WALK THE PATH
Each week on the pathway you will be asked to meet with God on your own through Scripture reading and journaling. This may be a completely new practice for you, so be patient. Picture it like a daily time to sit down and chat with God. He will speak to you through scripture and His Spirit, and you will speak to him through your prayers and response.
At the end of each week you’ll gather with your friends and have meaningful conversations about your time in scripture and what God has impressed upon you. Your group’s leader will have questions to help guide these conversations, but this is not meant to be used like a teacher and a classroom. Remember, this is all about relationships.
The main point is to focus on what God is saying through scripture and how he wants to use that to affect change in your life. In particular, how can what you’ve been reading deepen your love for God and others?
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JOURNAL QUESTIONS
ONE
What does this teach me about God’s will, God’s character, and/or God’s purposes?
TWO
What is the Spirit of God saying to my soul this week? What is my soul saying to God this week?
THREE
What do I need to confess and embrace grace for this week?
Ephesians Overview from The Bible Project
EPHESIANS 4-6 READING PLAN
- Day 1 – Ephesians 4:1-2
- Day 2 – Ephesians 4:3-6
- Day 3 – Ephesians 4:7-10
- Day 4 – Ephesians 4:11-13
- Day 5 – Ephesians 4:14-16
- Day 6 – CATCH UP DAY
- Day 7 – PRAYER & CONTEMPLATION DAY
Group Discussion Questions:
- This section begins with Paul’s charge to the Christians in Ephesus to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” In vs. 2, he lists key qualities that enable this worthy life. Why do you think each of these characteristics are listed and which do you find the most difficult to live out?
- Paul specifically says in 4:11 that God gives “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers” as gifts to the church. But why does God give these people to the church? Look at vs. 12. What are “works of service?” And what does it mean that the “body of Christ may be built up?”
- Read vs. 15. What does it take for the body of Christ to become mature in “every respect?” How do we do that?
- Day 8 –Ephesians 4:17-18
- Day 9 – Ephesians 4:19-21
- Day 10 – Ephesians 4:22-24
- Day 11 – Ephesians 4:25-27
- Day 12 – Ephesians 4:28-32
- Day 13 – CATCH UP DAY
- Day 14 – PRAYER & CONTEMPLATION DAY
Group Discussion Questions:
- Christians are obviously called to live lives that are different than the world around them. According to vs. 4:18-19, what marks the lives of those “separated from the life of God?”
- The new life the Christian is called to live is the result of the truth in Jesus Christ that makes the attitudes of our minds new (vs. 4:21-23). What is the “attitude of the mind” and how does it affect our daily lives? How does Christ make our attitudes of the mind different?
- In the middle of the list of ways in which Christians should live in relation to other people, Paul says in vs. 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God?” How do we grieve the Spirit of God with our lives?
- Day 15 –Ephesians 5:1-2
- Day 16 – Ephesians 5:3-7
- Day 17 – Ephesians 5:8-14
- Day 18 – Ephesians 5:15-17
- Day 19 – Ephesians 5:18-20
- Day 20 – CATCH UP DAY
- Day 21 – PRAYER & CONTEMPLATION DAY
Group Discussion Questions:
- Read vs. 5:1-2. Paul tells his readers they should walk in the way of love. What is the way of love described by Paul and why does he say we should walk it?
- How seriously do you think we should take vs. 5:3-6? What do immorality, impurity, and greed have to do with idolatry?
- What do you think it means to live as a child of the light while at the same time walking the way of love?
- Day 22 – Ephesians 5:21-24
- Day 23 – Ephesians 5:25-28
- Day 24 – Ephesians 5:29-33
- Day 25 – Ephesians 6:1-4
- Day 26 – Ephesians 6:5-9
- Day 27 – CATCH UP DAY
- Day 28 – PRAYER & CONTEMPLATION DAY
Group Discussion Questions:
- How should vs. 5:21 help us interpret vs. 5:22-28? In the Roman culture, the head of the house would be served and sacrificed for and honored as more important. The Christian household is to look distinctly opposite. How should the Christian household operate?
- What connection is there between marriage and Christ’s relationship with the church?
- In the Roman culture, the head of the house owned his children and his slaves. If he did not like either he had the right to kill them or get rid of them. Compare that culture to what Paul lists in vs. 6:1-9. How should the Christian household be different from today’s culture?
- Day 29 – Ephesians 6:10-12
- Day 30 – Ephesians 6:13-15
- Day 31 – Ephesians 6:16-17
- Day 32 – Ephesians 6:18-20
- Day 33 – Ephesians 6:21-24
- Day 34 – CATCH UP DAY
- Day 35 – PRAYER & CONTEMPLATION DAY
Group Discussion Questions:
- What would change about how you approach struggles in your life if you took vs. 6:12-13 to heart? Does this make it easier or harder to forgive people who cause struggle for you? Why?
- Spend time discussing each piece of the armor of God. Why is each piece important for the Christian?
- Paul’s letter ends with obvious affection for the church in Ephesus with whom he had spent over 3 years. Why do you think having affection for your church family is important? How can we grow our affection for the body of Christ?