Grow Group Questions • Hall of Fame Verses • Romans 8:28-30 Pt. 2

Download PDFDownload Word Document Conversation Starter/Questions (10-15 minutes)
Option 1: Did anyone happen to have a chance this week to comfort another going through a hard time? If you did, how did you do this and how might God use you to bless their life further? How did you feel as you had the blessing of helping them? Option 2: This series was chosen in order that the pastors might, regarding Hall of Fame verses Romans 8:28-30, 1) encourage us, 2) protect us from using the verses out of context and 3) preparing us for future learning so as not to be divisive but rather inquisitive and in a continual state of learning (growing deeper roots, changing your mind, learning more and being amazed by God). Which one of these reasons (1, 2, or 3) have impacted you the most in regards to these verses or this series and why?
Sermon Based Questions (15-20 minutes)
Read Romans 8:28-39 (maybe even read two versions that change the subject or acting agent like the NIV and the ESV)
Pastor Thad commented that “those” who can claim the promise of Romans 8:28 are “those” that love God and are called according to His promise. He also commented that loving others is a way to love God as we are all in some sense, His children. Did you like the example pastor Thad used regarding others caring for his kids and how that relates to loving God? Have you ever had that experience as a parent? How are you living out loving others in tangible ways? Share with the group.Bonus: Are you familiar with or want more information about our Mercy Justice ministry at Bethany or would you be interested in joining an Engage “think tank” group (a planning group of people who will help us brainstorm & implement ways to engage our community in the future)? If you are interested, please email info@bethanyefc.org
Pastor Thad communicated that the purpose of God communicated with the text under study was to be conformed to Christ so that Christ might be the firstborn from the dead. What does it mean to be conformed to Christ? How do you work on being conformed to Christ? 
What areas of your life are the most difficult to conform to Christ’s standard? How are you gaining victory?  Where are you losing ground? How can we help and or pray for you in this area?
Below is a brief list (taken from John Piper) of how Christ is glorified in our conforming to Him and how this relates to Him being the firstborn among many brothers. Which one of these is the most encouraging to you and why? Which one of these is the most challenging?
God appointed us to share the greatness of the Son so that the Son might be exalted as the greatest among the great. God destined us to share Christ’s glory in order that the glory of the Son might be magnified in the countless mirrors of those who are conformed to his image. God created a second-born and a third-born and a millionth-born so that Christ might be exalted and praised and honored in the midst of a redeemed people.
Read Romans 8:18. Our text today reads the present and the future as past tense in many ways. In most commentators’ minds, this probably means that Paul is writing this way to communicate the certainty of our heavenly transformation. This is a wonderful blessing of being guaranteed a heavenly home and future. Some have said, in regards to this truth, that people can be so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. However, a larger number of the most impactful Christians that we know of were very heavenly minded. How does Roman’s 8:18 allow us to live this life with joy, regardless of the circumstance, and how does it cause us to reflect on eternal life? 
What difference does this verse make to your life and how you spend it? Do you think it’s possible to be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good? Why or why not? Do you see any biblical examples of this?
Digging Deeper (15-20 minutes)
Read and React. How does this quote from J. I. Packer impact you and how does it “gel” with your thoughts on evangelism?  So far from making evangelism pointless, the sovereignty of God in grace is the one thing that prevents evangelism from being pointless. For it creates the possibility – indeed, the certainty – that evangelism will be fruitful.J.I. Packer
Read Romans 8:29-30. This section of scripture has a lot of powerful words that build on each other to create a greater concept. But, there are also many that we don’t use in regular everyday language. Are there any words or concepts in this section that you find to be confusing? 
Take some time as a group to break down and define some of the words in this section (Blue Letter Bible is a great resource to do this) and talk about what that means for us today. Which word has the most impact on you? Why? If an unbeliever asked you to explain this section of scripture, what would you say?
Romans 8:28-30 has many tensions around God’s foreknowledge, and how this relates to our salvation. Some of the common ways to explain God’s foreknowledge are Calvinism, Arminianism, and Molinism. Are you familiar with these ways of thinking of God’s foreknowledge? Do you think that you agree with one of these ideas more than another? Why? In two minutes or less can you give your core thoughts with two verses related to the matter. (Leaders, please ask your group members to take 15-20 minutes to search out these 3 viewpoints before your group meets, and bring in their conclusions to the group)
How does this impact your view of God? How does this impact your view of man? How does this impact your evangelism? Does it motivate you to share the gospel with others? Why or why not?  Do you think it matters how we think of God’s foreknowledge? Why or why not?
Bonus/optional, use with care: God calls us to pray for people in many ways and to pray for believers to go out into the harvest. However, does God ever specifically direct us to pray for the lost? What does that mean for us? 
Challenge and Prayer (15-20 minutes)
In this series, we have learned that we need to apply the practices of loving others, which would include comforting them and sharing faith with the confidence that we will see some saved. This goes along with the idea of investing in the lives of others so that you can invite them to church and/or to the Lord Jesus. 
Pray for the opportunity to love others and share your faith this week. If you have someone to share with in mind, give the group their first name so that we all can pray for them this week and perhaps put their names on our prayer lists. Pray also that you would share your faith at least once in the next month. If you are able to share your faith, please tell your leader so that the entire group can be encouraged.
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