Micro-Church - Fall 2022 - Week 3
During our "Versus" series in Romans, we will spend our Micro-Church time developing ideas that fall within the text of Romans. As an introduction, let's start with Paul's introduction of this letter to get a feel for the trajectory of this passage:
Romans 1:1–7 (ESV) 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
From this passage, what do you notice about the character, plan, and nature of Jesus?
There is so much validation for our Micro-Churches in the first chapter of Romans. Sunday morning we discussed the power of disciples gathering together and the experience of being "in the room".
Read aloud verses 8-12:
Romans 1:8–12 (ESV)8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Why does gathering together as disciples matter?
Take a few moments and give space for anyone to share their personal stories of how gathering with believers made a difference in their lives.
(Your fellow micro-church members may not even know the impact that something they contributed made in your life!)
Lastly, let's take a look at one more verse in closing:
Romans 1:13 (ESV)
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
Without doubt, there are things that God has placed in your heart that have not yet come to fruition. It may be an assignment, a promise, or maybe even just a faint nudge that you have not yet seen come to pass. In Paul's heart, there was a constant yearning to get to the cultural epicenter of the region. Paul had a heart to preach the gospel in Rome, but had encountered delays in being able to get there. He told the Roman church "I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented..."
Do not lose hope when your intentions see preventions.
Is there something in your heart, big or small, that you are intending to do for God that has seen preventions or setbacks? If so, what are those things?
Is there a step that you can take this week in seeing your intentions come closer to being reality? What is that step?
Take a few moments at the close of the meeting to pray with one another that the hesitations, distractions, and delays that have prevented good intentions from coming to pass would be resolved by the Holy Spirit. If there are tangible steps that are named, pray with one another for the ability to take those steps.
