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Identity and Community

1. READ

   Ephesians 1-3

2. CONNECT

   10min
   Identity and inclusion are hot topics right now. Behind the question “Who am I?” lies the deeper one, “Whose am I?” Your answer to that question determines how you see yourself and how you relate to the people and world around you. In the book of Ephesians, Paul gets at the heart of these issues as he teaches about life in the kingdom of God.

3. Reflection

   Think of a group you belong to, maybe a club, a society, or even your country.

   1. What privileges does your membership give you?
   2. What responsibilities do you have because you are a member?

4. WATCH

   20min

   Note: If someone has questions about Paul’s authorship of Ephesians, refer them to the section Authorship (minutes 3:55–7:26) in the Thirdmill video Paul’s Prison Epistles - Lesson 3: “Paul and the Ephesians.”

5. DISCUSS

   15min
   1. What is one thing you want to remember from the video?
   2. According to the video and your reading of the book of Ephesians:
      1. What benefits come from being citizens of the kingdom of God?
      2. What responsibilities do we have towards our King?
   3. How can the metaphor of the Temple guide our relationships with other believers?
   4. For personal reflection:
      1. What relationship do you need to apply this to?
      2. Bring this to God in prayer.
      3. After you pray about this, what specific action can you take this week to better align that relationship with what you have seen in Ephesians?

6. APPLY

   15min
   1. In Ephesians, Paul draws his readers’ attention to God’s kingdom in a variety of ways. For example, he refers to them as “citizens.” He associates their spiritual warfare with required military service and their inheritance as followers of Christ with God’s kingdom, and he speaks of himself as an ambassador, which was an official governmental position. Compare and contrast the political government you live under to that of a monarchy in which the monarch has full and absolute political power.
      1. In what ways is it similar?
      2. In what ways is it different?
      3. How do these similarities and differences help or hinder you from understanding what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom?
   2. Read Ephesians 2:1-10. What similarities do you see between your personal experience and Paul’s description of the process of a person’s citizenship being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light?

7. CHALLENGE

   Think of some friends, relatives, or co-workers who are still “separated from Christ… having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

   1. What part of your experience and relationship with God could you use as a bridge to introduce Christ into a conversation?
   2. Ask God to prepare their hearts, open their eyes, and give you the opportunity to share this with them.