This vital letter from the apostle Paul is central to our understanding of what God has designed us, as both the Church and local churches, to be. Paul is not, as is typical of his letters, addressing any specific needs of a specific congregation. Early manuscripts do not include the phrase “in Ephesus” in the opening. Scholars believe that this letter was intended to be a circular letter, a letter that was to be shared amongst the churches around all of Asia Minor. That could explain why this is a letter that we find so applicable in our own lives. Undoubtedly, at least one person in your group would say that Ephesians is “my favourite book in the New Testament”! In Ephesians we find the “cosmic dimensions of Jesus’ Person and Work and Call” (Darrell Johnson). The epistle breaks into two obvious sections — Chapters 1-3 and 4-6. There are various suggested ways to label each section — Worship and Walk (Darrell Johnson), Worship and Mission (NT Wright), The Gospel Story and Our Story (The Bible Project), or to oversimplify — Who and How. A study of these six chapters will most certainly offer the opportunity for transformation by the Holy Spirit as you encounter this epistle together. 

ACTIVITY:  As you begin these studies, pray for each other: for the capacity to intimately know the love of God and to embrace the call of God to unity and holiness. Invite the Holy Spirit to speak truth in your hearts and minds as you study Ephesians together. 

“The church, united and holy, is designed to demonstrate to the hostile watching world that the God revealed in Jesus is the true God, the creator, redeemer, lover and glory of the whole world.  …and thus to think of the vocation of the church as the call to live as the small working model of new creation. ” - NT Wright

SUGGESTED RESOURCES:
●    Book: Darrell Johnson, Ephesians, The Wonder and Walk of Being Alive in Christ
●    Book: Tom Wright, The Vision of Ephesians: The Task of the Church and the Glory of God
●    Book: Scot McKnight, Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible 
●    Podcast: The Bible Project, Ephesians, 5 episodes: https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/series/ephesians-study/
●    Video: The Bible Project, Ephesians: https://bibleproject.com/videos/ephesians/