(5) SHAPED FOR SERVICE:  ROMANS 12.1-16

‘The Bible ends with ‘Revolution’, said a little girl! She, in fact, meant to say ‘Revelation’, but she was more right than she realised.  Christianity does result in some radical changes of outlook (as today’s passage implies).  Not the least is the thought that we were not made for ‘mastery’ but for ‘ministry’;  not shaped for superiority but for service.

READ ROMANS 12.1-1

1) 12.1-2:  THE IMPERATIVE OF SERVICE

Talk about the meaning and implications of these verses.

• Verse 1. What does this verse have to say about the obligation we are under? (What must we do?)  And what does it mean?  Practical implications?  How radical a thing is this?
• Verse 1. Why are we under obligation to do this?
• Verse 2. What sort of ‘revolution’ will it take for us to carry this out? Explain why it will take this sort of revolution.

2) 12.3-8:  THE GIFTING FOR SERVICE

• What do these verses have to say about the enablement for service?
• Talk about ‘gifting’ for service: Are the gifts we use in service ‘natural’?
• How are we to recognise the gifts we have and the areas in which we are shaped to serve?
• Where do all the gifts we have come from?
• How will serving in the way we are ‘shaped’ to serve, bring significance, purpose and fulfilment to our lives? Are you finding significance and fulfilment in your area of serving God and others?

3) 12.9-16: THE ATTITUDE IN SERVICE

In life it is not only important what we do, but also how we do it.

• What important attitudes do these verses stress as essential to our service? Why are they so important?