WWW Be Right (18)

In one paragraph

This message worked through Romans 5, tracing the four blessings Paul says come with being justified by faith, and then turning to what Paul says suffering actually does in a believer's life. The thread running through it all was the question of whether we trust God enough to call Him a friend, not just in a crisis, but every day. Deborah opened by grounding the whole chapter in two terms Becca...

Read together

1. Romans 5:1 justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
2. Romans 5:2 access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God
3. Romans 5:3 we glory in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope
4. Romans 5:5 hope will not disappoint because the love of God will be poured into our hearts
5. Romans 5:6 at just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly
6. Romans 5:8 God demonstrated his love that while we were sinners, Christ died for us
7. Romans 5:9 justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath
8. Romans 5:10 while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son
9. Romans 14:4 you will stand by the grace of God because He Himself will help you stand
10. 2 Corinthians 12 Paul describes being taken to heaven and hearing things he was forbidden to speak of
11. Acts 14:22 through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God
12. Ecclesiastes Solomon wrote that God plants eternity in every heart
13. Zephaniah 3:17 God takes great delight in you
14. 1 Peter 1:6-7 trials come to prove your faith genuine, more precious than gold refined by fire
15. Galatians do not compare yourself to someone else because that is a joy stealer
16. John 15:13 greater love has no one than this, that they lay down his life for his friends
17. John 15:14 you are my friends if you do whatever I command you
18. Proverbs 18:24 a friend sticks closer than a brother

Talk about it

1. Deborah described righteousness as believing God and trusting Him, and sin as essentially saying 'I don't believe you, God.' How does thinking about sin that way change how you see your own struggles to trust God?
2. Deborah walked through four blessings Paul names in Romans 5: the hope of glory, peace with God, access to God around the clock, and standing in grace. Which of those four feels most real and personal to you right now, and which feels hardest to hold onto?
3. Paul says in Romans 5 that we rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Deborah described this like steel being put through fire or gold being refined. Where have you seen that process actually work out in your own life or in someone you know?
4. Deborah shared how Renee stood at her son's funeral, sick with cancer, and gave a eulogy full of strength and hope, saying 'my hope is in the Lord.' What do you think made that kind of hope possible for her, and what would it take for you to have that same foundation when something hard hits?
5. Deborah closed by asking whether we are truly a friend to Jesus, not just avoiding wrong things but actively seeking Him day by day. What does that kind of friendship with Jesus look like in an ordinary week for you?