Finding Love

Sermon Notes Short Review November 20, 2016 Song of Songs 1:5-7 Give a brief summary of the message. Look for the following main points: a. Describe the situation of the woman – her complaint. b. Looking for true beauty. c. How to find someone who is beautiful? Some Questions for Discussion Remember high school photo albums? a. What did you look like? b. Have you kept up with any high school friends? On Facebook? Have you ever compared how people looked like then with what they look like now? What changes do you see? 2. What ‘family tensions’ does the woman in the Song of Songs deal with? Read 1:5-7 and 8:8-10. [Describe the cultural/historic situation regarding brothers/marriage/daughters.] 3. How does youth and immaturity affect who we blame for tensions we feel in the family, and how we respond to them? 4. How has your idea of ‘beauty’ changed over the years: men – the kind of woman you’d want to be with, women – the kind of man whose company you enjoy? What did it used to be? 5. Why is humility important in searching for a mate? Read Prov. 31:30. 6. Sexual intimacy makes a couple feel close. So why is not a good way to explore the character and personality of another person? a. How does sexual intimacy work to strengthen a marriage? b. How does sexual intimacy short circuit gaining insight into who another person really is? 7. People have good and bad family relationships. What skills in interpersonal relationships do we learn (or fail to learn) in the family? 8. Read James 1:2-4. How does our response to trials shape us? a. How can an easy family life, a child coddled and protected from problems, subvert the development of character? b. Can difficult family backgrounds produce good character? How? Examples? c. How were you treated in your family? How has the Lord given you grace and wisdom to deal with mistreatment, injustice or emotional deprivation from the past? 9. How can we pray for brothers and sisters – and children – who are in the process of looking for a mate?