Grow Guide | August 21, 2022
Grow In Faith, Service
Romans 12:9-21
Connecting Questions
What types of people are you most likely to want to share in a celebration? Why? What do people usually celebrate?
What is one of your favorite “vengeance stories?” Why do you think people seek vengeance?
Context
This week we continue our worship series called “Grow In Faith” by looking at the spiritual practice of service. The text comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. It is important to remember that Paul is addressing a two very specific issues in this letter. First, he is trying to repair an ethnic division between Jewish disciples of Jesus and Gentile disciples of Jesus. These groups have a natural distrust, and even hatred, toward one another and it is difficult to be in fellowship as a church. Secondly, the disciples of Jesus were suffering under the persecution of the Roman government. It was easy to build a hatred for the political powers in Rome. Remember these issues as you read the text.
Look at the Book
Read Romans 12:9-21.
Make a list of all the qualities that Paul hopes for in the Roman church.
To whom should the people offer service (verse 13)?
How should the people feel about and act toward those who persecute them? Why?
Try to put Paul’s teaching about vengeance into your own words?
Taking it Home
The topic for this week is service. It is often easy to think about the spiritual practice of service as offering help to people who are less fortunate than us. This is not a wrong idea. However, our text in Romans offers some perspective on how to feel and act toward people who are antagonistic toward us. How has this passage challenged or encouraged your understanding of Christian service?
Why is it often difficult to love and/or serve people who have wronged us? What steps might we take to find freedom in this?
In what ways might we strive to serve people who would consider themselves our enemies?