Before the Session
Facilitator: In advance of the session
- Have the Bible Background Video ready to view.
- Review today’s scripture text and the session activities to help better facilitate the discussion.
- Encourage your group to listen to the Faithelement podcast ahead of the next session (Share the link via email or social media)
- Review the article about the firefighter attending the graduation
Introduce
Ask the group to think about the people they call “family.” Who is in that circle?
- Have you ever adopted someone into your family, maybe through official adoption procedures or through an understanding that this person is an “adopted” grandparent or aunt?
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Describe what it was like to understand this person as belonging to the family.
Family Beyond Relatives
Share the story about the firefighter who attended the graduation of a baby he rescued 17 years earlier.
Ask the group to think about how the firefighter called the rescue a “conclusion.” What ending to the story did he think he had experienced?
Then, ask the group to think about the connection the girl and the firefighter had later on. There seems to be a connection that resembles family; she invited this person to cheer her on at graduation.
- Why do you think this was important to the girl and the firefighter?
- Are there people in your life who share connections like this?
- How might this firefighter think of the graduation moment as a “full circle” moment? What does full circle mean?
We know that the family of God is made up people beyond our relatives.
Think about the idea of full circle as we read Ephesians 1:1-14.
Read aloud today’s focal passage, Ephesians 1:1-14, and watch the Bible Background Video.
Free Trip
Do you feel the enjoyment of the inheritance of the Holy Spirit or would you prefer a trip around the world?
Play the “Free Trip” video.
Then ask questions like these:
- How lazy is that to avoid paying to have a name changed on a ticket?
- Can you believe people are interested in going with this man?
- How can we feel like someone who has an inheritance greater than a free trip?
- What voices are holding people back from enjoying the joy of their salvation? ### Closing Pray together to end the session, thanking God for “full circle” moments that widen the circle of the family of God.