Small Groups - Tony Walliser 8/13/2017 Visit silverdalebc.com/media to access the completed sermon outline and notes.

When Church Becomes Home 9 Love must be sincere … 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves … 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13 - NIV)

1. You Need To Be Authentic Love must be sincere (12:9)

2. You Need To Be Welcoming Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves (12:10)

3.You Need To Be Positive Be joyful in hope, patientin affliction (12:12)

4.You Need To Be Caring Faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (12:12-13)

New Sermon and Small Group Series begins next weekend, August 20. Books now available. Sign up for a small group today by going to sbcsmallgroups.com.

SMALL GROUP STUDY GUIDE

SILVERDALE BAPTIST CHURCH SMALL GROUP EMPHASIS - CONNECTION SUNDAY MAKING CHURCH A HOME ROMANS 12:9-13 08/13/2017

MAIN POINT Silverdale Baptist becomes a home when the love of Christ is evident among us.

INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. Have you ever been a part of a group tasked with accomplishing a goal even though the group lacked unity? What was that like? What happened?

Have you ever been a part of a group united for a common goal or purpose? How did that impact you personally? How did the relationships in the group deepen as you worked with one another?

We as a body of believers need each other in order to accomplish the purposes God has given us. To serve effectively as the body of Christ takes people gathering together with the same goal and purpose in mind. When this happens, we become united together in love and we begin to feel like a family.

DISCUSSION Unpack the biblical text to discover what the Scripture says or means about our topic. Paul taught that as a result of experiencing God’s transforming love in Christ, believers are to exhibit Christlike love for one another. Romans 12:9 sets the tone for the passage by teaching that Christian love is genuine, and is therefore opposed to what is evil and committed to what is good.

HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ ROMANS 12:9.

Because evil always leads to pain and destruction, a hatred of evil will always accompany true love. This type of love sets the tone for the remainder of the passage on the generous nature of followers of Christ as they concentrate on the needs of others in a family... a family like Silverdale Baptist Church. Why is it difficult to love some people? Since God emphasizes loving one another, what causes us to feel like we have a choice of how we will respond to others?

How does the absence of love impact the effectiveness of the church?

How can a person detest evil and still love unconditionally?

1 of 4 Silverdalebc.com Living Life Together This verse begins with the familiar Greek word “agape,” meaning the highest, most sacrificial kind of love. It is others-centered rather than self-centered, the kind of love God Himself expressed and described in John 3:16 and :5, 8. There is a danger, however, that what looks like love for others may be something different. Thus, Paul warned love must be without hypocrisy. It must be sincere, not faked or expressed with ulterior motives. How can people claim to love God unless they detest evil, that is, unless they oppose what God opposes? God despises all immorality—everything that is sinful—and part of loving God is to turn away from what displeases Him. This command does not mean we are to hate people involved in evil but only the evil they are doing. The counterpart to detesting evil is to cling to what is good.

HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ ROMANS 12:10-13.

In verses 10-13, the focus is on the generous nature of love as it concentrates on the needs of others in a family-like manner. Each of these behaviors found in Romans 12 is fueled by Christian love, which produces Christ-centered compassion, enthusiastic service, joyful endurance, and humble fellowship, even in difficulties. What are some ways our culture tends to make us self-centered?

What does it look like to honor another above yourself?

How do the behaviors in these verses affect your attitude toward serving other believers?

Have you ever partnered with someone in prayer for weeks or longer? How did that experience impact your prayer life?

What do you think it means to show hospitality? Why do you think it is important? How can you show hospitality in the context of your Silverdale Small Group?

Paul’s commands in verses 10-13 are connected by the theme that Christians are to love others in their congregation, as if they are family. Believers are now brothers and sisters in God’s family, with one Heavenly Father and with Christ as their oldest Brother. Just as human families face challenges, so does the family of God. Generous love, however, makes this family experience one of true joy.

APPLICATION Identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. The primary way we experience the benefits that we have studied today is through small group community. How have you benefited from uniting with the family of God in a small group environment?

Who do you know that needs to be connected to the family of God? How can you share the love of Christ with them?

How can we better support one another with family-like love, in both good and bad times?

PRAYER Thank God for the blessing of being a part of His family. Pray that Silverdale Baptist would be a

2 of 4 Silverdalebc.com Living Life Together place where others can come together to find grace and belong to God’s family and ask the Lord to lead you and your small group in reaching out to others at Silverdale.

COMMENTARY

ROMANS 12:9-13

12:9. The final thirteen verses of this chapter defy outlining. At best, it is possible to identify the hilltops that poke above the plain of Paul’s thought on the topic of love. If a single theme is to be identified, it would have to be “love in the face of evil,” as that is Paul’s first word— hate what is evil; cling to what is good—and his last—”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (v. 21). Almost every other evidence of love he mentions will fit under this theme. The question is, Whence the evil, or persecution, that was tempting the Rome believers to retaliate instead of love? Most certainly, it could have been from Rome. Within a decade of Paul’s writing this letter, he himself would die under Rome’s sword. The wickedly infamous Nero was Emperor at the time of Paul’s writing, and while the worst of his atrocities against Christians did not occur until nearer the end of his reign, there was steadily growing pressure against Christians. Jews had already suffered in Rome, having been expelled from the city several years before the writing of this letter by the emperor Claudius, who ruled prior to Nero (Acts 18:2). But Paul’s words could possibly have been directed in reference to strife within the Roman church itself. Jewish and conflicts were not new in the early church, and it is quite possible that animosities had developed to the extent that words like “vengeance,” “conceit,” and “enemy” were not out of place among the fellowship in Rome. Given that Paul addresses both categories (the civil situation in chap. 13 and the internal, church situation in chaps. 14-15), it is likely that both were fueling his thoughts on love in this section. The love of which Paul speaks is, of course, agape, the selfless, unconditional expression of grace and compassion exemplified by the love of God for sinners (John 3:16; Rom. 5:5,8). Just as nothing can separate the believer from the benefits of God’s agape (Rom. 8:35,39), so nothing should be able to come between a believer and his or her love for sinners (Rom. 13:10; 14:15). By dissecting sincere, it is easy to see what Paul means. Anupokritos is simply the negative (negative prefix “ a” plus “n”) of hupokrites, from which derives our “hypocrite.” Therefore, sincere is not hypocritical. “Hypocrite” was used in the Greek world of the actor who wore masks to portray the emotion of his character—sincere Christians wear no masks. What you see is (should be) what you get, and Paul says that others should see love. It would be hypocritical to hate what is good and cling to what is evil; therefore, hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 12:10. Was Paul thinking of ’s Song of Ascents in Psalm 133 when he exhorted the Rome believers to be devoted to one another in brotherly love?: Or was he thinking of how eleven of the sons of turned on their brother Joseph out of jealousy and anger and consigned him to Midianite slavery? Could he even have been thinking back seven years earlier when he and Barnabas “had such a sharp disagreement” that they could not continue ministering together (Acts 15:36-41)? Only those who are living sacrifices to God could possibly carry out the exhortation to honor one another above yourselves. “Looking out for number one” may be a modern mantra, but it was written in the Garden of Eden. Considering others better than yourselves (Phil. 2:3) is just as offensive to the ancient carnal mind as it is to the modern one. Only a renewed mind can tell that it is the “good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2) of God. Paul’s special commendation of the believers in Thessalonica for how they loved “the brothers throughout Macedonia” is worthy of note (1 Thess. 4:9-10), especially since Paul seems to indicate that they learned to do so from God (as opposed to a human instrument such as Paul or another apostle). 12:11. Here Paul touches a theme mentioned to the Corinthian church after a long exposition concerning the future resurrection of the body, the putting on of immortality for eternity. Though that is not the subject here, maintaining zeal in service is, especially in the face of persecution or partisanship. He told the Corinthians, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). 12:12. While Paul refers to life in the church in verse 10 (referring to “brotherly love”), here is the first hint of persecution— Be. . . patient in affliction. Paul, no stranger to affliction for the sake of the gospel, stated a principle in Acts 14:22 which summarizes what he is beginning to share with the believers in Rome: “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Only the believer who has made a decision to be a living sacrifice can maintain zeal and patience in affliction. Joy in hope was a theme in Romans 5:2, as was prayer in :26-27. Once again we see Paul going back to the doctrinal part of his letter and making application for the present situation. The knowledge that the is able to intercede through us in times of trouble can be a lifeline to the other side of the quagmire. 12:13. Another evidence of a living sacrifice is a person who gives generously. Does sharing with God’s people who are in need, and the exhortation to practice hospitality, refer just to materially poor believers in Rome, or to those who have

3 of 4 Silverdalebc.com Living Life Together been made poor or destitute through persecution and affliction? Here is a good example of a practice that has been mentioned as a grace-gift in some believers’ lives—giving (v. 8) to meet the needs of others— being presented as a responsibility of the church at large. Certainly some believers have been gifted and resourced by God so as to be able to give more than others, but all believers have a responsibility to practice hospitality and meet the needs of God’s people.

4 of 4 Silverdalebc.com Living Life Together