Deeper Week One
Home > Blog > Deeper Week OneDiving In . . .
Thanks for taking the time to “dive in” a little deeper during the week. Hopefully these questions will give you a little more to think about and talk about from the Word of God and the letter of Ephesians. You might want to discuss them in your small group, with a prayer partner or with family and friends. And if you can’t find someone to share it with this week, you can always meditate upon God’s Word and listen as He speaks to you personally. Dive deep, and I’ll see you Sunday.
Pastor Greg
Week 1, 02/14/10, Personalized, Ephesians 1:1-6
1. In chapter 1, verse 1, Paul refers to himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, what is the significance of being an apostle? In what way(s) does that qualify him to write a Book in the Bible?
2. Ephesians is not a “book” in the typical way we think of books; rather it is a personal letter, written from the Apostle Paul To the saints and believers in Christ Jesus at Ephesus (vs.1). How is it different and/or significant that this is a personal letter? How does it being a personal letter change the way you read it and hear it?
3. In verse 3, “blessed” or “blessing” is used multiple times. What does the word blessing mean? Through whom have blessings come? The significance of a blessing is in the giver of the blessing. How is it different when God blesses you from when someone else blesses you?
4. In verse 4, God makes a choice. What is significant about the timing of that choice?
5. This first section in Ephesians focuses on our blessings in Christ (vs, 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ) As you go through this week, reflect upon the “when” the “how” and the “why” of these spiritual blessings. Be blessed . . . and share God’s blessings with someone this week.
Except for Paul’s letter to the Romans, Ephesians lays out the basic theology he built from his studies prior to his conversion – placing salvation in the cradle of the leviticus traditions. So, theologians through the centuries have followed Paul down his “road” – keeping the cross of Christ central (and essential} as the sacrifice for our sins. Basic stuff!
Lots of good expository preaching in these passages. Keep it up, Greg. And thanks for sprinkling humor into your Sunday delivery, as it keeps us awake and alert, and affords the opportunity for an audible chuckle now and then, which has utility, in itself, for nudging our pew companions to keep eyes up front and focused. I enjoyed following you in my Greek New Testament (mostly to make sure you are faithful to the text).
Oops. Couldn’t help noticing you sported a black “preaching’ collar” Sunday morning. Looked like it was attached to a “dickie?” What’s next? a robe? Heavens!!
Your friendly critic, Jim Didier
Pastor Greg Huguley,
As old as Ginny and I are we still feel like we’re in the “Jesus 101″ class. We have so much to learn and understand
about our Lord, Jesus Christ. Thank’s to you and your messages we’re learning and growing in Christ.
We thank you for being our Pastor and for teachig us.
Ginny and Bob
When I checked to see what the meaning of “apostle” was, I found that there were some “tests” to be an apostle: He would have had to have seen the Lord, been called to the office by Christ, been infallibly inspired, and had the power of working miracles. I think the two that most qualified him to write a book of the Bible were that he had been called and sent by God and his infallible inspiration. When he stated that he was an apostle “by God’s will”, he emphasized that he was an apostle because God had called him and because of God’s mercy not because of anything that he had done.
Thanks for the opportunity to dig deeper!
Elaine
I was reading verse 4, “For He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blaimless in his sight,” and the note in my bible says that God looks at us as if we had never sinned. In some respects it is hard to wrap my mind around this, but mostly it causes me to want to thank Him for this amazing blessing. That is certainly a blessing I can not receive from anyone else.
Thank-you so much for challenging us to go deeper,
Terri McLaughlin
Thoughts on vs. 4. My brain goes numb when I wonder just how far before the foundations of the earth was it when God had a thought about me. Can He have a new thought? If God had a new thought would he still be God? So, I’m thinking that God has always thought about me. He has for an eternity considered me an object of His affection. A trophy of His grace. His adopted child. Can’t think much more than to humbly thank and praise Him for His glorious grace….still pondering…
It is hard to imagine God seeing me as blameless. The upcoming verses contain the hardest concept for me to wrap my mind around though. I believe that God is totally soverign, but if he chose some and not others based totally on his mercy it just doesn’t seem fair to those who were not chosen. Why did he choose to bless Jacob but not Esau? Why did he choose me and not the woman in Africa dying from AIDS who maybe has never heard the gospel? Why do I live in such comfort while other women are enslaved by human traffickers? Yet, if we have a choice in the matter that seems to say that man has the power to override God and I know he is more powerful. Or it says that our actions have something to do with our salvation. If I think about it too much, I get a headache from my thoughts going in circles. There has to be a line that is the balancing point. I always come to the conclusion that my mind will never understand it this side of heaven and just accept that God is in control and He knows the answer.
Elaine