Life Groups

Hope

Read Romans 15:1–6

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

What are some of the things you are hopeful for?  Have you personally ever lost hope in something and if so did your attitude change afterward about it?

What happens to people when they lose hope? They give up. They quit. Hope and perseverance go together. Hope is a future promise that keeps us going. It is the carrot before the donkey. Hope knows that there is a goal, and that the goal is worth pursuing, even through hardship and difficulty. If we don’t have hope, we won’t have perseverance.

Paul writes in Romans 15 is that everything in the Scripture—by which he means what we call the Old Testament—was written to instruct us in the Christian hope. Throughout the Old Testament we see God’s faithfulness in spite of man’s sin. We see God’s people going through times of suffering and discouragement. We see His people exiled to the wilderness, with no apparent future. But we also see that in time, God brings them back for greater service than before. The kingdom of God never shrinks; it may flow underground for a season, but it always emerges mightier than before. God is not going to be the loser in history!

Thus, with the encouragements of the Scripture before us (Old and New Testaments), we should have hope. And following God’s example, we should encourage one another. 

How does Paul say we are to encourage one another in our passage?

Which of these areas do you see our congregation doing well? 

Where do you see that we could improve?  What are some ways to improve?

We need to remind ourselves that our attitude and ability to encourage one another walks hand in hand with the incredible hope we have been given through the gift of Christ.  As we encourage those around us we very likely can open the door to sharing with others the hope we have been given by this selfless gift.  The world may be acknowledging and praising the birth of Christ and the hope it brought but without us finishing the story of Christ it becomes just a commercial event and the true story of Christ is lost.  As we go through the holidays let us encourage others and take every opportunity to share the complete good news, not only was Christ born but he lived , died, and was resurrected for us to have eternal life in heaven.