Romans 12:1-2; Luke 6:46-49
Over the next few months, in Connect Groups and Sunday Services, we will be exploring what it means to live 'For God Alone'. This bible study will help us to begin this exploration by laying a foundation about 'worship'.
What does the word 'worship' bring to mind for you?
If you have a story, share about a time you experienced God in a new way in worship, or when you learnt something significant about worship.
Read Romans 12:1-2
What does Paul say about worship in these two verses?
Go through it phrase by phrase and discuss what the significance is for our worship of God:
"in view of God's mercy": How is our worship a response to God's mercy?
"offer your bodies as a living sacrifice": How is our worship an offering of our whole selves?
"holy and pleasing to God": How is our worship focused on pleasing God?
"this is your true and proper worship": How is a life of worship the only right response?
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world": How does God's way of living contradict what is 'normal' to us? [1]
"be transformed by the renewing of your mind": How does a renewed mind transform us?
"then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will": How does our renewal and transformation help us to discern God's will for our lives? How, in turn, does this allow us to worship God all the more?
Read Luke 6:46-49
How does Jesus' teaching here help us to understand Romans 12:1-2?
What is the relationship between listening to and obeying Jesus, and right worship?
Spend some time reflecting and praying that God would enable us to rightly live lives of worship to Him.
[1] N. T. Wright writes,
Christians are called to be counter-cultural — not in all respects, as though every single aspect of human society and culture were automatically and completely bad, but at least in being prepared to think through each aspect of life. We must be ready to challenge those parts where the present age shouts, or perhaps whispers seductively, that it would be easier and better to do things that way, while the age to come, already begun in Jesus, insists that belonging to the new creation means that we must live this way instead.
The key to it all is the transforming of the mind. Many Christians in today’s world never come to terms with this. They hope they will be able to live up to something like Christian standards while still thinking the way the rest of the world thinks. It can’t be done.