Saturday, August 30, 2014

Romans 1:1-17

romans1-16 After half a year studying the Gospel of John together, we are now at the beginning of a whole new book.  Where John gave us an eyewitness narrative of the life of Jesus, Romans provides us with a doctrine-rich letter from the Apostle Paul, full of insight and application about how to walk out Jesus’ invitation to ‘follow Me.’ 

Each week, I’ll be posting the reading for that week, along with a few accompanying questions from the study guide by N.T. Wright.  Although it is helpful to have a copy of the book, the Bible will be our main source of discussion.

We begin our study of the book of Romans with a reading of Romans 1:1-17.

Opening Question:

In what ways is it risky or daring to be a Christian in your community today?

Study Questions:
  • In verse 5, Paul uses the term “believing obedience” to depict the goal of the grace and apostleship which Paul and others received.  What does “believing obedience” look like in a Christian’s life?
  • Why would news about the faith of the Roman church have spread far and wide?
  • How are we tempted to be ashamed of the Good News in our own society?’
I look forward to our discussion!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Joe

4 comments:

  1. It isn't the least bit risky or daring to follow Jesus in the USA. Not compared to what's going on in other nations. The question itself betrays our obsession with the self-life. We would do well to stop confusing occasional inconvenience with actual persecution.

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  2. The believing obedience Paul writes about is much closer to believing surrender than it is to mere obedience. Obedience isn't good enough, because it can be motivated by fear, duty, appearances, and so on. A surrender of the heart, on the other hand, can only be motivated by love. We respond to Jesus' loving sacrifice on the cross not with obedience, but with surrender. Our obedience then flows from love and surrender, and is thereby made complete. What does it look like? The fruit of the Spirit.

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  3. The news spread then for the same reason it spreads today; people everywhere are hurting, and hungry, and looking for a solid foundation for their lives. All are looking for that rarest of commodities in our world...genuine love.

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  4. We sometimes want to fit in and avoid pain.

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