Summer Study 2015
June 11, 2015- Dinner Party with an introduction to the theme for the study.
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July 16, 2015 Weed: Insecurity The author, counselor, and speaker Nicole Unice notes in her book, “She’s Got Issues” that all women are insecure, although we can be insecure if different areas. Here are some she has found from counseling women:
1. A pattern of feeling unsure about relationships/friendships.
2. Needing the approval of others in what we do and say.
3. Achievement. Needing to stand out and be impressive.
4. Appearance. Needing to look great compared to others.
5. Belonging. The feeling that you are different and don’t fit in.
Which of these do you relate to?
What are some of the weeds that you’ve seen grow from these areas of insecurity?
Verses: Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Matthew 7:1-4
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self- discipline.
July 23, 2015 Anger in Marriage: Interview with Nan
Opener: Tell about the dumbest/funniest thing you ever did when you were angry?
- What causes anger? What are some of the weeds that grow from anger?
Journal: If you were given the power of a “king” and your household was your “kingdom”, describe what would be different. (Try not to focus on your children’s behavior or messiness... you won’t have enough time to get through that!)
Group question: Sin always makes a promise but doesn’t deliver. What does “control” promise to give you? What are its true effects?
I. Teaching: My kingdom vs. God’s kingdom
Q. What do the following verses have to do with control and having it “my way”?
The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
II. Teaching- Complimentarianism
Q. Why is it that marriage is the joining of two fundamental differences?
Matthew 19:4-5 He who created them from the beginning made them male and female. For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
Prayer: Psalm 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
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July 30, 2015 Busyness: Interview with Patricia
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August 6, 2015 Comparisons: Van
Journal and smaller group: What is one thing you envy about other people? And what is one things you are good at as a woman... friend, wife, or mother, worker, or volunteer?
Group activity: List ways we compare.
Journal and small group: What are some of the fruits of comparison living? What does comparison living steal from you?
Teaching: A New Thought Pattern
Romans 12: 2-8
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Illustration:
The pattern of this world is a ______________.
In God’s vision, we are _____________.
Q.How does this change the way we think about gossip, Facebook, etc?
Q. How do we bloom where we are planted?
Ephesians 2 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
“The competition is between you and the you God wants you to be. If you want to compare yourself, why don’t you ask God about the you he sees you can be.” Nicole Unice
"God does not need to transplant us into a different field, but right where we are, with just the circumstances that surround us. He makes His sun to shine and His dew to fall upon us, and transforms the very things that were before our greatest hindrances, into the chiefest and most blessed means of our growth. No difficulties in your case can baffle Him. No dwarfing of your growth in years that are past, no apparent dryness of your inward springs of life, no crookedness or deformity in any of your past development, can in the least mar the perfect work that He will accomplish, if you will only put yourselves absolutely into His hands, and let Him have His own way with you.” H.W. Smith