Ephesians

BIBLE EXPLORE / NEW TESTAMENT / EPHESIANS

Book of Ephesians

The book of Ephesians gives us new take on what it means to be members of God’s family. The many aspects of living out our faith – our relationships, the church, our behaviour, our skills, our diversity, our challenges, God’s love and sacrifice for us - are all put in to the context of God’s plan for humanity. This is the plan: God is drawing everything together so that we can be one family.
When reading the Bible it’s easy to see it as speaking to us as individuals. Ephesians however was written as a letter to not just one church group, but as a circular letter to many church groups in Ephesus: a bit like a group email or your classroom newsletter. So when you read through Ephesians, consider how it relates not only to us as individuals, but as a whole church community.

Crosspaint: Ephesians Introcrosspaint

Ephesians 1

What's the plan?

Adopted and loved

Have you ever wondered what God's plan for you is? Or for your church? Your neighbourhood, the world? Good news! Just have a read of Ephesians 1:10, which lets us into the answer:
"This is the plan: At the right time he (God) will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth." (NLT). God has a confident, clear and hope-filled plan.

Activities

Craft ideas from Ministry to Children

"God decided in advance to adopt us into his family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ" - Ephesians 1:5.

Ephesians can be a beautiful, hard, confusing and amazing book to read - all in one! While I have had many a conversation about the theological complexities of predestination around this passage, the concept of adoption is a beautiful one to unpack with children. Chosen, not out of obligation or duty, but loved unconditionally through choice. God is "so rich in kindness and grace" (v.7)

God's Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:1-10)

What is a Masterpiece?

The NLT version of verse 10 says, "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Other translations talk about us being God's handiwork.

A master piece is the best piece of art that an artist creates. When we think of Masterpiece, we may think of Van Gogh's starry night, or Monet's water lillies, Michaelangelo's statue of David.

Craft activity

Download this printable template to create your own masterpiece. Provide a range of mixed media for kids to express themselves - paints, pens, crayons, scrap paper, glue and colourful papers, as they create an image of themselves.

Media

Ephesians 2:11-22

House against house

All throughout history and literature, there is story after story about how people are put against one another.
House against house, person against person, party against party. Examples you could use include:

England vs Italy – sports teams in the Euro 2020/21 cup final
Apple vs Android
Capulets vs Montagues (Romeo and Juliet)
Labour vs National political parties
Science vs faith
What others can you think of?

In our reading today, Paul talks about how Jews were up against the gentiles

Jews vs Gentiles
- Jews were the children of God and the recipients of God’s covenant and law. But the Bible also tells us that even though they were close to God, they were disobedient and unfaithful.
- Who were the gentiles? Gentiles were the strangers and aliens to Israel, and were not included in the covenant promises God made with Israel. The Gentiles are without hope because they are without God in the world

These differences can be seen in history, in stories, and in the church. And not just in the church of the old. Perhaps its the friction between two Sunday worship services, the youth group and the adults service. For centuries, parts of the church have accused other parts of the church that they are "not Christian enough."

Intergenerational friction

Intergenerational friction
In recent times, the media has shown the tension between the generations, such as the 'Okay Boomer' narrative that has become popular over the last few years. A young woman posted a video of herself saying this comment to an older person, and the expression gained more momentum when a Green MP, Chloe Swarbrick, used the term in response to an older National MP in the debating chambers.

Overnight, the expression soared in popularity and seemed to express the frustrations that many younger generations were feeling. A 2019 New York Times article was entitled 'Okay boomer marks the end of the friendly generational relations', while an US magazine created two editions of the same magazine, entitled "It's all your fault Boomers", and another with "its all your fault millennials". And while we need to filter these debates through a contextual lens here in New Zealand, we need to acknowledge that these conversations dehumanise the "other". For more information, see Cory Seibel's book, Engaging all generations.

Don't take it for granted

It can be easy to forget our stories of faith, and take for granted the knowledge and experiences we have had walking a life with Jesus. Psalm 145: 4-7 reminds us of how one generations commends the work to another, and the needs of an intergenerational community of faith, as they learn and grow together.

Taking down walls.

And Jesus is in the business of taking down walls.

The church is good at putting up walls between our services, groups and activities. In some ways, when taken too far, we are like a Potato head toy separated out into the different parts, like a divided up Body of Christ. How can we bring the generations back together, for mutual learning, serving and worship?

We're in this together

Jesus came to give us a fresh start, to make a new covenant for Jews and Gentiles, so they would no longer be different.

Temples of God

Paul uses the illustration of a building to describe how Jesus takes down the walls that divide. As the Old Testament tells us, the Temple was the place where people had to go to be close to God. In this new covenant, a fresh start, God shows that we are now the temple of the living God - God is using people. We no longer have to be in the right place, or with the right person.

The Message version of Ephesians 2:19-22 is great for this description: "You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."

Reconciliation (Ephesians 2:13-18)

Ephesians 2 talks about breaking down the walls of division. It ties in well with Waitangi Day too.

House against house

England vs Italy – sports teams in the Euro 2020/21 cup final
Apple vs Android
Capulets vs Montagues (Romeo and Juliet)
Labour vs National political parties
Science vs faith
What others can you think of?

In our reading today, Paul talks about how Jews were up against the gentiles

Jews vs Gentiles
- Jews were the children of God and the recipients of God’s covenant and law. But the Bible also tells us that even though they were close to God, they were disobedient and unfaithful.
- Who were the gentiles? Gentiles were the strangers and aliens to Israel, and were not included in the covenant promises God made with Israel. The Gentiles are without hope because they are without God in the world

Intergenerational friction

In recent times, the media has shown the tension between the generations, such as the 'Okay Boomer' narrative that has become popular over the last few years. A young woman posted a video of herself saying this comment to an older person, and the expression gained more momentum when a Green MP, Chloe Swarbrick, used the term in response to an older National MP in the debating chambers.

Overnight, the expression soared in popularity and seemed to express the frustrations that many younger generations were feeling. A 2019 New York Times article was entitled 'Okay boomer marks the end of the friendly generational relations', while an US magazine created two editions of the same magazine, entitled "It's all your fault Boomers", and another with "its all your fault millennials". And while we need to filter these debates through a contextual lens here in New Zealand, we need to acknowledge that these conversations dehumanise the "other". For more information, see Cory Seibel's book, Engaging all generations.

Don't take it for granted

Playdough Prayers

Using 2 blobs of playdough each. Talk about God bringing peace and that it is one of our jobs as Christians to pray for peace. Is there anyone that you can think of that needs help to be united by prayer? As you pray for these people, squish the two balls together until they become one. (from Flame Creative Ministry)

Taking down walls.

And Jesus is in the business of taking down walls. 
The church is good at putting up walls between our services, groups and activities. In some ways, when taken too far, we are like a Potato head toy separated out into the different parts, like a divided up Body of Christ. How can we bring the generations back together, for mutual learning, serving and worship?

We're in this together

Jesus came to give us a fresh start, to make a new covenant for Jews and Gentiles, so they would no longer be different.

Temples of God

Ephesians 3: God's love

"May you have the power to understand, with all of God's people, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is

Ephesians 4: Spiritual gifts

In Ephesians 4:11, Paul describes the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. And while we all have different spiritual giftings, we are one united body.

Spiritual Gifts

"The gifts given are people-gifts, people who have been set free by Christ." - Kate Dyer. Kate's helpful research project (linked below) has provided some helpful information on these gifts, which are given to everyone:

Apostles - a representative, messenger or envoy who was sent by a person in authority and given permission to act on behalf of the sender. It comes form the word apostello, which means 'to be sent out'
Prophets - Prophets in the Old testament were well known, and they acted as God’s mouthpiece and called the people back to covenantal faithfulness. Praying to his Father, Jesus said “I gave them the words you gave me” (John 17:8).
Evangelists - The one who brings good news. Jesus was the ultimate evangelist, saying in Luke 4:43: "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent"
Pastors - Jesus is called the great shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) and the shepherd and overseer (1 Peter 2:25)
Teachers - The teacher’s role is to teach people God’s truth and to help them to live it out in their lives. Jesus was often called Rabbi, a title for a teacher.

Discover your spiritual gifts in this Five Fold Ministry survey. If you are interested in having a discussion with children about how they fit into these five spiritual gifts, we have completed this survey with 10-13yr olds. An adult can help them fill in the questions together, and it has been interesting to discuss and affirm the giftings they have when they see the results. (Note: This does not need to become a tool to keep them from experiencing and growing into other gifts, it may just be a snapshot of history, but can be a helpful discussion exercise. Use it lightly with kids, and encourage them to redo the test when they are older)

Like a body

Ephesians 4:15 talks about how the church is like a body, with Christ at the head. See also 1 Corinthians 12:12–14

Resources

Salvation Army children's ministry resources on the Body of Christ
Sunday School lesson plan

Further Reading
Anglicanism and the Ephesians 4 Gifts: Towards a Leadership Model that Disciples and Equips the Church for Mission - Research project by Kate Dyer

Ephesians 4:25-32, 5:1-2

'No put downs'

The Salvation Army have a great set of children's ministry ideas that tie this Ephesians passage with the teaching in the book of James, about how we use our words to build others up, and not 'put others down'. It can be easy to fall into the trap of using this bible passage to teach a lesson on behaviour modification, but perhaps there is more in the passage than a list of behavioural changes.

Ephesians 5:1-2 has a beautiful summary of these words: "Live a life filled with love". Think about how your words can build up someone as you live a life filled with love, and how this can be an overflow of a heart for Jesus. Check out the link above for great ideas of how to do this.

The Armour of God (Ephesians 6: 10-20)

Putting on the armour of God

Discuss and make the armour of God.
This resource has a full lesson plan: Question pages for discussing each part of the armour and then making the armour.
The activity can be done in groups, with each group making one part of the armour or the full armour, depending on time and available resources.
Resources needed:

Bible
Cardboard
Tinfoil
Tape
Scissors
Felt pens

Download the activity plan and question pages here.

Activities

Printable Helmet (Crafting the Word of God)
Printable Breastplate (Crafting the Word of God)
Printable Shield (Crafting the Word of God)
Printable Sword of the Spirit (Crafting the Word of God)
Object Lesson (Our Journey Westward)
Snack (3 Cherry Cokes)
Waterpistol Game (Bible Baton)
Make your own Armour (Free Time Frolics)
Sword Games (Creative Bible Studies)
Nerf Gun Idea (One She Two She)
Shoes of the Gospel Obstacle Course (The Littles and Me)

Lollipop Soldier

The idea is from a Dutch website, Trak Tatie and while there are no english instructions, you can see how easy it is to make it
You will need

Printed out templates from here
Enough lollipops for one per child
A feather
Sellotape (bluetack optional)
Scissors

What you do

Cut out the heads of the soldiers on the template and tape onto the lolly stick, along with a feather.
Cut out the feet and tape to the bottom of the round lolly. You could fold the tape into a circle, or use blueback if that's easier.

Intergenerational Stories

The armour of God is for all ages! Why not use this opportunity to ask other generations to share how they have needed God's armour in their lives. Consider inviting a couple other people to share their stories -- from kids, intermediates, teenagers, young adults, adults, seniors. You could film their responses and create a video for your whole church to be encouraged by the faithfulness of all generations.

Children's Ministry

The Salvation Army have a good Junior Soldier resource with some teaching ideas, questions to ask and interactive learning. You can find it here

Dress Me Up Armour

Taken from the Teachers Pay Teachers website (you'll need to sign up for a free account) at this link

"Teaching on the Armor of God?? Here is a fun lesson that can get really personal. Each child colors a paper version of him or herself (which can be mounted, laminated, felted..etc.) As you teach through each piece of armor, the children can cut, color, and dress "themselves" until they are covered with the "whole armor of God."

Minecraft Soldier

We loved the Mylittlehouse.org nativity set they did a few years ago, which are similar in style to Minecraft figures.

Here they have an armour of god soldier to make. They're not the simplest of things to construct, but good for kids who like a challenge. Perhaps provide them with the materials to start at church and finish at home, if you're limited with time.

You can download the template here

Armour of God illustrations

There are some beautiful Armour of God illustrations and worksheets on the mighty interweb, and these are some of our favourites:
Armour of God -- girl in armour to colour in, from Melonheadz Blog.

There are also some great Armour of God printable sheets from Religious Doodles.

Media

These videos below talk more about how the armour of God defends us against the work of the devil/satan. You may like to watch them first before deciding if they are appropriate for your children.

Creative Ideas for Memorising Verses from Ephesians

Write the Words on Tinfoil Pictures (123 Homeschool 4 Me)
Write the Words on the tunnels of a Plate Marble Maze (Toddler at Play)
Decorate Paper with an interesting painting technique, write the Verse onto it. (A Girl and a Glue Gun)
Write or Paint it on a Rock (Projects with Kids)
Write one word from the verse on a plastic ball. Try to knock the words off in order using a Nerf gun. Game Idea here (Frugal Fun 4 Boys)
Decorate the verse with Bubble Painting (Early Learning Ideas)
Pass the Parcel with one Word in between each layer.
Aeroplane Targets. Write the words of the verse over each hole. Try to get all of the words (How Does She)
Hopscotch using paper or chalk (Children's Ministry Ideas Unlimited)
Learn the Verse using NZ Sign Language
Hide the laminated words in some slime/spaghetti/water beads for the kids to find with feet or hands.