Bible Study Resources from Romans
by the Apostle Paul

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SERIES ONE TEN STUDIES FROM ROMANS 1 to 6 Why is the world so bad if God is so good?  1:17-32     Sin
Social Issues                                               1:21-28     Ethics
Who Judges Who?                                       2:1-13      Sin
Living in a perfect World                               2:17-24     Sin
The Year 2000 A.D.                                      3:13-24     Sin
Problems: Where do they start?                    3:19-26     Salvation
Getting right with God.                                  4:1-13       Faith
What are you worth?                                     5:1-10       Faith
Who are you willing to die for                        5:6-11      Salvation
Being free                                                    6:1-23      Freedom

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SERIES TWO THIRTEEN STUDIES FROM ROMANS

Heading	Passage (Romans)	Topic
Doing the right thing Who is the Holy Spirit? Can I know for sure? Prayer Don't Worry; Be ....? Do I want other people to go to Heaven  Don't be squeezed into the world's mould Spiritual aerobics Just do it! Love is... Double Standards Stumbling Blocks Too smooth for God	7:7-25; 8:1-4; Gal.5:17-25; 1 Cor.10:13 8:1-27 Gal.5:22; John 16:13-14 7:1-4, 8:1-11; 31-39  1:9-10; 8:14; 8:26-27 12:12; 15:30-32   8:28-39 10:1-4; 9-15  12:1-4  12:3-8 12:9-21 13:9-14 13:1-5 14:1-22 16:17-19	Christian Life Holy Spirit Assurance Prayer Trust Faith & Sharing Commitment Gifts Living Faith Relationships Rules Liberty Liberty
	Trinity Cottage, Katoomba

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Doing the right thing.
  Why is it so hard?

     1. Rate the following from 0 to 5 on how tempting they are
       Chocolate    0  1  2  3  4  5
       Cigarettes   0  1  2  3  4  5
       Staying up late  0  1  2  3  4  5
       Cheating in an exam  0  1  2  3  4  5
       Watching television  0  1  2  3  4  5
       Listening to gossip  0  1  2  3  4  5
       Making your bed  0  1  2  3  4  5
 

2. Could you go a month without watching television or videos? Why?
 

3. What are some good things about God's Laws?

7:7 "Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that."
7:12 "Still, the Law and its commands are holy and correct and good."
7:22 "With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God."

4. Why is it so hard to do the right thing, when you know what to do?

7:10 "The very command that was supposed to bring life to me, instead brought death."

5. Why is knowing the right thing to do not enough?

7:5 "When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die."
7:14 "We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin."

6. Why can knowing the right thing to do be more harm for some people?

7:7-8 "Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that. 8It was sin that used this command as a way of making me have all kinds of desires. But without the Law, sin is dead."
7:15-17 "In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. 16Although I don't do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. 17So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them."
 

7. Why is warning people about Aids, or telling them about drugs only half the solution?

7:18-20 "I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. 19Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. 20And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them."

8. What do the following verses tell us about temptation?
8:1-4 ""If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. 2The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. 3The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. 4He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires."

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Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is not vague, impersonal or a shadow. He is equal in every way to the Father and the Son.

WHY DID HE COME?
The Holy Spirit came to bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ and to glorify him (John 16:13-14).

Thus the more we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives the more we shall be able to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and the more we shall be aware of his presence. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit a power greater than our own, that of God, is released within us and through us for the service and victory of God.

1. WHAT AREAS OF YOUR LIFE DO YOU NEED TO GIVE TO GOD?

WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES.
a/ Renews people        (John 3:5)
b/ Dwells within each Christian      (1 Corinthians 3:16)
c/ Seals every Christian in Christ      (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30)
d/ Is the guarantee of the inheritance that each Christian will receive (2 Corinthians 5:5)
e/ Baptises each Christian into the body of Christ    (1 Cor. 12:13, Galatians 3:27)

2. HOW CAN YOU BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
A desire to serve and help others to find Him should be your motive. You can only be filled with the Holy Spirit by faith and if you are a Christian.

QUESTIONS
1. What do you understand about the Holy Spirit from the following passages?
Romans 8:1-2 "If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. 2The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death."
Romans 8:5 "People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things."
Romans 8:9 "You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him."
Romans 8:26-27 "In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. 27God knows what is in our hearts. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people."
Romans 1:4 "But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death."

2. What is the function and role of the Holy Spirit?
1 Cor.3:16 "All of you surely know that you are God's temple and that his Spirit lives in you"
John 16:13-14 "The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit does not speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. 14The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you."

3. How does the Holy Spirit work in a Christian's life?
Galatians 5:22-23 "God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways."

4. In what areas of your life do you believe the Holy Spirit needs to be more in control?

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Can I know for sure?
1. When I feel guilty I (Rate yourself from 0 to 5 for how you react)

  Eat    0  1  2  3  4  5
  Cry    0  1  2  3  4  5
  Watch T.V.   0  1  2  3  4  5
  Get depressed  0  1  2  3  4  5
  Pretend to be happy 0  1  2  3  4  5
  Try to cover up  0  1  2  3  4  5
  Try and sort things out 0  1  2  3  4  5
  Apologise   0  1  2  3  4  5
 

2. What are other ways people may try to deal with guilt?

Romans 8:1-4 "If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. 2The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. 3The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. 4He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires."

Romans 7:1-4  "My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive. 2For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free 3to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful.
4That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God."
 

3. What does this passage mean?
 

4. Why do Christians need to be reminded that God has forgiven their sins?
 

5. What contrasts can you find in the following passage between the life controlled by sin and the life controlled by the Spirit?

Romans 8:5-11 "People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. 6If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 7Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws. 8If we follow our desires, we cannot please God. 9You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him. 10But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. 11Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit."
 

6. How can we fight against sin?
 

7. If you belong to Christ, what responsibility does the Holy Spirit assume in you life and how does it help?
 

Romans 8:31-39 "What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won't he freely give us everything else? 33If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side, speaking to him for us. 35Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? 36It is exactly as the Scriptures say,
 "For you we face death all day long.
 We are like sheep on their way to the butcher."
37In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love - not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!
 

8. Which of the following do you find hard to handle (Rate them from 0 to 5)

 a. When you hear of an important Christian sinning 0  1  2  3  4  5
 b. Being let down by a friend    0  1  2  3  4  5
 c. Failing an exam      0  1  2  3  4  5
 d. People picking on you     0  1  2  3  4  5
 e. the fear of dying      0  1  2  3  4  5
 f. Never getting married     0  1  2  3  4  5
 
 
 

9. How would you answer the following letter

Hi,
 I am worried that I am not going to get to Heaven, I try my best, and am even reading my Bible a couple a times a week but I am scared that Jesus has turned away from me because I am not good enough. What should I do?

your friend,
John

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PRAYER

What do you think prayer is? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS (Pick 6 questions below to answer from the verses below)

 1. Why pray at all?
 2. What do you say when you pray?
 3. Does God hear you when you pray?
 4. Can you pray about my problems?
 5. Is it better to pray at a church?
 6. Does prayer work?
 7. What if I don't feel like praying?
 8. How do you pray?
 9. Why should I pray for my enemies?
10. Can you be completely honest in prayer?
11. How can I pray more?
12. How long should you pray for?
13. Who do you pray for?
14. How does God answer prayer?
15. Why are some prayers not answered?
16. Can God hear all prayers?
17. Do you have to pray aloud to be heard?
18. What is the most important things to pray about?
19. Is anything too small to bother God with?

Prayer involves communicating with God.
Romans 1:9-10 "God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son. In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you. "

Romans 8:14 "Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children."

Romans 8:26-27 "In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. 27God knows what is in our hearts. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people."

Romans 12:12 "Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying."

Romans 15:30-32 "My friends, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that comes from the Holy Spirit, I beg you to pray sincerely with me and for me. 31Pray that God will protect me from the unbelievers in Judea, and that his people in Jerusalem will be pleased with what I am doing. 32Ask God to let me come to you and have a pleasant and refreshing visit. 33I pray that God, who gives peace, will be with all of you. Amen."

What are you going to do this week to improve your prayer life? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

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Don't Worry
Be ......

1. How would you finish the above statement?
_______________________________________

2. Rate the following situations on how much you would worry, with 0 being not at all and 5 being a lot.

Failing the main exams at School  0 1 2 3 4 5
Never getting married         0 1 2 3 4 5
Always having pimples          0 1 2 3 4 5
Going to Hell when you die        0 1 2 3 4 5
Being unemployed for a year        0 1 2 3 4 5
The world going into World War 3  0 1 2 3 4 5
Never being allowed to drive          0 1 2 3 4 5
Getting and staying fat           0 1 2 3 4 5
Having a good friend die          0 1 2 3 4 5
Catching Aids                  0 1 2 3 4 5

3. What are three things that worry you?________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

4. Christians are not immune from suffering, persecution or temptation. Underline any parts that you think are significant and then share why.

5. What should Christians do when things go wrong?

6. Can God reject someone who has become a Christian?

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Do I want other people to go to Heaven?
 

1. If you were allowed to pick three people to go to Heaven, who would you pick and why?

________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Romans 10:1-4 "Dear friends, my greatest wish and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2I know they love God, but they don't understand 3what makes people acceptable to him. So they refuse to trust God, and they try to be acceptable by obeying the Law. 4But Christ makes the Law no longer necessary for those who become acceptable to God by faith."

2. Who did Paul wish would get to be in Heaven?
3. Can you be good enough to get to Heaven?

Romans 10:9-15 " 9So you will be saved, if you say that God raised Jesus Christ from death, and if you believe this with all your heart. 10God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.
11The Scriptures say that no one who has faith will be disappointed, 12no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help. 13All who call out to the Lord will be saved.
14But how can people ask the Lord to save them, if they have never had faith in him? How can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news."

4. What must a person do to get to go to heaven? (be saved; receive eternal life)
5. How serious must you be, to become a Christian?
6. How does a person become a Christian?

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Don't be squeezed into the world's mould

1. What are some things that you do that your friends don't do?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

2. Look at the list below put a "P" on what your parents opinion would be, an "M" for your opinion and a "F" for your friends opinion.
 (If you agree then put a 5 if you totally disagree then put a 0)
a. Sex before marriage is wrong      0  1  2  3  4  5
b. People shouldn't be allowed to smoke till they are 18 years old 0  1  2  3  4  5
c. People should be allowed to drink without parental approval  0  1  2  3  4  5
d. Teenagers shouldn't get pocket money     0  1  2  3  4  5
e. Teenagers should be paid to go to school    0  1  2  3  4  5
f.  People my age should be home by ten pm.    0  1  2  3  4  5
g. Car licences should be available from 14 years of age.  0  1  2  3  4  5

3. How much difference was there between your answers?
4. What does "offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice" mean?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

5. In what ways do you conform to other peoples opinions?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

6. What does "Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think" mean?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

7. What are the marks of a Christian life in the following situations
 Spiritual Life:   _____________________________________________
 Emotional Life:  _____________________________________________
 Friends:  _____________________________________________
 Parents:  _____________________________________________
 Morals:  _____________________________________________

8. What areas of your life can you change to be more like Jesus?

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SPIRITUAL AEROBICS
 

Romans 12:3-8 "I realise how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you. 4A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use. 5That's how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.
6God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. 7If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. 8If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully."

RATE YOURSELF ON THE FOLLOWING LIST OF GIFTS
SPEAK GOD'S MESSAGE
God has given me a gift for communicating the Gospel. I can explain the Gospel simply and in a clear and understandable way.       0 1 2 3 4 5
SERVE
God has given me a special ability of helping people out. I am sensitive to other people and find it easy to respond to the needs of people     0 1 2 3 4 5
TEACH
God has given me the skill to help others to learn the Bible. I am able to motivate people in there Bible study.          0 1 2 3 4 5
ENCOURAGING OTHERS
God has given me the gift to tell people there strengths and give them encouragement in there spiritual life. I am able to help people give there best.    0 1 2 3 4 5
GENEROSITY
God has given me the ability to give of myself and my resources for the benefit of others. I can reach out to those in need         0 1 2 3 4 5
AUTHORITY (Leadership)
God has given me the gift for organisation. I can get things done. I find it easy to take responsibility when the need arises.        0 1 2 3 4 5
KINDNESS
God has given me the ability to be compassionate, warm and caring when someone is in trouble or need. I can identify with their pain and be sensitive in my support.    0 1 2 3 4 5

A. When it comes to Spiritual Gifts from God I feel that I have
  1. None    2. Downgrade myself
  3. Overestimate my ability  4. Never think about it
  5. Understand my gifts and try to effectively use them

B. How should we view spiritual gifts?

C. What do you think is the difference between a spiritual gift, an ability and a talent?

D. How could we encourage each other in the use of our spiritual gifts?

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Just do it!

Becoming a Christian involves asking Jesus to be Lord of your life, because of this God forgives us, we receive the Holy Spirit plus much more. Once we have become a Christian our chief aim now is to be like Jesus.

Romans 12:9-21 "9Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. 10Love each other as brothers and sisters and honour others more than you do yourself. 11Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. 12Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. 13Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home.
14Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you. Ask him to bless them and not to curse them. 15When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. 16Be friendly with everyone. Don't be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people. 17Don't mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, 18and do your best to live at peace with everyone.
19Dear friends, don't try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says,
 "I am the one to take revenge and pay them back."
20The Scriptures also say,
 "If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat.
 And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
 This will be the same as piling burning coals on their heads."
21Don't let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.

1. Rate yourself on how you are going at living for Jesus.
0 This is not me 5 this is like what I am.
Love must be sincere 0  1  2  3  4  5 Hate what is evil  0  1  2  3  4  5
Zeal, eager   0  1  2  3  4  5 Spiritual fervour  0  1  2  3  4  5
Serving the Lord   0  1  2  3  4  5 Joyful in hope   0  1  2  3  4  5
Patient in affliction  0  1  2  3  4  5 Faithful in prayer  0  1  2  3  4  5
Generous   0  1  2  3  4  5 Practice hospitality  0  1  2  3  4  5
Do not take revenge 0  1  2  3  4  5 Live at peace with people 0  1  2  3  4  5

2. What should you do if people give you are hard time?

3.Christian output needs to have Christian input so how is your spiritual life going?

4. What is something in the Bible that has been special to you?

5. If your prayer life was a letter which of the following would it be and why?
 a. A note on the fridge.  b. A letter to Santa
 c. A short postcard   d. A two page letter
 e. A magazine   f. A book

6. If your Bible reading was like eating which of the following would it be like and why?
 a. starvation.   b. bread crumbs
 c. a sandwich   d. lunch
 e. a five course meal

Our personal commitment to God is reflected by the time we spend with God and learning about Him and the time we spent applying this knowledge

7. What are some things that you could do to improve your Christian life?

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Love is...
1. Can you force people to love other people? Why?
_______________________________________ _______________________________________

2. If you do not like someone do you
a.  Pray that God will change you attitude.
b.  Hope they die.
c.  Pretend to be nice to them.
d.  Never speak to them.
e.  Gossip about them.
f.   Try to be a friend.
g.  Let them know that they are not wanted.
 

Romans 13:9-12 " In the Law there are many commands, such as, "Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others." But all of these are summed up in the command that says, "Love others as much as you love yourself." 10No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands.
11You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than when we first put our faith in the Lord. 12Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light. "

3. If you had a new person comes along, what are some ways you can make them welcome?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________
 

Romans 13:13-14 "So behave properly, as people do in the day. Don't go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent. Don't quarrel or be jealous. 14Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires."
 

4. "Being good, does not mean that you would care for someone." What do you think this means?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

5. Why is getting drunk unloving to others?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

6. What are some ways that you can be more like Jesus?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

7. What are some bad attitudes that you would like to stop?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

8. How can you get rid of these bad attitudes and actions?

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Double standards

Read the following story and answer the questions below.
Peter visits his friend John, to find that He has some soft
music on and the lights dimmed down low, for he is giving a
special candlelight dinner, for a new girlfriend. Peter knows
this is John's method to get a young woman into bed.
Peter congratulates John and then asks him
"Who is the lucky girl?"
John answers "Your sister."
Peter is so angry that he punches John out.
QUESTIONS.

1. Do you think Peter believes that "sleeping around" is wrong? Why?
________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you think that Peter "sleeps around"? Why? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why did Peter punch out John? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

4. Do you think that Peter has a double standard? Why? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

5. Is it right to have a double standard? ________________________________________________________________________________

6. What are three double standards that some people may keep? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

READ THE FOLLOWING QUOTE FROM THE BIBLE.
ROMANS 13:1-5 "Obey the rulers who have authority over you. Only God can give authority to anyone, and he puts these rulers in their places of power. 2People who oppose the authorities are opposing what God has done, and they will be punished. 3Rulers are a threat to evil people, not to good people. There is no need to be afraid of the authorities. Just do right, and they will praise you for it. 4After all, they are God's servants, and it is their duty to help you.
If you do something wrong, you ought to be afraid, because these rulers have the right to punish you. They are God's servants who punish criminals to show how angry God is. 5But you should obey the rulers because you know it is the right thing to do, and not just because of God's anger."

7. Why should we obey the laws? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

8. What would happen if we do not obey the laws? Why? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

9. Discuss this statement "God expects us to keep holy standards in all not just some of our life"

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STUMBLING BLOCKS
 1. How could the following be stumbling blocks
a. Taking change from the offering at Church?     b. Drinking alcohol?
c. Going to a rock concert where the band has anti-Christian lyrics? d. Going to a pub?

Romans 14:1-9 "Welcome all the Lord's followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don't criticise them for having beliefs that are different from yours. 2Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. 3But you should not criticise others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. 4What right do you have to criticise someone else's servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right.
5Some of the Lord's followers think one day is more important than another. Others think all days are the same. But each of you should make up your own mind. 6Any followers who count one day more important than another day do it to honour their Lord. And any followers who eat meat give thanks to God, just like the ones who don't eat meat.
7Whether we live or die, it must be for God, rather than for ourselves. 8Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. 9This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living."

The early Church was made up of many Jews who saw the Sabbath (Saturday) as a sacred day and had food that they would not eat for religious reasons. Also, many people didn't want to take the risk of eating meat as it may have been offered to idols.

2. Not all Churches worship the same way, discuss which of the following matter, and which we can have liberty on.
 a. Believing Jesus is Lord.   b. Closing your eyes when praying.
 c. Standing up to sing.   d. Believing that all the Bible is God's word.
 e. Having rap music in Church.  f.  Having Drama in Church.
 g. Being allowed to eat during Church. h. Being allowed to smoke in Church.
 i. Playing sport on Sunday.

3. How does Paul believe we should deal with matters of conscience?

Romans 14:10-18 "Why do you criticise other followers of the Lord? Why do you look down on them? The day is coming when God will judge all of us. 11In the Scriptures God says,
 "I swear by my very life that everyone will kneel down and praise my name!"
12And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do.
13We must stop judging others. We must also make up our minds not to upset anyone's faith. 14The Lord Jesus has made it clear to me that God considers all foods fit to eat. But if you think some foods are unfit to eat, then for you they are not fit.
15If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love. Don't let your appetite destroy someone Christ died for. 16Don't let your right to eat bring shame to Christ. 17God's kingdom is not about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit. 18If you serve Christ in this way, you will please God and be respected by people."

4. What does Paul see as the most important part of being a Christian?

Romans 14:21-22 "It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes problems for other followers of the Lord. 22What you believe about these things should be kept between you and God. You are fortunate, if your actions don't make you have doubts."

5. What should you do if you are a stumbling block to others?

6. What should you do if someone is a stumbling block to you?

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Too Smooth for God
Romans 16:17-19 "My friends, I beg you to watch out for anyone who causes trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught. Stay away from them! 18They want to serve themselves and not Christ the Lord. Their flattery and fancy talk fool people who don't know any better. 19I am glad that everyone knows how well you obey the Lord. But still, I want you to understand what is good and not have anything to do with evil."

1. Rate yourself on how much you would speak up against
 a. Dirty Jokes    0 1 2 3 4 5
 b. Rumours      0 1 2 3 4 5
 c. Racist comments     0 1 2 3 4 5
 d. Telling others to be quiet in Church 0 1 2 3 4 5
 e. Cheating      0 1 2 3 4 5
 f.  Watching dirty movies    0 1 2 3 4 5
 g. People being catty towards others 0 1 2 3 4 5
 h. People picking on others   0 1 2 3 4 5
 i.  Lying      0 1 2 3 4 5
 j. The plight of the poor or starving 0 1 2 3 4 5

2. How can people cause divisions?
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3. What can you do to stop rumours?
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Romans 4:4-9 "Money paid to workers isn't a gift. It is something they earn by working. 5But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him. 6In the Scriptures David talks about the blessings that come to people who are acceptable to God, even though they don't do anything to deserve these blessings. David says,
7 "God blesses people whose sins are forgiven
 and whose evil deeds are forgotten.
8 The Lord blesses people
 whose sins are erased from his book."
9Are these blessings meant for circumcised people or for those who are not circumcised? Well, the Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him."

4. How should Christians relate to each other?
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5. Rather than being involved in gutter talk what can Christians talk about?
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