The Church

Ephesians 2:19-22

Life Group Discussion Questions

  1. What are some ways we might (subconsciously) treat the church like a gas station? How does consumerism contribute to or define our attitude toward the church?

  2. What do we learn about God’s design for the church from the fact that, as verse 19 says, we are “no longer strangers and aliens…but…fellow citizens with the saints”? How should our shared heavenly citizenship shape our attitudes toward life in this world? Toward our local church?

  3. Christians are to be “members of the household of God” (2:19b). How does the idea of the church as a family encourage you? How does it challenge you?

  4. Each local church is a foretaste of God’s heavenly temple (2:20-22). How can we, as Christians, more faithfully embody this design? How can we as a church more faithfully embody this design?

  5. In light of this passage, how does your attitude toward the church need to change? What (specific) action should this lead you to?

Proposed Statement of Faith

We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all born-again persons are members. We believe local churches are the visible expression of the universal church on earth. The local church is an autonomous congregation of baptized believers operating under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The congregation is to gather regularly to celebrate God-centered worship, to commit to the teachings of Scripture, to exercise its gifts for the work of service, and to enjoy a common fellowship and unity in Christ. Every church member has the responsibility to give faithfully of his time, abilities, and material possessions to support the mission and ministries of the church. The church is to obey the Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations by both local evangelism and global missions.

Main Text: Ephesians 2:18-22

Other Key Texts: 1 Peter 2:9-10; Ephesians 5:25-29

For Further Study: Dustin Benge, The Lovliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church

“The church itself is not made up of natural ‘friends.’ It is made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything of the sort. Christians come together, not because they form a natural collocation, but because they have been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance. In the light of this common allegiance, in light of the fact that they have all been loved by Jesus himself, they commit themselves to doing what he says—and he commands them to love one another. In this light, they are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.” -D.A. Carson