Sola Gratia Fides | By Grace through Faith • Week #3 • September 23/24 Ephesians 2:4-10 Open: • What was one of the most thoughtful gifts you have ever received? Was there a particular reason for the gift? How did this gift make you feel? • Can you share a time when you took a risk or stepped out to do something beyond your comfort zone? What did that feel like? Discussion: • Read Ephesians 2:4-10 Grace is the gift which is freely given. Faith is the freewill act of receiving that gift. Salvation is a gift. • Why is this gift being offered? What do you think we are being saved from and saved into? Grace is getting what we do not deserve. • Why do you think grace is so hard to receive? What have you found is necessary to receive grace? Tracey Bianchi mentioned that, “even though we give mental ascent to a faith that believes God’s grace is a free gift; our actual practice betrays that theology. • What do you think she means by this? Does the way you live your life betray your theology? If it does, what needs to change? Pete Stearns stated this about grace, “God has given us that unrestricted access to His spiritual resources and many of us have done nothing to indicate this new world of freedom…” • How has your life been radically transformed by receiving God’s grace? “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” - Martin Luther • How certain are you that God is good, loving and trustworthy? • What holds you back from trusting Him with your whole life and with the lives of your loved ones? CC-OB.ORG/SMALLGROUPS