This week was the kick-off to our study of Ephesians and it was so great to see friendly faces and meet new friends, too! It’s never too late to join us at a live study in the Charleston area (now offered at 2 locations) or via streaming. I always like to share my notes from my teachings here on the blog so that those of you who cannot attend have an idea of what we’re studying, and it’s always a great recap for those that are attending, too.

As we begin this study, I wanted to share with you some tips for studying each week’s lesson. First, pray the Holy Spirit will lead your individual time of study. Then, read the passages given for each lesson and ask the questions:

• Observation= who, what, when, where and how
• Interpretation– what is the meaning?
• Application– How does this apply to me? Are there any action steps I must take?

The book of Ephesians has many different parts. Here is a summary of the chapters of the book:

• Introduction: Greetings 1:1-14 and Spiritual blessings: 1:1-2
• Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving: 1:15-23
• Salvation by Grace through faith 2:1-10
• Unity and Peace: 2:11-22
• Revelation of Gospel mystery
• Paul’s prayer for strength and insight (3:14-21)
• Unity of the body of Christ (4:1-16)
• Paul’s testimony (4:17-24)
• Exhortation to an edifying lifestyle
• New Life in love (5:1-2)
• Submitting to One Another (5:21-6:9)
• The whole armor of God (6:10-20)
• Conclusion

I’m so excited to dive into this with you. I mentioned in my teaching that I sense that this is the year of the eagle. For those of you who follow my blog, you may have heard me say that before. The Lord showed me that in previous years, we were building our nest. Now, we are ready to fly!