Sunday 14th September, 2008

Read and reflect on Hebrews 10:23-25, which is a passage about Christians coming together to meet.

• There are 5 or so commands in this short passage. Think about how they form a process. Does this process work in your life? Where does it fall down?

• What do you think it means to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess”? What would this look like in your life?

• The passage expects us to be active, even to prepare in advance, when we meet together. Is this what we really expect when we come together? How should we balance giving and receiving? What opportunities exist for us to encourage one another? Do we take hold of them?

Ephesians is the only letter written to a church that wasn’t struggling with some issue or problem.

• Read Ephesians 3:10. What do you think Paul means? How do you think the church displays God’s manifold wisdom? Does Paul’s amazingly exalted view of the church seem understandable given your experience of church? How can you explain the difference between Paul’s understanding of the church and yours?

• Read Ephesians 3:2-21 out loud. Work your way through it again, this time rewriting it out in your own words as if you were going to convey all of Paul’s ideas in the passage to one of your friends. Don’t be afraid to read between the lines. Take as many words as you need to get the point and emphasis across. This may seem like a silly exercise, but trust me it can be really powerful. Suddenly you can’t skip over a bit where you’re not really sure what it means. This sort of process is what a good preacher will do every time they prepare to preach from a passage.

• Read Ephesians 5:25-32. Paul is trying to talk about marriage relations, but can’t help getting sidetracked onto how amazing the whole idea of the church is. Try to understand his amazement and wonder and what the significance of this could be for you and our church.