The Game of LIFE: Cranium

Opening
Take time to play an opening game this week! Something to get people interacting- charades, pictionary, something silly.

Digging Deeper
The passage we are really getting into requires context. Read the “doxology” (doxa= glory, logos= word) in Rm 11:33-36. Review the attributes of God described. Reflect on these things. Then share your own “doxology” or “words of glory” to God.How does this set the stage for what is about to come?

What Paul is about to ask falls in light of the doxology, and in light of God’s mercy? What is God’s mercy? Share from you own knowledge and experience.

Read Romans 12:1-2. The first thing we do in light of God’s mercy is to offer our bodies. Practically, how do we do this?
Why is this so important? What does this tell us about how God views our physical bodies? What does this mean for the value of other peoples bodies and physical needs?

Paul creates an amazing juxtaposition: the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices as our spiritual act of worship, as compared with offering animals as dead sacrifices in temple worship. Spend some time working through the implications of this- how does this mean for how we worship and “do” religion?

The word for spiritual is from the Greek “logikos.” How should this radically change the way many of us view “spiritual” things? What does it mean to say we are spiritual people in light of this passage? What does this imply about our priority on worship?

Another great juxtaposition appears between being conformed and transformed. Describe the pattern of this world and how we are conformed. Compare this to the transformation of the mind in Christ. Get practical- how have we become too conformed? Where do we need be transformed? How can we apply our minds to this endeavor?

So what comes first, belief of behavior? Do we offer our bodies to change our minds, or change our minds to offer our bodies? Or are we creating a false dichotomy here? Are we better served seeing ourselves in a more holistic way? Explore the implications of this passage and your own experience. Share your own interaction of mind and body, and how they have affected the other.

Closing
The passage ends with an amazing promise- do this and be able to test and approve God’s will. Do you want to do God’s will? What do you believe is God’s will for your life?
Pray, share announcements, and make a plan for a group games night.