Relationships worth Fighting For: The Marriage Dance

Ephesians 5

Connect:

• Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.

Prayer:

Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.

Review:

We are moving into a series called “Relationships worth fighting for”. This week, Scott likened Marriage to a dance. Successful relationships require mutual submission and shifting the focus from what one partner is entitled to, to what they can contribute toward the flourishing of the relationship. It takes both Love and Respect…

The Grand Tour of the message: Thinking back on what you heard this Sunday…

o What did you learn about God?

o What did you learn about people?

o What did you learn about yourself?

o What do you want to commit to putting into practice?

Reflect:

Experience:

• Share about learning to dance (stepping on toes, getting rhythm, figuring out who leads and what that means…). Discuss some parallels between this and marriage.

  Reflection:

• What does Ephesians 5:21 mean by "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ"?

• How does “reverence for Christ” help us here (Eph 5:21) in talking about how rights and responsibilities play out in a healthy marriage (love, respect)?

• We are called to be “filled with the Spirit (5:18); how does the Holy Spirit help us in the shift from a focus on rights to a focus on responsibilities?

• Read Eph 5:22-33.

  • Verse 33 is Paul’s summary point here, but there’s A LOT before that! Discuss what “reverence for Christ” looks like as expressed in the wife’s respect and the husband’s love.

  • Contrast the way a couple seeks to meet those needs for love and respect when they know Jesus VS when they don’t. What difference does it make to get ones needs met/ meet needs in a way that honors Christ?

Respond: 

Marriage is TOUGH if it is going to go the long haul, and we need to have the anchor for a healthy marriage embedded in the rock, “God, we will honor You in the way we relate to each other.” Make this your prayer this evening! Pray that the Lord would work in hearts and minds— healing, restoring, correcting and strengthening couples all across ZCC! Pray that the Lord would draw the world’s attention to Jesus Christ because of the character of our relationship with each other. Amen!

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