Key Thought: To follow Jesus’ example of sympathy, we should learn to be gentle, kind, listening, and healing to others.

Jesus Showed Sympathy – August 20, 2016

1. Have a volunteer read I John 3:17.

Jesus talking with person

a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
b. How do we handle helping the poor with what we have over our needs without being overwhelmed by the millions of starving people in the world and hundreds of organizations clamoring for money?
c. Personal Application : In what ways does the church seem to appear to others as unsympathetic? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your elderly female relatives states: “How can we show sympathy and help to people who are living sinfully without implying we accept their behavior?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read 2 Corinthians 1:3,4.

a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
b. What comforts have you received from God in your trials and troubles?
c. Personal Application : Have you ever suffered in the same way as others and were able to comfort them in their suffering? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your friends states, “What factors do you think are involved in our ability to feel sympathetic to someone due to their lifestyle or behavior?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Matthew 9:35,36

a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. How did Jesus show how sympathy and compassion are made manifest?
c. Personal Application: How important is the personal touch in showing saympathy? How do we show sympathy to others without condescending to them? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your neighbors states, “Everyone jumps in and wants to help when big disasters occur, but when one person or family is in trouble or needs help, no one seems to care.”? How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read John 11:32-35.

a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. Was Jesus weeping in sympathy for Lazarus’ death, or for their unbelief in His ability to raise him from the dead, or because of the great suffering of all humanity?
c. Personal Application : What kind of collective weeping is going up to heaven in your area? How can God use you to sympathize with and help those who are suffering? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing  virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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