This word of encouragement from Shannon Pifer regarding working on the chapter overview with the 5 W's and H:
Just reading your blog I thought I'd share this with you. I have in the past thought the "5W's and H" of each chapter to be quite tedious and not all that important. I've tried going into doing it in Ephesians with a better attitude than that, with eyes opened looking to see what God is showing me in this part of the process. Well, I just finished Chapter 3 and my "How" column got me excited. This is what's on it:
-by revelation
-by the Spirit
-through the Gospel
-according to the gift of God's grace
-by the working of His power
-according to the eternal purpose that He has realize in Christ Jesus our Lord
-through our Faith in Him-according to the riches of His glory
-through His Spirit in your inner being
-according to the power at work in us.
What great statements about how God does just about everything, in us and through us and for us, and for His own glory!! All in one little chapter!!! Now I'm excited to see what Chapter 4 has to say!!!
Blessings-Shannon
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Using the Chapter Overview Chart
Are you overwhelmed with the study guide for this week, fellow Ephesian students? I'm so encouraged to hear you have set your mind to doing this - to finding out what God is saying in this wonderful letter. I would like to encourage you to hang in there. If you are new to inductive study, just write down what you see in one reading of each chapter. For instance, in chapter one: Who? Paul, God, Jesus Christ, saints (you, us) Holy Spirit.
What? Will of God, Grace, Chosen (Predestined, Purposed, Will) Glory
Gospel
When? Before the foundations of the world v.4; fullness of the times v. 10
(you could also put these under Time on back of the sheet.
Where? the saints who are at Ephesus; in the heavenly places; in heaven and on earth. You could put In Christ here - your call.
Why? That we should be holy and blameless before Him; to the praise of the glory of His grace; v.10 with a view to the administration suitable to the times
How? By will of God; thru Christ Jesus Himself acc. to the kind intention of His will; thru Christ's blood; acc to the riches of His Grace
in all wisdom and insight; having been predestined acc to His purpose
If you are frustrated with this, you might want to move on to thinking about Paul and the Ephesians and their relationship and why Paul wrote this letter to them. We will spend time talking this through next Tues.
Julia Stake said some were having trouble with following the pronouns and putting them with their proper antecedents in the first chapter. This is a problem here for a couple of reasons: Paul's long sentences, his involved thought patterns and his lack of concern for our problems in this area! Remember the rule of Bible study: Context Rules. Whenever possible view a passage as a whole. So if you start with 1:3 and follow all that God the Father has done, and substitute His name for the pronoun, it becomes clear.
for instance: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who (God the Father) blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (v. 4) just as He (God the Father) chose us in Him (Christ - probably all the "in Him" phrases refer to Christ)...that we should be holy and blameless before Him (God the Father).
I liked doing this because repeating "God the Father" emphasizes in my mind my relationship with Him as his daughter and reminds me how much He loves me and wants me to know what He has done for me! If He has lavished all the riches of His grace on you, don't you think He will help you in any need or trouble?
Let me know if this helps - remember to email me, I don't think the comments on here get thru.
What? Will of God, Grace, Chosen (Predestined, Purposed, Will) Glory
Gospel
When? Before the foundations of the world v.4; fullness of the times v. 10
(you could also put these under Time on back of the sheet.
Where? the saints who are at Ephesus; in the heavenly places; in heaven and on earth. You could put In Christ here - your call.
Why? That we should be holy and blameless before Him; to the praise of the glory of His grace; v.10 with a view to the administration suitable to the times
How? By will of God; thru Christ Jesus Himself acc. to the kind intention of His will; thru Christ's blood; acc to the riches of His Grace
in all wisdom and insight; having been predestined acc to His purpose
If you are frustrated with this, you might want to move on to thinking about Paul and the Ephesians and their relationship and why Paul wrote this letter to them. We will spend time talking this through next Tues.
Julia Stake said some were having trouble with following the pronouns and putting them with their proper antecedents in the first chapter. This is a problem here for a couple of reasons: Paul's long sentences, his involved thought patterns and his lack of concern for our problems in this area! Remember the rule of Bible study: Context Rules. Whenever possible view a passage as a whole. So if you start with 1:3 and follow all that God the Father has done, and substitute His name for the pronoun, it becomes clear.
for instance: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who (God the Father) blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (v. 4) just as He (God the Father) chose us in Him (Christ - probably all the "in Him" phrases refer to Christ)...that we should be holy and blameless before Him (God the Father).
I liked doing this because repeating "God the Father" emphasizes in my mind my relationship with Him as his daughter and reminds me how much He loves me and wants me to know what He has done for me! If He has lavished all the riches of His grace on you, don't you think He will help you in any need or trouble?
Let me know if this helps - remember to email me, I don't think the comments on here get thru.
I'm a Morning Person?
At our table on Tuesday night when we gathered to talk through the study of Ephesians, we each shared our prayer requests for the study. All of us wanted prayer for diligence and help in getting to the study early in the day. Someone said she wasn't a morning person but wished she were - think of all you could do before anyone was demanding something from you. Our daughter, Robin, said of her babies, "I don't care so much about the sleeping through the night. I just want them to sleep in the next morning!" I feel like my life has been a constant struggle to get enough sleep. Need I say that I am a morning person married to the champion night person? And all of our children seemed to have his bio-rhythms. Many of our friends who spent time at our home when we had a houseful of kids say they remember me curled up in the corner of the sofa with an afghan over my head, sound asleep while everyone else watched tv or chatted together.
What to do? Ask God to wake you up to his word... ask the Spirit to show you the best time to be in God's word - when you can give him the firstfruits of your time and attention. Don't worry about the when of it - just ask help in doing it sometime. Do it like you exercise - off and on all day. Plan it like you plan your work, your studies for school, your day with your children.
I'm up early today because Mike has a Bible study at 6 am on Thursday but also because I know the women at the study prayed for me to have the energy to be in God's word and the Lord is answering their prayer for me.
I'm praying for you all - that you will have a great time in his word, lavished upon you in all His glorious grace in Christ Jesus. Let's let everyone know that Four Oaks women are women of the Word.
What to do? Ask God to wake you up to his word... ask the Spirit to show you the best time to be in God's word - when you can give him the firstfruits of your time and attention. Don't worry about the when of it - just ask help in doing it sometime. Do it like you exercise - off and on all day. Plan it like you plan your work, your studies for school, your day with your children.
I'm up early today because Mike has a Bible study at 6 am on Thursday but also because I know the women at the study prayed for me to have the energy to be in God's word and the Lord is answering their prayer for me.
I'm praying for you all - that you will have a great time in his word, lavished upon you in all His glorious grace in Christ Jesus. Let's let everyone know that Four Oaks women are women of the Word.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Emails & Encouragements
I asked for feedback on the Ephesians study, thought I'd pass these words of encouragement along:
from Shannon Pifer:
I know you like hearing from us as we study, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts with you about how it's going for me...First, it's struck me how different things jump out at me depending on how I'm taking it in. I've been listening to your husband while I drive. (By the way, he has a great radio voice and should do a radio show or something!) I've also been reading from my Bible as well as from the study guide worksheet as I study. It's so funny that it's all the same words, but depending on where I'm reading it from or how I'm hearing it, I'll catch things that I never caught before. I wonder if you or the other ladies have that same experience, or maybe my brain is weird or something!I also had a verse jump right out at me as I read this morning. I've probably read Ephesians through a dozen or so times in the past week or two but never caught it. Verse 8&9 of chapter 5 talk about walking as children of light. Then verse 10 says "...trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." I thought, "Well that's exactly what I'm doing here, taking this class and studying this book. I'm trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord!" I just thought that was neat, finding in the book I'm studying the very reason why I'm studying it!
That's it! Nothing too earth shattering! I'm looking forward to tomorrow night! Blessings-Shannon
from daughter Kris:
...on another note i finished this weeks study and am just blessed ... from reading ephesians so many times (like eight?) i'm looking forward to the rest of the study.
from Katie Hughes:
am so excited about doing your study this summer. I did a bunch this morning and am already reaping the benefits :) ...Also, I wanted to tell you about this book on marriage Josh and I just read that is pretty awesome. I thought about it on Tuesday night because Betsy Ricucci (who sort of co-wrote it with her husband) says something really cool about Proverbs14:1 in the chapter entitled "Walking in Wisdom." She talks about what it means to "build" rather than "tear down" and then says this: "As a wife, mother, and homemaker, I can often reach the end of a day and think, Now, what have I accomplished today that was really worthwhile?...here is the biblical answer to that question: Because today's activities have furthered the building of my home, this has been a day in which, but God's grace, I have displayed true wisdom. According to Proverbs 14:1, if the choices I make are tearing down that which is most important, then I am living as a fool. But if I am living so as to build my household, then even when I am tempted to think my efforts aren't amounting to much, I can find encouragement that I am living wisely" I never thought of it that way, that if we are building our homes (not as works righteousness, obviously) then we can find reassurance that wisdom is displayed, even when it feels like foolishness in this world, where accomplishments are measured by successful careers and monetary gain. Oh, and the book is called Love that Lasts. It's by Gary and Betsy Ricucci.
Judy Murphy reports that she and Dave have been working on the study together (he wants to get in touch with his feminine side, biblically) and want to continue to work on it in North Carolina - via email!
from Julia Stake: I am looking forward to tomorrow night's study. I have enjoyed reading through Ephesians and doing the initial observation, though I must say with a longer book it does take a while. I can't imagine reading through Isaiah all at once or several times at once!! :)
from Beth Kinnon: Hi Susan! Just to give you some feedback....I was at the VBS training last night and saw Brittany Harlacher, Dana Letson, Krista Bump, and I can't think who else, but one more lady from the group. We all were making progress on the study, two women were on step 3, two on step 2 and one on step 1. Everyone was very encouraged and encouraging. I don't think anyone had trouble with the study not being "user friendly". We are all very excited to be studying Ephesians with you this summer! Of course, at the training they gave us quite a bit of VBS homework, so we might fall behind on the Bible study homework....... :)Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday evening,Beth
I'm encouraged! Hope you are too. Don't be shy about coming even if you have to miss some - see you Tues nights at 7 at the ministry center.
from Shannon Pifer:
I know you like hearing from us as we study, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts with you about how it's going for me...First, it's struck me how different things jump out at me depending on how I'm taking it in. I've been listening to your husband while I drive. (By the way, he has a great radio voice and should do a radio show or something!) I've also been reading from my Bible as well as from the study guide worksheet as I study. It's so funny that it's all the same words, but depending on where I'm reading it from or how I'm hearing it, I'll catch things that I never caught before. I wonder if you or the other ladies have that same experience, or maybe my brain is weird or something!I also had a verse jump right out at me as I read this morning. I've probably read Ephesians through a dozen or so times in the past week or two but never caught it. Verse 8&9 of chapter 5 talk about walking as children of light. Then verse 10 says "...trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." I thought, "Well that's exactly what I'm doing here, taking this class and studying this book. I'm trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord!" I just thought that was neat, finding in the book I'm studying the very reason why I'm studying it!
That's it! Nothing too earth shattering! I'm looking forward to tomorrow night! Blessings-Shannon
from daughter Kris:
...on another note i finished this weeks study and am just blessed ... from reading ephesians so many times (like eight?) i'm looking forward to the rest of the study.
from Katie Hughes:
am so excited about doing your study this summer. I did a bunch this morning and am already reaping the benefits :) ...Also, I wanted to tell you about this book on marriage Josh and I just read that is pretty awesome. I thought about it on Tuesday night because Betsy Ricucci (who sort of co-wrote it with her husband) says something really cool about Proverbs14:1 in the chapter entitled "Walking in Wisdom." She talks about what it means to "build" rather than "tear down" and then says this: "As a wife, mother, and homemaker, I can often reach the end of a day and think, Now, what have I accomplished today that was really worthwhile?...here is the biblical answer to that question: Because today's activities have furthered the building of my home, this has been a day in which, but God's grace, I have displayed true wisdom. According to Proverbs 14:1, if the choices I make are tearing down that which is most important, then I am living as a fool. But if I am living so as to build my household, then even when I am tempted to think my efforts aren't amounting to much, I can find encouragement that I am living wisely" I never thought of it that way, that if we are building our homes (not as works righteousness, obviously) then we can find reassurance that wisdom is displayed, even when it feels like foolishness in this world, where accomplishments are measured by successful careers and monetary gain. Oh, and the book is called Love that Lasts. It's by Gary and Betsy Ricucci.
Judy Murphy reports that she and Dave have been working on the study together (he wants to get in touch with his feminine side, biblically) and want to continue to work on it in North Carolina - via email!
from Julia Stake: I am looking forward to tomorrow night's study. I have enjoyed reading through Ephesians and doing the initial observation, though I must say with a longer book it does take a while. I can't imagine reading through Isaiah all at once or several times at once!! :)
from Beth Kinnon: Hi Susan! Just to give you some feedback....I was at the VBS training last night and saw Brittany Harlacher, Dana Letson, Krista Bump, and I can't think who else, but one more lady from the group. We all were making progress on the study, two women were on step 3, two on step 2 and one on step 1. Everyone was very encouraged and encouraging. I don't think anyone had trouble with the study not being "user friendly". We are all very excited to be studying Ephesians with you this summer! Of course, at the training they gave us quite a bit of VBS homework, so we might fall behind on the Bible study homework....... :)Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday evening,Beth
I'm encouraged! Hope you are too. Don't be shy about coming even if you have to miss some - see you Tues nights at 7 at the ministry center.
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