Week 26
Bible Reading
Daily readings from the last week:
Romans 1-7
Reflect
What stood out to you from your daily readings over the last week? Any questions?
How did you go with what you said you’d do last week?
Discuss
Have someone read the passage and use the SOAP method to explore the text.
Don’t miss
The Great Exchange
This is one of the richest and most profound aspects of what happened at the cross, known as the Great Exchange. Jesus swapped places with us. This is shown in the character of Barabbas - a man who had committed terrible crimes and deserved the death penalty, and yet God allowed him to walk free and Jesus to take his place on death row. God treated Jesus like Barabbas, so he could treat Barabbas like Jesus. We are Barabbas. Romans 3:23 says we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all deserved the cross, to pay for our sins - but God wasn’t willing to let that happen, so he came in the person of Jesus and took our place on the cross. How does this make you feel? Imagine standing in the dock, the judge pronounces you guilty and sentences you to be executed - and then Jesus walks into the courtroom and says he will take you place, and you are free to go. How would you respond? How would you want to live in light of this great exchange?
Learn
While technology has enabled us to carry an entire Bible in our pockets (with every translation available too), it can’t compare with treasuring and storing the word of God in our hearts and minds. Memorising scripture isn’t for Bible scholars, it’s for everyone. Psalm 119:11 talks of ‘hiding’ scripture in our hearts to keep us from wilful sin, Colossians 3:16 encourages to let God’s word take up residence in our lives ‘richly’. It can be so helpful to have verses tucked away and to be able to meditate on them as you drive, before you sleep - anywhere and everywhere! So choose a verse today that you can both commit to memory and come back next week to recite it. Discuss how you can both commit to memorising more scripture as a spiritual practice. There is a verse at the top of every week of the Foundations content that would be great to memorise. You could go back to week one and start your scripture memorisation journey there.
Pray
Spend time praying about what you’re learning.
Next Steps
What is a key takeaway from today?
Who are you going to tell about what you’ve been learning?
Read Romans 8-14 before you come back next time