THIS WEEK
Overcoming the Triple Threat: Christmas Peace for the Guilty | Ephesians 2:3
Opening: Getting to know one another better
1. Have you ever been called in for jury duty? What was that like? Were there lessons you learned from the time?
Read & Discuss: Ephesians 2:1-3
2. What are the 3 ways we are tempted?
3. What does Paul’s shift from “you” in verses 1-2 to “we” in verse 3 indicate?
4. The reality of sin is that it often seems sweet. We crave it. It lures us in. What are the promises of sin that always go unfulfilled?
5. What does it mean that we were “by nature children of wrath”?
6. How did Jesus respond to the triple threat of temptation (the world, the flesh, & the devil)? What can we learn from how Jesus fought temptation?
7. The beauty of Christmas is that Jesus took the wrath that we deserved and gave us what we don’t deserve—peace with God. How should this fact change our view of Christmas?
As you spend time praying together, remember to pray for those in your life (family members, neighbors, co-workers, etc) who don’t yet know the hope we have this Christmas season because of Christ.
LAST WEEK
Skeletons to Salvation: Christmas Hope for the Spiritually Dead | Ephesians 2:1-2
Opening: Getting to know one another better
1. How would you describe how you decorate for Christmas? Traditional, Simple, Competing with your neighbors, Electric light show, etc???
Read & Discuss: Ephesians 2:1-2
2. What was our spiritual state prior to knowing Christ?
3. What does it mean that we were “dead”?
4. What does Paul mean when he says, “in which you once walked” (2:2a)?
5. As we are walking, who are we following?
6. What is the nature of our spiritual enemy (Satan)?
7. Knowing the brokenness of our spiritual state, what is our only hope? How do we live in that hope this Christmas season?
As you spend time praying together, remember to pray for those in your life (family members, neighbors, co-workers, etc) who don’t yet know the hope we have this Christmas season because of Christ.