Tonight was the first of our new fortnightly meetings and we spent some time digging into Scripture together. Still following the theme of Identity, but this week looking at a passage from the New Testament and trying to see what it reveals about who we are & how God feels about us.
We started by drawing a portrait of someone in the room in just 2 minutes. Our combined lack of artistic ability made for plenty of giggles. Then we drew a self-portrait with one or two features exaggerated, before reflecting on what our self-portrait reveals about how we see ourselves.
Everyone was a given a pen & the text of Ephesians 1:3-14 and encouraged to scribble, underline & mark it however they wanted as I read through it. They were also given a sheet with three symbols on it as an aid to studying the Bible passage:
- Lightbulb: write down what shines out from the passage, the obvious messages, or whatever strikes you for the first time
- Question mark: write down anything you don’t understand (words, phrases, concepts), or any questions which come up for you as you read it
- Arrow: personal application, how should this change your attitude/behaviour/attitude?
We then spent about 10 minutes exploring the passage individually, scribbling notes, etc. before coming together and sharing our lightbulbs, questions & thoughts about application. It was a really helpful exercise. Here are a selection of our thoughts/discussions:
- Lightbulb:
- It is clear that we are dearly loved by God & so special/precious to Him
- We’ve been adopted into His family; fully accepted, an heir of His Kingdom
- God has not only showered us with kindness, but also wisdom & understanding
- We were loved & chosen before the world was created
- we are looked at us faultless – because ‘God has made a covering for us‘
- perhaps ‘covered by grace’ is a more helpful phrase than ‘covered by the blood of the lamb’
- Question mark:
- we are heirs of His Kingdom & promised an inheritance, but an inheritance usually comes through the death of a parent; how does that work now that Jesus has died & been raised to eternal life?
- does it come upon our death, is it available when Christ comes again, or is it available now?
- perhaps it’s like the prodigal son, that we can ask for our inheritance now?
- [‘ask anything in my name and it will be granted’ Jesus]
- Christ’s death has secured the inheritance, and it’s assured by the Holy Spirit – not sure when we receive it
- we are heirs of His Kingdom & promised an inheritance, but an inheritance usually comes through the death of a parent; how does that work now that Jesus has died & been raised to eternal life?
- Application:
- We need to live as though we are loved (because we are!) & remember how special/precious we are to God
- We need to praise & glorify Him for all he’s done
- It’s important to remember that being saved requires us to take action/make a choice/decision (v13)
- Must remember that God has a plan & He’s working it out – we need to trust in His promises
- especially when life is tough – no matter what we’re facing
- He is a good God who loves us…
To close we listened to Ephesians 2:1-10, then listened to the following song whilst reflecting on what God had revealed to us:
[Spotify link just for Thomas as he’s given up YouTube for Lent]
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