CONVERSATION STARTERS:
Conversation Starters help us dig deeper, connecting Sunday’s sermons with our Monday lives. These prompts have been designed to help Community Groups grow in their relationship with God, with one another, and with their neighbors. Please know that these questions are meant to be a resource to you. You do not have to follow them verbatim or get through them all. We trust you to know your group and to ask the questions based on your group needs.

1. Everyone has words or phrases that drive us crazy or set our teeth on edge. What are they for you?

2. What is your knee jerk reaction when you hear the word “submit?” Why do you think this word provokes a strong response in many people?

3. Read Ephesians 5:22-23 and pause for a minute. Now read Ephesians 5:20-33. Does reading the broader context change how you view verses 22-23?

4. Have you previously encountered the concept that human marriage is a picture of the heavenly marriage between Christ and the church? How does looking at marriage merely through the lens of culture or romance fall short of what Paul is showing us is the purpose of marriage?

5. Paul tells the Ephesians in verse 5:21 to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. What role does humility and deference to others play in our lives? How can this kind of life point others to the gospel?

6. Read Philippians 2:3-11. We are to be imitators of God. In what ways does Christ’s example inspire us to elevate others above ourselves?

PRAYER PROMPT:
Praise Jesus for giving himself up for the church - for us. Pray for the humility and love to give ourselves back to Christ in joyful service.

Title: This Mystery Is Profound
Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33
Speaker: Gabe Coyle, GabeC@cckc.church

> How is this good news for women?

> Jesus always turns marriage on its head.

"The fundamental nature of the reversal is critical. It would have struck Paul’s audience not only as odd but even more so against nature. The sacrifice of the head would be suicidal for the entire body since the head provides guidance for the whole. The reversal in expectations in regards to love would also seem shocking in light of the traditional honor conventions because Paul tells the most esteemed part of the body, the head, to love the rest of the body. …he asks [husbands] to do something that goes against this fundamental order of society, which would have been considered disruptive and even dangerous." - Lee-Barnewall, Neither Complimentarian nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective to the Evangelical Gender Debate

“Instead, both wives and husbands are servants of each other, with only one Lord and master, who has full authority and power over them.” - Westfall, Paul and Gender

> Who are your marriage heros?

> When was the last time you sacrificed for your spouse?

> When was the last time you sacrificed for your friend?

> Who are you looking for in marriage?