Before We Get Started

For our discussion today we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.

Prayer

Because the main goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for, or  anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together.

This Week’s Topic

Today, we begin a new series that will have focusing on one of the most impactful chapters in all the Bible. Romans chapter 8 is referred to by many as the high point of one of the most influential books in the history of the church. With so much stress, anxiety, insecurity, and strife swirling around our world right now, this chapter helps us to hear, remember, and re-center our lives around our true identity in Christ. And, as we do that, we truly believe that we can all end up Better Than We Began.

Today’s Topic

A Better View of Pain

Discussion Questions

Romans 8:18

““For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
‭‭‭‬ ‭

Why does God allow pain and suffering in our lives?

How have you experienced pain or suffering in your life?

If you are on the other side of that experience, how did God walk with you through it? And how did God bring you out of it?

How have you seen God use that pain and suffering in your life, or in the lives of others, to bring about the knowledge and revealing of His glory?

Romans‬ ‭8:26-28

““Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
‭‭‬

When you consider the pain of the suffering and the joy of His glory, how does that impact the way you think about that past suffering today?

Is it possible for God to take all the painful things in our lives and mix them together to make something good?

What does it take for us to trust God is working things into something good for us when we find ourselves in the midst of pain?

Closing Thought

Romans‬ ‭8:29-30

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
‭‭‬

How does the Gospel anchor us in this truth of God’s sovereign goodness?