This Week’s Songs:

I Am Set Free – Leslie Jordan

 Read Ephesians 5:1-20 

 Everyone grows up with a different concept of God based on some of their backgrounds, denominations, and life experiences. What are some of the distortions of God’s character that you’ve struggled to leave behind? How are they different from what you’ve seen in Jesus.  

Brian Zahnd has described the wrath of God as “facing the consequences of trying to go through life living against the grain of love.” Can you name a time in your own life when you’ve experienced the pain of moving away from God’s design for flourishing by choosing our own authority? 

Verse 5 calls our choice to follow our distorted desires idolatry – the worship of creation rather than the Creator. How does worship play into the choices we make to either follow the ways of Jesus…or our own way?

Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne famously said “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.” How do we speak deal honestly with our sin without devolving into a shame-filled focus on ourselves?

Back in Ephesians 1, Paul tells us of our new identity in Jesus. We are blessed. Chosen. Adopted. Redeemed. Forgiven. Sealed. How does the power of our renewed identity equip us in our battle of overcoming sin?

Practice Repentance. Hebrews 4:16 tells us Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. When it comes to our sin, we don’t have to run from God. Instead, the God we see in Scripture is longing for us to run to him. This week, when you feel guilt, shame, or fear about your own brokenness, bring it to God. Ask him to make His grace tangible, and receive the forgiveness He offers in Christ.