Why do New Year’s resolutions, made with such enthusiasm, fall apart within a few weeks? Based on the letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4-5), this sermon contrasts temporary resolutions with a challenge for a lifetime: to imitate God and to love like Christ. The story of the ocean liner Queen Mary, whose funnels were held together by nothing but thirty coats of paint, shows that real transformation does not begin on the outside but with a renewed mind, and that it shows most clearly in our everyday relationships. Listen before you make your next resolution.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Paul reminds the Ephesians that many of them grew up in a city of Artemis worship, temple prostitution and crime. What in Ephesians 4:17-24 shows how radical their transformation was meant to be?
- What does it mean that Christ gave Himself to God as a "fragrant offering" (Ephesians 5:2), and how is His sacrifice different from the animal sacrifices repeated every year?
- The speaker compared New Year's resolutions to goals that always come to an end. Why is the call to "imitate God and love like Christ" a lifelong challenge rather than just another slogan?
- The funnels of the Queen Mary crumbled under thirty layers of paint. In which areas of your life are you tempted to repaint the outside instead of letting your thinking be renewed from within?
- According to the sermon, inner transformation becomes visible above all in relationships, not in emotional experiences. Which command in Ephesians 4:25-32 most tests your relationships right now, and why?
- With whom can you specifically put into practice this week the call not to let the sun go down on your anger, or to forgive as God forgave you in Christ?
