4: God is Passionate and Compassionate — Teaching Plan

Key Thought : In His passionate and compassionate love, God asks us to be like Him. In our compassion for others, we need to be actively caring for others.
January 25, 2025

1. Have a volunteer read Hosea 11:1-9.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
How does the imagery in these verses bring to life the way God loves and cares for His people?
Personal Application: What comfort can we draw from the reality of God’s love for us like a parent for their child? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your relatives states, “How do you reveal God’s compassion as a loving Father to those who didn’t have parents who had love and compassion for them? What other ways can God’s love and compassion be revealed?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Matthew 9:36; 14:14; Mark 1:41; 6:34.

Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
How do these verses show the way God was moved by the plight of the people?
Personal Application: How can we model our lives focusing on the needs of others by showing it on love in tangible ways? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your friends states, “How does remembering and forgetting play a part in God’s love for us like a mother loves her child? What does it mean by remembering and forgetting?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 13:4-8.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
In what ways does this passage call us to reflect God’s compassion and love in our relationship with others?
Personal Application: Why is death to selfishness, corruption, and self the only way to reveal this love? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “What are some practical ways that you as an individual, or as a group, can meet the needs of those who need comforting?.” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 13:4, 2 Corinthians 11:2.

Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
If love is not jealous, how can God be a jealous God? How do we understand these ideas?
Personal Application: How can we reflect the same kind of “good jealousy” toward others that God displays towards us? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared. ”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).