The Way Forward
Romans 12:4-21
Megan Dobrasz, Pastor of Adult Ministries, megand@churchbcc.org
Summary: As Christians in relationship, there is an interdependence among us. The gifts of grace bring us together to impact the world. We as a whole need YOU, as with all of us, to use your gifts. How can we better understand who we are in community?
Discussion Questions
1. What comes to mind when you think of spiritual gifts? What sort of gifts do you think of? Do you have positive or negative associations with the idea of spiritual gifts?
Read Romans 12:4-21
2. How does what Paul says about spiritual gifts in this passage compare to what usually comes to mind for you when you think of spiritual gifts?
3. What is the purpose of the spiritual gifts Paul mentions? For whose benefit, are they?
4. When you think of how valuable you are as a person, what sorts of things do you think about as contributing to or making up your worth as a person?
5. For Paul in this passage, what is it that makes you valuable in the kingdom of God?
6. Note the diversity of gifts Paul mentions. Know also that this is not a comprehensive list, but a representative one. What does the diversity of gifts tell us about the way the body of Christ ought to look?
7. If we get our meaning by expressing our gifts as a whole, how do you view yourself as part of the whole body of Christ?
8. Related to the diversity of gifts, Megan spoke about the danger of pride, which she defined as thinking too much of oneself, whether thinking too highly or too lowly of yourself. How is pride a danger to the health of the diverse body of Christ?
9. What ought we to think of instead of ourselves and our own value?
10. How is love important to the functioning of the body of Christ in its diversity?
11. MLK Jr spoke in the video segment played during the sermon about not hating or defeating people, but the evil within them and becoming friends with the people themselves. How might this be instructive to the way we live as members of Christ’s body?
12. Is there someone (without naming them) that you genuinely don’t like? How might God be asking you to do the work in your own heart to change that?