For teaching plans and full explanations of all the verses
in today’s lessons, consult the Explore the Bible leader guide or adult
commentary.
Make sure each learner has his or her own Explore the
Bible learner guide.
Prepare three index cards with one of the following words
written on each card: preschoolers, children, and students.
Married People (Matt. 19:1-6)
Read Matthew 19:1-6 and ask learners what would be
involved in:
Leaving father and mother
Joining with your spouse
Becoming one flesh
Emphasize God’s original design was for marriage to occur only between a man
and woman and to be a permanent bond.
Ask:
How has God’s original design come under attack in our
society?
Why did Jesus review the original ideal for marriage
when the Pharisees really had asked Him about divorce?
Read the following excerpt from Erin Roach’s
article about marriage:
Study: 8-year mark crucial to marriages
"How we begin married life has a great deal to do with
how we continue in it,"Elliff said. "I believe we need to take a new look at
the statistics that show Christian marriages having a similar divorce rate
as non-Christian marriages. Many people consider theirs to be a Christian
marriage if they simply are on a church roll or are married by a pastor in a
Christian church."
True Christian couples who have a strong faith in Christ, attend church on a
weekly basis, regularly pray together and have undergone a serious period of
premarital counseling have a surprisingly small divorce rate compared to
others, said Elliff, who also is a former president of the Southern Baptist
Convention.
"That's what needs to be present in each marriage," he said.
Churches "should make it clear that they will not perform a marriage unless
both parties possess a genuine and vibrant faith in Christ, and are
attending worship and Bible studies on a regular basis," Elliff said.
"Premarital counseling should take place over an extended period of time,
perhaps lasting several months, indicating that marriage is considered to be
one of the church's highest privileges and responsibilities, one not to be
approached lightly," Elliff said. "A marriage ceremony should be seen as a
worship service, pointing to the covenant relationship between Christ and
His bride, the church."
Elliff also noted that today's American culture hardly ever encourages
marital perseverance, especially in the tough times of life.
"On the contrary, marriage and fidelity to one's spouse is looked upon as a
joke, something not to be expected on the part of any sophisticated person,"
he said. "Given the impact of the media, I am not surprised that
contemporary statistics regarding marriages paint a sad picture regarding
the shorter span of first marriages that end in divorce."
Source: Roach, Erin. Study: 8-year
mark crucial to marriages. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from
www.baptistpress.com.
Say: In light of Elliff’s comments about
our culture working against marital fidelity, what programs or ministries
could/should be offered by your church to strengthen marriages?
Divorced People (Matt. 19:7-9)
Discuss the following excerpt from Christianity Today about
marriage and divorce:
What God Has Joined
Divorce is only allowed for a limited number of
grounds that are found in the Old Testament and affirmed in the New
Testament:
Adultery (in Deuteronomy 24:1, affirmed by Jesus
in Matthew 19)
Emotional and physical neglect (in Exodus
21:10-11, affirmed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7)
Abandonment and abuse (included as neglect, as
affirmed in 1 Corinthians 7)
Jewish couples listed these biblical grounds for divorce
in their marriage vows. We reiterate them as love, honor, and keep and be
faithful to each other. When these vows were broken, it threatened to break
up the marriage. As in any broken contract, the wronged party had the right
to say, “I forgive you; let’s carry on,” or, “I can’t go on, because this
marriage is broken.”
Therefore, while divorce should never happen, God allows
it (and subsequent remarriage) when your partner breaks the marriage vows.
Source: Instone-Brewer, David (October
2007). What God Has Joined. Christianity Today , p. 29.
Read Matthew 19:7-19 and ask:
Do Jesus’ words
in this passage imply that divorced people need ministry from fellow
believers? Explain your answer
How does your
church minister to those who have gone through divorce for biblical
reasons?
How does your
church minister to those who have gone through divorce for unbiblical
reasons?
Take the following test to see how aware you are of divorced people:
_____ 1. How many U.S. children will watch at least one
of their parents divorce twice during their lifetime? a) 10% b) 15% c) 20%
d) 25%
_____ 2. Of the homes in America, how many are
first-marriage nuclear homes? a) 13% b) 23% c) 33% d) 43%
_____ 3. Of the homes in America, how many are
second-marriage families? a) 30% b) 40% c) 50% d) 60%
_____ 4.
How do stepfamilies relate to the church? a) More inclined to attend b) Less
inclined to attend
Source: Deal, Ron L. (October 2007).
Redeeming the Remarried. Christianity Today, pp. 30-33.
ANSWERS: 1-d, 2-b, 3-a, 4-b
Single People (Matt. 19:10-12)
Discuss some of the myths concerning single
adults:
Myths of Singleness
Single adults are lonely - It is true
that some single adults are lonely, but it certainly does not take being
single to be lonely. The loneliest person in your hometown is not a single
adult, but a married adult who is in a terrible marriage!
Single adults want to get married -
Some single adults do want to marry, as would married adults if they were
single! I would rather they look in a church with a ministry to single
adults, however, than in the world. Chances of finding a dedicated Christian
are usually higher!
Single men are irresponsible - Some
are; then again, some married men are also! It does not take being single to
be irresponsible. Just talk to the wives of some of the married men in your
city.
Single adults are sexually frustrated
- Some adults who are single again due to death of a spouse or death of a
marriage are now learning to live a celibate life. The statement is true. We
are all only one heartbeat away from singleness! What is the Church doing to
help these people adjust?
Single adults have fewer problems than married
adults - Not really! Just different problems. Singleness and
marriage both have their sets of problems. The single adult does not have a
partner to share them with, though.
Single adults must be afraid of making a
commitment - This is an ignorant, general attitude with the
intention of explaining why many people have not married yet. It is
basically untrue. Many single adults are wise to wait to marry after seeing
the marriage difficulties their friends are experiencing.
Single adults have more time than married
adults - Again, untrue! Single adults have to cook the meals, clean
the house, pay the bills, shop for groceries, repair the car, make the
doctor and dentist appointments, take care of children (single parents),
etc. with no spouse to help them!
Single adults are a threat to married adults
- Some insecure married adults believe this. It is almost always
unjustified! It is usually the married adult which feels this, and as a
result, alienates the single adult. There are plenty of single adults in
this country (82 million to be exact) to discover without looking at married
adults!
Single adults are not complete until they are
married - Because of the emphasis on “marriage and family” in most
evangelical churches, single adults may feel like a “half person” at times!
Phrases such as, “I want you to meet my better half,” and questions and
attitudes like, “Why isn't an attractive woman like you married yet?” do
little to help a single adult feel complete. The truth is, “We are complete
in Him!” (Colossians 2:10)
Single adults have more money than married
adults - There are a few single adults who make good money and may
have more than married adults. Generally it is untrue, though! Young single
adults are not into their income producing years yet; divorced single women
almost always take a huge cut in their income; 60% of single-parent females
make less than the poverty level; most widowed adults live on a low, fixed
income.
Source: This and other
articles about ministering to single adults can be found at
http://singles.ag.org.
Ask:
Which myths about single adults have you embraced
without thinking?
In what ways can your church demonstrate God’s love
and minister to single adults?
Children (Matt. 19:13-15)
Read Matthew 19:13-15. Emphasize that the
Greek word for children could have described infants to teenagers.
Divide the class into three groups, and give a card to each group with one of
the three words below listed on the card—preschoolers, children, students. Ask
learners to write as many needs as they can think of that describe the group
printed on their card. Allow groups to share some of the needs they listed.
Ask:
How effectively
does our church minister to preschoolers? Children? Students?
On a scale
where 1 represents the disciples' attitudes toward children and 10
represents Jesus’ attitude toward children, where would your church’s
attitude be? Your personal attitude?
Take time to pray for all of the groups mentioned in today's lesson: married
people, divorced people, single people, and children.
EXTRA! is a supplement designed
to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by
LifeWay Church Resources.
EXTRA! is produced by Publishing
Services and Multimedia, LifeWay Church Resources, Copyright 2007, LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
SPECIAL NOTE: Some Internet
addresses given in EXTRA! are outside the LifeWay Internet domain. Because of
the changing nature of the Web, EXTRA! editors cannot be held responsible for
content on pages outside their control. At the time of this posting, the
specific pages mentioned have been viewed and approved by the EXTRA! editorial
staff. However, at the time of your viewing, the information on these pages may
have changed. Links from the specific page addresses referenced in this material
possibly could link to inappropriate material.
EXTRA! Weekly Supplemental Teaching Plans
Adult
Bible Studies for Life
Bible Studies for Life EXTRA
November 11, 2007
The Cure for Anxious Care
Dana Armstrong
Matthew 6:19-34
Before the Session
For teaching plans and full explanations of all the verses in today’s lessons,
consult any of the Bible Studies for Life leader guides or
commentaries.
Matthew 6:19-24
Begin by reading or paraphrasing the following
article:
Ex-Enron workers: 'Give 'em 50 years'
After
losing much of their retirement savings, former employees work on and
hope executives are put away.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Charlie Prestwood, a 33-year
veteran of Enron, thought he had it made when he retired in 2000 at age 62.
Preston had amassed $1.3 million in company stock,
having worked as a natural-gas operator for Enron and its predecessor just
north of Houston. He was going to pay off his house, live a comfortable
retirement and hopefully leave a nice bit of cash to his two grown children.
Now, Preston is selling off small parcels of family
land to help cover the mortgage on his home and pay his health insurance.
"When I retired I thought I had all my ducks in a row,"
he said in an interview with CNNMoney.com Monday, as jury selection in the
long-awaited Enron trial began. "But now I run out of money before I run out
of bills."
Preston is one of more than 20,000 former Enron
employees who lost big when the energy company went bankrupt in 2001. The
stock had soared during the 1990s before sinking to just pennies after the
company imploded in 2001.
No doubt these former employees will be following the trial of former chief
executive Jeffrey Skilling and Enron founder Ken Lay, both of whom face more
than three dozen fraud and conspiracy charges related to lying to investors
about the company's finances while they sold millions of dollars in stock
themselves.
Preston's take? He thinks Lay and Skilling should be
found guilty and get 50 years each without parole. "That way they couldn't
cheat someone else out of something."
What went wrong?
Enron's former and current employees have a number of
complaints. They accuse the former management of promoting the company's
stock when they knew about major problems. They say the company 401(k) plan,
which matched employee contributions only in company stock, forced employees
to stake too much of their retirement savings to Enron shares.
And they point to a one-month period in the fall of
2001 when they couldn't sell the sinking stock while the 401(k) plan
underwent changes.
"It was just terrible," said Roy Rinard, 58, an
Oregon-based lineman for Enron-acquired Pacific General Electric, which
Enron bought in 1997. Rinard said his retirement account, held all in Enron
shares, was once worth $470,000. He cashed out for $2,400.
"By the time I realized what was going on, I was just
in shock -- I couldn't do anything." He concedes that putting all his shares
in one company was a bad idea, but still blames Enron executives for the
catastrophe.
Rinard is still with PGE, which now operates as an
independent company -- he had planned to retire at 60, and now thinks he has
to work until at least 67.
'What we do is hard, hard work," he said of the life of
a lineman, being outdoors at all hours of the night, climbing utility poles
often in inclement weather. "But what keeps you going is the fact that you
can retire and finally get some rest. They've taken that away from us. It
was pure greed."
Even those who lost less have strong feelings about
their former bosses.
"The sad part is the emotional toll it's taken over the
years," said Steve Lacy, a 25-year veteran of PGE. Lacey, 50, said he lost
somewhere around $200,000 in the ordeal and has had to put off retirement by
at least 5 years.
But Lacey said he was lucky and that he really feels
for some of his older co-workers who had more money in their accounts and
fared far worse.
"It's just not right to have to watch guys in their
early 60s climb poles for a living because someone else stole," he said.
Source: Hargreaves, Steve (2006,
January 30).
Ex-Enron workers: 'Give 'em 50 years'. Retrieved October 29, 2007,
from www.cnnmoney.com.
Ask:
In what or in
whom did these people place their trust?
What was wrong
with where they put their faith?
Was it wrong
for them to invest in the company? Why or why not?
Say: Many adults worry about life, money,
family, retirement, and so forth, thinking security can be found in a good job,
hard work, and a savings account. Yet they remain fearful as to how they will
provide for themselves and their families, believing if they don't worry about
these matters, no one else will.
Ask:
What
specifically do you worry about for the present? For the future?
How are you
planning for your earthly future?
How are you
building eternal treasures?
Enlist a volunteer to read Matthew 6:19-24.
Say: Jesus was not condemning planning
for the future, owning property, or having the good things of life in these
verses. However, when our priority becomes accumulating earthly treasures for
ourselves, we must remember we will enter eternity with empty hands. If we take
a look at how we spend our time and money, we will find evidence of what our
treasures are. We must remember that seeking security in this world and its
possessions is a recipe for producing anxieties rather than relieving them. For
this reason, Jesus taught that His followers must give Him their full loyalty
and invest their resources and lives in matters of eternal significance.
Reread verses 22-24.
Ask:
How can
financial security be an illusion?
How do earthly
treasures and heavenly treasures differ?
How can we
balance investing for the future financially and investing in the future
spiritually?
Say: When we make loyalty to God our
priority, we can avoid being overcome with anxiety.
Matthew 6:25-32
Enlist a volunteer to read Matthew 6:25-32.
Ask: What words are repeated in these verses?
Say: Jesus was not forbidding us to think about the future. He
condemned anxiety that paralyzes us in fear about the future.
Read or paraphrase the following article:
Learning Not to Fear the Future
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (BP)--Many Christians make decisions
related to financial issues that are motivated by fear of the future rather
than by trust in God and in His provision.
Fear of the future can cause Christian families to scrimp and sacrifice
for retirement or for some financial disaster. But too often, little or no
thought is given to the fact that God is able to care for those who put
their total faith in Him.
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t plan ahead, make retirement
provisions or maintain an emergency reserve account. These are all necessary
to ensure financial stability for the family. However, when primary
attitudes of fear and worry are motivating a Christian's financial
decisions, there needs to be a re-evaluation of financial priorities and a
recommitment to trust in the Lord.
When Christian families are prompted by fear of their financial future,
often they will cut back on their tithes and offerings as a first step in
their attempt at financial stability. Such action, in the words of William
Shakespeare, is much like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Honoring God’s mandate to tithe the first fruits of our income and
keeping our offering vows to God are the ways for us to ensure that we will
not become victimized by financial downturns.
Withholding financial commitments made to the Lord for the sake of
buffering ourselves against potential future financial hardships will end up
costing us our financial security, rather than guarding it, simply because
God’s blessings will not be on these self-imposed buffers.
Faith is the opposite of fear, and Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as things
that we hope for and things that we do not presently see or have. God’s plan
is that we have some needs in our lives in order that we can develop our
faith in Him. That is why it’s vital for us to view these potential future
financial needs as opportunities to exercise and develop our faith.
No Christian who truly wants to serve God can live in fear of financial
loss. In Matthew 6:24, Christ was very specific when He said that we must
make a choice about either serving God or money. We cannot serve both. If we
are fearful of our financial future, then we aren’t trusting in God or in
His provision. In essence, we are choosing to serve the fear of financial
loss, rather than serving God who has conquered all fear and holds the
future in His hands.
We live in an extremely materialistic society. Too often, our priorities
are based on desires and wants, rather than on real needs. Our perspective
of what is actually a need is clouded by what our materialistic society
promotes. So, we get caught up in the mad rush to protect against any future
crisis that can potentially threaten these society-defined needs. Although
God has promised that He will always supply our needs, He has not promised
that He will supply all of our wants.
Just because we expect an answer from God that we feel will be a positive
response to our situation, He may not choose to answer the way that we want
or expect. His answer very well may be "no," in order that we can learn
maturity and learn how to rely totally on Him.
There could be different reasons why God may not answer the way we expect
Him to respond. We may ask with the wrong motives (James 4:3), or the timing
may not be right, according to God’s will and purpose. Or it may simply be
contrary to His overall plan (Acts 21:13-14).
There are four steps that we must follow in order to trust God with the
present and the future. They are:
-- Find God’s direction for your life. Most frustrations experienced by
Christians come as a result of patterning their lives after someone else’s
life, rather than finding -- through prayer and study -- God’s direction for
their lives.
-- Develop a conscious effort to trust God. Put thoughts, words and
commitments into action and do not buy on credit or hoard. Wait for God to
supply, and plan ahead.
-- Develop a long-range viewpoint. Trust God’s directives and His
guidance, even though we cannot see the end result or understand why He is
doing it that way (Matthew 6:34).
-- Pray diligently. Prayer is the key that unlocks God’s blessings, power
and direction (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).
Even though we are bombarded daily with doubts concerning the financial
future of our nation’s economy and the economies of the world, we must not
doubt that God is in complete control. Do not panic and do not allow
yourself to be governed by fear of the future. Keep your commitments and
vows to God, pray without ceasing, and trust Him without reservation.
Source: Dayton, Howard. Learning Not to Fear the
Future. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from
www.lifeway.com.
Say: By trusting God in everything,
Jesus' followers avoid being overcome by anxieties. Because God so highly values
Jesus' followers, they need not be anxious about His care for them. Verse 30
ends with the words “O you of little faith.” He knew His disciples were on a
journey of faith. They had not arrived, but they were on their way. So are we.
We are on a journey of faith as we live in a world that offers many distractions
to get us off track and cause us to be fearful and anxious. These verses make it
clear that worrying about physical necessities is essentially pagan.
Ask:
What distractions of life cause you worry?
What steps will you take to replace fear with faith?
Matthew 6:33-34
Read Matthew 6:33-34.
Say: Anxiety usually occurs because we do not know what the
future holds. The present is all we have. When we are consumed by what tomorrow
will bring or what the future holds, we are unable to focus on what God has for
us today. God will supply the needs of those who first seek Him and His will.
Read the following excerpt from a sermon based
on Matthew 6:33. The sermon, titled Kingdom Living, was written by Steve
Andrews:
When a young boy and his father saw a dead squirrel in
the road, the father used the occasion to tell his son about the danger of
running onto the road when cars were passing by. A few days later, the boy’s
mom buckled him into his car seat and reminded him that seatbelts provided
for his safety. “If were in car wreck, these seatbelts and car seat would
help protect us,” she said. “I know”, said the boy. “And dad said when you
get hit by a car you turn into a squirrel!”
We laugh at the boy’s failure to understand his father
instruction, but our failure to understand and apply the promises of our
heavenly Father is not a laughing matter. God made an incredible promise to
care for us with greater concern than the flowers and the birds, but He also
instructed where and how to find His provision. But, seek first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness and all these things will be provided for you.
EXTRA! is a supplement designed
to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by
LifeWay Church Resources.
EXTRA! is produced by Publishing
Services and Multimedia, LifeWay Church Resources, Copyright 2007, LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
SPECIAL NOTE: Some Internet
addresses given in EXTRA! are outside the LifeWay Internet domain. Because of
the changing nature of the Web, EXTRA! editors cannot be held responsible for
content on pages outside their control. At the time of this posting, the
specific pages mentioned have been viewed and approved by the EXTRA! editorial
staff. However, at the time of your viewing, the information on these pages may
have changed. Links from the specific page addresses referenced in this material
possibly could link to inappropriate material.
