Romans 9:6-9
We’re taking our time studying Romans 9 because you can’t eat steak as quickly as you can drink milk. Before we dive in, remember that the tone of this passage is loving. It’s doctrine drips with devotion to people.

9:6
The problem: Based on all that God invested in Israel (see verses 4-5), does their rejection of Jesus mean that his word has failed? Failed here means to fall slack, to loosen. It’s the same idea as when your jeans that fit right out of the dryer turn into gangsta pants by the end of the day. Has God’s word and work, which were once tightly orcestrated around Israel, now fallen to the ground?

You may say at this point, ”What does this have to do with me?” Everything! If God can’t be trusted here, he can’t be trusted anywhere, including in your situation. This is like one of those inspiratainal coach movies where a new coach moves in and does all kind of radical things to whip the team in shape. Only in this movie, it looks like the players have all dropped out of school and they’ve fired the coach!

In other words, if God’s best shot at saving these people has failed, he is incompetent. It’s a huge problem.

Paul’s answer to all this? No, Israel’s disbelief doesn’t mean that God’s word  has failed, because not all Israel is true Israel. There is an Israel within Israel, a spiritual Israel within national Israel. And it is this Israel that God has been building all along.

You might retort, ”Well that’s convenient. If this is true, why didn’t we already know all this before the objection is raised?” But this isn’t the first place such an idea shows itself in Scripture. In Matthew 3:7-10, John the Baptist states that being a descendent of Abraham means nothing. God could zap a rock into a descendant of Abraham. In John 8:31-47, Jesus calls some physical descendants of Abraham spiritual descendants of the devil.

9:6-7
Some background to make these verses and their quotations make sense:

In Genesis 12, God calls Abram out to begin a special nation.
In Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abram that includes a promise of offspring.
In Genesis 16, it’s been a long time and still no offspring. So Sarai pressures Abram to take matters into his own hands by sleeping with their servant, Hagar. They have a son and name him Ishmael.
In Genesis 17, God reiterates his promise. At this point Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90, way past childbearing years.
In Genesis 21, it happens. God brings about a miracle child and they name  him Isaac. This is where the quote in verse 7 comes from. It’s a reminder that God chose Isaac, not Ishmael, to be part of his promised work in the world. Ishmael is the child of flesh. Isaac, the child of promise.

9:8-9
It has never been the children of flesh who are the true children of God. It has always been the children of promise.

So God did invest into the nation of Israel (v.4-5) and yes, many of them rejected Jesus. But that doesn’t mean his words or work failed. He was always nurturing a specific lineage from within the group: the children of promise. So the fact that so many Jews reject Jesus does not prove God untrustworthy. On the contrary, it is the continuation of his unstoppable will.

An Application
God’s work in the world is bringing about children of promise, not children of flesh. And this is the work into which we’re caught up as Christians. In our ministry (church, family, friendship, etc.), we must turn from “the Hagars or mere human devices” (Piper) that produce children of flesh. We must turn to God in reliance upon his unique ability to give new life to children of promise.

Discussion Starters

1. What do you think is the key message of this passage?
2. What did you learn from this passage (something you didn’t previously know)?
3. Which point in this chapter spoke to you the most?
4. Why do you think God included this chapter in the Bible? What’s the point?
5. Do any of these truths apply today? Which ones? How do they apply?
6. Are there truths in this passage that contradict the ideas we hear in the world? If so, what are they?
7. Is there something in this passage that surprised you? If so, how were you surprised?
8. Are there any verses in this passage that confuse you or that seem to contradict other parts of the Bible?
9. In view of what we have read, what changes do you think God would want you to make in attitude, words, or actions?

1. What were some of the things the men had to work around or get through in order to bring their friend to Jesus?
2. Are there similar barriers today that make it difficult to bring people to Jesus?
3. The men carrying the paralytic took some pretty radical steps to get there friend to Jesus. What might be the radical steps required of us today to bring our friends to Jesus?
4. What did you learn from this passage (something you didn’t previously know)?
5. Which point in this chapter spoke to you the most?
6. Is there something in this passage that surprised you? If so, how were you surprised?
7. Are there any verses in this passage that confuse you or that seem to contradict other parts of the Bible?
8. In view of what we have read, what changes do you think God would want you to make in attitude, words, or actions?

PS: I know, I owe you a recap from two weeks ago. It’s on the way later today hopefully.

Pastor Matt

Romans 9:1-5
It is important before digging into the rigorous theological work of Romans 9 to note Paul’s tone of voice. He is not lecturing, but imploring. He’s consumed with concern for his Jewish brethren who haven’t believed in Jesus.

Three Observations

1. Doctrine and devotion are essential.
Right thinking about God and deep concern for people are like bicycle wheels,  you need them both if you want to get anywhere. There are some who lean toward doctrine and study and debate and theology. There are others who lean toward charity and compassion and generosity. But the gospel balances you out, like Paul. As doctrine flows through his pen in Romans 9, love bursts from his heart.

2. Doctrine without devotion is dead.
The Pharisees were serious Bible students and Jesus chastised them more harshly than any harlot or swindler because their knowledge puffed them up. The didn’t love people, they loved principles. If our study of the Bible does not lead to devotion to people, something is wrong. Listen to John Piper’s experience of studying Romans 9:

Then, about ten years later, came the fall of 1979. I was on sabbatical from teaching at Bethel College. My one aim on this leave was to study Romans 9 and write a book on it that would settle, in my own mind, the meaning of these verses. After six years of teaching and finding many students in every class ready to discount my interpretation of this chapter for one reason or another, I decided I had to give eight months to it. The upshot of that sabbatical was the book, The Justification of God. I tried to answer every important exegetical objection to God’s absolute sovereignty in Romans 9.

But the result of that sabbatical was utterly unexpected—at least by me. My aim was to analyze God’s words so closely and construe them so carefully that I could write a book that would be compelling and stand the test of time. What I did not expect was that six months into this analysis of Romans 9 God himself would speak to me so powerfully that I resigned my job at Bethel and made myself available to the Minnesota Baptist Conference if there were a church who would have me as a pastor.

In essence it happened like this: I was 34 years old. I had two children and a third on the way. As I studied Romans 9 day after day, I began to see a God so majestic and so free and so absolutely sovereign that my analysis merged into worship and the Lord said, in effect, “I will not simply be analyzed, I will be adored. I will not simply be pondered, I will be proclaimed. My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized, it is to be heralded. It is not grist for the mill of controversy, it is gospel for sinners who know that their only hope is the sovereign triumph of God’s grace over their rebellious will.” This is when Bethlehem contacted me near the end of 1979. And I do not hesitate to say that because of Romans 9 I left teaching and became a pastor. The God of Romans 9 has been the Rock-solid foundation of all I have said and all I have done in the last 22 years.

Likewise, Paul’s meditation on this theology led to deep desire to see people saved (10:1), a clear plan of action to work toward that end (10:14-17), and all manner of practical advice about life (12-16).

3. Devotion without doctrine is dead.
It is a kite without a string. What begins as compassion topples to the ground in a pile of silliness. Without good doctrine about God, our attempts to help people turn misguided. We begin to care more about people’s right to choose than God’s right to demand. We grow more passionate about people’s desires than God’s design.

Our adversary won’t tempt us to replace our crosses with swastikas. He’ll tempt us to elevate the second most important command above the first; to lose our love for God in our frenzy to love people. So, for every trip into the world to serve people, we need 10 trips into the word to survey God. Our love for God must inform and under-gird our love for people.

Conclusion
Before we begin our study of Romans 9, let’s pledge to take it seriously, to think, to ask our questions, to apply our minds. Because doctrine and devotion are woven together.

Discussion Starters

1. Who is the most compassionate person you know? What fuels their compassion?
2. Who is the most serious Bible scholar you know? What fuels their study?
3. What is the most pressing issue negatively effecting our society? The world? What is the most important thing a compassionate person can do? On what are you basing your answers?
4. Would you consider yourself more a “doctrine guy” or a “people guy”? Why? Which type of person would thrive most in Dulins Grove? How can one become both?
5. Read v1. Why does Paul make such emphatic claims to honesty here?
6. Read v3. Have you ever felt such desire for another’s salvation that you would give yours to them if you could? Who?
7. Why does Paul say “according to the flesh” when referring to his kinsmen? (See verses 6-8)
8. Read v4-5. Why did they reject Jesus in spite of all these advantages?
9. Divide the 33 verses in chapter 9 and read it together. What do you find most disturbing in this chapter? Most surprising? Most confusing?

Romans 8:31-39
Imagine a wealthy business man in an impoverished third world country. Children from the slums near his factory regularly destroy his property; yet his heart goes out to them. He doesn’t desire to punish them, but to protect and help them.

One day, the police show up just as one of these boys is breaking factory windows with rocks. They grab him, beat him, and take him to the jail where they will punish him severely. Just as they are poised to whip the boy’s back, the wealthy man steps through the prison doors and says, “Wait! I want to adopt this boy. Release him.”

But the penalty for his crime must be paid. The man removes his suit jacket and dress shirt, and takes the boy’s place. Upon his naked back land the blows earned by the child.

After the ordeal, the man and child go home. The child is cleaned up, given a full meal, new clothes and his own room. He is no longer an orphan, but a son.

As time goes on, the wealthy man must allow suffering into the child’s life in the form of discipline and tough life lessons and medical shots. In these times, will the boy question the man’s love? Will the boy shake his fist at his father and scream, “You don’t care enough about me to stop this pain!” No. Each glimpse at the scars on his back will remind him that his father loves him and is highly motivated for his good.

I tell this story to catch us up to the point Paul makes in Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things?” This story is similar to what God has done for Christians through Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, we know that God loves us and is highly motivated for our good. “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

When suffering comes, Christians don’t have to hope that God will work some good through it. They can know for certain that all things will work together for their good. (8:28). Because in Christ there are two things suffering cannot do:

1. Suffering cannot separate us from God’s love. (8:31-36)
Suffering can separate us from the lower case securities, providers, and gods in our lives. But it cannot separate us from the Security, Provider, and God. In fact, it tightens our connection to him.

We are in a cosmic hurricane and the winds are always howling. While many are blown away, Christians are wrapped tighter to their Father.

2. Suffering cannot conquer us. (8:37-39)
Paul says that Christians are “more than conquerors”. Conquerors kill or vanquish their foes. In Christ, we don’t have to kill or vanquish our suffering because it actually serves us.

In other words, suffering doesn’t enter our lives because God can’t stop it or isn’t motivated enough to stop it. So God must be using it for our good.

Think of your suffering right now, the pressure or pain you’re feeling. Is God too weak to remove it from you? Is he not good? Or is he so powerful and good that he’s up to something beyond our understanding?

There is no human parallel to how powerful and good our Father is. It would be like a doctor who so transforms his patients that illness itself strengthens them. Injury itself makes them better.

In God’s great work on our behalf, he didn’t make earthly stress go away. He transformed everything so that earthly stress became a gateway to eternal peace. He didn’t make earthly death go away. He transformed everything so that earthly death became the doorway to eternal life.

So we have hope. We have an anchor for the soul in times of trouble. We have a good Father who loves us.

Discussion Starters

1. Have everyone in the group share the best and worst thing that has happened in their lives in the last seven days.
2. Read verse 35-39. What life events has God used to draw you closer to him? Describe them for the group.
3. Have there been times in your life when you were tempted to give up your faith in God?
4. Share an example from your life of either: tribulation (pressure), distress, persecution (mistreatment from people), famine (lack of resources), nakedness (exposure, vulnerability), or danger.
5. How could parents teach their children the truths in this passage?
6. All people suffer. Based on this passage, what is different for the Christian in suffering? What is the same?
7. How can we serve one another based on this passage?
8. How can your group pray for you this week?

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,but have not love, I gain nothing.

A lot of ministry is a waste of time, not because it isn’t practically helpful to people, but because it is wrongly motivated. Even the highest ministry endeavor is negated when the minister lacks love.

Example 1: Communication (v.1)
Billy Graham’s preaching + Elevation’s marketing + Brooklyn Tabernacle’s choir - love equals a toddler banging pots and pans together. One quiet word spoken in love is worth more than Shakespeare’s entire works without love. One off-key syllable sung in love is worth more than Handel’s Messiah performed without love.

Example 2: Knowledge (v.2a)
Supernatural powers of knowledge and understanding cannot overcome a deficit of love. A loving Christian with some answers is always more fruitful than an unloving one with all the answers.

Examples 3:-5 Faith, Generosity, Martyrdom (v.2-3)
Even mountain movers are nothing without love. Even those people who give up everything to move into the slums gain nothing without love. Even giving one’s own life is nullified if not done in love. Love is the great prerequisite to worthwhile ministry (worthwhile living for that matter).

The Bottom Line
Loveless Christians say nothing, are nothing, gain nothing – even if they’re neck-deep in incredibly taxing and difficult ministry work.

It is deep, gospel love that fills the gun with ammo; the balloon with helium. Excellent, but empty communication, education, belief, and generosity cannot perform God’s work in the world. Those things are mere vessels.

What Love Looks Like: v.4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1. Patience
2. Kindness
3. Rejoicing in truth
4. Bearing all things
5. Believing all things
6. Hoping all things
7. Enduring all things

What Love Doesn’t Look Like: v.4-7

1. Envy
2. Boasting
3. Arrogance
4. Rudeness
5. Insistence upon one’s own way
6. Irritability
7. Resentfulness
8. Rejoicing in wrongdoing

Who is Like This?
Maybe you’ve studied this passage before and tried to insert your name for ‘love’ to see if you pass the test. For example, I could read it as “Matt is patient and kind; Matt does not envy or boast, etc.” Of course none of us come anywhere near passing that test. How rarely do any of us live lovingly?

Years ago my wife and I stood in a long return line at Wal-Mart. People were tense and frustrated. It was taking forever and there was only one woman working the return register. On top of the long, grumbling line, a disabled woman needed help getting the motorized buggy from behind carts stacked high with merchandise. We watched in awe as the woman behind the register calmly, patiently, gently helped this elderly woman into her buggy. Her patience effected all of us and there was noticeable change in the atmosphere. The entire line loostened up, breathed easier, calmed down – and were able to be patient.

Those who have received patience are able to be patient. Those who have received kindness are able to be kind. Those who have received love are able to love. And in Jesus Christ, we receive a fountain of living water, an endless source of love to satisfy our thirst and pour out for others.

Jesus is patient and kind, not placing impossible burdens on our shoulders but relieving them. Jesus does not envy or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus does not insist on his own way, praying “not my will but thine.” Jesus is not irritable or resentful. Jesus does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in truth. Jesus bears all things, including the sins of his people on the cross. Jesus believes all things and hopes all things. Jesus endures all things, including the condemnation we’ve earned from our lovelessness.

Why is this so valuable? v.8-13
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

After every worship gathering, my son (5) and daughter (2) go into my study and “work”. They get out my scrap paper and my highlighters and draw. They pick up my phone and push all the buttons. It’s cute and I love them; but they’re not really accomplishing anything. Yet when they show patience with one another, its as valuable and effective as when I show patience. When my two-year-old daughter performs an act of kindness, the impact is as deep as if any adult had done it.

Love is the only work we can do maturely. We communicate, understand, believe, and give like children. When Jesus returns we’ll be shocked at how weak our work in these areas has been. But when we love, we’re connected with the fullness of God in a deeper way than we realize.

So
Dulins Grove (and whoever else is reading):

- Have you experienced Jesus’ love? Have you rested in his work done on your behalf, accepting his payment for your sin and failures?
- Are you plugged into this good news daily as your source of comfort and security, so that you don’t need to extract love from people – but are free to pour it out?
- Where are you toiling fruitlessly in service without love?
- Go to Jesus. Receive his love. Be filled with it. And overflow into the lives of others.

Matthew 26:26-29
God has given us regular reminders of our foundation in Christ. We looked at baptism last week. Below we’ll look at three reminders we receive during communion, or the Lord’s Supper.

1. Jesus lived and died so our sins could be forgiven. (v.28)
The meal Jesus and his followers were sharing in this passage was part of the Passover, which the Jews celebrate annually to remember the Exodus. During the Exodus, God killed all the first born of Egypt, but passed over the homes that had lamb blood painted over their threshold. When Jesus identifies the bread and wine with his own body and blood, he is making a radical statement about himself. He’s saying that he is The Passover Lamb. He would willingly give his blood for the protection of all who would seek shelter beneath it.

Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as the one who would bear our griefs and sorrows. Philippians 2 describes him as the one who let go of his divine status and embraced that of a slave for his followers. All the heroic movies, shows, and books we love are mere shadows of Jesus, the ultimate self-sacrificial hero.

And why did he do all this? For the forgiveness of our sins. This indicates that sin is our biggest problem. Not relationships or health or finances or stress. Sin is the danger from which Jesus came to rescue us. Sin is the rock that weighs us down in an ocean of other problems. It is the root that blossoms into all variety or issues. And it is Jesus’ sacrificial death on our behalf that cuts us free from it.

2. This forgiveness is offered to all. (v.27b)
When Jesus offered the cup, he said, “Drink of it, all of  you.” And who was Jesus speaking to? He was speaking to Judas, who he knew was plotting to betray him. He was speaking to Peter, who would soon abandon and deny him. He was speaking to James and John who would later, along with Peter, repeatedly fall asleep rather than pray with him during his most intense hour of need.

Jesus offers his blood for the forgiveness of sins to all of us, including the disloyal, the greedy, the cowardly, the lazy, etc. But not all will receive it, as we learn from Judas’ fate. One must turn from his sin and embrace the lordship of Jesus Christ to receive this forgiveness, as Peter and the others did later.

3. Jesus is coming back. (v.29)
And when he does, all people will worship him. (See Revelation 21:1-8)

Discussion Starters

1. Have you participated in communion at different churches that do it differently than we do? How should a church observe communion?
2. How would you explain it to someone who has never heard of it?
3. Read Exodus 12:1-28. How is Jesus like a Passover lamb? (See Isaiah 53; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
4. Read Matthew 26:14-16; 36-43 and 69-75. Can you relate to the imperfection of the disciples? Which do you relate to most? Why?
5. Using discretion, share a time when you were convicted of sin and had to confess and repent. How did the gospel affect your experience?
6. How can we serve one another in light of this passage?
7. How can your group pray for you this week?

This is a brief recap from the youth gathering last night. The question posed: what does the Bible mean when it says God is jealous? (See Exodus 20:4-5 and Psalm 78:58 for examples.)

The super-short version of the answer: God is jealous for the worship of his people because he is the only rightful recipient of it. When we worship idols (think money, hobbies, people, etc.) it’s like a spouse committing adultery.

In Isaiah 42:8, he says,

“I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.”

God is God, and therefore it is right for him to desire worship, be grieved at idolatry, and even be jealous when he sees us trusting in and devoting ourselves to other gods. It isn’t petty, like our jealousy usually is. It’s right and good.

We baptised a man on Sunday and looked at these three reminders from Matthew 3:1-12.

1. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Many think that the mark of a Christian is a religious lifestyle. They go to church, read their Bibles, pray, take communion, and get baptised. But one can do all these things without being a Christian.

The true mark of a Christian is a repentant lifestyle. They are soft-hearted, aware of their sin, able to confess  and ask forgiveness, and changing over time to look more like Jesus.

John used some surprisingly harsh words for the religious people who came to where he was baptising people. Why? Because religion without repentance ruins people. Religion without repentance is poisonous and vile. See Isaiah 1 and Matthew 23 if you don’t believe it.

2. Don’t presume.
Christian  heritage, ancestry, tradition, and community do not save souls. Only trust and obedience to Jesus saves.

3. Look to Jesus.
John’s water couldn’t change people. But Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit. Jesus really cleanses and makes people innocent. Jesus give new hearts that desire good things and that can truly change. Jesus puts the Spirit within his followers, enabling them to repent and live the new life. Check out Ezekiel 36:25-28 for more on this.

Discussion Startes

1. If you have been baptized, share the story of your baptism.
2. What strikes you most about this passage?
3. Read verse 3. How did John the Baptist prepare the way for Jesus? (see Luke 1:16-17)
4. What does it mean to bear fruit in keeping with repentance in verse 8? (see Luke 3:11-14)
5. Read verse 9. What are we tempted to presume makes us acceptable to God other than Jesus?
6. Why does John use such harsh words in verses 7-10? (see Isaiah 1:11-20 and Matthew 23)
7. Read verse 11. What does this mean? (See Ezekiel 36:25-27; Acts 1:4-8; and Acts 2)
8. Why is understanding baptism so foundational to Christianity?
9. How can we serve one another in light of this passage?
10. How can your group pray for you this week?

Ephesians 4:17-32
Studies show that most new year’s resolutions fizzle out quickly. It’s hard to change. But Christians can change because Jesus changes their minds and hearts.

Jesus Changes Minds (v.17-18)
When you become a Christian, you change from futile-minded to able-minded, from darkened in understanding to enlightened.

Some popular resolutions this year are to save money, eat better, exercise, and get in a relationship. But what will we do with this money? What will we do with this health? What will we do with these relationships? There are plenty of aimless, miserable people who are rich, thin, and in a relationship. We need more than changes in behavior. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

Jesus Changes Hearts (v.18-24)
Jesus removes our hearts of stone and replaces them with soft, mold-able hearts (Ezekiel 36:26). When you become a Christian, your desires begin to change.

So in the case of the resolution to save more, a Christian’s desire to work hard, manage resources carefully, and give generously come alive. Rather than a pain-in-the-butt discipline that we hate, saving becomes rooted in a new, godly passion.

Some Examples (v.25-32)
Here Paul writes about how the gospel changes specific behaviors:

1. From falsehood to truth. (v.25)
Once saved, we can put aside falsehood (any attempt to misshape another’s perception of reality) and instead be true. We have nothing to hide. We can be 100% authentic, open, and honest because in Jesus we are:

- chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)
- loved (1:4-5)
- redeemed (1:7)
- forgiven (1:7)
- lavished by his grace (1:7-8)
- sealed with the Holy Spirit (1:13)

We used to hide under fig leaves of falsehood; but the gospel frees us to live “naked and unashamed” (Genesis 2:25; 3:7-10).

2. From sinful anger to righteous anger. (v.26-27)
Not all anger is sinful. Some anger is right. Here’s how you can tell:

Sinful anger produces sinful action. Right anger produces right action. Sinful anger springs from sinful passions. Right anger springs from right passions.

Jesus frees us from our sinful passions and replaces them with right passions so that our anger becomes useful.

3. From taking to working/giving. (v.28)
This means moving from an expectation to receive to an eagerness to give.

One reason our resolution to save money falls flat is that the motivation is selfish. But as we receive the Jesus’ generosity, we grow passionate about working hard so that we can share more (Philippians 2:5-8).

4. From tearing people down to building people up with words. (v.29)
Jesus taught that our words flow from the abundance of our hearts (Matthew 12:34). As we receive Jesus’ grace into our hearts, we’re able to give grace in our words.

5. From meanness to kindness. (v.30-32)
Christians can let go of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice and embrace kindness and forgiveness. Why? Because of the forgiveness they’ve received in Jesus Christ.

Discussion Starters

1. What new years resolutions have you set this year?
2. Read verses 17-24. How does this passage change the way you think about your resolutions?
3. Read verse 25. How does Jesus free us from falsehood and enable us to be true?
4. What shame do you need to leave behind in 2011? What secrets do you need to reveal? What sins do you need to confess? What act do you need to drop? In what ways have you been working to shape others’ perceptions? Do people really know you?
5. Read verses 26-27. How does Jesus free us from sinful anger?
6. What pushes your buttons? What passions are underneath those buttons? What sinful passions do you need to leave in 2011 and what right passions do you need to embrace?
7. Read verse 28. How does Jesus free us from the need to take and instil in us the desire to work and share? (See Philippians 2:5-8)
8. How can you work harder in order to share more in 2012?
9. Read verse 29. Generally, what effect did your words have in 2011? Do your words tend to condemn or give grace? In what ways do your words tend to tear people down? In what ways do they tend to build people up?
10. Read verses 30-32. Is there bitterness that you need to leave in 2011? Is there anyone you’re rooting against? Who do you need to forgive and what specific steps do you need to take to do so?