane Ortlund’s comments regarding this text: “Christ was sent not to mend wounded people or wake sleepy people or advise confused people or inspire bored people or spur on lazy people or educate ignorant people, but to raise dead people.”

In verses 1-3, Paul makes it clear we were dead in our sins. Describe what it was like for you to be dead in your sins. What were your relationships like? What did you think of the future? How did you navigate suffering? 

Read Ephesians 2.4-6. What speaks most personally to you in these verses? 

How is it possible for you to at once be seated in the heavenly realms and living on earth? 

God is described in verse 4 as being “rich in mercy.” What does “rich in mercy” mean? 

Where do you most profoundly see the evidence that God is “rich in mercy”? 

Read and reflect on Dane Ortlund’s comments regarding this text: “That God is rich in mercy means that your regions of deepest shame and regret are not heels through which divine mercy passes but homes in which divine mercy abides.

It means the things about you that make you cringe the most, make him hug the hardest.

It means his mercy is not calculating and cautious like ours. It is unrestrained, flood-like, sweeping, magnanimous.

It means our haunting shame is not a problem for him, but the very thing he loves most to work with.

It means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit. Our sins cause his love to surge forward all the more.

It means on that day when we stand before him, quietly, unhurriedly, we will weep with relief, shocked at how impoverished a view of his mercy-rich heart we had.“

Read Ephesians 2.7. How do you sense God showing you the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness?

When you picture God, where do you see and sense kindness? In your everyday life, how do you experience God’s kindness? 

Read Romans 2.1-4. His kindness leads us to repentance. How is this truth being lived out in your life today? How is it not? 

Read Ephesians 2.8-10. In your own words, describe what Paul is saying here. How have you been a giver or a conduit of God’s grace? How have you been a recipient of God’s grace? What in your life does grace not cover? Because His grace covers everything in your life, where do you sense a need to simply live in the reality of His grace that sets you free?

Ephesians 2.10 says your life is a “work of art.” In what ways do you embrace that truth? Where do you find it hard to live into that truth? 

What is the primary implication of these verses for you? In what ways could your brothers or sisters in your Faith Family come alongside you here? 

Read John 1.16. Rest in His grace upon grace. 

Read Acts 17 & 18 to understand some of the background of the church in Ephesus. What sticks out to you?

In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul moves from praise (v. 3-14) to petition (v. 15-23). In your life, how have these postures helped give you a spiritual equilibrium? What happens when they are not in balance?

We have 4 prison prayers from Paul (Eph. 1:15-23, 3:14-21, Phil. 1:9-11, Col. 1:9-12) and there is a theme: Paul does not ask God to give them what they do not have, but instead, he prays that God would reveal to them what they already have. How could this truth help shape your prayers?

Paul prays that believers may grow in their knowledge of God through the eyes of their heart being enlightened. What does this tell us about the source of our spiritual growth?

When it comes to eyesight, trying harder never allows anyone to see better. The only way for our eyes to be “enlightened” is for them to be assisted (i.e. glasses/contacts). Do you find yourself more often straining harder on your own, or asking for more help from God in your relationship with Jesus?

Paul prays specifically that we would be able to “see/understand” three things: 1) The hope of our calling, 2) the riches of our inheritance, and 3) the greatest of God’s power. Which one of these do you desire to grow in?

Grasping the beauty of our calling connects to God’s faithfulness in the past, while remembering our inheritance in eternity anchors us to the promised future.  It is our understanding of God’s power that frees us to live confidently today.  If you were to describe God’s power, what would you point to? Why does Paul highlight the resurrection?

Do you regularly pray for eyes to see and comprehend the incredible reality that Jesus called YOU?

How do the current struggles in life cause you to lose sight of the inheritance that awaits you?

Why do we so easily forget the power available to us through Christ and try to live under our own strength?

What would it look like to experience more of God’s power at work in your life this week? Spend some time praying that God would enlighten your eyes to better grasp the hope of your calling, the riches of your inheritance, and the incredible power of your great God.