Essential – Week 1
Icebreaker:
- What was one of the best gifts you received as a child?
- What made it so special to you?
- Take 15 minutes to share about what God is doing in your life, share prayer requests and pray together.
Main idea:
Your life is essential in God’s plan, but not in the way you think.
Going deeper:
- In light of this week’s sermon, what is new information, challenged, or stood out to you?
Read aloud Ephesians 2:1-22
- What does it mean to be “dead in sin”
- What caused this death?
- What has God done to fix the problem of sin?
- Why must He be the one to take the initiative?
- What comparisons does Paul make between Christ’s experience(1:20-23) and ours (v.5-7)?
- Which is more important, grace or works?
- Why?
- Is faith a work or a gift?
- Why?
- What problems faced the Gentiles before Jesus’ day?
- What benefits result from being “in Christ”?
- What bomb did Jesus drop on the religious class system of His day?
- What impact would it have had, if the Jews and Gentiles applied verses 14-18?
- What was the difference between Hitler’s idea of a supreme race and Paul’s idea of “one body”?
- How does Paul’s picture of a new citizenship, a new family, and a new temple point to the reconciling work of Christ?
- From verses 18 and 22, what can you learn about the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in your life?
Application:
- What relationship in your life still needs the wall of hostility knocked down? How will that happen?
- How can your group support you?
