Main Thought
We’re all looking for something real. We want real love, joy, peace, power, etc. It’s difficult to find these things because we’re distance from God by default. As a result of this distance, we try to find satisfaction in anything that we can get our hands on. Different, “created things” - things like possessions and people that we find here on earth - can become like functional idols to us. We dedicate our time, energy, ambition, focus, and more to these idols to such an extent that we’re practically worshiping them. Yet these functional idols are powerless to fulfill their promise to satisfy our desire for something real.
We can find what we’re looking for in God. A real God does real things. Jesus really came to earth, and He really rose again. God has transformed so many of our lives in real ways. He also moves in real power through the Holy Spirit. God can speak to us; He can reveal things to us; He can even answer our prayers in power, performing miracles when He chooses. How can we start to experience these things for ourselves? We can start by believing in Jesus. We can also be bold in prayer, asking God to do real things in and through us.
Main Passages
25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
- Romans 1:25
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
- Romans 3:23-24
18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
- Romans 15:18-21
Discussion Questions
Think about the following statement, which is inspired by Romans 1:25. “Sin is the worship or exaltation of a created thing instead of, or in place of, the Creator.” What does this statement mean to you?
Have you ever seen God “move in power” by the Holy Spirit? If so, how?
Are you currently believing for God to move in power in and through your life? How? Share with your group if you’re able and pray with each other.