Small group Questions
Share in what ways you relate with those who are dis-enchanted with the Church?
Why do you bother to remain committed to the community anyway?
Read
Eph 1:15-23
Eph 5: 25-27
Discuss together God's heart for the Church.
What this has meant in history
What this means for our future
How this might shape us now in the way we view the Church and what we hope for the Church.
“To dwell above with Saints we love that will be grace and glory
to live below with Saints we know, now that's another story.”
Read
Eph Ch 2:19-22
Ch 4:1-6
What is Paul calling the Ephesians and ourselves to.
How far do we take the idea of 'one' (a unity between us) and 'make every effort'?
What stops us looking around the Church and treating each other as family, brothers and sisters with one Father in heaven?
Ideally what would it look like?
Practically what could it look like?
In our small group how do we express this towards each other and the broader Church
What practical ways might we take up to extend this further?
“For Paul, the universal is always expressed in the specific.
You can't claim to belong to the Church universal, unless you belong to a Church local, unless you are rubbing shoulders with Christian brothers and sisters.
You can't say you love the Church unless you can say you love the people.”
Do you agree/disagree.
How do you respond to people who say they are Christians but do not see the importance of Church?
“Love is not blind, that is the last thing that it is. Love is bound; and the more it is bound, the less it is blind.”
Tease out this statement as far as you can regarding:
how God loves us
how God loves the Church
how we are called to love the Church.
There is no doubt the Church has problems, how might "being bound" shape the way we critique the Church?
Taking the principle “Love is bound” as a starting point – what kind of commitments towards our specific community are you lead towards? What shapes the way you decide what you can and ca't do.