Man and woman 3

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Opening question

  • Did anything resonate with you from the video about men and women and the way they do friendship?

Study

Read Genesis Ephesians 5:22-33.

  1. What do you learn about the purpose of marriage from the passage?
  2. Marriage is a covenant. How would you explain the importance of the marriage covenant to someone?
  3. What good things does a covenant give to help make a marriage successful?
  4. How should wives submit to their husbands? How does this help us understand the nature of God and his church? (Eph 5: 22-24, 32-33)
  5. How should husbands love their wives? How does this help us understand the nature of God and his church? (Eph 5:23, 25-31)
  6. (If you are married) When have you faced problems or difficulties in your marriage? How did you deal with the problems? If single, consider/discuss how you saw your parents deal with problems in their marriage.
  7. Friendship is of vital importance in a marriage. Share some ideas of how people can increase friendship in marriage (either generally or personally).
  8. Timothy Keller in his book "The meaning of marriage" highlights the aboslute goal of marriage as helping each other, through sacrifice and service, to become more Christlike (a more beautiful version of themselves). When have you felt like your spouse helped you to grow in holiness?
Pray for each others marriages or marriages in your family or in the church. Consider sharing with the group something you would like people to pray for in relation to marriage.

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