Winter Cycle, Week 4
Start your time with a Check-in (about 15 minutes)
inductive bible study (30-40 minutes)
Open your Bibles and begin with a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help you read God's word. Read the passage out loud once together and then silently once more on your own, noting your observations and questions. Then take a few minutes to share your observations and questions together.
Key Scripture: Romans 5:9-11
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Take some time to answer a key question you've raised as a group and think through how the issues you've explored apply to your lives.
DISCUSSION (about 20 minutes):
Some thoughts for shaping your time together: Reconciliation is the work of Christ. The Apostle Paul is making an argument that if Christ has reconciled us to God through his blood (salvation), then He will certainly carry that work through to the end (sanctification). Let your small group wrestle with the cosmic realities of reconciliation and feel free to dive into the 2 Corinthians passage listed below.
Discussion Questions:
1) How have we been justified by his blood?
2) What is the significance of the "how much more" argument that Paul uses in v.9 & v.10?
3) What does it mean to be saved through his life?
Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
1) What is the ministry of reconciliation? Who initiates this ministry?
2) What does it mean that we have been committed with the message of reconciliation?
3) What is the significance of the ambassador image?
Close with a time of prayer.
