1. Hold Fast what is Good. The title of this week’s lesson could be, “Families in the whirl of cultural change.” It’s certainly true, as the lesson author points out, that any church member who ventures forth on a mission assignment confronts cultural differences and needs to learn how to minister to those with such differences. Cultural differences abound. How do we keep from judging them as harmful or just plain wrong? How can we accept and minister to people from cultures that are different in a striking way from those arising from our background? How sure are we that “our” culture is the “right” one in every dimension? 

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Key Thought: Christian families confront cultural challenges all the time. Most times these challenges have a negative influence. The gospel gives us light and strength to deal with these challenges.

June 15, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Acts 10:14-17. 28.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Does this tell us anything about our attitudes in sharing our faith with people of other cultures or religions?
3. Personal Application: How much is your faith determined by culture and how much by Biblical truth? How do we discern the difference? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How do you deal with someone who thinks that because culture changes over time, so does Bible principles and truth? Many Bible principles they relegate to being culturally biased and irrelevant today.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Genesis 18:19.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How can you best adapt your faith to your culture without comprising essential truths?
3. Personal Application: What things in your culture are helpful to family life and what are not? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “In our American culture today, many things are allowable now than were before the 1960’s. Living together, divorce, recreational drug use, and abortions are all social norms today. What was sin years ago is just normal behavior today.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Judges 2:10-13.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What crisis developed in Israel after Joshua and his peers died?
3. Personal Application: How difficult is it to pass your faith and obedience to God down to your children and grandchildren? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “I’m going to raise my children to follow what they want when they get old enough. I’m not going to force my religion on them. When they get old enough, they can choose what they want to do.” How would you reply to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Matthew 28:5-7.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. How do your family and culture reflect the kingdom of heaven in your environment?
3. Personal Application: How can we better improve our family circle to share the gospel with others? Share your thoughts.
4. 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).

Amen!(0)

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Change is an inescapable, unsettling occurrence in families, regardless of whatever culture they live in. Some change is related to predictable passage through the life cycle. Often change is unpredictable, such as deaths, disasters, war, illnesses, family moves, or career failures. Many families face economic and social changes in their communities and countries. Other changes are directly related to the culture.

Below are some examples of great, even traumatic, changes people faced. Using your imagination, put yourself in their positions. How did these changes impact their family life? What mechanism would you have to help cope? In what ways might you have reacted differently?

– Abraham, Sarah, and Lot (Gen. 12:1-5)

– Hadassah (Esther 2:7-9)

– Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:1-21)

Change

With change comes the experience of loss and the anxiety of uncertainty as to one’s immediate future. Depending on a family’s ability to adjust to changes, these experiences can propel people to new levels of growth and appreciation for spiritual things, or they can lead to stress and anxiety. Satan exploits the disruption changes bring, hoping to introduce doubt and distrust in God. The promises of God’s Word, the resources of family and friends, and the assurance that their lives were in God’s hands helped many heroes and heroines of faith cope successfully with momentous life upheaval.

Amen!(0)

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