Grow Guide | June 18, 2023
Why We Worship
Romans 10:9-17
Connecting Questions
What restaurant or store do you rave about?
Whose opinions do you seek out when you have a question or concern?
Prayer for Illumination
Let us pray, Loving God, we pause today grateful for this next breath. We are grateful for the chance to connect with others today for we all carry such hurts and hope. Open your Word to us. Open our hearts to let your word speak to us and change our lives. We pray in the name of the Jesus, Amen.
Context
This Sunday, we continue the season of Pentecost! The Church began with the gift of the Holy Spirit to a community of vastly different people, but all connected by faith in Jesus. We continue our new worship series called, Why We Worship. Think about the times you have been in a Christian worship service. Think about the senses: sound, smell, feel, who you were with, and what was spoken. The next four weeks, we pause to thank God for what happens every time we gather around Word and Sacraments.
Don’t miss Pastor Megan’s sermon in the Why We Worship series. She uses the book of Hebrews and her sermon can be found at easter.org/worship.
From Pastor Arland Hultgren at EntertheBible.org:
At Romans 13:1-7, Paul, a Christian missionary who once persecuted the church calls upon his readers to be subject to the governing authorities. The passage has been used to support Christian cooperation with evil regimes with disastrous consequences. Some Christian clergy and other leaders during the American Revolution appealed to these verses to oppose resistance to British rule. One should recognize that Paul wrote to persons in Rome where some Jewish Christians had already been expelled under Claudius not many years before. Paul wrote to a place where Christians could suffer from civil disobedience. Whether he wrote for all times is another matter. In the end Paul himself must have been executed for civil disobedience, presumably refusing to participate in worship of the Roman emperor. Paul relativized the authority of the emperor by declaring that he is God’s servant (13:4), not a god.
Look at the Book
Open Romans 10:9-17. Underline verse 9.
The passage above from Enter the Bible names the reality of the political situation into which the Apostle Paul was writing in Romans. Circle “Jesus is Lord.” What does that phrase mean to you?
“Jesus is Lord” is a confession that is opposite of another political confession of faith: “Caesar is Lord.” Why might saying that “Jesus is Lord,” then, get you into trouble?
Two parts of the body are mentioned in verse 9. Circle them. Why do think they are mentioned and how does that connect to faith?
What is God’s work in verse 9?
Verse 10, what is being connected? Why?
Verse 11 starts interestingly...how? So, Romans...which is scripture...is quoting....? Why? Does anyone’s Bible tell them what verse is being quoted here?
V 12 Romans is trying to bring together two very different groups of people. Who is someone you feel called to be closer to, but don’t really know how that will happen yet? What might be a bridge, according to Paul, to bring people together? Why?
Verse 12 also makes a promise, the Lord is “generous to all who call on him.” Generous is often a monetary term, but is it the only way?
Verse 13 quotes scripture, can you find what verse it is? Write it here:
Verses 14-15 are a series of questions. What are they asking?
Verse 17 is the heart of this passage; underline it. How does “faith” happen?
What part of the worship experience speaks to you? Think about last week, what is one moment in worship that stands out to you. Why?
This entire passage is about confessing Jesus as Lord (and not Caesar or any other “god”); but, we need someone to share that good news with us. Who has been someone who has brought the good news about Jesus in your life? Take a moment and text them or write them a not this week to thank them.
What do you want to talk about that has not been brought up yet?
Taking it Home
Faith comes by hearing God’s Word. What’s a book of the Bible you’d like to learn more about?
Ask someone what their favorite story of Jesus is. Why did they choose that story?
