LGC - Rooted & Fruitful Part 15

Rooted & Fruitful (Part 15)

Speaker: Rhordan Wicks

INTRODUCTION

This week, we look at Ephesians 4:7-16. From this passage, we can identify 3 ways in which Paul exhorts us to mature as believers:

People: Place yourself under God’s leadership team (4:11)
Practice: Pilot ‘truth-telling in love’ (4:15)
Power: Ponder God’s radical love for you in Christ Jesus (4:7-8)

These are gifts that God has given us so that we as one church may achieve the unity of the one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism we are called to in Ephesians 4:4-6.

DISCUSSION

As a community, we do not endorse ‘one and done salvation’ where saying the sinner’s prayer once will absolve us of all sins, present and past. God wants to work in us (Philippians 2:13) continually – but to what end?

a. Read Ephesians 4:11-16. Identify 3 positive signs of maturity as a body of Christ.

b. From the same passage, identify 3 negative signs of immaturity (i.e. what we should not want to be like).

c. Are there any qualities that you identify with from the above? Be it positive or negative. Has this always been the case in your walk as a believer? Why?
If we try to mature independently, we are doomed to fail. Just as a child needs a parent to bring them up correctly, we need guidance to mature.

a. Read Ephesians 4:7-11. What are some of the gifts that God has given us to mature and achieve unity as a church?

(i) Have you relied on or received from these gifts?

(ii) Conversely, have you exercised these gifts to/for the benefit of others?

b. Setting ‘Boundaries’ has become a buzzword in modern psychology. Yet the key to healthy boundaries must be to draw boundaries in love and to respect the boundaries of others in love.

If not from a place of love, ‘drawing boundaries’ would simply be an excuse for selfish rejection.

(i) Have you ever experienced difficulty in establishing a boundary for yourself? Were you even aware of your unhealthy boundaries?

(ii) Read Ephesians 4:15-16. Does Paul intend this to be an internal dialogue in our heads or a dialogue between church members? Concerning your answer above, why might this be so?

(iii) Is there any truth you need to speak (or be spoken to you) today? What would this look like if spoken with love and without love?

WHAT WILL YOU DO

People: Have you placed yourself under God’s leadership team?

Practice: How can you exercise telling (and receiving) ‘truth-telling in love’?

Power: Ponder God’s radical love for you (and those around you) in Christ Jesus.

For further reading, see Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

MEMORY VERSE

“Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” – Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)