Bible Study Summary - Upcoming Sunday's Scriptures

Sermon (Nov. 20) – “From Rags to Riches”

Ephesians 1:15-23

-         Ephesians was written by Paul while he was in prison.

-         The theme of Ephesians is God’s power which is appropriate since the area of Ephesus was a place of imperial power and pagan/magic power. 

-         Paul is pointing them to a different power – the power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  This is a great text for “Christ the King” Sunday!

-         Jesus was the ultimate/perfect human being image bearer.

-         Paul explains that this power in verses 20 & 21.  Wow!!!

-         Verse 22 – “Under his feet”  A reference to Psalm 8, which was a favorite Psalm of the early church.

-         Verse 17 – You need a fresh gift of wisdom to see this power in Christ.

-         Verse 23 – The church is Jesus’ hands and feet to continue the powerful work of God in the world.  Do we realize this as the church?

Matthew 25:31-46

-         A scripture that points out humanity’s longing for justice in the world.  Justice is the hope that things will be “made right” again. 

-         Central Jewish belief – A loving creator God is seeking to redeem the world and bring justice.

-         Sheep and goats graze together in the Middle East but are often separated at night because the goats need more warmth than the sheep.  It’s difficult to tell them apart.

-         Verse 32 – Jesus’ judgment is on the “nations” and the people who have persecuted God’s people.  Verse 40 – “The least of these” refers to God’s people.  This is a judgment upon the pagan world for how they  have treated God’s people.

-         This passage is often seen as a judgment against us when we don’t care for the poor.  While this is a part of the passage, the main emphasis isn’t so much a judgment against people in general who don’t care for the poor, but it’s a word of comfort for God’s people who suffer injustice from the outside world. 

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