Ephesians – Book One

Introduction
You will find at the beginning of Ephesians a brief historic outline of the city of Ephesus. It will be helpful for you to read this to your group in order to provide a mental backdrop of the city. If you want to provide additional information about the city of Ephesus, you can find a great deal more by consulting the web site, www.ephesians-bible-study.org. This site contains maps, pictures and even a panoramic picture tour of the ancient city.

Adventure One
It will help in setting the stage for the Adventure to comment on the "Theme" page. Highlight the "nuggets of gold" that is awaiting your discovery. And read the key verse for verse's 1-4. Announce to the group that in the next three weeks we will be looking at seven spiritual blessings that God has provided for each believer.

When discussing the first spiritual blessing in verse 4 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world," you need to be careful should someone want to lead you into a deep discussion on predestination and free will. Consider how this is covered in "Treasure Hunting;" and focus the teaching to that which will lead the student into a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is your ultimate goal.

Be sure to get the members trained in thinking about how they can apply what they have learned to their life.

Adventure Two
You will be focusing on three more of the "spiritual blessings" available to believers. It will be helpful for you to give a brief review of last weeks Adventure.

When you come to "Mining Together," the discussion and participation portion, ask if anyone present are adoptive parents. If they are present, let them tell how precious their children are to them. Use this to illustrate how God feels about His "adopted" family.

As a leader, spend some time finding how many Old Testament examples can be named that is a type of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. (Suggestion: Redemption Verse 7). Share with the members their opportunity to go to www.StrikingItRich.org web site and receive additional help. On that home page, they can go directly to the Ephesians - Book One web site. There is a wealth of information and spiritual help available.

Be sure to emphasize the personal application portion of this Adventure found in "Cashing In."

Adventure Three
In this Adventure your group will discover three additional spiritual blessing that God has for the believer. You might give a brief overview of the first four before proceeding. Notice in Treasure Hunting, all seven of these spiritual blessings are listed; you might want to display them on a poster board to give visual effect for your members.

In "Mining Together" it would be well to review all seven of these wonderful promises of God.

Challenge the group to focus on the "Investing Your Treasure" which is the prayer time. Emphasize the need to use this page daily to pray for the individuals in your group and also to use this page as their own personal prayer journal.

Adventure Four
This adventure is going to examine the first of Paul's two prayers in Ephesians. You might want to emphasize to the group, the five "nuggets of gold" listed on the first page along with the key verse.

There are a few more written questions in Adventure Four, use your own judgment on how you would like to review these questions and answers. You might ask a different person to give their answer to each question, or ask for volunteers, or go over them your self.

The "Cashing In" portion has some additional question's that are designed to challenge the thinking of the member prior to writing his application.

Encourage your members to take notes as you go through each adventure, and always prepare for a blessing by reading the assigned verses, complete the question portion and always carefully read the Treasure Hunting commentary

Adventure Five
The next two Adventures are going to be tailor made for any of your members who are not saved, or some that might need the assurance of their salvation. It will be very important for the leader to read the Bible text and the Treasure Hunting carefully and prayerfully.

Everyone needs to know the depth of sin from which God saved us. The first five verses of this Adventure reveal to us where we were when God called us. Emphasize to the members that no matter how "nice, moral, and righteous" you thought you were, your real spiritual condition is clearly outlined in the first five verses of chapter two.

You may also want to read Romans 3:10-18. It is difficult for the believer to grasp the incredible love and grace of God if he doesn't see the hopeless spiritual condition he was in when God saved him.

Adventure Six
This will be a great Adventure for everyone to see the wonderful plan of God's great salvation. This Adventure also introduces the first memory verse, Ephesians 2:8. It is a simple verse yet very profound; and it should be in the memory bank of every Christian.

"The Bank Deposit" is what we call the memorization portion of Striking It Rich. As the leader, you must go over this verse with the group carefully, challenge them to commit it to memory this week, and be prepared to review it each week.

Notice, The Bank Deposit will be at the close of the Group Discussion, and just prior to the "Cashing In." You will find a suggestion of how to divide the memory verse into four sections, discussing each phrase so the members can get if placed firmly in their minds.

Take time with the "Cashing in" and "Investing Your Treasure" portions. These are both very important for individual spiritual growth, and Satan will tempt the members to disregard them.

It is time for you to place your order in for Striking It Rich in Ephesians - Book Two so you will not have an interruption in your study. You can place your order by going on our web site, www.StrikingItRich.org or you can call your order in by calling Coast Publishing at 303-220-7080.

Adventure Seven
Adventure seven has a few more written questions than usual; you can use your own thoughts here as to how to use this in the most effective way. You might begin by having a member read the verses to be considered, and then ask for volunteers to give their answer to each question.

In your personal reading of Treasure Hunting, should you find something you think should be stated, underline it, or mark it so you can bring it up at the appropriate time.

Remember to reserve time to review the memory verse.

Adventure Eight
In this Adventure we will be discussing how the Gentiles were "foreigners and aliens." You might want to ask your members "how many have traveled in foreign lands," and ask them to give experiences as to how they were able to relate to people of another culture.

Use these experiences to show how difficult it was for the Jews and Gentiles to have a relationship until Jesus reconciled them through a changed nature.

Again, at the end of the discussion time leave time to review the memory verse.

It is important to get each person to give a brief comment on how he or she can apply what they have learned in the Adventure to their life. Focus in on "Cashing in" and encourage each person to use this page for his or her spiritual growth.

Adventure Nine
This adventure can be built around the discussion of a "mystery." The theme of the text is "A mystery revealed!"

In this Adventure you will find that the Church Jesus announced He would build as found in Matthew 16:18 was a mystery to the Old Testament saints. In the "Church age" God the Holy Spirit indwells each and every believer, and as a result there was a new divine love relationship that flowed from God through the believer to all other believers. Thus this indwelling broke down any kind of racial discrimination. You can explain this and then read the way this happened as recorded in Chapter two verses 14-18.