Sermon Study Guide | Series: PERFCT | Sermon: Perfect Marriage | Scripture: Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:21-33 | Date: January 11, 2026

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If you’d like to dig deeper take a look at our Series Resource Guide:📘 PERFCT— Resource Guide

If the topics of abuse or assault raised in this series have surfaced painful parts of your own story, please do not walk through it alone. Our Care Team (care@menlo.church) is available to listen and provide referrals to trusted Christian counselors.

CONNECT - “A Personal Reflection”

This section is designed to help you relate personally to the theme of the sermon. It encourages you to reflect on your own life experiences and how they connect to the message.

Marriage can bring out both the best and the worst in us—and the relationships we form before and beyond marriage often shape what we expect from it. Take a moment to reflect:

What kind of relational models shaped your understanding of marriage growing up—whether from family, friends, culture, or faith? How has that impacted your expectations of what marriage “should” be?

If you’re not married, think about the close relationships in your life: What expectations do you tend to place on others? Where do you find yourself tempted to look to people to “complete” you

Be honest and share with your group.

ENGAGE - “Exploring the Scripture”

This section invites you to dive into the biblical passage, discuss its meaning, and apply it to your life through thoughtful questions.

Read Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:21–33 together and discuss:

• What stands out to you in the Genesis blueprint for marriage: Prioritize (leave), Commit (cleave), and Connect (become one flesh)? 
  
  • Why do you think each step is important?
    
    
• The message described our cultural view of marriage as a Jerry Maguire model (“You complete me”). Why is that view so appealing—and what are its limitations?
  
  
• Paul writes, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). How does mutual submission challenge the typical power dynamics we see in relationships today?
  
  
• Consider the phrase Healthy Marriages are submission competitions. What do you think makes submission so hard in practice even in healthy relationships?
  
  
• When anxiety in marriage builds, we often triangulate by turning to kids, work, or distractions to avoid the real issues. 
  
  • Have you seen this dynamic in your life or relationships? 
  • What might it look like to “drop the rope”?

APPLY - “Putting the Scriptures into Action”

This section challenges us to take what we’ve learned and implement it in practical ways in our daily lives.

• Whether you’re married, single, dating, or divorced, what’s one relationship this week where you can “reverse the flow” and look for a way to serve first? 
  
  • What might that act of submission look like in real time?
    
    
• The application point asked: “What is one way I can serve you this week?” Who will you ask that question to and how will you respond when they answer?
  
  
• If you are married, consider: What might it look like to practice prioritizing your spouse, cleaving to one another, and pursuing deeper vulnerability together? Is there a conversation you’ve been avoiding that needs to happen?
  
  
• Attend the Community Conversations | Marriage event on Friday, January 16th at the Saratoga Campus. Registration is free, Childcare is included.
  
  
• Invite a friend or family member to attend Alpha with you starting this month.

PRAY - “Seeking God’s Guidance”

This section offers a short prayer to help us center our hearts and invite God to work in our lives through his scripture.

Jesus, you are the only one who can carry the full weight of our souls. Thank you for being the perfect Groom to an imperfect Bride. Help us to stop looking to people to complete us and start looking to you for our wholeness. Teach us to love and serve others not to gain power or control, but as a reflection of your sacrificial love. Whether in marriage or friendship, help us to be people who drop the rope, go first in forgiveness, and serve from grace rather than expectation. May our relationships look more like the Kingdom of God and less like a courtroom. Amen.

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