March 26, 2023

Ephesians 1:11-12

1. Early in the sermon, it was said that there are truths of God that you can never exhaust. So what are some truths about God that you love to think about regularly and why?

2. Ephesians 1:11 starts with a phrase we hear often, “In Him”…what does it mean to be “In Christ”? Why is it important to understand that Christians are in Christ?

3. Ephesians 1:11 ends with the reason for our hope in Christ is in light of God’s sovereign work, his predestining according to His purposes in accordance with the counsel of His will. How familiar or foreign is this belief to you? How did you respond to the text before hearing Sunday’s sermon and has anything changed? If you are troubled by this text or what was said on Sunday, have you reached out to the pastors/elders of the church?

4. Job 42:2 was referenced as a right response to God’s work in salvation; being humble before the greatness of God. So how has your view of God increased as you’ve grown in grace and knowledge through your Christian experience?

5. With Ephesians 1:12, we talked about how salvation is to the praise of God’s glory & went to Revelation 7:9-12 to see the vision of God’s glory in salvation. How does the scene in Revelation 7 bring comfort and joy to the Christian?

6. We then talked about the doctrines of providence and election on Sunday. Providence was defined as God’s purposeful work of governing all things for His glory (Matthew 10:29; Isaiah 40:26; Acts 17:26; Acts 2:23; Acts 4:27-28) & Election was defined as God’s sovereign work, from before the foundation of the world, based solely on God’s predestining according to His purposes and the counsel of His will, of redeeming and rescuing a people for His own (John 6:37; Acts 13:48; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Ephesians 1:4, 5, 7-9, 11). Which of these passages did you find most helpful for understanding providence? Which were helpful to understand election?

7. We ended with 3 ways to live faithfully for the glory of God: embrace the gospel wholeheartedly & gladly, hopefully & humbly remember the gospel, & compassionately and confidently speak the truth of the God to others. So for you, which of these exhortations do you appreciate & want to apply this week in your life?