Give thanks for family in all circumstances

Bible Study Notes - 8 May 2019 - Giving Thanks for Family in All Circumstances

What was especially helpful or challenging about Sunday's message?

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ESV What is your first response to this verse - inspired, challenged, disturbed, blessed - and why?

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ESV

What is your first response to this verse - inspired, challenged, disturbed, blessed - and why?

1. We give thanks for our families even though they're not perfect. Read . This church was full of problems: pride, division, sexual sin, Christians suing other Christians, bad teaching, abuse of spiritual gifts, on and on. So then, how can Paul write these glowing words at the opening of his letter?

How can you look past the imperfections in your family or church so you can still give thanks for them?

2. We have to give thanks even if the choices families make can cause great pain

Read .

[The story] begins with a short but shocking request. The younger son comes to the father and says, “Give me my share of the estate.” The original listeners would have been amazed by such a request. Not that there was anything amiss in the son’s expectation of a share of the family wealth. In those days when a father died the oldest son received a double portion of what the other children inherited. If a father had two heirs, the oldest would have gotten two-thirds of the estate and the younger would have received one-third.

However, this division of the estate only occurred when the father died. Here the younger son asks for his inheritance now, which was a sign of deep disrespect. To ask this while the father still lived was the same as to wish him dead. The younger son was saying, essentially, that he wants his father’s things, but not his father. His relationship to the father has been a means to the end of enjoying his wealth, and now he is weary of that relationship. He wants out. Now. “Give me what is mine,” he says.[ Keller, T. (2008). The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (1st ed., pp. 17–18). New York: Dutton.]

Consider the father's attitude: he gave the son what he wanted. How do you think we can maintain a posture of love towards family, even when they cause us pain?

3. We thank Got in the midst of pain because there is hope for salvation.

What is it that keeps the shepherd searching the hills for his sheep, the woman sweeping the floors for her coin, the father watching for his son? How do we keep hope strong when we are waiting for the prodigal's return, for the lost to be found?