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Call to worship: Isaiah 49:1-7

Text: Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon Outline:

1. The call to remember our former estrangement, 2:11-12
2. The work that created our forever reconciliation, 2:13-16
3. The task of advancing this reconciliation, 2:17-18
4. The focus of a church adorning this reconciliation, 2:19-22.

Prepare

Questions:

1. Read Ephesians 2:11-22 throughout the rest of this week. As an encouragement to family worship and personal preparation, use the questions that follow:
2. In 2:11-12, what does Paul want the Ephesian church to remember? I see two levels of estrangement in these verses. How about you? What are they? How does circumcision separate Gentiles from God and how did that come to serve as a point of ethnocentrism in the hands of Jewish people?
3. Looking at 2:13-16, what has Jesus done to effect reconciliation? If our estrangement is two-fold, what of our reconciliation? How has the death of Christ reconciled us to God? How has it reconciled us to each other across more natural and spiritual divides? What has Christ killed and, then, created by His cross? What does Paul mean by the 'one new man'?
4. In 2:13-16, Jesus has died. In 2:17-18, Paul then has Him coming afterward to preach this peace, this reconciliation to all, near and far. What's going on here? Who's preaching this peace? Who's doing it today? How is it said to be Christ preaching it? In these verses, we see both the inclusivity and exclusivity of the Gospel---and that the former is based upon the latter. Meditate on this and the relationship between the two ideas.
5. In 2:19-22, Paul affirms the Gentiles (like us) as full citizens of Heaven and members of the family of God. As we take this to heart and move forward, how should this passage impact our philosophy of ministry? How should it impact our day to day as Christians in this community? Whatever the changes, what must stay the same? What must continue to be the focus of our ministry as a church?