Session One: Kingdom Life
In this session, we’ll explore:
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
How does God see us?
What plan does He have for our lives?
‘I’d always believed in Jesus but when I was about 15 I began to explore whether the story was true. I couldn’t see any other explanation that made sense, so I committed my life to Him’
John Walford
1. Reflect
How has your journey to faith happened?
2. Read
Ephesians 1:1-14 (New Living Translation)
What do these verses tell us about our relationship with God and God’s intentions for us?
People often speak about human beings being very insignificant. How much do we really matter?
How has it been possible for us to be adopted into God’s family?
How important is the Holy Spirit to us?
What do these verses tell us about God?
Can you sum up God’s plan for us?
Jesus calls us to follow Him. What does following Him mean for us?
What difference does all of this make to us?
Need help? Here are some hints…
1. We are united with Christ (verse 3) – our status has changed
God’s love for us reaches from before creation (verses 4 and 5)
God has chosen us (verse 4)
He wants us to be holy and faultless (verse 4)
He chose to adopt us into His family (verse 5)
He is kind and gracious to us (verses 7 and 8) – what do you think that means?
2. What gives us value and significance? The amount that God was to willing to pay for us to be His children (verses 4,5 and 7)
God always knew that it would be at the cost of Jesus’ life (verse 5)
He takes pleasure in being able to bring us to salvation (verse 5)
He has a plan for our lives (verse 14)
3. We have been purchased through the blood of Jesus (verse 7) – He paid for our sinfulness with His life
We had to respond to that love personally vs13
4. He identifies us as belonging to God (verse 13)
He’s the guarantee that we have been purchased by Jesus (verse 14)
He’s the guarantee that we will inherit the benefits of Christ’s death for us
5. They speak to us about love, grace, fatherhood, kindness, His providence and His desire to bless us.
6. He wants us to be adopted as His sons and daughters
He wants us to be saved and have eternal life
He wants to live in us through the Holy Spirit – to have relationship with us
He wants us to spend our lives giving Him praise and glorifying Him
7 and 8. What do you think?
3. Act
If you have already committed to following Jesus: Make a list of people who matter to you who have not yet become followers of Jesus themselves
If you are still considering whether to become a follower of Jesus: make a list of people who matter to you who you want to receive God’s blessing
4. Pray
Pray for the people on the list
Pray about the things that you have learned in this session
Pray about anything significant that is happening in your life (either for yourself or someone else)
