We are Chosen! (Pentecost 7B Epistle)

Download a PDF of the Word One Bible Study for Pentecost 7B Epistle.

Text: Ephesians 1:3-14 for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Series B

OBJECTIVES

Participants will:

1. See God’s grace as the only way to salvation.
2. Rejoice because they are chosen.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Bibles

GROUP GUIDELINES

Line up alphabetically according to your middle name. Form groups of 4-6 people. Choose as leader, the person whose first name begins with the letter closest to “G” (Grace). The leader’s job is to keep the group moving through the material and ensure that everyone has a chance to share. Participants always have the right to pass if they do not feel comfortable sharing a response.

BUILDING COMMUNITY

1. What does it mean to be adopted?
2. Share what you would like to inherit?

LOOKING AT GOD’S WORD

1. Read Ephesians 1:3-14.
2. When did God choose us? (verse 4)
3. Why did God choose us? (verses 6, 12, 14)
4. Did God choose us because we were holy or . . .so that we would be holy? (verse 4-8)
5. What inheritance has God promised us?

REINFORCING WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED

1. Read the inspirational story below to the group.

“We all desire relationships in which we are accepted, valued, and wanted. We desperately long for this esteem from our peers, but seldom experience the real thing.”

“Countless stories are written about teenagers who accept life-threatening dares in hopes of being accepted by their peers, or business people who compromise their integrity and ethics to join an elite, inner circle. We read of men and women who are driven to succeed because they believe the lie that says that value is determined by the quality and level of their performance. Or how about the teenager or lonely single who sacrifices his/her virginity for the chance to experience closeness and the feeling of being wanted.”

“For the Christian, none of this futile struggle is necessary because we have been chosen by God before time ever began. We belong, we matter, we have been accepted. No longer are we outcasts or second-class citizens, we are part of His Family.”

The Inspirational Study Bible, Max Lucado (From A Dad’s Blessing by Garry Smalley and John Trent)

2. What does it mean to be accepted?
3. What would you do, or what have you done, to be accepted?
4. How does it feel not to be a part of the in-crowd?
5. What does it mean to be accepted by God?
6. What do you have to do to be accepted by God?

CLOSING

Because of our adoption, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Sing or read together the song “Brothers and Sisters in Christ.” Following the song, pray for the Grace and Peace of our Lord and Savior.

by Terry and Barb Wiechman

Originally published in Discovery Bible Studies 9, 1996.

Updated for youthESource in June 2015