GOD'S WORK – God's Love Drives Change -Romans 12:9–13

February 16^th

Introduction/Review

• Columbus Award: We admire vision and exploration, but without a plan, efforts feel wasted.
• The Brokenness of Our World: We see suffering and pain everywhere, how is God working?

God’s Plan Involves the Church

• Ephesians 4:11–13 (NIV): “So Christ himself gave…to equip his people for works of service…so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
• Point: Church leaders equip believers to serve together as Christ’s hands and feet.

God Gives YOU Spiritual Gifts

• 1 Corinthians 12: The Holy Spirit bestows gifts for the common good, enabling believers to do “greater things.”
• Romans 12:6–8: Different gifts (teaching, giving, serving, mercy) are all essential — each believer contributes.
• Key Insight: God’s plan is to use every believer’s unique gifts in harmony.

What is the Goal? - Showing Love

• 1 Corinthians 12:31b: “And I will show you a still more excellent way.”
• 1 Corinthians 13: The famous “Love Chapter,” showing what genuine ministry looks like in action.
• Romans 12:9–15 (NIV): “Love must be sincere… Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”

Four Marks of Showing God’s Love (Romans 12)

• Committed to People (v. 10a): “Be devoted to one another in love.” → Treat fellow believers like family.
• Putting Others First (v. 10b): “Honor one another above yourselves.” → Value others as made in God’s image.
• Patient and Prayerful (v. 12): “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” → True love forgives and endures.
• Action and Empathy (vv. 13,15): “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need… Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” → Love meets real needs and shares real feelings.

Practical Application: Equipping the Church to Love

BBCC Verse of the Week: Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV) Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Study Notes

Love Those You Don’t Love How can we love unlovely people whom we do not like, and yet still be “sincere”? It is hypocritical to act lovingly when you despise someone in your heart. Yet it is unrealistic to insist that one’s heart be warm and kindly disposed before we do actions of love. So what is the solution? Here is the gospel way. A Christian goes about “doing love” while repenting, softening the heart through the recollection of Christ’s sacrifice for us (12:1-2). How does this work? The gospel is this: we are not loved because we are intrinsically lovely or because we have made ourselves worthy of love. We are loved because Jesus died for us when we were unattractive in order to make us attractive. If Christians think of this as they are serving unattractive people, they will find a repentance growing. Oh, Lord! I was so much more unattractive to you than this person is to me. Yet you were tortured and killed—you gave up your life for me! And all I need to do is to give up some time and effort for this person. A person who does not understand the gospel cannot do this. A person who is just generally moral and nice cannot do this. They have to choose between the two inadequate alternatives: either phony love (niceness toward people you dislike), or sporadic love (kindness only toward people you like). But if you show love as you repent, your heart is softened as you serve. Your service is sincere toward God at that moment, and becomes more sincere toward the person as you go along. – Timothy Keller

Paul clearly imagines that on the last day those who have been justified by faith in the present will be judged according to the life they have lived (see, for instance, 1 Cor 3:10-15); and the one thing that will count above all

else on that day is love. But what then does he mean by 'love'? Verses 1 Cor 13:4-7, the heart of the poem at the heart of the section, describe it. Line by line of the description is clear in itself. Perhaps the best thing to do with a passage like this is to take it slowly, a line at a time, and to reflect on at least three things: first, ways in which we see this quality in Jesus himself; second, ways in which we see it (or more likely, alas, don't see it) in ourselves; and third, ways in which, if we were like that, it would work out in practice. Such an exercise should never be undertaken simply in order to feel either good about oneself or frustrated at one's lack of moral growth. It should always be done in prayer; and at the third stage, as we ask for grace to envisage situations where we could behave differently, we should try to imagine what doing that would feel like, what steps we would have to take to make it happen, to avoid lapsing back into our normal behavior. Then, when we're faced with the relevant situation, we will at least have a choice which we have already thought about, instead of behaving as creatures of habit. And of course the ultimate aim is for this way of life, peculiar though it seems  and almost unbelievable at points, to become the engrained way we habitually behave. Some people have taken steps along that road ahead of us. When we meet them it's like hearing gentle music, or seeing a beautiful sunrise. – N. T. Wright

“Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them. ”  ― John Calvin

                          Pastor Samuel Sutter //  sam@BBCCOnline.org

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