Click here to download the Study Guide in PDF
Click here to download the Study Guide in WORD
INTERACTING WITH THE SERMON
SYNOPSIS OF THE SERMON
It’s been observed that the new generation of young adults—those in their twenties and even thirties—are unable to make moral decisions. They do not know how to determine right from wrong. The dominant message this generation has grown up with is tolerance. Moral issues are never talked about in schools or on college campuses because they are considered “too controversial.” So in our very pluralistic society, everything is relative and all morals are individualistic. It could be said that adults of all ages view morality this same way.
For the follower of Jesus, however, there is a standard outside of us as individuals. Morals are not relative to everyone’s personal opinion. That is because God is the source or the measure for all morality. The bible teaches us that God is holy and He expects those who follow Him to be holy as well. From Leviticus 19, we learn that holiness is not religious superiority (“holier than thou”) but rather it is about being different—different from the larger culture and community. Holiness should affect all of life, which means God’s people are to be different from those around them in multiple ways and not just in the area of religious practices.
Here is how we can become holy, moral followers of Jesus:
1.We must hope in the future. We must have a goal we are aiming at in order to resist pressure from the world around us to conform.
2.We must fear the Lord. Children who obey their fathers do so out of reverence and fear. They know there will be consequences for disobedience.
3.We must be changed on the inside. We must actually become a certain kind of person in order to live a holy and moral life that pleases God.
4.We must be connected in fellowship with other believers. Human behavior is re-enforced by the community or group of people we are around. We must remain in close relationship with other Christians in order to live holy (differently) from the rest of society.
5.We must be nurtured in God’s Word. The only way for us to grow and change and be different (holy/moral) is to take in massive quantities of God’s Word, the bible.
In 5 minutes or less, briefly give a synopsis of this week’s sermon. What insight, principle, or observation from this weekend’s message did you find to be most helpful, eye-opening, or troubling? Explain.
GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED
These questions can be used as ice-breakers in the beginning OR interwoven between the questions below to draw the group into the discussion.
•What are one or two things from this weekend’s sermon that really stood out to you?
•Have you ever struggled to determine what the right thing to do in a situation was—at work or school or perhaps in your extended family? Discuss.
•Share one or two ways you feel as a Christian you are different from the rest of society (beyond going to church on Sunday rather than mowing the lawn).
SCRIPTURE STUDY
Background:
V.1
•Paul links this next portion of Romans with all that preceded. In light of everything that God has done to secure salvation for us (God’s mercy) what does Paul tell us to do? (It may be helpful to imagine a literal scene of a sacrifice to bring home what Paul is talking about.)
•According to the Phillips’ translation, Paul says this is an act of intelligent worship. Other translations say “reasonable” worship. What do you think Paul is trying to say here?
•Why do you think Paul makes a point to say living sacrifice? Why do you think he specifies body rather than just saying “present yourselves?”
•Let’s bring this down to earth! Practically, how do you do this? How do you “present your body as a living sacrifice?” What are some ways we do this or steps in this process?
•Think of some times you actually felt like you did this. Share your experience with the group.
V.2
•First, do you believe that the world around you is trying to get you to conform? If not, why do you believe this? If so, in what ways have you observed this?
•Share some specific ways you have personally experienced pressure from the world around you to conform.
•Share areas of your life that you have been able to resist that pressure and how you, as a Christian, are truly different from those around you.
•Paul says that the key to being different from the world (holy) is through the renewing of our minds. Why do you think Paul starts here—with our minds? Explain the connection between our thoughts/beliefs and our actions/behaviors. Share an example with the group from your own life of how changing your thoughts and beliefs about something resulted in change in habits and behaviors.
The source for all of God’s thoughts and information about His will for us is the bible. Therefore, the way for us to renew/remold our thinking is through knowing the bible.
Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3)
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
•List all the things these two passages tell us about the bible.
•Describe an example of how the bible has “rebuked, corrected or trained” you?
•Both passages describe God’s Word as having life (God-breathed; alive and active)—more than just words on a page. In what ways have you specifically experienced the “living action” of the bible? (Or, how has the living God spoken into your life through the words on the page?)
MINISTRY APPLICATION
The Holy Spirit may be highlighting a specific area of life where those in your group have conformed to pressure from the world—an area where they are not living differently from those around them. It could be their speech or how they are spending their money or what they are looking at on line or a heart attitude. This is an opportunity for the group to experience grace from God through one another. You may want to have the group break down into twos and threes (men with men/women with women) and confess to one another any area in which they are struggling and then pray for “renewed thinking” that is in accordance with God’s Word.
Click here to download the Study Guide in WORD
INTERACTING WITH THE SERMON
SYNOPSIS OF THE SERMON
It’s been observed that the new generation of young adults—those in their twenties and even thirties—are unable to make moral decisions. They do not know how to determine right from wrong. The dominant message this generation has grown up with is tolerance. Moral issues are never talked about in schools or on college campuses because they are considered “too controversial.” So in our very pluralistic society, everything is relative and all morals are individualistic. It could be said that adults of all ages view morality this same way.
For the follower of Jesus, however, there is a standard outside of us as individuals. Morals are not relative to everyone’s personal opinion. That is because God is the source or the measure for all morality. The bible teaches us that God is holy and He expects those who follow Him to be holy as well. From Leviticus 19, we learn that holiness is not religious superiority (“holier than thou”) but rather it is about being different—different from the larger culture and community. Holiness should affect all of life, which means God’s people are to be different from those around them in multiple ways and not just in the area of religious practices.
Here is how we can become holy, moral followers of Jesus:
1.We must hope in the future. We must have a goal we are aiming at in order to resist pressure from the world around us to conform.
2.We must fear the Lord. Children who obey their fathers do so out of reverence and fear. They know there will be consequences for disobedience.
3.We must be changed on the inside. We must actually become a certain kind of person in order to live a holy and moral life that pleases God.
4.We must be connected in fellowship with other believers. Human behavior is re-enforced by the community or group of people we are around. We must remain in close relationship with other Christians in order to live holy (differently) from the rest of society.
5.We must be nurtured in God’s Word. The only way for us to grow and change and be different (holy/moral) is to take in massive quantities of God’s Word, the bible.
In 5 minutes or less, briefly give a synopsis of this week’s sermon. What insight, principle, or observation from this weekend’s message did you find to be most helpful, eye-opening, or troubling? Explain.
GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED
These questions can be used as ice-breakers in the beginning OR interwoven between the questions below to draw the group into the discussion.
•What are one or two things from this weekend’s sermon that really stood out to you?
•Have you ever struggled to determine what the right thing to do in a situation was—at work or school or perhaps in your extended family? Discuss.
•Share one or two ways you feel as a Christian you are different from the rest of society (beyond going to church on Sunday rather than mowing the lawn).
SCRIPTURE STUDY
Background:
The book of Romans is Paul’s most thorough and eloquent explanation of the gospel: God’s plan of salvation. Throughout the letter, Paul is “making his case” for Christianity like a skillful lawyer arguing in a court room. Some of the major themes areRomans 12:1-2:(***consider deleting the scripture text to reduce printing pages)
•All people are sinners and condemned before God.
•God’s plan to save sinners is righteousness through trusting in Christ (“justification by faith”) and not through works or keeping the law.
•Through the Spirit of God, we are set free from both the power of sin in our lives and the curse of the law over our lives.
It is based upon what we as Christians believe that Paul now begins in chapter 12 to tell us how we as Christian should live.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Consider also J. B. Phillips New Testament translation:
1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
V.1
•Paul links this next portion of Romans with all that preceded. In light of everything that God has done to secure salvation for us (God’s mercy) what does Paul tell us to do? (It may be helpful to imagine a literal scene of a sacrifice to bring home what Paul is talking about.)
•According to the Phillips’ translation, Paul says this is an act of intelligent worship. Other translations say “reasonable” worship. What do you think Paul is trying to say here?
•Why do you think Paul makes a point to say living sacrifice? Why do you think he specifies body rather than just saying “present yourselves?”
•Let’s bring this down to earth! Practically, how do you do this? How do you “present your body as a living sacrifice?” What are some ways we do this or steps in this process?
•Think of some times you actually felt like you did this. Share your experience with the group.
V.2
•First, do you believe that the world around you is trying to get you to conform? If not, why do you believe this? If so, in what ways have you observed this?
•Share some specific ways you have personally experienced pressure from the world around you to conform.
•Share areas of your life that you have been able to resist that pressure and how you, as a Christian, are truly different from those around you.
•Paul says that the key to being different from the world (holy) is through the renewing of our minds. Why do you think Paul starts here—with our minds? Explain the connection between our thoughts/beliefs and our actions/behaviors. Share an example with the group from your own life of how changing your thoughts and beliefs about something resulted in change in habits and behaviors.
The source for all of God’s thoughts and information about His will for us is the bible. Therefore, the way for us to renew/remold our thinking is through knowing the bible.
Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3)
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
•List all the things these two passages tell us about the bible.
•Describe an example of how the bible has “rebuked, corrected or trained” you?
•Both passages describe God’s Word as having life (God-breathed; alive and active)—more than just words on a page. In what ways have you specifically experienced the “living action” of the bible? (Or, how has the living God spoken into your life through the words on the page?)
MINISTRY APPLICATION
Below you’ll see some options for ministry time with your group. We always encourage you to reserve time in your group to pray for one another and wait on the Holy Spirit.Getting more of God’s Word into our minds, our hearts and our lives happens through the daily discipline of reading the bible. It is through the daily taking in of what God says, perhaps combined with the shutting off of what the world says, that will result in the transformation of our thinking and change in our lives. Be prepared to share about the importance of daily bible reading and bible memorization. Make some practical suggestions to everyone in the group on how to cultivate this habit in their lives. You may want to get some bible reading plans from the church for your group to help people get started.
The Holy Spirit may be highlighting a specific area of life where those in your group have conformed to pressure from the world—an area where they are not living differently from those around them. It could be their speech or how they are spending their money or what they are looking at on line or a heart attitude. This is an opportunity for the group to experience grace from God through one another. You may want to have the group break down into twos and threes (men with men/women with women) and confess to one another any area in which they are struggling and then pray for “renewed thinking” that is in accordance with God’s Word.
No comments:
Post a Comment