I can't think of a better book to study together online than Ephesians. It is one of the richest sources of spiritual truth in scripture. So...I thought we could do a little experiment to see if a group of believers from Christ's Church in Roswell, NM (plus anyone else who wants to join in), could use this YouVersion forum to do a serious Bible study, sharing our thoughts and discoveries as we move through Ephesians. It provides the freedom for everyone to do it on their own time.
In order to distinguish our contributions from the others, we need to use the same title (ex. Christ's Church Roswell, NM - Ephesians Study #...) for whatever section we're doing at the time. We'll try to cover just a few verses for each section, allowing plenty of time for anyone who wants to add content. Plus, more content can be added even after the group moves on. I'll add the start of the next section whenever I feel it's time.
Also, let's keep our comments relatively brief so that it becomes a conversation rather than a series of lectures. In the first two verses of chapter 1, Paul opens the letter in much the same way that he opens some of his other letters. The first thing that hit me is Paul's certainty of his calling within the will of God. Do any of you struggle with knowing what your place is within His will? If you do, the next few phrases are a good start. By the way, I'm using the New King James Version, but you can pick whatever is your favorite.
Paul calls the believers in Ephesus "saints" (which really just means "holy") and "faithful". These are terms that we can apply to ourselves as well. No matter what role God has for us in His will, we need to see ourselves first of all as holy and faithful. Verse 2 follows with the foundational forces of grace and peace that come only from God. Understanding and living in His grace lead to seeing ourselves as holy, and understanding and living in His peace lead to faithfulness.
In order to distinguish our contributions from the others, we need to use the same title (ex. Christ's Church Roswell, NM - Ephesians Study #...) for whatever section we're doing at the time. We'll try to cover just a few verses for each section, allowing plenty of time for anyone who wants to add content. Plus, more content can be added even after the group moves on. I'll add the start of the next section whenever I feel it's time.
Also, let's keep our comments relatively brief so that it becomes a conversation rather than a series of lectures. In the first two verses of chapter 1, Paul opens the letter in much the same way that he opens some of his other letters. The first thing that hit me is Paul's certainty of his calling within the will of God. Do any of you struggle with knowing what your place is within His will? If you do, the next few phrases are a good start. By the way, I'm using the New King James Version, but you can pick whatever is your favorite.
Paul calls the believers in Ephesus "saints" (which really just means "holy") and "faithful". These are terms that we can apply to ourselves as well. No matter what role God has for us in His will, we need to see ourselves first of all as holy and faithful. Verse 2 follows with the foundational forces of grace and peace that come only from God. Understanding and living in His grace lead to seeing ourselves as holy, and understanding and living in His peace lead to faithfulness.
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