January: Small Group Discussion Guide
Salvation as Relationship
Scripture presents God as fundamentally relational, and so is the Christian life. Paul prays not for individual spiritual intensity, but for a shared capacity—together with all God’s people—to grasp the love of Christ. Sin is not first a moral failure but a breaking of relationship, and holiness is not an end in itself but a pathway into deeper love. The purpose of spiritual formation is not separation from others, but union—with God and with one another. A church filled with God’s fullness will be marked by real love, shared life, and courageous presence.
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Resources
When in Romans by Beverly Roberts Gaventa
Pauline Dogmatics by Douglas A. Campbell
Sermon Video
Sermon Text
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
1 Cor 13:2
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
John 13:35
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
Sermon Quotes
Doing something ‘for’ someone can easily become a way of keeping them at a safe distance. - Henri Nouwen
Helping can become a way of asserting moral superiority rather than practicing genuine generosity. -Adam Grant
Paul’s communities are laboratories of relationality. They are designed to teach and to enhance the right sort of relating. They presuppose how a relational God working through Jesus is powerfully committed to the healing and restoration of torn and damaged relationships. - Douglass Campbell
Sin is not first of all a moral failure; it is a broken relationship. -Karl Barth
The most striking characteristic of the Nazi leaders was not insanity, but emotional shallowness. They were men who had failed at ordinary human relationships. -Douglas Kelley
Discussion Questions
How does the idea that “sin is broken relationship” challenge how you usually think about sin?
How would this change who you label as “sinful”?
Could a church be theologically correct, sexually “pure”, and doctrinally sound—and still be deeply sinful? Why or why not? If sin is relational, what kinds of sins might churches need to repent of that rarely get named?
According to 1 Peter 1:22, what is the purpose of purification and obedience?How were you taught to think about holiness growing up? In what ways has holiness been framed as separation from people rather than deeper love for them?
How can discipleship practices unintentionally produce clean people who aren’t loving Where have you seen spiritual “discipline” increase judgment, distance, or superiority instead of compassion?
Can a relationship be morally right but relationally distant?
Where in your life do you feel most disconnected—from God, from others, or from yourself? Could it be that part of your salvation is waiting to be experienced in relationship, not isolation?
