We are the church
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
–Ephesians 2:18-22
I. We are a new society
• Garden, Babel, Pentecost
• A New humanity leads to a new society
• Martin Lloyd Jones and the implications
o “Common ruler”
o “Common laws”
o “Common privileges and responsibilities”
II. We are a family
• Members of the house
• Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters
III. We are a temple
• Built on a foundation of truth
• The chief cornerstone
• Living stones – 1 Peter 2:4-6
Discussion Questions:
• Why is the church important in the life of a Christian?
• What does it mean that the church is a new society? How is this connected to God’s plan in the Bible?
• What has it looked like for you to be a part of your family? What should it look like for the church to be a family?
• When Paul talks about the church as a temple, he breaks up the analogy into different parts.
o Why is the foundation of the apostles and prophets important? Why is truth foundational?
o What does it mean that Jesus is the chief cornerstone?
o What does it look like for us as “living stones” to make up a building in which God’s Spirit works?