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HOME GROUP QUESTIONS

FROM SUNDAY 13 APRIL 2008

ROAMING ROMANS SESSION 15: ROMANS 8:18-27

Introductory exercise/question:

What has helped you to cope when tough things have happened in your life? When tough things do happen, to they tend to make you feel "God why are you doing this to me?" or "I'm so glad I have God, I don't know how I'd cope without him"? Are there words of encouragement/hope you have been able to bring to others?

Read Romans 8:18-27

Questions:

1. Does anything leap out from the passage at anyone? (I find this can often be a good place to start! It may be that you want to come back to whatever is raised, but it gets questions out in the open, and often gets you right to the heart of the action!)

2. Should struggles and trials come as any surprise to Christians? (v18, v20, v21, v22, v23, v26)

3. Do you know what it feels like to be in verse 26-27? Does it come as a surprise to find that God knows how you feel? What do you know of the story of the book of Job?

4. What would you like God to do about your suffering? What do you think of C S Lewis's famous line about pain being "God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world"?

5. What does the Holy Spirit do in the present (v22, v26) and the future (v18, v21ff)?

6. In the present, how have you experienced this at work in your life? Do you allow the Holy Spirit to work through the church, as well as directly in this?

7. In the future, are you confident about your future hope? Read Revelation 21:1-4. Does this give you something to look forward to? Are you able to see your present trials in the light of this future hope?

Conclusion/round up

Do you know, in your life and experience, the work of the Spirit described in these verses?

Pray for each other to be filled afresh, that you might have help for the present and hope for the future.

Edward Hobbs
24 April 2008