Big Idea

Making Life Work 5 -Patience (group)

Making Life Work
Session 5 – Patience

Big Idea: Being slow to anger and seeking first to understand is essential to making life work with others.

Ice Breaker:  Have you ever seen someone throw a temper tantrum because they didn’t get what they wanted at the exact moment that they wanted it? 

1.    What good does it do to get upset about stuff? 
READ Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

2.    What do the above fruit of the spirit have in common?  How does displaying patience reveal other fruit of the spirit?
3.    What was a time that you showed an unbelievable amount of patience or resolve in a situation?  Did it turn out well for you to be patient? 
4.    What was a time that you showed a complete lack of patience?  Would the situation have turned out better if you had been patient?
Consider The Message version of the above verses from Galatians…
Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.  Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.

5.     How does this compare to your definition of patience or at least the results of living out patience?
Often times we joke about not praying for patience because we think it will lead to nothing but experiences and scenarios that test our resolve and formulate patience within us.  It’s kind of like working out.  We want the results but we don’t want to go through the pain to get those results.  Patience can be painful, especially in the moment, but the long term results of a patient person let all the fruits of the spirit shine.

READ Proverbs 14:29 (The Message)
Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.

6.    What do you think is the difference between patience and avoidance or harboring?
7.    How does exhibiting patience, as opposed to anger, give us understanding in any given situation?
8.    How do you think a lack of patience has affected and continue to affect our culture?
Cultivating patience is not something that we can do alone, rather it is only something that is produced in us as Christ-followers as directed by the Holy Spirit.  With God living inside of us, and His power at work within us, we are then able to cultivate and exhibit patience throughout our lives in a variety of different settings and areas.  When we display patience we have the ability to act and then respond appropriately rather than simply reacting.

READ James 1:19-20 (NLT)
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

9.    How does patience reveal Christ to others?
10.    Where/how do you see God developing patience in you?
James 1:19-20 (The Message)
Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

The Message version of James paints a picture of life with patience.  Picture a sign at every intersection reminding us to seek first to understand.  Look in the rearview mirror and see all the anger we hold onto fade into the distance.  As we look ahead we see the landscape God has put before us that is simply good, peaceful, and full of serenity. 

WHAT’S NEXT:  The commitment to patience…
Rate your patience on a scale of 1-5 (1 being low and 5 being high).  This week, instead of dreading the many things that test our patience, embrace them.  Pray that God would be with you and grow you in this area this week.  After a week of dealing with relationships, work, waiting in lines, waiting on God, and of course traffic, rate yourself again on the same scale. 

If you do this on a weekly basis you will see yourself gradually move up the scale.  There may be times when you slip back down but God does not expect perfection, he expects improvement!

Making Life Work 5 -Patience (short)

Making Life Work Week Five – Patience The BIG Idea Team, Individual and Family Study Guide Please take time to run through this study guide with your team, on your own or with your family so that you can further apply and process the BIG Idea. Big Idea: Being slow to anger and seeking first to understand is essential to making life work with others. Key Verse: Proverbs 14:29 (The Message) Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity. The Scoop: Cultivating patience is not something that we can do alone, rather it is only something that is produced in us as Christ-followers as directed by the Holy Spirit.  With God living inside of us, and His power at work within us, we are then able to cultivate and exhibit patience throughout our lives in a variety of different settings and areas.  When we display patience we have the ability to act and then respond appropriately rather than simply reacting. 1) How does exhibiting patience, as opposed to anger, give us understanding in any given situation? 2) How does patience reveal Christ to others? 3) Where/how do you see God developing patience in you? What’s Next? (take home/further processing/application) Rate your patience on a scale of 1-5 (1 being low and 5 being high).  This week, instead of dreading the many things that test our patience, embrace them.  Pray that God would be with you and grow you in this area this week.  After a week of dealing with relationships, work, waiting in lines, waiting on God, and of course traffic, rate yourself again on the same scale.  If you do this on a weekly basis you will see yourself gradually move up the scale.  There may be times when you slip back down but God does not expect perfection, he expects improvement!

Making Life Work 4 - Friendship (short)

The BIG Idea Team, Individual and Family Study Guide
Please take time to run through this study guide with your team, on your own or with your family so that you can further apply and process the BIG Idea.

Big Idea:
Choosing good friends wisely is crucial to making life work. 

Key Verse:
Proverbs 13:20 (The Message)
Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

The Scoop:
We don't get to determine they way in which people will influence us; We only get to choose to keep company we keep.  Friendship is one of the key ways of understanding our relationship with Christ.  Jesus says an amazing thing when He calls us His friends.  He is a living presence in whom we are told to “abide” over and over again.  By staying close to Jesus, we are influenced by him.  In turn, we choose our friends based on their Christ-like influence on us.

1)    Who has been the best influence in your life?  Why do they play this role in your life?
2)    Do you see yourself as a positive or negative influence in the lives of others?  Explain.

What’s Next? (take home/further processing/application)
Make a list of the influences in your life and sort them by positive and negative.  Weed out the negative over the course of the next week and see if you notice a difference.  You can also reach out to a friend and invite them to join you at church and take a step towards being a positive influence in their life.

Making Life Work 4 - Friendship (group)

BIG IDEA: Choosing good friends wisely is crucial to making life work. 

ICEBREAKER
Share about a mischievous childhood friend and the kinds of things you did together?

Keeping Good Company
We don't get to determine they way in which people will influence us; We only get to choose to keep company we keep. 

1.    Who has been the best influence in your life?  Why do they play this role in your life?
2.    Who has been the worst influence in your life?  Why do they play this role in your life?

READ Proverbs 13:20 (The Message)
Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

AND 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NLT)
Don't be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.

3.    Do you see yourself as a positive or negative influence in the lives of others?  Explain.
Friendship is one of the key ways of understanding our relationship with Christ.  Jesus says an amazing thing when He calls us His friends.  He is a living presence in whom we are told to “abide” over and over again.  By staying close to Jesus, we are influenced by him.  In turn, we choose our friends based on their Christ-like influence on us.

4.    What does “walking with the wise” look like?  How does this make life work better?
5.    What are the consequences, negative implications for life by having companions that are foolish?
6.    How have you seen good people go down in a blaze because of the poor company they have kept?

How Small Groups Work
Choosing friends wisely is why small groups matter so much in spiritual formation.  The church is supposed to provide us a network of godly people who are also trying to follow Jesus obediently.  But a small group is not about picking the best, wisest, or most perfect people to spend time with for our own benefit.  It's meant to be a community in which the Spirit is working to transform us into who we are meant to be in Christ. 

7.    How are we encouraging each other as a group to grow in Christ? 
8.    What are our challenges?
9.    What can we do to improve our group, becoming a stronger community focused on spiritual formation?

WHAT’S NEXT?
As a small group, pick a day or time that works best for everyone to meet for a social gathering or service opportunity.  Use this as an opportunity to invite new people into your group.  This is a great way to become a good resource of friends for someone who needs it. 

Making Life Work 3 - Truth (group)

Big Idea: Truth is the basis of trust and confidence in relationships.  It makes life work. 

Icebreaker:  What’s the biggest, most audacious lie you or someone you know has ever told?

Liar, Liar
On Survivor: Pearl Island, Jon Dalton, now infamously known as “Johnny Fairplay,” set up what host, Jeff Probst, called “the greatest lie in Survivor history.”  Dalton, attempting to gain a sympathy vote by lying about his grandmother’s recent death. Fairplay rode this sympathy all the way to the final three before being voted off.  During the final episode, the lie was revealed as Fairplay’s grandmother was interviewed on the air.  After the show ended, Probst said of Fairplay, “Johnny Fairplay is completely despicable.”

There’s an old saying: “A lie is an abomination to God and an ever-present help in time of trouble.”  Lies are what we count on in the moment to protect ourselves or to get what we want or to simply puff us up and make us look better.  We tell ourselves that we had to do it, that it was the only way for things to work out right in the moment, or it’s the only way that we can truly win.

1)    Would you tell a lie for 1 million dollars?
2)    What do you think the difference is between telling a “white lie” and something classified as “despicable”?
3)    Share about a time when you lied and it backfired on you?  What was the motivation behind telling the lie in the first place?
4)    Why do we see lying as the solution for our problems?  What kind of comfort is there in lying?
TRUST AND TRUTH
READ Proverbs 3:4 (NLT)
Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding.

AND Proverbs 12:19 (The Message)
Truth lasts; lies are here today, gone tomorrow.

5)    How does lying show a lack of trust from the perspective of the liar?  How does lying show a lack of trust from the perspective of the one being lied to?

6)    Is it okay to ever be brutally honest? 
TRUTH-TELLING MAKES LIFE WORK
READ Ephesians 4:15 (The Message)
God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do.

7)    How do you gain the reputation of being a truth-teller that speaks the truth in love rather than in hurtful, non-constructive ways? 

8)    How does being a loving truth-teller make life work?

WHAT’S NEXT:  Take the rubber-band challenge.  Over the course of the next week, each time you find yourself stretching the truth, exaggerating the situation, or bold-faced lying, take the rubber band and snap your wrist, then remove it and place it on your opposite wrist.  See if you can make it through a week without switching wrists.

Commentary

Session 3 - Truth

1)    Answers will vary.
2)    A “white lie” are those lies that we think are okay to tell because they’re small or they make someone feel good as opposed to “despicable” lies which are blatantly meant to deceive.
3)    Answers will vary.  Sometimes lies snowball.  White lies can seem innocent but as time begins to reveal the truth we tend to wrap another lie to cover our first lie and it gets out of hand…hypothetically of course ☺.
4)    Answers will vary.  Lying can take the pressure off in the here and now so it feels more comfortable.  We often think things will pass and we wont have to deal with it. 
5)    Answers will vary.  The liar often thinks there will be a certan reaction from the other person so it shows that they don’t trust that person to forgive or to show love.  On the other hand, the person being lied to obviously cannot always trust what comes out of the other person’s mouth.
6)    Answers will vary.  Yes, trust is key here though.  It also has to be presented with love and wrapped in compliments.  Humans are fragile and although we know we arent perfect, we don’t want others to point it out.
7)    Encourage conversation to move towards speaking the truth in love rather than simply being a truth-teller.  Become a person of your word as well. 
8)    Answers will vary.  People will respect your listen as time continues to prove you right but trust has to be earned.

Making Life Work 3 - Truth (short)

Big Idea:
Truth is the basis of trust and confidence in relationships.  It makes life work. 

Key Verse:
READ Ephesians 4:15 (The Message)
God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do.

The Scoop:
There’s an old saying: “A lie is an abomination to God and an ever-present help in time of trouble.”  Lies are what we count on in the moment to protect ourselves or to get what we want or to simply puff us up and make us look better.  We tell ourselves that we had to do it, that it was the only way for things to work out right in the moment, or it’s the only way that we can truly win.

1)    Would you tell a lie for 1 million dollars?
2)    Share about a time when you lied and it backfired on you?  What was the motivation behind telling the lie in the first place?
3)    Why do we see lying as the solution for our problems?  What kind of comfort is there in lying?
4)    How do you gain the reputation of being a truth-teller that speaks the truth in love rather than in hurtful, non-constructive ways? 

What’s Next? (take home/further processing/application)
Take the rubber-band challenge.  Over the course of the next week, each time you find yourself stretching the truth, exaggerating the situation, or bold-faced lying, take the rubber band and snap your wrist, then remove it and place it on your opposite wrist.  See if you can make it through a week without switching wrists.

Making Life Work 2 - Kindness (short)

Making Life Work
Week Two – Kindness

The BIG Idea Team, Individual and Family Study Guide
Please take time to run through this study guide with your team, on your own or with your family so that you can further apply and process the BIG Idea.

Big Idea:
Treating people in loving ways is what makes life work—not always immediately, but in the long run.

Key Verse:
Read Matthew 5:43-47
You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

The Scoop:
Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  This command gives us a reflection of the reality that we were made to love and be loved.  Kindness to random, everyday people, kindness to our co-workers and kindness to our family members is the expression of this love in real and tangible ways.

In Pompano Beach, Florida one Thursday morning, Arthur Rosenfeld created a viral movement of kindness. In response to a driver honking and yelling behind him in a Starbucks Drive-Thru, Arthur decided to take this negative and change it into something positive. So, he paid for the drink of the obnoxious man behind him.  And the obnoxious man was so stunned by it that he repeated the same action.  Remarkably, the chain continued all day long. 

1)    What makes it so hard to be kind and love others the way Jesus commands in Matthew 5:43-47?
2)    What is an example of loving kindness you have shown to someone or have had shown to you?  Did it change you, your thoughts or attitudes in any way?
3)    How can we create a moment of kindness that starts a viral chain reaction that truly changes people we may never meet?
What’s Next? (take home/further processing/application)
Sometime this week, go out and try to create a viral movement of kindness.  This can be done at a coffee shop, a local restaurant, the grocery store, the gas station or even in your own neighborhood.  If you want to learn more about expressing kindness, read Conspiracy of Kindness: A Unique Approach to Sharing the Love of Jesus by Steve Sjogren.

Making Life Work 2 - Kindness (group)

Making Life Work
Session 2 – Kindness

Big Idea: Treating people in loving ways is what makes life work—not always immediately, but in the long run.

Ice Breaker: Have you ever responded to an inconsiderate act with kindness? What did you do and what was the outcome?

Part 1: The Benefits
Read Proverbs 11:17
When you're kind to others, you help yourself; when you're cruel to others, you hurt yourself.

Often we think of kindness as beneficial for others, but this passage clearly states that kindness benefits the giver primarily.  Furthermore, cruelty is the opposite of kindness.  And we often think that any cruelty that we dish out to others only hurts them.  However, this passage is clear in saying that cruelty actually hurts the one who dishes it out. 

1)    How does being kind truly benefit you? 
2)    In what ways does being cruel affect your life negatively?  How does it make life not work?
Part 2: What Jesus Has to Say
Read Matthew 5:43-47
You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  This command gives us a reflection of the reality that we were made to love and be loved.  Kindness to random, everyday people, kindness to our co-workers and kindness to our family members is the expression of this love in real and tangible ways.

3)    In one sentence or less, explain what it looks like to love someone like you love yourself? 

4)    What makes it so hard to be kind and love others the way Jesus commands in Matthew 5:43-47?
5)    Is it worthwhile to love in this way?  Why or why not?
6)    Do you see the connection between love and showing kindness?  Can they exist without each other? 
7)    What is a recent act of kindness that someone has done to you?
8)    What is one of the most recent acts of loving kindness you have shown to someone?  Did it change you, your thoughts or attitudes in any way?

Part 3: Random Acts of Kindness
In Pompano Beach, Florida one Thursday morning, Arthur Rosenfeld created a viral movement of kindness. In response to a driver honking and yelling behind him in a Starbucks Drive-Thru, Arthur decided to take this negative and change it into something positive. So, he paid for the drink of the obnoxious man behind him.  And the obnoxious man was so stunned by it that he repeated the same action.  Remarkably, the chain continued all day long. 

9)    What would it have been like to be the recipient of the obnoxious man’s kindness?  Would that make you more or less apt to continue the chain?
10)    Why do you think the “obnoxious man” chose to pay forward kindness to the person behind him?
11)    How can we create a moment of kindness that starts a viral chain reaction that truly changes people we may never meet?

WHAT’S NEXT:  Random Acts of Kindness | Pay It Forward
Sometime this week, go out and try to create a viral movement of kindness.  This can be done at a coffee shop, a local restaurant, the grocery store, the gas station or even in your own neighborhood.  As a group, spend the next few moments devising ways that you can either individually, or as a group move forward towards creating a viral movement of kindness.  Next week come back and talk as a group about the different things that you experienced and that you tried.  If you want to learn more about expressing kindness, read Conspiracy of Kindness: A Unique Approach to Sharing the Love of Jesus by Steve Sjogren.

Commentary

Session 2 - Kindness

1)    Answers will vary.  What goes around comes around.  It creates goodness in your heart and connects you with God.
2)    Answers will vary.  We were created for joy and negativity steals joy.  Negativity does not come from God so it creates further separation from Him.
3)    Answers will vary.  You would give that person first priority.  Everything you think of would be about them.  Your favorite topic would become that other person.  Every selfish act would transform into an act of service.
4)    Answers will vary.  We think of ourselves first and we often love conditionally.  We only give to those who we feel deserve it or to those who we see as a benefit to us.
5)    Answers will vary.  This type of love is the way God loves us and it connects us with Him.  In the short term, this may seem counter intuitive but in the long run it benefits us more that we can know.
6)    Answers will vary.  Showing kindness is an expression of love.  Selfless giving is a very high form of love and kindness.  I think the two go together well but I do think you can show someone kindness without it representing love.
7)    Answers will vary. 
8)    Answers will vary.  Giving up the best and taking second best has been a way that I have shown someone kindness and love.  On a recent camping trip, I had all the “good” gear and I gave much of it up so that others could have a better experience.  This is one of the reasons we do the backpacking trip.  I have seen so many examples of selfless acts from high school students that it makes me ashamed of my own selfish ways.
9)    Answers will vary.  It definitely would have sparked me to do the same.  I think we should always be on the look out for ways to start a ripple affect.  The person who paid it forward has no effect on my response.
10)    Answers will vary.  I don’t think any of us are “obnoxious” on purpose.  We all seek to be good people, caring people, and even kind people.  We just often get caught up in our own lives that we become the “obnoxious man.”
11)    Answers will vary.  Be on the look out.  These opportunities present themselves all the time but we are usually too busy to take note.  If someone stopped on the side of the road and helped you with a flat tire, don’t you think you would do the same for someone else?  Look for opportunities to help others.

Making Life Work 1 - Wisdom (group)

Big Idea 
Growing in wisdom and living it out in discipline is the first step to making life work as Christ followers.

Icebreaker
What is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done or experienced?  What were the consequences?

Introduction
It’s easy to define stupidity.  We spot it all the time at work, home, and on the road.  However, when it comes to defining wisdom we are often at a loss for words.  Wisdom does not come easily, nor is it something that is quick to attain.

1)    Who is the wisest person you have ever known?  Why were they wise?

2)    Based upon your experiences, how would you define wisdom?  How does it differ from intelligence and knowledge?

Read Proverbs 1:1-6
Wise Sayings of Solomon
A Manual for Living
These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king - Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.  There's something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn - Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

3)    How does wisdom improve the quality of your life?

4)    What wise things has the Bible taught you?  How have they impacted your life?

The difference between knowledge and wisdom is two fold.  First, wisdom has an element of right and wrong.  Though it may be hard to distinguish at times, there is a right and a wrong way to live.  Second, wisdom includes an element of action.  Its one thing to know the right thing to do, but it is another to act on it.  Combining the discernment between right and wrong with the discipline to act on the correct information is the key message in Proverbs 1.

Read Proverbs 1:7-19
Start with God
Start with GOD—the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.  Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother's knee.  Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers.  Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don't go along with them.  If they say - "Let's go out and raise some hell.  Let's beat up some old man, mug some old woman.  Let's pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals.  We'll load up on top-quality loot.  We'll haul it home by the truckload.  Join us for the time of your life!  With us, it's share and share alike!" - Oh, friend, don't give them a second look; don't listen to them for a minute.  They're racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.  Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching, yet that's what these people are doing - they're doing themselves in.  When you grab all you can get, that's what happens: the more you get, the less you are. 

5)    What from this passage stands out to you?

6)    How does the example within this passage relate to wisdom as described in the paragraph above?

Seeking knowledge and information alone can only lead us so far.  Wisdom is from God.  Left to our own accord, we often mix things up when it comes to discernment.  God gives us the ability to make healthy decisions in a complicated world.  The key to God’s wisdom is knowing God, seeking God, and living with God.  Wisdom is a journey and knowing God is the path toward wisdom. 

Many of us treat God like a gumball machine; put in a quarter and expect the right thing to come out.  We assume we know it all until things aren’t going right.  Then and only then do we look to God.  Unfortunately, even this mode of operation is an example of us assuming we know what’s best for us.  We assume that we know when we need God and when we don’t.

Read Proverbs 3:3-6
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.  Don't assume that you know it all.

Scholars suggest that Proverbs was originally a kind of textbook for young men in training.  It is written from an older, wiser mentor to a group of young men in training for wisdom.  Proverbs repeatedly tells us that the fool is an individualist.  A wise person, however, seeks out advisors and mentors.  Gaining wisdom from a mentor doesn't happen in quick phone calls or over one breakfast meeting.  It happens in an ongoing relationship.

Read Proverbs 1: 25-33
Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice, how can I take you seriously? I'll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!  What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there's nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes? You'll need me then. You'll call for me, but don't expect an answer.   No matter how hard you look, you won't find me.

Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God, because you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you, well, you've made your bed—now lie in it; you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it? Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder. First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy—you're in good hands.

7)    How would you feel if someone came to you for counsel and they didn’t listen?

8)    How would you feel if that same person returned asking for counsel on the same problem time and time again but didn’t listen?

9)    Have you ever had a “mentor” type figure in your life?  How did he or she help you grow?

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, suggests that Proverbs is a not a collection of promises or rigid rules about life but rather a group of comments about how life usually works. 

Read Proverbs 3:1-2
Good friend, don't forget all I've taught you; take to heart my commands.  They'll help you live a long, long time, a long life lived full and well.

WHAT’S NEXT
Take a daily challenge to read a proverb per day.  To make it easy read the proverb that matches up with the date of that day (ex. On August 21 read Proverb 21).  Take time to write down the pieces of wisdom you can pull out of the passage you read.

Commentary

Session 1 - Wisdom

1.    Answers will vary.
2.    Answers will vary.  Information and knowledge does not include discernment.  There is factual information that proves the bumble bee cannot fly but that doesn’t make it true.
3.    Answers may vary.  Wisdom adds an element of confidence and comfort that the decisions we make are the right decisions.  If we make the right decisions, the results will reflect those decisions.
4.    Answers will vary.
5.    Answers will vary.  The part that stands out to me is the straightforward approach to this passage.  There is no fluff.
6.    Discernment.  We need to be able to recognize traps and poor choices in order to make the right choices.
7.    Answers will vary.  Disappointed because you tried to help and you have to watch the person struggle.
8.    Answers will vary.  Frustrated and upset.  I wouldn’t want people to know that I was mentoring this person because it would reflect on my mentorship.
9.    Answers will vary.  Yes, my mentor regularly offers insight and gives me perspective on situations I couldn’t otherwise see or understand.

Making Life Work 1 - Wisdom (short)

Making Life Work Week One – Wisdom The BIG Idea Team, Individual and Family Study Guide

Please take time to run through this study guide with your team, on your own or with your family so that you can further apply and process the BIG Idea.

Big Idea: Growing in wisdom and living it out in discipline is the first step to making life work as Christ followers.

Key Verse: Read Proverbs 1:1-6
Wise Sayings of Solomon A Manual for Living These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king - Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There's something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn - Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

The Scoop: Many of us treat God like a gumball machine; put in a quarter and expect the right thing to come out. We assume we know it all until things aren’t going right. Then and only then do we look to God. Unfortunately, this mode of operation is an example of us assuming we know what’s best for us. We assume that we know when we need God and when we don’t.

Scholars suggest that Proverbs was originally a kind of textbook for young men in training. It is written from an older, wiser mentor to a group of young men in training for wisdom. Proverbs repeatedly tells us that the fool is an individualist. A wise person, however, seeks out advisors and mentors. Gaining wisdom from a mentor doesn't happen in quick phone calls or over one breakfast meeting. It happens in an ongoing relationship.

1. Have you ever had a “mentor” type figure in your life? How did he or she help you grow?
2. Based upon your experiences, how would you define wisdom? How does it differ from intelligence and knowledge?
3. How does wisdom improve the quality of your life?
4. What wise things has the Bible taught you? How have they impacted your life?

What’s Next? (take home/further processing/application)
Take a daily challenge to read a proverb per day. To make it easy read the proverb that matches up with the date of that day (ex. On August 21 read Proverb 21). Take time to write down the pieces of wisdom you can pull out of the passage you read.