Connect Group Study Notes:   25 September 2022 

Theme: “Designed by God …. Under Construction.” 

Reading:  Ephesians 2:1-22 

 

Fellowship (10 min) 

Begin with general conversation and sharing about how the past week has gone. Try not to go over time. 

Worship and Prayer (15 min) 

Click on the link below on your smartphone, Smart TV, or computer, to select songs to sing; and then spend a few minutes in song and prayer.  

PLETT METHODIST YOU TUBE CHANNEL SONG’S PLAYLIST:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbsAkwbV_S1vXdZVPkZ0_tQW5n9RqeZX0 

And if you need to check on the Message for the week again, then click on: 

PLETT METHODIST YOU TUBE CHANNEL (MESSAGE): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU1X4YYw1KLpda1yGnqKgfw/videos 

This time of worship and prayer will encourage you to move your thoughts from daily worries and pressures to our time of Bible study and prayer. 

 

Read:  Ephesians 2: 11-22. The key verses are 19-22. 

This week we plunge into the next level of the message we began last week. Here, we take the fact that we are loved and chosen and discover that being loved and chosen extends beyond us. God breaks down walls that separate people from God’s movement, so that ALL can be part of it. 

Warm up for the discussion time: 

In pairs or groups of three, talk about when you were growing up, who you were told to “stay away from”; or who was seen as not part of your group (certain types or groups of people – for example, people who lived across the tracks or people who engaged in certain types of behaviours). 

Discussion Questions (Approx. 30 min)1  

  • Part of the human condition is to instinctively think of people in terms of in-groups and out-groups. Who is part of our “in” group and who is in the “out” group for us? Who are the two groups in this passage? What do we learn about the differences between these groups from this passage? Are there other differences you are aware of? 
  • Since these two groups were seen as drastically different, how revolutionary would Paul’s ideas of reconciliation have seemed to his readers (vv. 13-14)? 
  • How would you have thought about this if you were one of the circumcised Jews? How would you have thought about this if you were one of the uncircumcised Gentiles? 
  • In verse 22, Paul notes “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” as we are being built together. How might we demonstrate this way of living in our churches and toward our communities? 

Faith Building (Approx.30 min):  

What does it mean for you to think of your life with the Lord as “under construction”? What construction work needs to take place? 

Prayer (10 min). Share prayer requests and then pray together. 

 

Sending Prayer (2 min). End by praying the following or a similar prayer: 

Father God, we acknowledge that your Love brings all things together; we confess that have fallen into artificial lines of separation. Guide us to see the boundaries where you place them and not necessarily assume that you place them in ways that are comfortable to us. When we are uncertain, help us to lean into your strong arms of grace. Amen. 

Have a great week. 

God bless, 

Tim.