Lesson 5 (April 27-May 3), Wise Words for Families

Love the Right Woman

1. Why is having sex called "making love?" What is real "making love" like?
2. Why is the path to death likened to playing around with adultery
3. What are the benefits of marital faithfulness?

A Call to Fathers

1. Why do sons who view their mother being abused in turn abuse their wives?
2. What is the greatest example a father can set for his son?
3. Were the kings of Israel mostly like their fathers or opposite? What makes the difference?

Correction with Love

1. Can alternate forms of punishment always be found, or is it sometimes necessary to spank a child?
2. What effect does punishment in anger/frustration have on a child?
3. What effect does cuddling a child after disciplining him/her have on a child?

Is life Better on a Rooftop

1. How should one respond when the spouse is constantly nagging, discuss it, remain silent, or go away?
2. When can joking to ease tension sometimes backfire?
3. How can partners identify irritants in the spouse's behaviour?

A Truly Wealthy Wife

1. Does a noble woman make herself rich or her husband?
2. Why is there no poem on the "Noble Husband" in the book of Proverbs?
3. What effect does reading a poem on the ideal wife in Prov 31 have on women who read it? What effect does it have on men?

Lesson 4 (April 20-26), When Alone

Companionship

1. What difference does it make, if any, in the relationship of male and female that for humans God started with one being and then separated Eve from that one, whereas for animals both genders were created separately at the same time? Are human pairs more closely bonded than animal pairs?
2. What evidence is there that the creation of woman was not an afterthought?
3. What situations cause some people to abandon society and live like hermits? What alternatives would they have had? 

The Unmarried Life

1. Is it God's will for everyone to get married? 
2. What are some advantages in being staying single?
3. For those planning to remain single, what are some situations they need to plan for?
4. When the Bible exhorts God's people to care for the widows, would that have included single women too? Why didn't God specify them?

When a Marriage Ends

1. Can every marriage be saved or are some doomed to failure?
2. What can the church do to help a separating couple?
3. How can the church ensure that members whose marriage has failed keep coming to church?

Death and Lonliness

1. How much do animals know about death and how much do they sense that they are about to be killed? How much more than animals know, do humans know about impending death?
2. How much do animals feel the loss of a partner?
3. Why did the practice of sati (wife jumping into the fire of cremation for the husband) arise, and why would it be banned now?

Spiritually Single

1. Why are there so many women who attend church without their husbands?
2. What challenges are there in situations where one partner is not a member of the church? 
3. Is a wife or husband justified in separating from an unbelieving partner?

Lesson 3 (April 13-19), Preparing for Change

Unprepared

1. Why do you think, God did not give the power of foresight, the ability to see into the future, to all people like He gives to prophets?
2. To what extent may we ask God to reveal to us the future that we can choose more wisely?
3. How can one prepare for unexpected changes that come during one's lifetime?

Preparing for Marriage

1. Is it God's plan for every person to get married?
2. What traits of character are important for people contemplating marriage?
3. What negative characteristics indicate that one is not yet ready for marriage?

Preparing for Parenting

1. How important is it for a couple to have children? Under what circumstances should parents wit before having a child? Is it okay not to have children?
2. What changes might parents need to make in their lives before having a child?
3. How much influence do parents have on a child's future, what he or she can become and how successful the child might be in life?

Preparing for Old Age

1. How much can we do to prolong our lives? 
2. Is it better to save up for old age or to spend it on children and have them look after you when you are old? 
3. What examples are there in the Bible that can guide in preparation for old age?

Preparing for Death

1. Should we prepare for death or for translation to heaven?
2. What problems that arise after death should one try to avoid?
3. How early should one start preparing for death?

Lesson 2 (April 6-12), The Choices We Make

Free Will, Free Choice

1. How much power of choice do animals have? What is the difference of that to the power of choice that humans have?
2. Are there people who would choose not to accept salvation? If so what are some reasons they might reject it?
3. Why did God not make creatures who would choose to love Him?

Making the Right Choices

1. How much are we allowed to change our minds once a choice is made?
2. How can we consult God in making the right choices? How can we know that He is guiding us?
3. How can we help other people make right choices in their lives?

Choosing Friends

1. How do people become friends? What are characteristics of "bad friends?"
2. What made Jonathan like David?
3. Was Jonathan correct in maintaining friendship with David against his father's wish? How much should parents guide children in their choice of friends?

Choosing a Life Partner

1. Is there just one partner that a person can be happily married to, or could there be more than one?
2. Why is it better to be the "right person" than to find the "right person?"
3. What advantages or disadvantages did Adam and Eve have in the choice of their partners?

Choosing a Course

1. Is there more than one career option in which a person can be very happy?
2. What is the difference between a "job" and a "career?" How can one know when it is time to change to a different job? Might there come a time to change to a different career? How can one sense the time if that is true?
3. What are the various priorities to consider in choosing a career?

Lesson 1 (Mar 30-April 5), The Rhythms of Life

In the Beginning 

1. How much order is there in the universe? How much in this world happens by random or chance?
2. Do the seasons go back to Eden or are they the result of the flood? How necessary are seasons? How regular are the seasons?
3. Why would God have asked humans to meet him at a regular time than a particular place?

The Rhythms of Life

1. Are we born with our body clocks set, or can we control them?
2. To what extent can one control the flow of one's life, whom one will marry, what career one will follow?
3. To what extent can we control the length of our lives?

The Unexpected

1. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God permit it?
2. Is the story of Job to be taken as literal or could it be a parable? What lessons does it teach us?
3. Can adversity drive one away from God? If so, what does it mean?

Transitions

1. What is the value of being a creature of habit? 
2. How easy is it to change a habit in one's self or one's spouse?
3. What factors/events can make it easier to change one's course of life?

Interactions

1. Why do some people prefer interacting with pets rather than with human beings?
2. How far is it possible to be friends with everyone?
3. What causes people to become hermits?