Imitate Christ (Ephesians 5:1-7 NLT)

1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. 3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God's people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes--these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don't participate in the things these people do.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Why should believers imitate God? (v.1)
2) As followers of Jesus Christ, how should we live our lives? (v.2a)
3) How did Christ demonstrate His love for us? (v.3)
4) What are we to refrain from doing? Why? (v.4a,5-7)
5) How are we to behave instead? (v.4b)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) How do you know that you are a child of God?

LIFE LESSONS
7) Children of God consistently manifest the love of Christ.

One New People (Ephesians 2:11-18 NLT)

11 Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called "uncircumcised heathens" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How does the Apostle Paul describe the Gentiles prior to their salvation and how the Jews treated them? (v.11-12)
2) What happened to the Gentiles after professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? (v.13)
3) What did Christ's sacrifice on the cross accomplish for the Gentiles, as well as for the Jews? (v.14-17)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What was your relationship with Jesus Christ like before you were saved?

LIFE LESSONS
5) Prior to salvation we were all enemies of God.
6) The plan of salvation was to create "one new people."
7) Every believer is united to God, and to one another, through Christ's sacrifice and the infilling of His Holy Spirit.

Prayer for Disciples (Ephesians 1:15-23 NLT)

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called--his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul pray for the disciples at Ephesus? Why? (v.15-19b)
2) What does the apostle write about the power that is at work in the believers he wrote to? (v.19c-20)
3) What does Paul write about our Lord Jesus Christ and His authority? (v.21-23)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How do you typically pray for those with whom you fellowship at your local church or in ministry?

LIFE LESSONS
5) One aspect of loving others, as ourselves, is to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow spiritually.

Chosen (Ephesians 1:1-5 NLT)

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Who wrote this letter? (v.1a)
2) Who chose Paul to be an apostle of Jesus Christ and why? (v.1b)
3) Who was this letter written to? (v.1c)
4) What did Paul want God to do for the disciples at Ephesus? (v.2)
5) Who did the apostle praise? Why? (v.3)
6) When did God choose us to be in Christ? (v.4a)
7) What are the blessings of being "in Christ"? (v.4b)
8) What did it please the Father to do for us through Christ? Why?  (v.5) 

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9) How do you know that you are in the family of God?

LIFE LESSONS
10) We are children of God because He chose us from the foundation of the world to be His!

11) We know that we belong to God because He blesses us to become more like Jesus as we mature spiritually.

12) We did not choose God. God chose us.

God's Gift of Grace (Galatians 6:11-18)

11 NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING. 12 Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don't want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. 13 And even those who advocate circumcision don't keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples. 14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died. 15 It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God's peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God. 17 From now on, don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. 18 Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Why were false teachers forcing their legalism upon the Galatians? (v.12-13)
2) What did the Apostle Paul write about himself? (v.14)
3) What matters in God's kingdom, according to the apostle? (v.15)
4) Who are the "new people of God"? (v.16)
5) What did the apostle no longer want to be troubled by? Why? (v.17)
6) How did Apostle Paul close his letter to the Galatians? (v.18)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) What are you most proud of in your walk of faith?

LIFE LESSONS
8) By the Lord's design, children of God can never boast about earning our salvation, because it is a gift of God.

The Law and the Way of Faith (Galatians 3:21-25 NLT)

21 Is there a conflict, then, between God's law and God's promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. 23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. 24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How are we made right with God? By obeying God's commands or by faith in Jesus Christ? (v.21-22)
2) Why was the law given? (v.23-24)
3) When do we no longer need the Law as our guardian? (v.25)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Are you still attempting to be made right with God by obeying His commands in your own minuscule strength? If so, why?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The only way to be in right relationship with God is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dead to the Law (Galatians 2:17-21)

17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law--I stopped trying to meet all its requirements--so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How are we made right with God? (v.17a)
2) What does the Apostle Paul ask those who have sinned after being saved and what is his conclusion? (v.17b-17c)
3) What does Paul tell us that we are if we attempt to keep the law? Why? (v.18-19a) 
4) What happened when we tried to keep the law before we were justified by faith in God and how do we live the Christ life instead? Why? (v.19b)
5) What happened to our "old self"? (v.20a)
6) Who lives within every believer instead? (v.20b)
7) How are we to live the Christ life in these mortal bodies? (v.20c-d)
8) What does the apostle say about the "grace of God" and what makes Christ's death meaningless? (v.21)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9) Are you dead to religious traditions (legalism) and alive to the leading of the Holy Spirit?

LIFE LESSONS
10) Christ kept the law perfectly, so that all who believe on Him would no longer have to.

Greeting! (Galatians 1:1-5 KJV)

1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) 2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace [be] to you and peace from God the Father, and [from] our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Who commissioned or ordained Paul to be an apostle? (v.1)
2) Who else is credited with writing this epistle and who was it written to? (v.2)
3) What does the Apostle Paul write concerning our Lord Jesus and God the Father? (v.4-5)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How do you know that an apostle is commissioned or ordained by God? (v.1)
5) How do you encourage and/or edify Christians within your local church, your denomination, or the body of Christ? (v.2)
6) What do you do to glorify the Father and our Lord Jesus in this present evil world? (v.4-5)

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord ordains those who will serve Him to advance His kingdom on this earth.
8) The Lord commissions those who will minister to and edify the members of His body.