March 17, 2024

EPHESIANS 5:18-21

 1. Overall, what stood out to you from Sunday’s passage? Was there anything that you were particularly reminded of, encouraged by, or spurred towards in light of the passage?

2. At the start of verse 18, we see a command stating that we are not to get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. On Sunday, we heard,  “That to be drunk with wine never leads to satisfaction and good, but destruction and pain…Rather than living wisely and making the most of every opportunity in life, the one who gets drunk with wine is settling for foolishness…There is no vision of life that’s marked by wisdom, beauty, knowledge, truth, or love that includes getting drunk with wine…so don’t try to fill yourself with something that won’t satisfy.”

-What are other ways people try to satisfy themselves that only lead to ruin?

-How can we encourage one another to remember that drunkenness (and a host of other sins) don’t ultimately satisfy us?

3. The second half of verse 18 gives us the command to be filled with the Spirit.

-What do you think it means to be filled with the Spirit? How does a person become filled with the Spirit?

-On Sunday, we heard, “To be filled with the Spirit is to know God deeply, according to His Word, and to experience a closeness to God where the Spirit of God directs and empowers our lives to be pleasing to God.” So, as you unpack this with your group, what do you understand to be the characteristics of being filled with the Spirit?

4. We then moved into verses 19-21 to see various expressions of one who is filled with the Spirit.

-Addressing & Singing (v. 19): How can you value speaking and singing the truths of God more regularly in your life? How has being addressed and being in the presence of singing the truths of God ministered to your soul?

-Giving Thanks (v. 20): What elements of life do you find it most difficult to be thankful to God about? What elements of life can easily lead to grumbling?

-Submitting to One Another (v. 21): What does it look like to put this verse into practice among the believers at MBC right now?