What's Next?

Whether you heard the message from Sunday or are part of one of our “What’s Next” groups at Venture, here’s a way for you to go deeper.

this week's next steps

Read Ephesians 4 for next week

Memorize Ephesians 3:18-19

Ask God to fill me with His love

Say yes to Jesus - click here

This week's Bible reading plan

This week's fill-in notes

This week's study

How often do we complain about our situation? Sometimes we might ask, “How come there’s traffic?! Now I’m going to be late! Does God hate me or something?!” Or, maybe God prompts us to serve and we want to wait until the circumstances are “perfect” to obey. We go on to say, “I’ll serve if someone actually asks me!” When in reality, God is asking us to! Now, think about Paul’s situation when he’s writing this letter to the church in Ephesus. His circumstance wasn’t “perfect.” It wasn’t even “ideal” or “okay.” He was in prison. And he didn’t let that stop him! He knew God had a purpose, because he knew the love of God! Logic might tell us that we shouldn’t trust God in that situation, but scripture tells us differently! In Ephesians 3:2-13, we do not see Paul wondering why God is punishing him or wondering if God forgot about him or is mad at him. We don’t see any anger, confusion, or shame. What we do see is the perspective of confidence that Paul is able to have because of God’s grace and love – his confidence in God’s plan and purpose!

So often, it seems as though we need to qualify the grace and love we receive. “I did this and therefore I get that!” But that is not how God operates! He loves us and chooses us because of who He is, and not because of who we are or what we accomplish. We are completely transformed by this grace and love from God and God alone! And Paul was familiar with God’s grace; he had seen God’s love transform people before, himself included. Paul’s belief in God’s love for him allowed him to see the good that came from being in prison. Because of Paul’s various imprisonments, he is given the opportunity to share this Good News with people he might not have been able to if he had not been imprisoned. God’s love changed Paul’s perspective, and it can change ours, too. And not just our perspectives, but our whole entire lives!

Questions to Consider:

Go you truly believe that God REALLY loves you? Why or why not?
In what ways have you tried to qualify God’s love in the past? How did that make you feel?
Consider Ephesians 3:18-19 & Romans 8:38-39. Does this help you understand vastness of God’s love?
Knowing that God loves you no matter what, how does that affect your thoughts and actions moving forward?
Describe a time in your life that you questioned God’s love. What made you have that perspective? And how might your perspective shift now?