Icebreaker

Which TV families do you consider the most dysfunctional or most inspirational?  Why?

Introduction:  View The Bible Project video (7:11-7:56)

Stability at Headquarters (Home, church, work place, etc.) means having strong leadership grown through strong followership. So Paul addresses three areas of our lives where sacrificial love is key for the warrior in passages Ephesians 5:21 – 6:9:

  1. In Marriage or pro-actively leading in your dating relationship.
  2. In Parenting and in obedience to your parents.
  3. In your workplace as an employee or in your leadership of employees.

Submission is the two-way sacrificial path of love

1. Submissions in Married Couples (Ephesians 5:21-33)

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:21-33

 

From the sermon: Submission is the two-way sacrificial path of love. The Greek word is to submit to the orders or directives of someone— ‘to obey, to submit to, obedience, submission.’

  1. How does love and submission complement each other in marriage and in the church?
  2. From Ephesian 5:21-33, why is marriage a great illustration of Christ with the church?
  3. How is the husband’s need for respect and the wife’s need for love complementary?
  4. Where does the husband get his examples to love his wife?
  5. How have you learned to either love or submit to your spouse?

 

2. Submission in Children (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:1-4

  1. Why is it important for children to obey parents?
  2. What are some ways to train up a rebellious or challenging child who does not want to honor the parents?
  3. How can parents unknowingly exasperate (infuriate, frustrate) their children? How does one undo it, if it has taken place?
  4. As the parents take the lead to train up their children in the Lord, what kinds of training have you done, experienced or observed that have worked?

 

3. Submission in the Work Place (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Ephesians 6:5-9

  1. Though the scriptures refer to slaves, why is the text still relevant for today?
  2. Why might Paul address the slaves first before the masters?
  3. Why should the Christian slaves/employees follow Paul’s instructions?
  4. How should Christian employers treat their employees according to Scriptures? What are the benefits to treating your employees according scriptures?
  5. What can you do to implement these principles in your work situation?

 

Father, I choose to love by sacrificing my right to be right or equal, and I choose to love and respect from my position of influence.