Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon Follow Up

*If you’re doing this with your kiddos, skip down to the end.

In Ephesians 3:1–13 Paul says that the mystery that’s been hidden for ages is being revealed in the church—that mystery is the coming together of all peoples in Christ. It’s unification without coercion—conquest by compassion. The Church is made up of Jew, Gentile, slave, free, man, woman, rich, and poor, all found to be one in Christ. This is the picture of the end of the world. And it is a glorious end to which we are headed. The Church gets there first, and we bring the world with us.

Reflection/Discussion Material

-Paul says that the “mystery of Christ” is that the Gentiles are now fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise (of Israel) through Jesus. Here Paul is working to shift, specifically, the Gentiles’ sense of identity, belonging, and loyalty.

Why might that be a challenge? How is it a challenge in your own life?

-Verse 10 tells us that the church is a living message to the powers of this world that their way of ruling has an expiration date. Jesus’ rule brings unification without coercion. The church in the first century, albeit FAR from perfect, really did send that message.

How well do you think we are sending that message today?

-Paul doesn’t see his suffering and imprisonment as a failure but as part of God’s pattern—prison becomes the path to the palace.

To what degree can we trust that pattern will hold in our own lives?

-Paul’s final exhortation is simple: do not lose heart.

What current difficulty most tempts you toward discouragement, and how might God be using it as an instrument rather than an interruption?

Short Family-Friendly Section

Ask your children: “What were the three words from the sermon?”

Mystery. Church. Prison.

Then choose one point of emphasis to highlight: talk about examples of God bringing unlikely people together in Christ, or about how God can use even hard things to do good work in our lives, or the difference between Jesus’ style of leadership versus the world’s.