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• 4 Sessions of Learner’s Materials
• 4 Sessions of Teaching Materials
• Handouts
1. Ephesians 2:1-10
2. Ephesians 2:11-16
3. Ephesians 3:1-6
4. Ephesians 4:1-7
"Life in Christ" is a four session Bible study for adults, including learner’s materials, teaching guides, and handouts. The teaching guide is options-based, so teachers can customize sessions to match their favorite approach.
This unit focuses on the unity of the body of Christ, a major recurring theme in the Epistle to the Ephesians. In Ephesians, Paul draws upon the idea of community. Paul calls upon the image of the body to bring individuals together. As God's creation, we are to work, live, and think together as a body acts in unity. God's unifying love provides hope for those who were previously excluded from fellowship with "the chosen ones." According to Paul we are all parts of one body, the body of Christ. Each part of the body plays a specific role, and no part is more important than another.
Session One affirms that we are God's "work of art," created for good works. These passages from Ephesians can help us understand that because of God's good work in us, good works should flow from us naturally. If we love God as is intended, then God's desires become our own.
Session Two continues the message that God in Christ has freed us. Paul intends that salvation is understood at several levels. God's salvation, freely given in grace, brings unity out of division, harmony out of discord, and reconciliation out of hostility.
Session Three examines Paul's suggestion that unity should be exhibited by members of the church is similar to the organic unity of the human body. We are one body in Christ, which is mysteriously more than its list of members.
Session Four marks the beginning of the second half of Ephesians. God has done marvelous things for us, therefore certain behaviors, deeds, and attitudes are demanded of us.
by Brian Austin
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