SERMON NOTES, 8/27/23

At the Table with Each Other: Let the Walls Come Down
Ephesians 2:11-22

Opening Discussion

1. Have you ever been involved with a group where you just didn’t fit—you didn’t feel like you belonged? Describe the experience. How did you feel?
2. Has there ever been a group, team, or organization that you really wanted to be part of, but you simply did not qualify or could not get in? How did that make you feel? Do you think you’ve ever been guilty of treating others the same way?
3. What evidence do you see in our culture that people are searching for a sense of belonging? Why do you think loneliness continues to be one of the biggest problems in our culture? How is modern technology intensifying this problem?

Bible Study

1. Read Ephesians 2:1-22 to get the flow of thought.

Verse 11 opens with “therefore” referring to our “good works” that bear witness to our new life in Christ. Therefore we need to “remember”. The word “remember” is the only imperative (command) in the first three chapters of Ephesians. Why is it so important to remember what we were, what we are, and how we got from there to here? How does this motivate our “good works”?

What might motivate our “good works” if we fail to remember?

2. In Paul’s day the conflict was between the Jews and Gentiles. Who might the conflict be between in our culture today? Do these conflicts emerge in Christian churches causing division?
3. Verses 11-12 cause us to remember what we “formerly were”. What were we, according to verse 12? How desperate was our situation?

4. “But now” reflects the change that has transpired. What has changed, and what is the basis of that change? One way to understand this is to go back to your list of what we were in question 3 (from verse 12) and state the opposite. Discuss what we were and what we are now. In what way does grace change everything?
5. This text reminds us that “you were” but now “you are” which leads to 2:19 “so then”. Discuss what the “so then” is in verses 19-22. Because of grace, what should define the people of God in terms of who we are and how we view one another?

Application

1. For a church to be a place without walls it must be filled with people without walls. Search your own heart and make sure you have not erected walls where Jesus has torn them down.
2. What can we, as the church, do to better reflect the truth of this passage? List three practical things you as a group could do to celebrate what is true of us as citizens, family members and the dwelling place of God.
3. How can we, as the church, guard ourselves from “spiritual snobbery,” given the fact we are a privileged people as recipients of God’s amazing grace?
4. Spend some time in prayer asking God to lead us to properly represent what is true of His church from this passage in Ephesians.