Message Notes for October 31, 2021
Series: Life Complete; Title: Identity

It is in and through living life in the church that our identity as the bride of Christ is confirmed, our spiritual gifts are discovered and our understanding of connectedness for the greater good is established.

You can’t truly know who you are outside of your connectedness to Jesus, and you cannot separate Jesus from His body!
Colossians 1:18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.
Ephesians 1:22-23
True identity emerges from depth of value!
Ephesians 5: 25-27
Common push backs against the Church that Satan uses:
The Church is irrelevant!
Psalm 119:160 The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever.
1 Peter 1:23-25
Jesus called followers, not organized religion- the Church!
Romans 12:4-5 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
1 Corinthians 12: 7,11, 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27
Church people are hypocrites!
Ephesians 3:10-11 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Church is caught up in consumerism!
Acts 2:42-47

 Family/Group Study Notes for October 31, 2021
Series: Life Complete; Title: Identity

How has your participation in the life of the Church helped you grow in your identity?
Read Ephesians 5:25-27. What is this passage saying to you? How does Paul describe the Church? What did Jesus do for the Church? Who is the Church referring to? How does this define your identity?
What excuses have you heard of describing why people do not attend church? How are their thoughts valid? How are they unjustified? What would you share with someone about why you attend church?
Why is it impossible to be a true follower of Jesus and not love or participate in the Church? Read Ephesians 1: 22-23. Who is the head of the Church? What does that mean? How is the Church described? How can one be a part of Jesus and not a part of His body?
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. How does this passage describe the body of Christ? As we follow Jesus, how are we a part, one of another? How does being in the body strengthen each member of the body? How could this help us identify our greatest role in God’s Kingdom work? How is this possible outside the body of the Church?
Read Ephesians 3: 7-12. What does God want to show the world through the Church? How is this possible when the Church is made up of sinful, broken, hypocritical people? Hint – grace is on display. How is the greatest witness of the church its imperfection rather than its perfection?
Read Acts 2:42-47. As you read this passage, how could you become a more impactful church? How is this church unlike how we consume church today? How would this church change the community around them? What does God do when we are this kind of church?
Gather in smaller groups and pray for each other and for those who do not know Jesus and His Church.