Imitators of God

Imitators of God

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul tells us to obey God as His beloved children, not in order to become His children. Where in your life do you most often slip back into trying to earn God's acceptance through your behavior rather than living from the acceptance He has already given you? 3) The love Paul describes is costly, the kind Christ showed when He gave Himself up with no personal gain. Where are you most tempted to put the brakes on love out of self-protection, and what would it cost you to keep loving there anyway? 4) The cure for covetousness is thanksgiving, because greed and gratitude cannot occupy the same heart at once. What is one area where comparison has crowded out gratitude lately, and what would it look like to deliberately give thanks instead? 5) Esau traded his birthright for a single bowl of stew because he was thinking with his stomach in the moment. What is the "bowl of stew" that most often tempts you to trade something lasting for something immediate? 6) Paul says everything people chase in the bottle, release and joy and connection, is available in greater measure by being filled with the Spirit. Where are you reaching for a cheap version of fullness right now, and what would it look like to seek the real thing instead?

The Old and New Self

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul says the old way of life is a settled habit of mind, not just a single bad choice. Where in your own life have you noticed an old pattern of thinking that quietly shapes how you act? 3) The sermon described wanting Christ as Master while still living wild and independent. In what area are you most tempted to call Jesus Lord but keep running your own life? 4) Verse 24 says the new self is something God created, not something we manufacture. How does it change your effort to know the new self is a gift you put on rather than a self you build from scratch? 5) Paul grounds the command to forgive in the forgiveness we already received in Christ. Is there someone you are finding hard to forgive, and how does remembering your own forgiveness reframe that? 6) The sermon said we are filled on Sunday so that we can serve during the week. What is one concrete way you could turn what you have received into service for someone this week?

Gifts of Growth

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) We often want to be seen as a unique individual and also want to belong to a group, and those two desires can pull against each other. Where do you feel that tension most in your own life right now? 3) Scripture says our gifts are handed out after the battle is already won, not as weapons for a fight still in doubt. How would your week look different if you really lived as though the victory were already secure? 4) It is easy to attend church the way you attend a performance, watching a few people do the spiritual work. What is one place you sense God may be calling you off the bench and into ministry, even in a small way? 5) The world tends to love people for what they offer and cut off everyone else. Who is someone in your life that is hard to love on those terms, and what would it look like to love them because Christ loves them? 6) Growing up in the faith looks different for an infant who needs patience and someone who has coasted for years and needs to wake up. Which of those is closer to where you are right now, and what is the next step toward maturity for you?

Walk Worthy

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul could have opened the practical section of Ephesians with apostolic authority, but instead he introduced himself as a prisoner for the Lord. What circumstance in your life right now feels like a chain, and what would it change to see that chain as belonging to the Lord rather than to whatever is holding you? 3) The sermon described gentleness (prautes) as the posture of a warhorse under the rider's command: all of its strength present, none of it spent in panic or self-direction. In a situation where you feel most tempted to power up or prove yourself, what would it look like to bring your full strength while keeping it submitted to the Lord's direction? 4) Paul says the church's task is not to create unity but to guard what the Spirit has already made. In your relationships at home, at work, or in this church, where are you more often trying to build unity from scratch rather than protecting what God has already given? 5) The sermon contrasted the wolf pack (find your tribe, expel the weak, protect your own) with the church's call to bear one another's burdens. Who is the hardest person in your life to bear with right now, and what would it look like to bring them patience rather than a verdict? 6) The sermon ended with the image of Jesus as a lamb who gave Himself to His enemies rather than powering up. Where is the Lord calling you specifically to respond to opposition with that kind of gentleness this week, and what is making that hard?

Rooted in Love

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul speaks of an inner person and an outer person at war in every believer. Where do you notice the flesh speaking the loudest in your own life right now, and what is the inner person trying to say back? 3) The sermon described a heart with a hierarchy, where things like family, career, or comfort often slip into the seat that belongs to Christ. Which of those "good things" do you sense has been climbing into the seat of authority in your heart? 4) Paul kneels before he asks for anything, and he asks first for power before he asks for love. What would change in your prayer life if you began with asking for the Spirit's strength rather than for the outcomes you want? 5) The love that surpasses knowledge is not less knowledge, it is knowing Christ in a way that produces real grace toward people. Who in your life right now is hard to love, and what would it look like to ask God for grace toward them rather than reasons to cut them off? 6) Paul writes from prison and still describes himself as rooted and grounded. What circumstance in your life are you waiting to change before you feel free to live out of the love of Christ?