Join us this week as Pastor Mike explores Romans 12:9-13, calling us to live out genuine, transformative love in response to God’s mercies. Transformed minds create transformed communities marked by authentic agape love—self-sacrificial commitment to others’ good with no ulterior motives or masks—abhorring evil while holding fast to good, regarding one another as family with brotherly affection, contributing to needs, showing hospitality, outdoing each other in honor, staying fervent in spirit, patient in affliction, and constant in prayer. This radical way rejects the world’s performative, selective, private, and safe patterns, inviting us into vulnerable, life-on-life relationships that reflect Jesus’ love for us.
Discussion Questions
- Icebreaker: Mike shared a story about how bus rides have changed from loud and interactive to quiet with everyone on their phones. What’s a common “pattern of this age” you’ve observed in social interactions that makes you feel a bit disconnected, even if it’s convenient?
- Mike emphasized that genuine love, or “agape,” means committing to the good of others without ulterior motives, like wearing a mask. Where have you experienced or witnessed this kind of “unmasked” love, and what made it stand out?
- Mike discussed the tension of “abhorring what is evil” while “holding fast to what is good,” and how true love can sometimes be uncomfortable. Can you recall a time when you had to navigate this tension in a relationship, and what did you learn from it?
- Mike highlighted that Christian family love is “not selective,” meaning we are called to love those we might not naturally choose as friends. How does this challenge or expand your understanding of community within the church?
- Mike quoted C.S. Lewis, saying, “To love at all is to be vulnerable.” He also mentioned that family love is “not private” and “not safe.” What fears or hesitations do you personally have about embracing this level of vulnerability and messiness in Christian community?
- Silent Reflection: Take a moment to silently reflect on Romans 12:9-13, the passage Mike read:”Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”
- Mike challenged us to “outdo one another in showing honor” and to be open-handed with our resources and hospitality. What is one concrete step you could take this week to practice this kind of love and honor within your church family or wider community?
- Considering Mike’s point that our love is a response of gratitude to God’s mercies, how might focusing on God’s love for you empower you to take the risks involved in loving others genuinely and vulnerably?