Matt Zainea Rockford Campus September 25, 2022
MARRIAGE AS A METAPHOR
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Marriage can be a lot of things; exciting, boring, fun, complicated, amazing, challenging, rewarding. But marriage is also a living, breathing metaphor of Christ and the church. Building on Scripture from Genesis, Matt Zainea uses Ephesians 5 to point us towards life-giving relationships.
REMINDERS
- Live Your Mission Now! Men’s event on October 17
- Men’s Groups! Monday @7pm, Wednesday at 6am and 6:30pm
- Women’s Groups! Check the website for our many options!
TOGETHER IN LIFE
**Talking about marriage today, if your married, what is your favorite or most impactful moment from your own wedding? If you aren’t married, what has stuck out most about the weddings you have attended or participated in?
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:22-33
QUESTION: As you read this passage, what sticks out about the seriousness of the marriage relationship?
QUESTION: Matt said today that, “Marriage is important to everyone.” Why do you think marriage is important to even those who are not married or considering marriage?
WIVES, SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBANDS (v.22)
QUESTION: Why do you think submission has become a dirty word in our culture? What can we do to reverse that trend?
QUESTION: “If you obliterate the differences between the sexes, you destroy everything.” How do you see this playing out in our world today? Why do you think Satan seems to be attacking gender identity so ferociously right now?
QUESTION: When you think about God’s design of men and women, what are some of the differences that can actually complement each other?
SUBMIT EVERYTHING TO THEIR HUSBANDS (v. 23-24)
QUESTION: How have you seen marriages be a great example of Christ’s love for his church? Where have you seen a need for growth in this area?
SANCTIFY HER (v. 25-27)
QUESTION: “There is something about our marriages that are supposed to make us more and more godly.” In what ways have you grown in your relationship with God as a result of the different relationships in your life?
CHRIST LIKE LOVE IS SELF-GIVING, SANCTIFYING, CLEANSING WITH THE WORD, NOURISHING AND CHERISHING
QUESTION: Of all the aspects of Christ like love we see in this passage, which one sticks out to you the most? Which one do you have the hardest time displaying?
QUESTION: God uses our relationships with God, each other, and life giving communities to guide our marriages towards Christlikeness. Which one of these relationships do you need to invest more time into at this stage of your life? How can you do that?
TOGETHER IN ACTION
QUESTION: If you are married, ask your spouse how they would rate your marriage. Then listen. Talk through one step you can take in your relationships with God, with other, and community. If single, use this time to pray for the marriages in your family and specifically for the marriages in our church.
TOGETHER IN WORSHIP
Spend time praying about our marriage relationships. That God would guide us through the struggles and the hard times but also that he would allow us all to experience the beauty and joy that God intended. Pray that our marriages would be a great picture of Christ’s love for his church.
