 Materials Needed:
None.
Notes to the Leader:
Do you know if your neighbor is a Christian? Better yet, does your
neighbor know that you have placed your faith in Christ? Of course, we
say, they see that each Sunday we leave for church and never miss.
This study directly addresses what it means to accept the role and
responsibilities claimed by the Christian faith. The study looks at
the worship experience and provides a guideline for every Christian to use
as a measuring stick.
Plan on leading a discussion beyond
theology and into what a changed life looks like. Faith in Christ
is not theoretical or historical. Faith in Christ is a changing
life, a metamorphosis from the physical world to His world.
Introduction
What is the goal of
Christian faith?
- Many may say that it
is to achieve eternal life, to be in heaven. However, Paul is trying to
tell us that it is about our very existence and our daily struggles to
work, raise our families and survive here on earth.
What do Christians
talk about?
- It is rare to here a
conversation about heaven, what life will be like after death. Most
conversation is focused on this world, the problems we have, the pain,
the joy, the day-to-day existence of humanity.
If the goal of
Christian faith is focused on the here and now and most Christians are,
in turn, focused on the issues of daily living, What do you think our
worship experience should be focused on?
- Real life. While
tradition and structure are often comforting, our worship experience
must be focused on the relevant side of life. We are gathered to
communicate to God about this world here and now, not necessarily the
matters of next world we are to receive later.
What is God's goals in
all of this complexity we call life and existence?
- "God intends to create
a just, moral community, a people whose lives together will bear witness
to His character as well as His grace." (Richards, Background 251)
Section One: To Worship
What is the
appropriate response to God's love and mercy?
- Worship. The New
Testament uses three different Greek words for worship. One means "to
show reverence," another "to bow down to." The third, the one Paul uses
here is latreia. The emphasis on this word is "service." Originally, it
meant to "work for pay." Over time it became to mean " to serve" but as
a special designation -- it meant service to which a person gives their
entire life.
Read Romans 12:1 to your group.
Why do you think Paul
would connect the act of service and sacrifice to worship?
- Paul used an adjective
logoikos -- "pertaining to the mind and soul." Paul was describing the
only thing that made sense in light of all God has done for us.
What kind of worship
was Paul describing?
- Our physical
involvement through the making of our bodies as holy and pleasing to
God.
What else can you
conclude from this one verse of Romans about Paul's instructions?
- "I urge you
brother" - Paul is handing out a loving invitation, not a command.
- "in view of God's
mercy" - The reason to do this is because of God's grace.
- "this is your
spiritual act of worship." - The appropriateness of our being a living
sacrifice.
What is the
significance of Paul's statement with regard to the Christian community
today?
- Many Christians
believe that they can satisfy their requirements to worship through
attending Sunday services, or being generous in the offering plate, or
even volunteering for a few committees or church activities. Paul,
however, sums it up. To satisfy our requirements, is to completely
surrender to God, our bodies and the entirety of our beings.
How does the modern
Christian separate their faith from their lives?
- Acts of faith,
reliance on prayer and worship (as Paul defines it) rarely reach beyond
Sunday.
As you peer out into
your workplace or your neighborhood, Can you spot the Christians?
- This always represents
one of the greatest arguments against the Christian faith. You find the
world confused in that they cannot tell a Christian from an atheist
except on Sunday morning.
How does Paul's call
for a sacrifice differ from the Levitical sacrifice of the Old
Testament?
- Most were ceremonial
and done at public religious festivals. They involved the sacrifice of
something other than the individual. Paul calls for no special place or
ceremony. It is day by day, moment by moment, situation by situation.
Paul calls for the sacrifice of self.
Section Two: The Metamorphosis of
Your Mind
Read Romans 12:2 to your group.
How does one begin to
become a "Living Sacrifice?"
- Don't let the world
press you into its mold.
What, exactly is "the
world" to which we are no longer to conform?
- The Greek word is
kosmos. In ancient, classical Greek, the word implied two things:
- a harmonious order
to arrangement; and
- an embellishment or
adornment. In the Greek as it was used at the time of the New
Testament, the word had come to convey three basic groups of
meanings:
- the material
universe, the planet, the earth (example: Acts 17:24)
- the inhabitants of
the world (John 3:16) and accordingly, the whole race of human
beings who are alienated from God and hostile to the cause of Christ
(Heb. 11:38; John 14:17)
- worldly affairs,
goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, and values which
stir human desires and seduce people away from God (1 John 2:15;
Matt. 16:26; 1 Cor. 2:12; 3:19; 7:31; Titus 2:12)
- God did not intend to
keep us from the beauty of the physical world. It is not the mountains
and trees, flowers, animals, etc. that are condemned. It the part of the
world dominated by Satan that we are not to conform to.
How is it that we "do
not conform?"
- Our worldliness has to
do with attitudes, loves and priorities.
If we as Christians
are to be non-conformists, misfits and alien to this world, How is it we
can resist the pressure and keep our attitudes, loves and priorities in
line with those pleasing to God?
- To "test and approve
what God's perfect will is."
What does "test and
approve" mean to you?
- We are called to prove
God's will out by trying it and judging it worth, to know by experience.
Experience with the will of God demonstrates that God's will is "good"
(profitable, generous), "pleasing" (acceptable), and "perfect" (fulfills
the purpose for which it is designed). We each do this by choosing to do
God's will instead of conforming to the world. We do this every day,
moment by moment, situation by situation.
What does
metamorphosis mean?
- To change form,
structure, or substance.
How does this relate
to Romans 12:2?
- Paul uses the Greek
word, metamorphoo, and calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our
minds.
Why is the analogy of
a butterfly and a cocoon so perfect for this verse?
- The worm, must begin
the process by spinning a cocoon. Once it crawls inside, it waits while
God's mysteries take over, and Our Creator re-works the ugly worm into a
beautiful butterfly.
How does spiritual
metamorphosis occur?
- It is more than the
change of someone's mind. It is a change of form and nature. It is a
work of God. The Bible calls it Sanctification, the work of the Holy
Spirit. It is a process.
Note: Relating the act of
Sanctification to the metamorphosis of a butterfly, match the following:
- The worm -- ourselves before fully
turning ourselves over to God
- The cocoon -- God's grace, a wonderful
safe place to be comforted while the metamorphosis takes place
- The butterfly -- The Christian with
attitudes, loves and priorities pleasing to God.
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