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Attention Leaders!

Be prepared for God to speak to your group. The Holy Spirit is with you as you prepare, as you open Scripture, and as you lead discussion. Prayerfully consider the needs of your group; who will be there; and what God has done recently in your group. Remember, aim for balancing discussion and teaching; more sharing than answering; and more listening than telling.

 

 

Sermon Summary

 

This weekend’s message continues in Rich’s series entitled Advent: Return of the King. The intro begins with failed predictions of Jesus’ return and the asking of two questions: 1) When will the temple be destroyed and 2) When will Jesus return.

1. Jesus says we have to have right values. The people are super impressed by the temple, but what impresses Jesus?
2. Jesus says we have to have right focus. People are always looking to earthquakes, wars, etc. This is wrong. Verses 4-28 covers the entire period between the 1^st and 2^nd These are not signs of the end times; these are “not yet” signs. Jesus describes them as birth pains. When people read these words, they focus on only the birth pains, not the baby/the joy that’s coming – a new creation, a new kingdom. The only way to get through these “not yet” signs is to be like a laboring woman who proclaims, “At the end of the day, I’m going to have a baby.”

• Jesus says we have to have right expectations. Jesus is a master at managing expectations. We have unrealistic, shattered expectations about many things (e.g. Christmas ruined by ungrateful kids or you think your boyfriend is going to give you an engagement ring, but he gives you a friendship ring instead) Jesus is a master at managing expectations. The expectation is that if God is good, suffering won’t exist. But the right expectation is that God wants to use His people to relieve suffering, He wants to use it for the greater good, and He will redeem all suffering upon His return. Jesus himself tells us that life is not going to be easy; it’s going to be really hard. Some things in this world are really broken, and they will not be fully fixed until Jesus’ return.

1. Jesus says we have to have the right occupation. We tend to think about the return of Christ as a fixed date. However, in 2 Peter, he talks about hastening the day of the Lord. Also, we pray, “your kingdom come.” Can our activity change the date? New Testament writings say yes by preaching the gospel to ALL nations (Mt 24:24).

 

Link to the Sermon

 

• Take a few minutes remembering when you became a Christian. How have your unrealistic and shattered expectations about who God is twisted your view and opinion of Him? When you became a Christian did you have the view that Jesus was like a “magic pill” that when you “took it” all your problems would go away? Explain.
• What are some of the “not yet” signs we’re currently experiencing in our world? What are some ways we can shift our focus off of these to avoid becoming depressed by them?

 

 

This Week’s Bible Study

 

Text: Romans 8:18-25

 

Background and Context

 

When Paul wrote Romans about A.D. 56, he had not yet been to Rome, but he had been preaching the gospel since his conversion in A. D. 35. During the previous ten years he had founded churches throughout the Mediterranean world. Now he was nearing the end of his third missionary journey. This epistle is therefore a mature statement of his understanding of the gospel. The church at Rome had been founded by other Christians; and Paul, through his travels, knew many of the believers there.

Paul most likely wrote Romans while he was in Corinth in A.D. 56, taking a collection to help the needy Christians of Jerusalem. He planned to go to Jerusalem with this collection, and then visit the church in Rome. After being refreshed and supported by the Christians in Rome, he planned to travel to Spain to preach the gospel. He wrote to tell the Romans of his impending visit. The letter was likely delivered by Phoebe (16:1, 2). In view of his personal plans, Paul wrote to introduce himself to a church he had never visited.

The overall doctrinal theme that Paul seeks to demonstrate is that God is righteous. In spite of all that happens in this world- even though all men are sinful (1:18-3:20); even though God does not punish but forgives guilty sinners (3:21-5:21); even though believers may not fully live in a way consistent with God’s righteousness (6:1-8:17); even though believers suffer and final redemption is delayed (8:18-39); even though many Jews do not believe (9:1-11:36)- still God is perfectly righteous, and by His grace has forgiven us. Because of this great mercy from an all-righteous God, we should live a pattern of life consistent with God’s own righteousness (12:1-16:27).

 

Study & Discuss

To increase participation in your group, ask two people to read this passage out loud.

 

Read Romans 8:18-25

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

 

1. What does Paul say their present suffering isn’t worth comparing to? What do you think “the glory that will be revealed in us” is?

• The sufferings of this life, when compared to eternity, are but as for a moment, and are not worthy to be put in completion with this glory which shall be revealed in us.
• For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared: Paul was notignorant or blind to the sufferings of human existence; he experienced more of them than most any of us today. Yet he still considered that the future glory far outweighed the present sufferings.

2. 19 tells us that creation eagerly is waiting in expectation for the revealing of what comes next. What is something that you have been waiting for God to do? Do you ever feel as if your expectations have been “let down”?

• Allow freedom for people to speak freely in this area.

3. What are some possible reasons for v.20 telling us that “creation is frustrated”?

• 21- God reins it in until both creation and all creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious time ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
• The whole created universe has suffered the consequences of human sin, being subjected to decomposition, futility and corruption. However, that process of deterioration is only temporary, because God has provided hope of deliverance.

4. How could altering our expectations and shifting our focus to the thinking of God using our current struggles to bring relief to someone else in the future help us endure our trials?

• It can bring us joy, patience, perseverance, etc.

5. What imagery does Paul use in his description of the revealing of the day of the Lord (v.22)?

• A pregnant woman (or creation).

6. To what does Paul equate birth pangs with (v.22-23)?

• The difficult times of pain.

7. How do these verse talk about the “Now & Not Yet” that we like to talk about so much in the Vineyard?

• We have the Holy Spirit living within us and have experienced glimpses of His glory (already), yet many are waiting on the full healing and redemption of our bodies (not yet).
• The metaphor also suggests that the Holy Spirit is the foretaste of the life to come. We groan because although our souls are saved, our bodies are still subject to pain and sin. However, we look forward with hope (V24) to our resurrection bodies, which will be free from physical frailty and indwelling sin.

8. The New Testament repeatedly speaks of enduring trials and suffering with joy (James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, 1 Peter 4:13, 2 Corinthians 12:10, to name a few.) How would you describe your attitude while in the “labor” process?
9. If you struggle to be joyful in your expectancy, what are some practical ways to combat this?

 

 

Ministry Time

Take some time at the end of your group to welcome the Holy Spirit and seek Him for direction as you pray for one another. When we make space for Him, God is pleased to come and show Himself to us in our groups, and to genuinely touch and change us, often in powerful ways.

• Begin by allowing room for the Holy Spirit to come and minister. Take a few minutes to wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to the members of your group. Ask them to share what God may be speaking to them.
• Break up to pray and take time to pray for each other in the areas of struggling to find joy in a current struggle. Pray not only for God to bring them joy, but that God’s kingdom would break through into their situation, bringing healing and wholeness and the reality of the God’s “Now” to their lives.
• Pray and ask Jesus to show Himself and His will in any trials they are going through. What is He trying to speak to them today? Where does He desire to move?