02.10.08
Small Group Plan - February 10, 2008
“We Must Protect This House”
Myspace or Ourspace?
Small Group Plan
February 10, 2008
Dear Small Group Leader,
D’Esta Love has written:
We live in an impermanent and disposable world … Everything is biodegradable, recyclable … throw-away, plastic. Since nothing apparently is permanent, we seek instant satisfaction and reward. We buy instantaneous, pre-packaged … products…. We agree to thirty or sixty-day trial periods and if not completely satisfied we … get our money back, no questions asked. It is no wonder couples live together as a sort of trial run to see if compatibility exists before permanent marriage commitments are made, or that marriages are easily terminated, since nothing is forever in a temporary world.
Good News For Marriage (Page 41)
OPEN IT / INTRODUCE IT …
· Imagine God being married? How does it feel?
· Imagine God fighting to preserve His marriage. What would He do?
· Imagine God leading a seminar on marriage? What would He say?
LOOK AT IT / STUDY IT …
· Tucked away in an 8th century book of prophecy is a story of God fighting for His marriage. In the Old Testament book of Hosea God is pictured as a bridegroom. His story merges to Hosea’s as they both struggle to preserve their marriages.
· From the twin pain of God and His prophet emerges three steps:
The Persistence
Hosea 2:14-15
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. 15 There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
· Why is God taking his bride back into the desert? What does the desert represent for them?
· Why is He so persistent? In view of her unfaithfulness, why does God stay with her?
· What are the lessons of persistence for our marriages today?
The Partnership
Hosea 2:16-18
16 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ 17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. 18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.
· What does God mean “you will no longer call me ‘my master’” ?
· Describe the power of partnership?
· Does partnership have to battle leadership in marriage today? Explain.
· Why is God promising safety (Vs. 18)?
· What are the lessons of partnership for our marriages today?
The Promises
Hosea 2:19-20
19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. 20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.
· God promises His marriage partner “righteousness” (deliverance).
What kind of deliverance can marriage partners promise today?
· God promises His marriage partner “justice” (fairness).
How can marriage partners provide fairness today?
· God promises His marriage partner “faithfulness” (physical, emotional, social, psychological).
How can marriage partners provide a broad and deep faithfulness today?
USE IT / APPLY IT …
· Does our culture protect or attack our marriages today? Explain.
· In God’s three-point plan, what is most needed in marriages today? Why?
· What touches you most deeply as you see God fight for His marriage?
Close by asking God to give us His sense of passion, forgiveness and tenderness.