Cross (Small Group Study)
Small Group Study, week commencing 5 October.
Click here for a PDF version of these questions.
1. You’ve heard of some new Christians who are living in another country with a hostile environment, where all electronic communication is monitored. Someone you know is (without circumventing COVID-19 regulations) going there on a business trip. They’ve offered to carry a letter for you. What would you write to them?
2. Death on a Roman cross was not an afterthought, but part of the plan.
Read Mark 8:27-33, Acts 2:22-24.
Use three words to describe how this affects your appreciation of what Jesus did for you? For fun, try typing those 3 words (with a dot separating each) into https://what3words.com . Does it give you any location in the world? If so, take a minute to pray for people in that location.
3. Reconciliation features in our passage for this week.
Read Romans 5:6-10. Compare Ephesians 2:11-19.
In his talk, Ian mentioned four words from Romans 5:6-10 that Paul uses to describe our situation before we became believers in Christ: Powerless, Ungodly, Sinners, Enemies. Dwell on any one of those words for a few minutes. What is the extent of God’s love to you that he would reach out for you in this state?
4. Jesus was not the only person to suffer crucifixion. The idea of a cross for the execution of criminals who were not Roman citizens was embedded enough in the culture that Jesus and others would use it as an example of how believers should live.
Read Mark 8:2135, Galatians 6:12-14, 1 Peter 2:18-25.
Work out some principles for applying ‘cross-based living’ to our lives today. In what way might this include extending God’s love to the powerless, ungodly, sinners and even enemies? What would reconciliation look like in these cases?
5. In Romans 5:9-10, Paul uses an ‘a fortiori’ argument. He mentions (twice) the great effects of God’s love towards us while we were sinners/God’s enemies. And then presents his ‘how much more’ argument, that even more will be done for us in the future.
What part of ‘being saved’ that you won’t experience until the day you die (unless Jesus returns before that) do you look forward to most?
How does this saved/not yet saved tension cause a struggle in your life?
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