3: Preparing for Change – Discussion Starters
- Change. Maybe you heard about the family living in an area with a very low population and no hospital within several hours. Are they moving? Wanting to move? No way. What about you and me? Do we face difficulties at one extreme and opportunities for wealth at the other but, either way, we don’t want to change? But change is inevitable, isn’t it? How does God guide us when we get stuck in a tough job, too sick to earn money, or too discouraged to care? How does God guide us when we face the difficulties of change?
- Marriage. When a man and woman get married, does life continue as usual? Should it? Have you ever known someone who discovered after getting married that the husband or wife (or both) made a poor match in this decision? Once in a while, we get to know the “perfect couple,” a man and woman united in their love for God and for each other. Do you know of marriages that turned out to be divinely ordained with no problems whatsoever through married life? Discuss the unfortunate changes that resulted from the action of Ananias and Sapphira in our lesson this week. How did they get into such horrible trouble? Maybe you don’t have a perfect marriage. Will God help you to bring joy and peace into your union? What are some ways He will do this?
- Parenting. Oh, the joy, the inexpressible joy, of bringing an infant into the world! When you were an infant, did your mom and dad demonstrate how carefully they had planned for your arrival in your new home? Babies, we are told, don’t have memories until about three years of age. They can’t remember pregnancy, birth, or other events that took place when they were still infants. Ellen White tells us that bad traits like selfishness and impatience that we allow to form in us even before the baby is born will be reflected in the personality of the child during growth and maturity. The result? A “birthright [of] almost unconquerable tendencies to evil.” What is our responsibility in our own character development as parents to the children God gives us?
- Preparing for Old Age. Married or not, eventually, we face the consequences of getting old and facing death from old age. What are some characteristics of old age that you see in yourself or in those close to you? Open your Bible to Psalm 71 and discuss the three lessons David learned as he entered his old age and, even more important, how you and I can make these lessons hallmarks in our maturity as we enter (or contemplate entering) old age: A personal relationship with God; B. Good habits; C. A passion for God’s mission. Do you know any older people or those afflicted with life-threatening conditions who would appreciate your love for them and your prayers for their peace of mind?
- Preparing for Death. Wow! That’s a tough one. Our lesson points out that for many of us death comes without warning. Are there steps we can take every day to make us ready in our hearts to face death? Then there’s the death at the end of a long illness. the consequences of an accident of some kind. Can God give us guidance in comforting those who face death even for years? Our lesson author uses his sense of irony to retell the story of David who Impregnated Uriah’s wife and then killed Uriah. The “irony,” such as it is, comes from advice by David to his son Solomon to walk in the way of the Lord. And David, we must note and leave the class to discuss, was a man after God’s own heart,
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I really thanks our sabbath school programs. Especially,these quarterly bible study guide.
After saying so,let me go direct to the lesson of this week. Generally i get the potential messages through theTopic Preparing for Change.
a/ Many parents became unprepared bonding,that's why we find a lot of marrige separating.
Either for their bad choises or poor understanding on marriage issues and may be from other life challenges.
B/Through unprepared even when a new born came or when parents get a child/~rens, they fail perform their responsibilieties.
c/it's very difficult for a such family i mentioned above to get/make preparation for old age b'se they are not strong faithfully.