Pastor James will post his Sermon Study Questions every Tuesday with the previous Sunday’s sermon. Our hope is for these study questions to promote deeper personal study and further edify our church body.
Sermon Study Questions – April 12, 2026
1. Read Ephesians 2:11-22.
2. Right from the start of this passage in verse 11, we begin to see elements of the division that was present between Jew and Gentile. Where do we see that in this verse?
3. In verse 12, Paul lists five things that the Ephesian Gentiles were to remember. Identify and discuss these five things. Why is it so important to understand this before coming to verse 13?
4. In verses 13-18, Paul writes all about what Christ has done for us. What are some of these things that Paul mentions? Discuss.
5. What does it mean that in his flesh, Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility?
6. Paul writes that Christ has done this “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances.” What does he mean here and how does this relate to the unity of believers regardless of heritage?
7. How has the Gospel of Christ impacted you personally in the way that you relate to others?
8. “Identity” is a word that we hear a lot in our day and age. In verse 19, Paul writes that we are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” How do these truths impact and inform your identity and the way you go about life here on Earth?
9. How can you apply this passage to your life? Talk about any other parts of the passage that you would like to.
10. Pray!
Reading of the Law
Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Prayer of Confession
Almighty and merciful God,
We come before you this morning acknowledging that we are sinful and you are holy. You are a righteous God who is concerned not only with outward actions but also with the inward dispositions of the heart. You command us not to covet that which belongs to our neighbor, but so often our desires and longings are set on things that do not belong to us. Please look upon Christ our Savior and forgive us for His sake. Please grant us contentment with the things that you have bestowed upon us in this life, and grant us the grace of Your Holy Spirit that we may live in a manner that brings you honor and glory. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Forgiveness
Psalm 103:10-12, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 32
86. Q. Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace alone through Christ, without any merit of our own, why must we yet do good works?
A. Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit to be his image, so that with our whole life we may show ourselves thankful to God for his benefits, 1 and he may be praised by us. 2 Further, that we ourselves may be assured of our faith by its fruits, 3 and that by our godly walk of life we may win our neighbors for Christ. 4”
1.Rom 6:13; 12:1, 2; 1 Pet 2:5-10.
2.Mt 5:16; 1 Cor 6:19, 20.
3.Mt 7:17, 18; Gal 5:22-24; 2 Pet 1:10, 11.
4.Mt 5:14 -16; Rom 14:17-19; 1 Pet 2:12; 3:1, 2.
87. Q. Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful and impenitent walk of life?
A. By no means. Scripture says that no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, greedy person, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1
1.1 Cor 6:9, 10; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5, 6; 1 Jn 3:14.
Old Testament Reading
Isaiah 57:14-21
14 And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
“and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Sermon Text
Ephesians 2:11-22
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.