For starters
Look over the six priorities for growth we’ve set ourselves as a church:
• Growing in Jesus
• Growing in mission
• Growing in love
• Growing in service
• Growing in prayer
• Growing in hospitality
Following on from our discussions on Sunday – which of these excite you the most? Which of these areas do you find most daunting? Why?
Into the Bible
Look over the following passages from Ephesians (in pairs or smaller groups):
2:14-16
2:19-22
3:10-11
5:25-27
• What different pictures and descriptions of the church does the apostle Paul give us in this letter? How do you think this should affect the way we feel about belonging to a local church like Avenue?
Read Ephesians 4:1-13
• Look at vv.1-3. Why do you think Paul includes calls here to ‘be patient, bearing with one another in love’ and make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit’? What is he presuming about life and relationships within a local church?
• How do vv.1-3 fit with the glorious descriptions of what it means to be the church in the other passages from Ephesians we’ve just looked at?
• Read vv.4-6. What does Paul emphasise here – and why do you think he emphasises it?
• Read vv.7-8. What does Paul emphasise here – and why do you think he emphasises it?
• Read vv.11-13. For what purpose does Christ give his church leaders of various kinds?
• Look at v.13. What are the goals of gospel ministry within a local church? What characteristics should we aspire to?
Reflect for a moment on the life of Avenue as a whole – and of your homegroup in particular.
• How do you think we measure up to the descriptions of v.13?
Read vv.14-16
• What different illustrations does Paul use to depict a mature church? How are these illustrations helpful?
• Look at v.15: what roles do truth and love have in building maturity? What happens if either one of these is lacking?
• “The message of this passage in Ephesians is that in order to grow as a church, we need Jesus and we need one another.” How do these verses teach both truths? Which truth do you think you need to be reminded of in particular at the moment?
Application
Looking over the six priorities for growth:
• How do you think your homegroup has developed in these areas together over the past few months?
• What steps can we take to continue to develop in these areas together?
