Discussion questions

GETTING STARTED  

Before we dig into Romans 11, let’s start with a few easy questions that get us thinking about what tends to occupy the “center” of our lives, and why it can be surprisingly hard to move ourselves out of that spot.​

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1. If your life actually revolved around one thing you really enjoy, what would it be: coffee, sports, grandkids, gardening, travel, your phone, something else?

2. What’s one completely ordinary thing you do almost every day that nobody would ever describe as “spiritual”?

3. Be honest: in what setting are you most tempted to want a little recognition or applause: work, family, church, social media, hobbies, somewhere else?

4. If you had to put S.D.G. (“To God Alone Be the Glory”) on one object you use constantly during the week, what would you put it on?

5. Which is harder for you: doing something well when nobody notices, or watching somebody else get credit for something you helped make happen?

 

DIGGING DEEPER

These questions are meant to slow us down and look more carefully at the theology underneath Soli Deo Gloria. The goal isn’t yet to ask, “What should I do?” but to better understand who God is, why His glory matters, and how the Cross reveals it.​

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1. Romans 11:33 begins with Paul’s exclamation, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” What seems to have moved Paul from theological explanation into worship at this point in Romans?

2. Look up Job 38:1–7. How does God’s response to Job illustrate the difference between knowing God truly and understanding everything God knows or does?

3. Paul asks, “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” What does that tell us about the independence and self-sufficiency of God? Why is God fundamentally different from every created being?

4. Look up Isaiah 55:8–9. How do these verses complement Romans 11:33–35? What do they not mean...does God’s transcendence mean that He is unknowable?

5. Romans 11:35 asks, “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” What does this verse teach about the idea that human beings could somehow place God in their debt through morality, religious service, or sacrifice?

6. Look up Revelation 4:8–11. What reasons do the heavenly worshipers give for God’s worthiness to receive glory? How does creation itself establish God’s rightful place at the center?

7. Romans 11:36 describes everything as “from him and through him and for him.” What is the significance of each phrase? How does the verse portray God as the source, sustainer, and goal of reality?

8. Look up Psalm 115:1–3. Why does the psalmist insist, “Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory”? What does this passage reveal about the relationship between God’s glory and human boasting?

9. The sermon defined God’s glory as the display of who He truly is: His holiness, goodness, wisdom, power, beauty, and love. Why is glorifying God different from making God more glorious than He already is?

10. Look up John 1:14–18. John says that the eternal Son “became flesh” and that the disciples “saw his glory.” What kind of glory is revealed in Jesus, and how does this deepen the idea that God’s glory includes grace and self-giving love?

11. The sermon argued that God’s glory and God’s humility meet at the Cross. How does Christ’s willingness to humble Himself keep God’s pursuit of His own glory from resembling ordinary human vanity or self-promotion?

12. Look up Ephesians 1:3–14. Notice the repeated phrases about God’s “glory” and “praise.” How does Paul connect God’s saving work (from choosing, redeeming, forgiving, and sealing His people) with the ultimate purpose of displaying His glory?

 

​LIVING IT OUT

Soli Deo Gloria becomes real when God’s glory starts reshaping the ordinary places where we work, relate, struggle, serve, and speak about Christ. These questions are meant to help us wrestle honestly with what that looks like when life is messy and the motives in our own hearts aren’t always simple.​

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1. Think about your work, school, retirement, homemaking, or daily responsibilities. What would it look like to mentally write “SDG...To God Alone Be the Glory” across that part of your week?

2. How do you react when you work hard, serve faithfully, or help someone, and nobody notices? What does that response reveal about whose approval matters most to you?

3. When you have an opportunity to talk about your faith with a coworker, neighbor, friend, or family member, what makes it difficult to keep God’s glory rather than your own reputation at the center? Are you more afraid of looking foolish, being rejected, or saying the wrong thing?

4. Sometimes Christians can become so focused on “giving God the glory” that they feel guilty enjoying success, accomplishment, praise, or good things in life. How can we receive those things gratefully without making them the center of our identity?

5. The sermon pointed out that God can be glorified through quiet faithfulness in suffering, not just visible victories. When life hurts and God’s plan makes no sense, what makes it difficult to trust that your life still has meaning and can still display His glory?

6. Choose one specific relationship or setting: your marriage, family, workplace, neighborhood, church, or friendships. If your main question this week became “How can Christ be seen more clearly here?”, what might you do differently?