3 Week Church Series on ONE begins this week - October 24, 2021

 

SCRIPTURE TEXT: EPHESIANS 4:1-16  

PRE-GROUP 31 STUDY 

Before interacting with this guide, all leaders and group members should study the referenced text using the HEAR Method. 

H: Highlight, or take note of, things in the passage that stick out to you as you read.

E: Explain what the passage means by asking simple questions of the text: • Why was this written? • To whom was it originally written? • How does it fit with the verses before and after it? • Why did the Holy Spirit include this passage in the book? • What is He intending to communicate through this text? 

A: Apply the text to your life. What does God want you to learn from this text? 

R: Respond to God in prayer. 

Study Question: 

1. What are the character traits that Paul mentions in v.1-3 that are necessary in order to walk in a manner worthy of our calling? 

2. Everyone has been given a gift for the building of Christ’s body. What is yours? *** If you do not know you spiritual gifts, you can take an assessment here: https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/women-leadership-spiritual-gifts-growth-service *** 

1. Paul says that a church walking in unity and using its gifts builds mature believers. What are some of the signs of a mature believer? 

Group Lesson 

Main Idea: 

We are one. Though we may be from different backgrounds, and meet at different times, with different worship styles, and in different locations, we are one church and we are called to walk in unity. 

Introduction: 

Have you ever noticed that on every American dollar is the inscription, “E pluribus unum?” The motto means “out of many, one.” Out of many different states and many different people comes one nation. 

The motto challenges us to realize that our strength as a nation comes when different people from different backgrounds join together for one common purpose. Unity in mission and vision, not uniformity in appearance, is the foundation of the American ideal.

The same is true of the church. We are many, many different people, many different ages, many different races, many different backgrounds. However, we are joined together under one Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, and one calling, taking Jesus Christ to the Upstate and the world. 

Understanding 

Read: Ephesians 4:1-16 

One Bible scholar says of this passage, “No passage is more descriptive of the church in action.” In other words, what we have here is a picture of a healthy church. 

One of the main traits of a healthy church that is obvious from the passage is unity. 

Unity: the state of being united or joined as a whole. 

Healthy unity is not an artificial or forced unity. Healthy unity is not uniformity that minimizes diversity or differences. Healthy unity is when multiple people are made one because of a common relationship or purpose. It’s a unity built on a common foundation. 

We are unified by the same calling. (V.1) 

Paul urges believers to walk worthy of the calling which they received. The calling that we’ve all received is the calling of salvation and the calling to live to tell the world about our Savior. 

The foundation of Christian unity is our common relationship to Jesus Christ and our common mission for Jesus. 

How does our relationship with Jesus and our mission for Jesus unite us together despite our differences?

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How does disunity distract us from the mission that Jesus has called us to? What are some examples you have seen about how disunity has prevented the mission from going forward?

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We are unified by the same beliefs (V. 4-6) Paul also builds a case for the church’s unity around the common beliefs. What are some of the beliefs that he lists that are the foundation of our unity?

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The beliefs that Paul lists are the core beliefs of the Christian faith. They give us unity about the most foundational things in life. How do common foundation beliefs give us unity with someone even if we have nothing else in common with them?

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Everyone has something to contribute. (V.7-12) 

The church is one, but it’s made up of many different parts, many different people. Paul wants every believer to know that they have something to contribute to the church and its mission. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 

Unity is not possible without everyone contributing. Passivity kills unity because it keeps everyone from answering the call of Christ. Unity comes when everyone participates with the same purpose. 

Application 

If we are going to be a unified church, we are going to have to live like Jesus. Read Ephesians 4:1-3 again. What are some of the character traits that Paul says we need if we are to walk in unity? Who is a good example of someone who embodies these characteristics? 

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Questions for Personal Reflection 

1. Have I been walking “eager to maintain unity” in the church? 

2. Is there a place in the church that I am being called to contribute that I haven’t yet? 

3. Have I been guilty of placing personal preference over unity in purpose?

Teacher Notes:

Our Call to Unity and Holiness

SCRIPTURE TEXT: EPHESIANS 4:1-16     

V 1–6: UNITY Paul urges the Ephesians to a worthy walk which reflects the oneness of the body of Christ in spiritual unity. In so doing, he clearly emphasizes that there is only ‘one Lord, and one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all’. Unity for him does not mean sacrificing truth. It is because of his stand for God’s truth that he writes as ‘the prisoner of the Lord’.

V 7–10: INDIVIDUALITY This unity does not detract from the fact that grace is individually given to each person who trusts Christ, and that God gives enabling gifts to individual believers. He is the universe’s highly ascended Lord, and can do that easily!

V 11–16: COMMUNITY God has given certain gifted people to His church. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. His aim, through them, is to equip and edify His people so, together, they know Christ, stand firm on biblical doctrine against those who would deceive, and recognize how they all fit into the body of Christ together.

 

IN A NUTSHELL

In chapter 4, Paul advises the Ephesian Christians: I want to encourage you to live the way God’s people should live. Two particularly important things should characterize your lives.

First, since you are spiritually united in Christ with all other Christians, live in unity with one another. Minister to others, and let others minister to you. In that way, you will all grow to spiritual maturity.

Second, live holy lives. Put behind you the sins of the past, and live a moral and ethical lifestyle that reflects the values of Christ.

 

Acting like Who We Are

Identity and actions inseparably go together. From the earliest days of our childhood, our actions are linked to our identity:

1.   Three-year-old Johnny falls down on the sidewalk as he is running to greet his father who has just pulled into the driveway. Johnny is tired and hungry. Two-year-old Susie just took a toy away from him. Because of all that, he cries harder than is really warranted. Daddy picks him up and says, “There, there, you’re a big boy. Act like it.”

 

Who he is (a big boy) should affect how he acts (he shouldn’t cry needlessly).

 

2.   Princess Margaret, as a young girl, sits beside her mother, Queen Elizabeth, at the princess’s first presentation to the British public. She is called upon to walk to the microphone and say a few words to the gathered dignitaries. As she prepares to stand, her mother leans over to her and says, “You are a princess. Walk like one!” 

 

Who she is (a princess) should affect how she walks (with dignity).

 

3.   Eighteen-year-old Chuck has gone through twelve of the toughest weeks of anyone’s life in Marine boot camp in coastal South Carolina. During the last week they are forced to crawl under rolls of barbed wire with live machine gun ammunition blazing just inches over their heads. Chuck freezes. He begins to sweat. His hands dig into the red clay beneath him as panic sweeps his soul. Just then, a friend crawls up beside him and says, “Get a hold of yourself, Chuck. You’re a Marine. Act like one!”

 

Throughout our life, from beginning to end, our identity is linked to our actions. Who we are affects how we should act.

This is the basic principle of life to which Paul appeals in our opening sentence of chapter 4. In the first three chapters he said, “You are a child of God.” Now in the fourth chapter, he is saying, “Act like one.” Throughout the rest of the book, he spells out for us in specific detail how we are to act.

MAIN IDEA: You should live like the person you have become. Live in unity and mutual ministry with others and in holiness before God.

 

A.      The Call to Unity (vv. 1–6)

 

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

SUPPORTING IDEA: Because Jews and Gentiles have been united by God in Christ, we should manifest the spiritual unity by being united in our actions.

 

Main Idea for our church: We are one. Though we may be from different backgrounds, and meet at different times, with different worship styles, and in different locations, we are one church and we are called to walk in unity.

 

Have you ever noticed that on every American dollar is the inscription, “E pluribus unum?” The motto means “out of many, one.” Out of many different states and many different people comes one nation.

 

The motto challenges us to realize that our strength as a nation comes when different people from different backgrounds join together for one common purpose. Unity in mission and vision, not uniformity in appearance, is the foundation of the American ideal.

 

The same is true of the church. We are many, many different people, many different ages, many different races, many different backgrounds. However, we are joined together under one Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, and one calling, taking Jesus Christ to the Upstate and the world.

 

What are the character traits that Paul mentions in v.1-3 that are necessary in order to walk in a manner worthy of our calling?

·        Humble / Gentle / Patient / Bearing with one another in love – Grace / Unity / Peaceful

 

 

FAMILY UNITY                                                CHURCH UNITY

 

 

 

·        Unity doesn’t just happen; we have to work at it.

·        Instead of concentrating on what divides us, we should remember what unites us. One body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God.

·        No one is ever going to be perfect here on earth, so we must accept and love other Christians in spite of their faults. When we see faults in fellow believers, we should be patient and gentle. Pray for them.

·        To build unity is one of the Holy Spirit’s important roles. He leads, but we have to be willing to be led and to do our part to keep the peace. We do that by focusing on God, not on ourselves.