Monday, February 23, 2015

Ephesians 6:5-8

Let's continue our study in chapter 6 this week. We talked about parents and children...now we move on to slaves. I know, you think it doesn't apply to you. Do the work, marinate in the text and ask the Lord to show you Truth in His Word this week. 

Read Ephesians 6:1-8. Recall that we have talked about what we are without Christ and who we are in Christ. In chapter 4 we saw this shift in the text where we learned that because of what Christ has done in us, it changes the way we live. We aren't to outwardly strive to be better or do better, but because Christ has so transformed us it changes everything in our lives. And this week we are learning more about how Christ's changing of our heart changes our actions. 

Mark the word slaves/ servant and any pronouns in the text. Make a list of instructions that are given to slaves/servants. What are slaves to do? Why? How? Notice all the details.

Word Studies:
I pray you are feeling more confident doing your own word studies. Keep it up this week! What words describe an action, are descriptive, or bring meaning into the text? Look up those words. (I am not asking you to look up every word in the text.)

Cross References:
Have you ever wondered how I decide what verses we look up each week? It can take a lot of work. Sometimes I know there are similar passages in other places in Scripture, but other times I have to do it the old fashioned way: using a concordance or doing a word search on Blue Letter Bible. The other way you can find cross reference is built into the word study portion of Blue Letter Bible. If you scroll down to the bottom you will find every place in Scripture that word is used. 

So here is what we are going to do. I want you to look up verses on servants/slaves. In Blue letter Bible go to where you would do a typical Word Study on the word slave/servant. Scroll down. Look through and read the verses (there are three pages of verses). Not all the verses apply to our context. Read through and find 3-5 verses (from different books) that help you understand the text in Ephesians 6. Remember we are look for what we can learn about slaves/ servants. Do you find any verses that give more instructions to servants? Are there any verses that give you context to who is a servant/slave? Do you see any big picture verses that connect to God or Jesus? (Don't be afraid of doing it wrong, just try and we will talk through it at Bible Study. I just want you to TRY. YOU CAN DO IT!!) 

Come to Bible Study ready to discuss what you learned. If at any point you get stuck, call or text me and I will help you one of one. Don't get paralyzed by thinking you can't do it. If you have doubts I will help you work through them! 

Monday, February 16, 2015

Ephesians 6:4

Last week we talked about the role of children. This week we will focus on the role of parents. 

Read Ephesians 6:1-4. What instruction is given to parents? Write down your observation in your journal.

Word Studies
Last week you decided what key words to do a word study on. This week I want you to do that again. The tips I gave you were: look for action words or words you don't understand.

Cross References
Look up the references below and write down what you learn about the role of parents.

  • Colossians 3:21
  • Exodus 12:24-27
  • Deuteronomy 6:1-12
  • Joshua 4:4-7
  • John 1:12
  • 2 Cor 6:18
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12
  • Hebrews 12:5-9
Consider all that you saw in Scripture this week. What is the role of a Godly parent? What does a Godly parent reflect? 

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Ephesians 6:1-3

Welcome to chapter 6 ladies!!! I believe our journey through Ephesians will be over soon. 

Let's begin chapter 6 by reading through the entire chapter. Remember to read with a purpose. Look for the main themes or ideas in the chapter. Look for paragraph divisions. 

Write down in your notes the main divisions of the chapter and the main idea in that paragraph (remember to use words from the text, don't paraphrase!!!)

Now let's look at the first paragraph division: Ephesians 6:1-3. Who is Paul speaking to specifically in this section? Let's mark who Paul is speaking to in Ephesians 6:1-3. 

Paul is continuing his discussion on the family. He is now talking to children. What instructions does Paul give the children? Write down the answers in your notes.

Key Words:
Looking through this section of the text, what key words pop out to you that you think we should look up? Using Blue letter Bible look up those key words (don't make this too hard. What words do you not understand? What words are action words in the text? We always want to understand what the action words mean since those are the actions in the text we are often called to obey).

Cross References:
Look up these verses and write down in your journal what you learn about the role of children. 

  • Exodus 20:12
  • Colossians 3:20
  • Acts 17:28-31
  • Romans 8:16-17
  • 1 Peter 1:14
  • 1 John 3:1-24
Come to Bible Study ready to discuss the role and responsibility of children to their parents and how it relates to our relationship with God.