Is it the building? Is it the worship service? - Is it the clergy and institutional aspects of religious life? Is it the people who are involved? Or is there something more?
This series will show that the Church is primarily "something more" than all of these images and it is this "something more" which is at the heart of what the Church is all about.
Week-by-week summary:
Ephesians 1, 2, 3, 5: The overall background and thrust of the letter; the images of the Church as Temple, Body and Bride reveal it is a living organism and community whose nature is to serve as the demonstration and agent of God’s plan for the salvation of the world; the implications of this for us today.
Ephesians 1, 3: Our job is to discern the “Missio Dei” and join in with what God is doing; four motivations for mission; how we do mission as demonstrators and agents of God’s plan; the Five Marks of Mission.
Ephesians 1, 2, 5: Giving thanks for our blessings of election, adoption and unification, we are moved to worship; as the Bride of Christ, we experience deep intimacy with God and others in worship which is Spirit-filled.
Ephesians 3, 4: The corporate nature of the faith and our call to unity and practical implications; the concept of the Church as Body and how that is worked out through spiritual gifts; the ministry of pastors and people.
Ephesians 4, 5: We demonstrate God’s plan through our day-to-day relationships with one another; we do this by building one another up, especially in our speech, and by submitting to one another in the crucial areas of marriage, family life and daily work.
Ephesians 1, 6: The reality of the struggle against evil today; the dangers of the occult; Ephesus as a centre of the occult; how we fight evil through Jesus’ victory and holiness in our daily lives; putting on the armour of God.