Podcast on The Way

Learning the Way - Romans 13:11-14

For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. Do you live your life as if each day we are nearer to the end? Is that a reality that you think about?Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. -Romans 13:13Do you live your private life in the same way you live your public life? We’re called to ‘walk properly as in the daytime.’ Does this accurately describe your life?What would change in your day today if you imagined that Jesus was right before you, and you clothed yourself with Christ?

Learning the Way - Romans 13:1-7

A couple of things to remember before we get to the questions: first, God is sovereign. He is not surprised by any of our current events, nor is He far off and distant. Second, as believers we are bound to each other through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The love God shows for us should eclipse any of the differences we have politically or socially.Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. -Romans 13:7How should we pray for the authorities that have been placed over us? How do you currently pray for these leaders? In the message we were reminded that these people have been given the authority they have by God. Does this make it easier or harder for you to pray for these people?As believers, how should we engage with our culture and with political discourse?Take time as a group to pray for our leaders at all levels of government. Keep in mind our earlier conversation about how we should pray for these leaders. This is a great time to practice!

Learning the Way - Romans 12:17-21

Take some time to confess and repent and pray for the individual people in your group.We are commanded by Christ to love our enemy (Matt 5:44) and Paul tells us to leave vengeance to God, in fact, he tells us not only to love our enemies but also to serve them and see to their physical needs. What are some reasons and/or ways you tend to avoid keeping these commands and instructions?How do these instructions laid out by Paul highlight the Gospel?When you are sinned against how do you typically respond?When we do evil to those who have sinned against us we represent our enemy and not our Lord. This points others toward evil instead of the God of grace.How have you pointed others (believers and the lost) toward the enemy instead of the grace of God?How often does your behavior outside the congregation point to the glory of God?What comes out of your heart when you are put under pressure?

Learning the Way - Romans 12:11-16

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. -Romans 12:15Which of these is easier for you? Are there times when you struggle to rejoice with others because of feelings of jealousy? Do you weep with those who weep? Or is it easier to maintain a safe distance in those difficult times?Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. -Romans 12:16What does it mean to “never be wise in your own sight?” How can we help each other avoid this?Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. -Romans 12:12Spend some time as a group rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, and in prayer.

Learning the Way - Romans 12:9-10

This week is going to be different: begin your group by taking time to confess and repent. Follow this with a time of prayer, and finish by going through the questions together. Let this time of confession, repentance, and prayer take as much time as it needs. If you run out of time for getting through the questions, it’s ok. We learned in the message that true love is selfless. This kind of selfless love requires that we put the person ahead of the relationship. In our relationships, in our marriages, in our parenting, there are times that we have to say hard things and address difficult issues. To not do this is ultimately self serving. Give specific examples of times when you’ve had to do this with relationships in your life, or times when someone has approached you this way. Are there some relationships that are easier to do this with than others, and if so, why?

Learning the Way - Romans 12:1-8

Paul in verses 1-8 is describing what it means to be a living sacrifice. He says “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think”. When you are in traffic and get cut off by someone do you think you are the most important person on the road? When your server brings you your food and the meal is not exactly the way you ordered it how do you respond? Do you automatically think your opinion is right and become defensive when someone disagrees with you? These are all ways in which we are guilty of thinking more highly of ourselves. Have you been guilty of any of these? If not what does this look like in your life? To work as a body we have to submit to one another if we are going to become one body. Paul lists a short list of areas that describe the way a church should function. Prophecy (or preaching), service, teaching, exhorting, generosity, leadership, and mercy. Which of these areas describes your current area of gifting? In what spirit do you operate in your area of gifting?Take note that making disciples is not listed in this list because we should all be actively pursuing this as Christians. Would you be willing to meet with others from your small group to diligently work through books of the Bible together?Verse 2 says “be transformed by the renewal of your mind”. Do you find that you value your opinions over Scripture in any area of your life? Are you willing to submit to the truth you come across in scripture?

Learning the Way - Romans 12:1-2

People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. -D.A. CarsonI appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. -Romans 12:1What does it look like in your life to be a living sacrifice? Are you more submitted to other things than you are to God? Are you doing everything as unto God? Are there people you don't carry the gospel to because you worry about how they will respond? Are there things that if God took them away, you'd be angry with Him? Are you taking all of your thoughts captive for Christ? Are you living in gospel-saturated community?We learned in the message that the sacrificial system given to Israel required the sacrifice to be free of defect and blemish. Do your sacrifices look like this? What are you sacrificing, and what did you last sacrifice? This should be an encouragement to your group, not a time to be proud. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. -Romans 12:2When you are shown truth in scripture that points out sin in your life, how do you respond? Are you being transformed by the renewal of your mind? Do you tolerate certain sin in your life?

Learning the Way - Romans 11:11-36

One of the continuing themes from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is that no one should be arrogant or puffed up. In this week’s message we learned that some of the Gentiles in the church at Rome had become arrogant in their attitude towards the Jewish believers who were coming back into the church. Paul is careful to make the point that the only reason any of us are a part of God’s plan is because He chooses us. In what areas of your life do you struggle with being arrogant?During the early days of the church, the most anti-church sentiment (and action) came from the Jews. Yet we learn in verse 23 that even they can be restored to God - He is capable of restoring anyone to Him. What people in your life have you lost hope for God bringing to salvation?At the end of this passage, Paul seems to be overwhelmed by the very nature of God and begins worshipping and quoting scripture. His teaching on the nature of God’s plan leads him to worship. The two are intertwined for Paul - one can’t go without the other. Talk with your group about where you fall on this spectrum. Do you lean more towards studying doctrine or towards worship? Have you ever thought of these two as being dependent and correlated? If you have been confronted with this question before, have you ever used your personality as an excuse? “I just don’t express myself with singing… or I just don’t like reading or studying?

Learning the Way - Romans 11:1-10

One of the consistent themes of the past few chapters is that you can be surrounded by godly teaching and community and still not know God. Are there times when you are a part of our gospel community, but only want to focus on the community and not the gospel?Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” -Romans 11: 2-4In this example, Elijah has just had an amazing experience with God and literally called down fire from the skies. Despite this, he is sullen, fearful, and depressed! This highlights the danger of us being so narrowly focused on the circumstances of our life that we don’t see God’s bigger picture. In what areas of your life have you blinded yourself to the work that God is doing because you’re too focused on the narrow details of your life?The message made it clear that we are very capable of hardening our own hearts. It is our natural state without God’s intervention. Are there relationships where you are enabling other people to harden their hearts because you haven’t been clearly presenting the gospel as the motivation behind everything you do?