Clarifying Our Vision - Connect

This Sunday we will be looking at our second step in our church's process of making disciples.

Here are the main Scripture passages that we will be looking at and some response questions to get the conversation going.

Scripture:
Ephesians 4:4-6, Ephesians 2:14-22, Ephesians 3:14-21, 1 Corinthians 12.

Central Points of the Study:
1. A Christian is not only a child of God, but a member of the family of God.
2. Christians cannot grow to the fulness of God by living independently of others.
3. Personal transformation takes place in the context of redemptive community.

Personal Applications from these points:
1. I continually need to learn more about God's love for me in Christ, and I cannot do this alone.
2. I need to understand my gifts and my role in the larger body of Christ.
3. God calls me to be committed to a lifestyle of mtually edifying relationships.

Relational Application:
4. I want to pray for others to gain a greater understanding of God's love for them in Christ.
5. I want to help others understand and own their vital place in the body of Christ.
6. I want to help others grasp the privilege and responsibility of participating in intimate Christian relatioships that promote biblical growth and change.

Main question:
1. How does your life reflect your commitment to meaningful relationships that help you grow and change? What things get in the way or serve as replacements for you? Some possibilities might include:
-- The busyness of life (keeping relationships distant and casual)
-- Being totally immersed in frindships that are activity-and happiness-based.
-- Consciuous avoidance of close relationships.
-- Formal commitment to church meetings and activities but no real connectins with people.
-- One-way ministry driven relationships (always ministering to others but never allowing yourself to be ministered to).
-- Self-centered relationships that only look to receive and not give.
-- A private "just me and God" approach to the Christian life.

More questions...
---What opportunities for redemptive relationships are already in your life? (friendships, parents, small groups)? Are you committed to and experiencing the personal transformation that God has planned for these relationships? If not, what things are in the way?
---IF you do not have this kind of relationship in your life, what is God calling you to do so that you can participate in a redemptive community?