Joy of Living Bible study on the Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus

2. FPC Women’s Retreat
April 24-26, 2020
Mission San Luis Rey, Oceanside
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Tracey Davenport
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Registration begins Feb. 2nd - online at:
fpcsd.org/special-events
$200 per person – limited half-scholarships are
available
For information contact Peggy at:
pegbaker@pacbell.net

8. Smoke, nothing but smoke.
[That’s what the Quester says.]
There’s nothing to anything—it’s all
smoke.
The Message

12. Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge
God, God quit bothering them and let
them run loose. And then all hell broke
loose: rampant evil, grabbing and
grasping, vicious backstabbing. They
made life hell on earth with their envy,
wanton killing, bickering, and cheating.
Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous,
fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies,
swaggerers, insufferable windbags!

13. They keep inventing new ways of
wrecking lives. They ditch their parents
when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy,
cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if
they don’t know better. They know
perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s
face. And they don’t care—worse, they
hand out prizes to those who do the
worst things best!
Romans 1:28-32
The Message

15. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your
culture that you fit into it without even
thinking. Instead, fix your attention on
God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.
Readily recognize what he wants from you,
and quickly respond to it. Unlike the
culture around you, always dragging you
down to its level of immaturity, God brings
the best out of you, develops well-formed
maturity in you.
Romans 12:2
The Message

20. Our old way of life before we believed in
Christ is completely in the past. We should
put it behind us like old clothes to be thrown
away. When we decide to accept Christ’s gift of
salvation (2:8-10), it is both a one-time
decision, as well as a daily conscious
commitment. We are not to be driven by
desire and impulse. We must put on the new
nature, head in the new direction, and have
the new way of thinking that the Holy Spirit
gives.
LIFE Application

22. “It is the Spirit’s renewal of our
minds that results in the Spirit’s
creation of righteousness and
holiness in us, a God-fashioned life
as God re-creates his character in
us”.
Eugene Peterson
Practice Resurrection pg. 189