Victorious

More Than Conquerors: Part 2 (Romans 8:33-39)

August 25, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:33–39

More Than Conquerors (Romans 8:31-39)

August 18, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:31–39

Victorious / More Than Conquerors August 18,2024 Romans 8:31-32 Study Questions 1.    Describe a time in your life when God protected you from a dangerous situation. 2.    Read Romans 8:31-32. What does these verses promise? What are they not promising?  3.    What did God do for those whom He has called to Himself? How far did He go to express His loving deliverance for you? 4.    Read Psalm 91:1-4. Identify the different names of God. What do they mean (study within the context of the verses)? Describe the different illustrations that are given about how God protects His children. Give examples of people in the Bible whom the Lord provided deliverance for and protected. 5.    How have you seen the Lord’s care for you in each of these descriptions in Psalm 91? 6.    Which of these promises encourages you the most? 7.    In summary, do you find comfort in Romans 8:31-32? Why or why not?

Called for a Purpose (Romans 8:28-30)

August 11, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:28–30

Victorious / “Called for a Purpose” August 11, 2024 Study Questions Romans 8:28-30 1.    What do we learn about the character of God in verses 28-29? What does it mean that God ‘causes all things to work together’? 2.    What does ‘good’ mean? What passages of Scripture can you recall that describe the goodness of God? 3.    Give an example of God’s goodness in your life and how that was different than what you thought was ‘good’. What are the problems that come with a prosperity gospel mindset? 4.    What does it mean to be ‘called’ (v.29-30)? Describe the difference between the general calling of God and the effectual calling of God. Compare Romans 8:28-30 with the following passages: A.    The general calling of the Gospel: Matthew 11:28; John 7:37; John 3:16;  2 Peter 3:9 B.    The effectual calling of the Gospel: Jeremiah 1:5; John 6:46; 15:16;  1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 1 Peter 2:21; 2 Timothy 1:9 5.    Do you find it difficult to reconcile God’s calling with a person’s free choice? 6.    According to verse 29, what is the ultimate purpose God has for those whom He has called? Describe what that looks like in your life. 7.    What are you going through now that doesn’t feel so good? How can you trust the Lord to work out His good? How does this passage better help prepare you to face the hurdles that lie before you?

Eagerly Waiting (Romans 8:18-27)

August 4, 2024 • Stu Salvigsen • Romans 8:18–27

Victorious / “Eagerly Waiting August 4, 2024 Romans 8:18-27 Study Questions 1. Read Romans 8:18-27. Make note of all the instances of suffering, struggling, or weakness that are mentioned as well as the usage of the word groan or groaning. Who is struggling, and who is groaning in each instance? 2. In verses 20-22, what is the impact sin has had on the condition of creation. When will it be restored? Read Genesis 3:16-19 and 2 Peter 3:10-13 3. Our sin nature affects us not just morally, but also, physically due to the curse in Genesis 3. Look at Romans 7:15-8:1 and 2 Cor. 12:7-10. What is Paul's response to each of these burdens that can easily hold us back and rob us of our hope? 4. Compare our earthly understanding of the word hope as used in verses such as Acts 16:19 or Luke 24:21 compared to a heavenly understanding of hope (often referred to as Biblical hope or Christian hope) as used here in Romans 8:24-25, Romans 15:13, Galatians 5:5 and many other passages. 5. What prevents us from having the mindset of eagerly waiting for our future hope of Salvation? Does the brokenness of this world or the inability to rid ourselves of our sinful flesh cause us to miss out on the joy of our Salvation? Do we put our trust in earthly hopes that will inevitably fail instead of resting in God’s promise of an eternal hope? 6. How does Paul’s attitude in verse 18 help with having a mindset focused on our future redemption?

A Child and an Heir (Romans 8:14-17)

July 28, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:14–17

Victorious / “A Child and an Heir” July 28,2024 Romans 8:14-17 Study Questions 1.        Read Romans 8:14-17. According to verse 14, what is the evidence that one is a child of God?  2.        In this passage, Identify the distinct privileges of being a child of God.  3.        What does it mean to you that you can call on the Lord as your ‘Daddy’?  4.        According to verse 16, how does the Spirit of God testify that we are His children? Is this based on a feeling? Why/ why not? See also: 1 John 5:5-12; John 1:12; 20:31; 14:26. 5.        Verse 17 speaks of our relationship with God the Father and the God the Son. How are children of God suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus today? Does your identity as a follower of Jesus bring difficulties/trials? How? See also: Matthew 5:10-12; 10:16-22. 6.        What hope do you find in this passage? What is the biggest ‘take-a-way’ for you in this study?

Living Offensively (Romans 8:9-13)

July 21, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:9–13

Victorious / “Living Offensively” July 21, 2024 Romans 8:9-13 Study Questions 1.    Read Romans 8:9-11. What is the distinction of someone who is a child of God? How do you know you ‘belong’ to Christ? See also: 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30. 2.    How are believers in Jesus dead to their bodies? How does the Holy Spirit give life to our mortal bodies? See also: Romans 6:5; Galatians 2:20. 3.    According to verse 13, What are we as Christ-followers under obligation to? What does that mean? What is the evidence of a genuine believer in Jesus Christ? Do you see this in your own life? How? 4.    Discuss various spiritual disciplines that will put you on the offensive rather than the defensive when it comes to living by the Spirit rather than the flesh. 5.    Read Philippians 4:8. How does this passage practically help you live offensively? What does that look like in your daily life as you follow Jesus? 6.    Define the 3 steps that Pastor Doug challenged us with this week that will allow you to live offensively for Christ: a.    Determine a spiritual goal b.    Create the game plan c.     Celebrate the wins

The Right Mindset (Romans 8:3-8)

July 14, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:3–8

Victorious / The Right Mindset July 14, 2024 Romans 8:3-8 Study Questions 1.    Read Romans 8:3-4. What power does the Law of God have, and at the same time, what is it weak in?  2.    What does it mean that Jesus was “in the likeness of sinful flesh” and why is this important? (See also Hebrews 2:17.) How did Jesus’ sacrifice “condemn sin in the flesh”? How were the requirements of the Law fulfilled? 3.    Read Romans 8:4-8. What does it mean to set one’s mind on “the things of the flesh”? Give some examples. What does it mean to set one’s mind on “the things of the Spirit”? Give some examples.  4.    What are the natural consequences or results of these two different mindsets? In other words, where do they lead? 5.    Can a person profess to believe in God and yet be willfully intent on the flesh? What warning do you see here? (See also Titus 1:16.) What difference is there between having my “mind set on the flesh” (Romans 8:5-8) and “doing the very thing that I hate” (Romans 7:14-20)? 6.    Identifying the thirst of your soul is key to finding joy and peace with God. What can you learn from the mistakes of the Israelites in Jeremiah 2:13?  7.    What do the following passages teach you about willfully pursuing the Spirit and not allowing your flesh to rule in your life? (See Galatians 5:16-25; Philippians 3:15; Colossians 3:2.)

No Condemnation

July 7, 2024 • Pastor Doug Thuen • Romans 8:1

Victorious / No Condemnation July 7,2024 Study Questions Romans 8:1-2  1.    When you think of the word condemnation, what comes to mind? Can you recall a time in your life when you’ve had to pay for a wrong that you have committed? Explain. 2.    Romans 8:1 begins with the word ‘therefore’. Read Romans 7:14-8:2 in order to understand the context of what is being taught. Then discuss: the condemnation has been taken away…from what? How is it taken away?  3.    According to verse 1, what does it mean to be ‘in’ Christ Jesus? (See also 2 Corinthians 5:17. For further study, see Ephesians 1-2.) 4.    How are we held accountable to our sin before God? (See also Romans 3:10-12, 23.) How has the ‘law of the Spirit of life’ set you free (verse 2)? Can you claim this to be true in your life? Why/why not? 5.    Read Isaiah 53:5 and 2 Corinthians 5:21. The Bible teaches positional sanctification (imputed righteousness through Christ). Even though believers in Jesus are ‘free’ from the penalty of sin, what do we do when we continue to struggle with sinning in the flesh? Read Psalm 32:1-7. According to this Psalm, what did God do with the guilt of the sins of those who call on Him?  6.    Even if God has forgiven you, do you find it difficult to forgive yourself? Why/why not? Imagine you are standing before God alone and He is looking directly at you, what does He think of you? What do you think He would say to you? (Read Psalm 36:5-7; Jeremiah 31:3; John 21:15-19; 1 John 1:9.) 7.    How can you walk this week in the confidence that there is no longer any fear of condemnation from God? Read Psalm 34:22, and Romans 8:1. This week how can you tangibly remind yourself of these precious truths?