Text: Romans 4:18-22

1. Faith is acting like it is so, even when it’s not so. Think about when you first began following Jesus. How was faith involved in your decision to trust Christ? Share specific details.

2. Faith grows through a trial. Abraham and Sarah were “too old” to have children and waited 25 years for a promise to be fulfilled. In your spiritual journey, when and how has a trial strengthened your faith in God? How did you see God do the impossible in your life during that time?

3. Faith always begins with a seed of promise. When you are believing God for a promise fulfilled, there are often three responses:

Despair – losing hope. 
Deception – moving away from truth and leaning into your own understanding.
Dependence – leaning into the God of the impossible.

Which response are you choosing for a current promise that is yet to be fulfilled? What practical steps can you take this week to make dependence your first response?

4. Grace is the underlying ideology that enables faith to grow. The natural logic of man is that of a wage earner. This believes that ‘I do good, and I earn the reward’. How often do you default to this perspective? The logic of God says ‘Man is sinful and not in need of fixing, but in need of resurrection’. This is the heart of the Gospel. How would your life change if you fully trusted God’s grace 100% and 0% in your own works?

End your time in prayer. Simply release all the striving for God’s acceptance. Receive his grace. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour out a spirit of faith on everyone in your group.