Romans Study on Our Porch

We are studying Romans chapters 6-8. This is a coed group of adults. All over age 45. You might not know that by last night’s discussion.

Normally we have great discussions. Everyone does their homework and we all participate in discussion. Ron Duncan is a great leader: he asks open-ended questions, uses the leaders guide, doesn’t teach, etc.

Last night we had Bible study on our porch. Discussion was a bit different than usual.

Here is how the first twenty minutes went:

Ron: let’s get started.

D2: Someone needs to mow.

K: Advantage of wildflowers. I don’t have to mow as long as they are blooming.

D1: They sure are pretty.

M: The neighbors aren’t mowing.

Ron: Let’s open in prayer. (He prays)

Ron: ok. let’s review. What are we studying? Who wrote it and why?

D1: Romans

K: Paul. To the Jewish and gentile believers at Rome.

M: To encourage them

K: To instruct them to be obedient to the faith.

M: And to warn them against dissension that could cause division.

Ron: Good! What’s the overall theme of Romans?

M: We are justified by faith and not by works.

K: The gospel is the power to save for all who believe.

D2: We are saved by faith

K: and out of that justification come good works and obedience.

Ron: Yes! Great! Let’s look at chapter one. What’s chapter one about?

K: Second half of chapter one is bad bartering.

M: buy high sell low.

K: They exchanged God’s truth for a lie.

(Loud squawking from the shade tree by the porch)

R: That sounds like the baby hawk.

K: It’s too early for the baby hawk to be flying this far from its nest. I wonder what kind of bird that is?

T: It’s loud! (Looks up) There it is! On that branch right there.

M: I hope it doesn’t poop on you.

Ron: What group is addressed in chapter two?

D1: Those who follow the law.

Ron: What’s Paul say about that?

M: The law cannot save us. Salvation is by faith, not the law.

K: And true circumcision vs circumcision of the flesh. (Gets up to go inside.)

Ron: What is chapter three about?

D1: Chapter three addresses we are without excuse. Jews, Greeks, all have sinned and need a savior.

(K comes back outside with a plate of cookies.)

M: Ooh! Hot cookies!

D1: That bird may….

M: iced cookies!

T: yuck

Ron: What does chapter four teach us? Who is mentioned?

D2: Chapter four talks about Abraham. We are his sons if we have faith in Christ Jesus. (D2 and K sing Father Abraham has many sons)

K: Look!! A blue bird! I haven’t seen one here before! We need a bluebird house.

M: I hate grackles. (nuisance birds that thrive around fast food joints)

D2: I love the road runners. My father-in-law almost set the house on fire trying to kill a woodpecker.

D1: he was killing wasps.

D2: oh. But he killed the woodpecker.

D1: It had made a big hole in the side of the house. He shot it with a shotgun.

K: Oh! Didn’t that…

D1: Yup. Made a bigger hole. But got the bird.

K: We had a flock of turkeys here last week.

R: Look! A scissortail fly catcher on that t post!

K: State bird of Oklahoma.

Ron: Chapter five. What’s chapter five about?

D1: Adam brought sin. And Moses???

Ron: Uhm. Not Moses.

D2: Jesus.

K: By one man sin came into the world and by one man we can be saved??

Ron: What word is repeated?

M: Reconciliation?

K: By faith we receive the free gift of righteousness that leads to eternal life.

D2: Look at that deer!! She’s beautiful!

Ron: Ok. Moving on to chapter six…

M: Hey! You put the cold cookies on our table!

D1: We like hot cookies! But you can have one each.

R: Do you need milk to dip your cookies in.

Ron: I lost control before I ever had it.

——

I’m not sure he’s going to let us meet on the porch again.

But we had a great discussion. We spent an hour on chapter six. Really! We actually discussed chapter six with only a few distractions. Good stuff! Then we all sat on the porch talking about life and eating cookies for another hour.

I love this Bible Study Group.

View from our study table on the porch.

Bible study, Friendship, joy, Precept Ministries, Romans


KathleenBDuncan

I write about my life, my journey, my family, and my faith. I am wife to one, mom to seven with one in heaven, and grandmother to many. I am also full-time caregiver to my stepmom E who suffers from dementia due to Alzheimer’s. In my spare time I like to read, travel, crochet, bike, and play with our black pug Molly.

Comments (6)

  • Kathleen, I just love this! Distractions aside, it sounds like a wonderful study group. What a blessing to be able to gather and explore His Word together.

    My hubby is going to be teaching through the book of Romans on our trip to India next month. I can’t imagine how he’ll get through the book in just seven days. I know one thing for sure — we probably shouldn’t sit outside for the class. 😉

    • 😂😂 I’m hoping he will try again next week. I promise not to bake cookies…until after the discussion.

      The best part was that we all sat there after the study closed. We had iced tea, water, coffee, and fresh cookies. We shared stories and laughed. This group of people who barely knew each other’s name a year ago now spend every Sunday evening talking about God’s Word and doing life together. ❤️❤️

  • I wish there were a “love” button for this blog! I love it! Thanks for sharing. BTW – I think Romans is one of my favorite books of the New Testament. So rich. I’m going to delve into chapter 6, after reading your blog post today.

    • I’m loving this study! It will take us until fall to get through it all, but the constant review and discussion is cementing it in my memory. For example, look at for “obedient” or “obedience” in chapter one and six. Then read everything in between. It shows us how to be “obedient to the faith.” I marked “free gift” and made a list of everything these chapters say about this gift. So cool!!!

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