1. Pray. Ask the Lord to open your eyes, that you might behold wondrous things out of his Word (Ps. 119:18). 

2. Read Sunday's passage. Feel free to read it more than once, or in another translation.

3. Review the sermon outline. Try to see how the points came out of the text.

4. Answer the questions below. Focus on personal application.

5. Pray. Praise and thank the Lord, then ask him to work in mighty ways. 

Remember, we live not by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God (Dt. 8:3; Mt. 4:4).

Given the length of these passages, we won't have the texts here. Instead, take out your Bible and spend some time reading and re-reading these foundational passages of scripture. 

Intro: We were made for community! However, something has gone wrong...

I. Our life in community has been broken by sin (Gen. 1–4).

II. Our life in community has been restored by Christ, in his church (Eph. 1–4). 

III. Our life in community must be protected from shame with its antidote: grace (Eph. 4:32). 

Conclusion: A healthy church will live together as a community transformed by the Gospel. This is God's chosen vehicle to share the Gospel in any given area. 

1. Sin has damaged our relationships with God, one another, and the world.

- Where do you see the fallout of sin in the world? Where do you see it in your own life, or your own heart?

- How has sin impacted human attemps to form community?

- How do secular voices explain the brokenness of the world?

- What is compelling about the Christian explanation of brokenness from Genesis 1–4? 

2. Christ's work restores us to God and one another, and we experience this transformed community in the church.

- What happens for the person who trusts in Jesus? 

- Since trusting in Jesus, how have you seen transformation in your own life/relationships? 

- How should the church community be different from other types of community? 

- How can we foster this at Grace? 

3. Shame threatens to break this new community, but grace preserves it.

- In shame-based communities, people's actions make them "unacceptable" or "unclean." How is the church different?

- To identify your own source of shame, what do you desire to hide about yourself? Where can you go with this shame?

- What steps can a church take to instill a culture of grace, instead of shame? 

- What kind of witness might a grace-filled culture have in our broader communities? 

Pray through this part of Ephesians 1 for Grace Church:

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 

Thanks for reading the Bible Study Guide! I pray it helps us "continue to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Eph. 4:15).

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,

Tom Hansen, Senior Pastor