Read Romans 15:1. What are those who are strong supposed to do for those who are not strong?
bear their __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
If you are the strong one should you please yourself first?
Yes No I don’t know
Read Romans 15:2. Who are we to try and please? Circle all that apply.
ourselves our neighbor the one weaker than us
no one God other strong ones
Read Romans 15:3. Did Christ please Himself?
Yes No I don’t know
Read Romans 15:4 and answer the following questions.
Why did God have things that happened a long time ago written down?
for our __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Where do we find the things that God had written for our instruction? Circle the right one.
In Romans 15:4 we find one of our important phrases. We find the phrase “so that”. This is a phrase that helps us answer the question “Why?” in a verse. According to what you read in this verse why did God have things written for our instruction? Answer true (T) or false (F).
______ so that we could have Sunday School classes and talk about it
______ so that we would have cool bedtime stories
______ so that we might have hope
Read Romans 15:4 again. Use this verse to fill in the blanks for God’s instructions to us so that we can have hope.
p __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
+ e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ = hope
According to Romans 15:4 where does the encouragement that brings us hope come from?
the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Read Romans 15:5. Who is able to give us both perseverance and encouragement?
__ __ __
In Romans 15:5-6, Paul prays that God would grant us to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus. According to Romans 15:6 why does he want God to do this?
so that with __ __ __ accord you may with __ __ __ voice __ __ __ __ __ __ __ the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look up and read John 17:22-23. Does Jesus ask this same thing of God for us?
Yes No I don’t know
In John 17:23 we see the important phrase again, “so that”. According to this verse why does Jesus want us to be one and perfected in unity? Answer true (T) or false (F)
____ so that we will sound better when we sing
____ so that the world will know God sent Jesus
____ so that the world would know God’s love
____ so that we could wear matching t-shirts
____ so that we would never disagree
Look up and read John 15:12-13. Answer the following questions.
What one command does Jesus give to His disciples?
that they __ __ __ __ one another
According to John 15:13 what is the greatest way we can show love to another?
laying down our __ __ __ __ __ for them
Now look up and read Philippians 2:1-8 out loud.
THINK ABOUT IT…
Who is stronger, Jesus or us?
Yes, that’s right. Jesus is stronger.
Jesus was the stronger one, so He lay down His life for us, the weaker one. In Philippians 2:1-8 we have Paul reminding us once again that we are not look out for our own self-interest and just try and please ourselves. We should always serve the weaker.
Jesus humbled Himself all the way to the point of dying on a cross for us even when we were sinners and enemies of God. We should at least be able to humble ourselves enough to not watch a tv show, or play a video game, or eat things in front of our friends that are not allowed to participate in them. We should be able to do this without making fun of them or saying mean things about the ones who made those rules for them.
Read Romans 15:7. What word does this verse begin with?
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Remember when we see a “therefore” in Scripture we need to pay attention to what follows before it and after it. This therefore is pointing back to everything that Paul has taught us in Romans 14:14 through Romans 15:6.
According to Romans 15:7 what does Paul conclude that we, as Christians, should do? Circle the correct answer.
lie to one another pick on one another
accept one another
According to Romans 15:7 how should we accept one another?
just as __ __ __ __ __ __ also accepted us
THINK ABOUT IT…
Did you have to anything special for Jesus to accept you? Did you have to eat certain things or stop eating certain things before He would let you ask Him to save you?
Take a moment and read Luke 23:39-43 below:
One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not theChrist? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
Was there anything that the thief on the cross could have done before Jesus could accept Him?
No there wasn’t.
The thief was nailed to a cross. He couldn’t change anything about his past or his future. All he could do was believe in his heart that Jesus was Lord and confess Him with his mouth. That was all that the thief on the cross could do and Jesus accepted him.
Jesus also was nailed to a cross. At that time Jesus didn’t perform a special miracle to prove that He had accepted the thief on the cross, the word of Jesus was enough.
Now would be a great time to sing the old hymn “Just As I Am” If you don’t know it. Type this link in your URL search bar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=460vFWX3ccs
Let’s just spend the rest of the day thanking Jesus that God takes us just as we are…
Read Romans 15:8. What phrase does Romans 15:8 begin with?
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
This phrase is Paul moving to a conclusion. He is beginning to close up his letter to the church in Rome. We have almost finished our study in the book of Romans.
As we read Romans 15:8-13 we will see that Paul uses several Old Testament scriptures to explain to us why we should accept one another as Christ accepted us.
As you read remember that the church in Rome is filled with both Jews (the circumcised) and Gentiles (the uncircumcised).
Read Romans 15:8. Why did Jesus come to be a servant of the circumcised?
to __ __ __ __ __ __ __ the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Did Jesus fulfill Old Testament promises that God had made to the children of Israel?
Yes No I don’t know
Yes He did. Jesus fulfilled and confirmed over 300 promises that God had made through Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets.
Read Romans 15:9. Why did Jesus become a servant to the Gentiles?
to glorify God for His __ __ __ __ __
We have already learned in Romans 11 how the Gentiles were grafted into the family of God through Christ. Let’s look up the promises in the Old Testament that Paul uses in Romans 15:9-13.
Read Romans 15:9 and compare it to Psalm 18:49
Read Romans 15:10 and compare it to Deuteronomy 32:43.
Read Romans 15:11 and compare it to Psalm 117:1
Read Romans 15:12 and compare it to Isaiah 11:10
According to these verses was it always God’s plan to show mercy to the Gentiles?
Yes No I don’t know
Read Romans 15:13. Use this verse to fill in the blanks below to conclude our study today.
Now may the __ __ __ of __ __ __ __ fill you with
all __ __ __ and __ __ __ __ __ in believing, so
that you will abound in __ __ __ __ by the
__ __ __ __ __ of the H __ __ __ S __ __ __ __ __
THINK ABOUT IT…
The word hope is used many times in the book of Romans and it is used several times in these verses that we have studied in Romans 15:1-13.
The word hope in the Greek is “elpis”. This word means to have expectation of what is sure or certain, to have trust or confidence.
God is the One who gives us hope. He gave us His Word and we can see from the things that have happened in the past that He has confirmed His Word.
Because we know that God has kept His Word in the past we can know for certain that God will keep His Word in the present and in the future.
As we close our study today, look back and read Romans 5:5. Let me ask you, does the hope of God ever disappoint?
No, it doesn’t.
Hope never disappoints when that hope is placed in the God of hope and His Word because we can trust our God to keep His promises always. No matter what!