Romans 15:5-13 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. 8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to your name.”
10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles.”
11 And yet again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
Praise him, all you people of the earth.”
12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne will come,
and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
I. Strong faith works at harmony (vv. 5-6)
• Prayer is participation with God in
• God
•
• Disharmony is
• God seeks worship from a
II. Strong faith works at acceptance (vv. 7-12)
• Christians work at accepting people who are
• Discrimination is
• Disagreement is not
• Strong faith stands with the
• Jesus doesn’t erase
• Claiming to be “
III. Strong faith works at being filled with the Holy Spirt (v. 13)
• Prayer is the spiritual means to
•
• The Holy Spirit helps us not to major on
• Spirit-empowered Christianity works at
• Spirit-empowered Christianity fills us with hope to
Getting to Know Me
What is your favorite hymn or worship song, or what is a song that has really blessed your heart lately?
Exploring the Word – Romans 15:4-13
1. As you listened to the message, what points stood out?
2. Read Romans 15:4-6. According to the apostle Paul, what gives Christians the patience for endurance? What happens when believers are not regularly engaging in this activity (refer to Romans 12:2)? Give examples of how this applies to disputable matters.
3. Why is living in harmony nonnegotiable for the Christian? What does harmony look like for both strong and weak Christians (refer to Romans 12:16)? What does harmony not look like?
4. Read Romans 15:7-12. How can Christians accept and respect one another even when they do not agree? How does accepting other Christians, in terms of disputable matters, glorify God?
5. What does it look like to not accept another believer? How did Jesus show his full acceptance of us? How do Christians demonstrate full acceptance of others, regardless of their differences?
6. Read Romans 15:13. Why does harmony require work? How does not aiming for harmony disrupt the work of the Holy Spirit? How can Christians be filled with joy and peace that comes only from the Holy Spirit?