|
LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Wednesday Night, November 29, 2006
“Three Timeless Questions”
5 Minutes - Welcome / Prayer
5 Minutes - OPEN
Some have a stigma that to seek help from a professional therapist or minister is a sign of weakness. What prevents Christian people from confiding in others regarding their weaknesses and struggles?
What are your current views toward seeking help for mental, emotional, or spiritual health?
How would you go about selecting a counselor?
15 Minutes - DIG
Assuming that everyone in your LIFE group agreed that it is most appropriate and advisable to seek professional help when needed, spend a few minutes talking about the kind of mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish for which someone would greatly benefit from confiding in another (i.e., grief, guilt, depression, etc.).
If one of your friends confiding solely in you regarding their struggle with one or more of these life stressors, how far would you go before encouraging them to seek professional help?
Once you made the decision to offer this recommendation, how would you go about doing that?
If you were deliberating on whether or not to schedule an appointment with a counselor, would one of your concerns be whether he/she would give you the “right” advice to deal with your life stressor(s)?
Assuming your desire to be steered in the “right” direction from a counselor, what then would be your expectations of the counsel you would receive?
In Chuck’s sermon Sunday Night, he referenced what he learned from a veteran preacher, Gus Nichols, in establishing a policy concerning the counseling he did with others. This centered around asking three questions of all those seeking his counsel to assure they were serious about making necessary life changes:
* Do you really want to do what is right?
* Are you ready for the Bible to tell you what is right?
* Are you willing to do what the Bible says right now?
15 Minutes - REFLECT
You may think this is back-tracking, but after having gone through our previous discussion, if you were to go to a counselor this week to deal with some life stressor, would you expect to come away from that session with some guidance that would enable you to change your thinking, attitudes, and/or behavior?
Reflect on the implications of your response to this question.
As Christians, we shouldn’t shy away from opportunities to be stretched outside of our comfort zone and for renewal moments that promote “life change.”
Through all of the circumstances of our life, God is working in our individual lives for us to become a “new creation.” Our transformation into the likeness of Christ is a work in progress. From a deep look into scripture, there seems to be nothing as important as this “life change” (Galatians 6:15-16; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21).
5 Minutes - CLOSING PRAYER
What is the proper place of prayer as it relates to these matters?
The prayer time you enjoy as a LIFE Group each week is a powerful source of bonding your group together as you share your personal prayer request(s) and bow together in prayer to submit these matters to Jehovah God.
|
facebook
twitter (@pvcclr)
google plus
rss
