1. Look What He's Done!  |  04/07/24

Study questions

1.  There was tension between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians in the early church in Rome because the Jewish Christians thought everyone still needed to observe the Law of Moses (see Romans 2:11-17, 3:9,20). 

     a)  How do tensions arise in the church today?  

     b)  What do we do that lets tensions become disunity?

2.  Read Roman’s 1:1-6.  Paul was the chief enemy of the church, and now he describes himself as someone whose life mission is to preach the gospel and build the same church he once wanted to destroy.  How has God changed and transformed your life?

3.  “Experiencing grace brings responsibility”.  Reread verse 5.  What responsibility do we also receive when we received the grace of God that saved us?

4.  Read verses 7-15.  Look at verse 8.  Paul’s prayer shows his love for each person who was part of the church.  What do your prayers reflect?  

     a)  How can prayer bring unity?

5.  Read verses 11-12.  Paul was compelled to serve the church.  Look at these verses and discuss why.

6.  Read verse 1:16-17.  Think about Paul’s life.  Why could a self-righteous murderer preach about “righteousness from God”? 

     a)  What does this tell us about how we should deal with our ongoing sin?

     b)  What does this teach us about the power we can experience because of the gospel? 

7.  What’s in your life that feels too powerful for you to overcome?   

     a)  What false ideas/ways of dealing with your sin do you need to repent of and start approaching God’s way, instead of your natural way? 

     b)  How can you choose to live by the “righteousness that is by faith” instead? 

8.  Read verse 16.  Grading yourself on a scale of cold to hot, how eager are you to share the gospel? 

     a)  What might this reveal about how much you appreciate what Jesus has done for you?

     b)  Try memorizing this verse as a way of reminding yourself of what Jesus has done for you and wants to do for others.

2. The Great Exchange  |  04/14/24

Study questions

1.  Read Romans 1:18-32.  Michael talked about this passage as a diagnosis, and then a prescription about what to do.  But the prescription isn't something we can do for ourselves, we have to trust Jesus has done it for us.  We often avoid going to the doctor because we want to think we are fine.  Discuss how this relates to us and our sin problem.

2.  Discuss how God being creator gives Him the right to make and enforce the rules for us.

3.  How do we try and insist on living by “our rules” instead of “God’s rules”? 

4.  Eve eating a piece of fruit was enough to separate her from God.  Do you relate to the idea of thinking “Is my sin really that bad?”  What does that reflect about our view of ourselves and of God and His holiness?

5.  We suppress the truth when we act as if we do not need to honor and obey Him as the supreme creator.  How do you see that you still do that today?

6.  We always worship something.  John Calvin said, “Our hearts are idol factories”.  Martin Luther said, “Whatever your heart clings to and relies on is your god.”  What idols in your life do you default to?  How does God offer you this in a pure and perfect way? 

7.  What would change if you trusted that all of Gods rules are designed for you to flourish?

3. God Doesn't Have Favorites  |  04/21/24

Study questions

1.  Read Romans 2:1 and Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28.  Does the holiness of our Creator and Ruler differentiate between the degree of sin, and the presence of sin? 

     a) How do you see yourself in comparison with others?

2.  Read Romans 2:12-15.  We can’t even live up to our own standards kept within our individual consciences, let alone God’s laws.  Does this mean God wants to condemn all of us?  Why?/Why not?

3.  Read Romans 3:10-12,19-20.  We are all in the same boat when it comes to missing the mark with God.  How should that affect the way you see yourself and others -  people in the church; 'good' people living around you in the community who don’t follow God; and people who look and behave in ways that you might judge as being 'worse' than you (or even deserving of the bad situations they’re in)?

4.  What drives the way we judge others?  

     a)  What do you think God would say to you if He was to judge you?  

     b)  How might that reveal what you need to repent of?

5.  Read James 5:14-16.  Take time to reflect on your own thoughts and choices and desires.  Confess your sins to each other. Remind each other of the promise in verse 16.

4. The Rescue  |  04/28/24

Study questions

1.  What is your response to the problem Paul brings up in the first two and a half chapters of his letter to the Romans?  Do you agree or disagree with him?  Why or why not?

2.  Tim Keller says, “Anger is not the opposite of love, hate is. And the final form of hate is indifference.”  Do you agree with him?  Why?/Why not? 

     a)  How does this idea relate to the way that God sees us?

3.  Read Romans 3:21-26.  What is different about this passage compared to Paul’s thoughts in the previous chapters? 

     a)  Does humanity’s situation here seem as hopeless as it was at the end of chapter 1?

4.  Read Hebrews 2:14-15.  What does this passage say about what Jesus has done for us? 

     a)  Have we done anything to contribute to this? 

5.  Read Leviticus 16:15-19.  How does this part of the day of atonement connect to what Paul is talking about in Romans 3?

6.  Paul says in Romans 3:22 that, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.  And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (NLT)  Do you believe this to be true about yourself?  Why or why not?

7.  God’s righteousness given to us provides us with a new status, a new family, and a new future.  Which of these is hardest for you to accept?  Why? 

     a)  Which is easiest to accept?  Why?