Here is a Day by Day guide to learning and applying:
Read: the daily Scriptures and Answer the Question from the sermon.
Create: Create your own questions/comments from the scriptures
Discuss: Talk about your questions and reactions to the scriptures.
4/21/24
TEXT: ROMANS 12:1-2
Memory Verse: Romans 12:1
A Disciple...Loves All People, Discovers Identity in Jesus, Deepens Relationship with Jesus.
BIG IDEA:
To be loved by God is to be given the reward that is obedience to God. We don’t obey to get a reward—though there will be plenty—obedience is the reward.
Challenge:
1. Take a step of obedience in God’s direction.
2. Load your mind with right thoughts about God.
3. Enjoy God by obeying Him.
What have I done this week to feed my soul, feed others, and feed my flesh?
What stood out to you in the sermon this week?
What did God reveal to you in the Scriptures this week, maybe for the first time?
Scripture Study Tip
What does it say, What does it mean, and How do I apply it to my daily life.
RECAP:
During week 26 of our study in Romans, we see Paul urge us to give our all to God. In light of the mercy God has shown us, we should respond in worship and obedience! Just as our bodies are gifts from God, obedience is a gift from God. It’s not a “have to”, but rather, it’s a “get to”. To love God is to obey God and in doing so, this cultivates joy in our hearts and lives!
READ: Romans 12:1 and James 1:16-17
Paul’s language to the Church is strong. He is not making a light suggestion. He isn’t offering some moral therapy or path to better you, but rather, he is appealing to his brothers on behalf of their souls... He is urging us to change how we view and treat our bodies and, in turn, offer our bodies to God. In light of the mercy God has lavished upon us, we respond in obedience and worship... We do this by willingly offering our lives to God for His Kingdom and His glory. Since I am no longer living for myself, I should honor God in all that I do and with all parts of who I am. It sounds simple and easy in theory, but the truth is that our sinfulness and pride often whisper lies in the back of our minds, “This is my life, I’ll do what I want.” The reality, though, is that your body and your life is a gift from God. Likewise, obedience to God is a gift, and both should be used to honor Him.
- What do these verses reveal about who God is?
2. In what ways have you abused or mistreated the gift God has given you of your body?
3. What part of your body, mentally or physically, do you struggle with sacrificing?
READ: Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 6:10-12
As followers of Christ, we are on a battlefield. Paul tells us not to conform to the world that we are in. The Enemy is seeking to kill, steal, and destroy, and we are his primary target to take out. Paul’s directive to the Church isn’t to just “not conform”, but He tells us that our minds must be transformed as well. This is not something we can do on our own – but we have help, which is the Holy Spirit. “Identity precedes activity.” This means that our identity in Christ comes before changed actions. As His continuous work in my life renews my mind and the way I view the gift He has given me, how I treat my body and my life will follow. I will begin to view myself – physically, mentally, and spiritually – as a living sacrifice and a vessel by which to give God praise. A “living sacrifice” implies that it is ongoing; transformation is also ongoing. Both are progressive and are only able to be completed in Christ.
4. Why is it important for us to know that identity comes before activity?
5. How can we be participants in the “renovation process” as God renews our minds and hearts?
READ: Mark 8:22-26
In this passage of Scripture, we can clearly see the sovereignty of God in action. This man was blind – he didn’t choose that. He was living in Bethsaida – he didn’t choose that because you lived where your parents lived. He had to have heard of a healer named Jesus – he couldn’t have told himself. This blind man had to have people help him get there. Just like with this blind man, God uses others to help us because we can’t fight this fight alone.
6. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus gently took the blind man away from everything that he knew... In the same way, Jesus will take us away from comfort and control to give us joy.
How have you seen this happen in your own life?
7. How have you seen God transform your life over the last 26 weeks as we’ve studied Romans?
What is something that God is currently calling you to do, but you have yet to take the step of obedience to see that call come to fruition?
This delay could be because of fear, worry, or pride... We’d encourage you to set aside time this week to pray intentionally about what God is calling you to. What is your next step? Is He calling you to lead a LifeGroup? Go on a Mission Trip? Start serving on a team here at LifeSpring?
Whatever God is calling you to do next, we want to encourage you to pray about it and then act on it with willful obedience!
4/14/24
TEXT: ROMANS 11:25-36
Memory Verse: Romans 11:35-36
A Disciple...Loves All People, Discovers Identity in Jesus, Deepens Relationship with Jesus.
BIG IDEA:
Until you leave this earth: No matter who you are, what you’ve done, or where you’re from, it’s not too late to surrender to Jesus.
Challenge:
1. Try not to sing Backstreet boys all day today.
2. Reflect on what God has done in your life.
3. Share that with someone.
What have I done this week to feed my soul, feed others, and feed my flesh?
What stood out to you in the sermon this week?
What did God reveal to you in the Scriptures this week, maybe for the first time?
Scripture Study Tip
What does it say, What does it mean, and How do I apply it to my daily life.
RECAP:
This week as we dive into the end of Romans 11, we see Paul explaining the mystery of Israel’s salvation. Paul explains that salvation has nothing to do with who you are, what you’ve done, or where you’re from, but rather, it is a gift from God! No matter what, it is never too late to surrender to Jesus!
READ: ROMANS 11:25-32
Over the last several weeks, and in particular Romans 10 and 11, Paul is explaining salvation as it pertains uniquely to the Gentiles and the Jewish people. God planned salvation history so that Israel’s failure to believe that Jesus was the Messiah would open up salvation to the Gentiles. The Jewish people were provoked to jealousy as they watched the Gentiles being saved and enjoying a relationship with God. Paul warns the Gentiles against arrogance, however, as it was God’s saving promises alone, not their own goodness, that saved them.
- In verse 25, Paul takes about a “mystery” that he wants us to understand. What does he mean?
2. If salvation is not based on heritage or good deeds, what are we to do for salvation?
3. Verse 29 says, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” What does this mean for your salvation?
4. God will NOT change His mind regarding your salvation. How does this encourage you and strengthen your faith? Share an example from your life.
READ: LUKE 23:39-43
This passage of scripture brings us to the last moments of Jesus’s life before His death and resurrection. We see the two criminals hanging on either side of Jesus. One criminal challenged Jesus, telling Him to save them if He was really the Messiah. The second criminal, admitting that he was getting the punishment that he rightly deserved, recognized that Jesus was being punished wrongfully. The first criminal knew that Jesus could save them from the cross in those moments, but the second criminal, by faith, knew that Jesus could save his soul far into eternity.
5. What did the second criminal do to gain his salvation?
READ: ROMANS 11:22-36
Chapters 1 through 11 of Romans are all connected as Paul is laying out the Lord’s great plan of salvation throughout history; it all works together because it was all His plan all along. This means that when the God who has no beginning and no end spoke creation into being, He knew that people, in our humanity, would have a propensity to sin, thus causing an unbridgeable chasm between a perfectly Holy God and His imperfect people. Our God is not reactionary; He knows all things, and so He orchestrated a plan of salvation through the blood of His perfect Son, Jesus. As Paul is wrapping up his explanation of God’s salvation plan here, he breaks into praise in these verses of concluding doxology.
6. Based on this passage of scripture, what does this show us about the nature of who God is?
7. Read Romans 11:34 and Isaiah 40:13 together and notice how Paul is echoing the words he knows from Isaiah. Both texts point to God’s unique power and wisdom as evidence that God is therefore worthy of our trust.
What is it that causes/helps you to trust God?
8. Read Romans 11:36 and then Colossians 1:15-17. If all things are from God and through God and for God, it follows that He deserves all the glory forever. Practically what can you do to put God before all things in your life?
