The Letter to the Ephesians, Pt. 7
The Jerusalem Council - Stained Glass
We humans always seem to struggle to incorporate people different than us into fellowship. We see it in kids who notice differences in each other right away, though all too often they’ve learned to be cautious of those different than them because of the behaviours of adults in their lives. The same was true for the earliest Christians, who were Jews - they could hardly believe the promises to Abraham had been opened up to the gentiles. Shortly after the gentiles flooded into the church, they turned on their Jewish brothers and sisters in a similar way, being unable to believe that God still had room for believers to be ethnically and culturally Jewish in their practices. Yet, God shows us a better way as Paul’s letter shows us in chapter 3.
Anchor Texts:
Ephesians 3:1-6 ESVUK - The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed
Questions to Ponder:
How do you feel about the word “mystery”? What does it mean to you in regard to the faith?
What is “the mystery of Christ” as Paul refers to it in Ephesians 3:1-6 (try to use your own words!)?
Why can it be challenging to let an “outsider” into your personal life? Think of different kinds of “outsiders” - new co-worker, a person of another culture/ethnicity/religion, a person of a different economic status.
What does God demand of us when it comes to welcoming outsiders? What does He give us to enable us to do what he asks?
In Ephesians 3:6 we (the gentiles) find out we are “heirs,” “part of the body,” and “partakers of the promise”— try to describe in your words what each of these mean.