Cell Groups in October

Ephesians: "Immeasurably More..."

This month, we are taking a look at Paul's letter to the Ephesians in cell groups.  What strikes me about this letter is the language that Paul uses in describing God and the life that is offered to us through his Son.  The first 3 chapters are full of phrases that attempt to capture the scope and grandeur of God.  He writes things like:

He has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing.


...to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us... that he lavished on us.

...his incomparably great power.

He writes about the glorious, unsearchable riches that God has for his followers.

He writes about his mighty strength and great love that makes us alive.

I think Paul does this because he thinks the Christians in Ephesus need to be shaken awake.  In Revelation 2, the messenger Jesus sends to the churches tells the Ephesians pretty good things.  He brags on them for their perseverance and for their purity, but then he changes tune and says, "This I have against you, you have forgotten your first love."

This is all a matter of interpretation, but the picture I get of the Ephesians from the Bible is that they were what we would likely call pretty good people.  Ephesians is much more positive then many of Paul's other letters.  If I were going to receive a letter from Paul, I would much rather get Ephesians than what the Corinthians got.  But knowing human nature, knowing the Christians I have worked for and worked with, knowing myself, I know that there is a danger in being "pretty good".  I think of myself as a pretty good guy.  A good Christian.  I don't smoke, don't drink, I'm faithful to my wife, I'm attentive to my kids, I try to be compassionate to the poor, etc.  I don't write any of that to brag (more on that later).  I write that because I know the inherent danger in it.  I have to remind myself on a regular basis that the life Christ offers me is fuller than what I am prone to settle for.  My life is good, but it's not "beyond anything I could ask or imagine" as Paul puts it in Ephesians.  There is something wider, longer, higher, and deeper than the life I could so easily settle for.  The gospel is not about living a pretty good life.  The gospel is about part ownership in a Kingdom that is literally limitless in resources and power.  It is about an ongoing, vibrant relationship with an all powerful God who sacrificed himself to bring us back to him.

And this gospel is for everyone.  One of the things that seems to blow Paul's mind the most is that Jews and Gentiles now had the same access to Jehovah God.  He writes in 2:17 that Christ came for those who were "far away" and those who were "near".  (I can never read that verse without thinking about this, is that so wrong?) The Gentiles were far away from the One true God.  They knew little, if anything about his laws, his demands for sacrifice, his very nature - but through Christ they were welcomed into his love.  The Jews were nearer because they knew the Law, but there was that pesky little problem of actually being able to do what it said.  Although they were nearer to God in their understanding, they were no less in need of a savior.  In our world, I believe some of us are fortunate to be in situations where we are nearer to God.  For example, my parents had me in church, ALL the time.  They not only taught me a lot about what the Bible said, but also they taught me how to put it to use.  More importantly, they have given me a great example of what that looks like.  They have loved me and encouraged me in faith.  This is why I don't brag about being a pretty good guy as I defined it above - it's because I have had a lot of help along the way.  I wish everyone had that experience - but sadly that's not the case.  Some people are in situations where they feel far, far away from God.  It may be because they have grown up in a family that just doesn't know God, or a family that claims to know God but has fallen so short of what it really means to belong to him that it's made it hard to see God as real.  Or it may be because bad decisions that person has made have taken them far away from what a God-honoring life should look like.  Whatever the reason, those people are promised a full, glorious life in Christ just the same as those who feel near.

In our world and culture, it would be easy to read the first 3 chapters of Ephesians and get a misconception of what Paul is talking about.  When we read about glorious and unsearchable riches, or about mighty power, or about a God who is able to do more that we can ask or imagine, we might be likely to picture a God that will make our lives easy and wallets full.  That's not it at all.  In fact, Paul starts chapter 4 with a stark reminder of his current station in life - a prisoner of the Roman Empire.  The power of the gospel is not in what it can offer us from an earthly perspective.  Instead it lies in what it can do in the way we live the lives on Earth that we have.  The last 3 chapters of Ephesians tell us what we should do in response to the power of the Gospel described in the first three.  Paul instructs them to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received" and goes on to describe what that would look like.  He gives them example after example of things that need to be removed from their life and what they should be replaced with.  He tells them, for example to stop stealing, but instead to work so that they have something to give to someone else in need.  Not only are Christians called to stop sinning, but we are called to be an active positive force in the world around us. 

This month in cell groups, the discussion questions will revolve around the following:

Week 1: Have you forgotten your first love?
Week 2: Do you feel like someone who is near God, or far away?
Week 3: What do you need to remove from your life, and what does it need to be replaced with?