Whether you are the athlete, professor, artist, or engineer, if you are identified with Christ, you are now united as a family—brother and sister—in one body, the Church. Within this new family, your previous heritage is now gone—biological heritage, national citizenship, race, or caste. There are no dividing walls but rather you are now one in Christ. As Paul once said, “We have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

Suggestions for Studying Ephesians During the Series:

1. Read daily passages along with NLT or ESV study Bible.
2. Read the whole book in one sitting once a week for the remainder of the series.
3. Listen to the whole book in one sitting once a week for the remainder of the series.

Click here to read or listen to the book of Ephesians.

Scripture References

Ephesians 3:1-13
2 Corinthians 12:7

-In what ways does your life get worse so that others’ lives get better—who do you suffer for?
-Who do you reveal God to? Who do you feel responsible for to share about Him and all that has been revealed to you?
-Sometimes sharing what God is revealing to us involves putting our reputation and self-preservation at risk. In what ways do you put yourself at risk?
-We are all undeserving of God’s grace and love—what excuses are you tempted to use to exempt yourself out of serving in order to self-protect?
-Our salvation and our lives are meant to display God’s greatness to the unseen world. In what area of your life has God worked in such a way as to amaze the unseen world with His power?

Thoughts to Consider on Suffering

-We should be willing to suffer out of sense of gratefulness—knowing we’ve been rescued by Him and saved from a future that was doomed.
-We should be willing to suffer because we love the people around us. We want those around us who are as lost, confused, and deceived as we once were to be rescued.
-Suffering means God is real. When a person is willing to suffer for someone else, it reveals the gratefulness in that person’s soul for what God has done for them.
-Suffering means God cares about us. Jesus suffered to bring blessing to us; we suffer to bring blessing to others.