MARCH 17
WISDOM THAT OUTLIVES YOU
“Con los años la viña da mejor vino.” (With years, the vine yields better wine) – Latin American Proverb We are wise when we learn from our elders and invest in our youth.
Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own, and get together with your running partner, life group, or friends and family to talk through what you are learning.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- How does your life show that you value the generations around you?
- Read Proverbs 3:1-18.
Make some observations about this passage (What does the text say?):
- What do you notice and what are you curious about?
Make some interpretations (What does the passage mean?)
- What do you learn about humanity?
- What do you learn about God?
Now make some applications (what’s my response?)
- How are you encouraged, challenged, or convicted by this passage?
- What should be our response to this passage?
3. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Whether or not you are a parent, we have the invitation from God to pass on the wisdom we have learned. How can you position yourself (if you currently aren’t) to pour into the younger generation?
4. Think about a time when you thought you knew best. Even when people older and wiser than you were trying to offer you wisdom and guidance but you knew your way was better. What has rejecting wisdom and insisting on your own way cost you? What has it cost those around you?
5. Read 1 Timothy 4:12. How is your speech, conduct, and love influencing those around you? How are you growing in Godly character, so that you can be a good influence?
KEY SCRIPTURE
Proverbs 3:1-18 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
PRAYER
This week spend time praying for wisdom for yourself in specific situations that you find yourself in. If you are aware of any ways in which you’ve failed to seek wisdom from your elders, or pour into those who are younger, confess that and ask God to help you change. Include others to pray for you as well.
TAKE A NEXT STEP
1. Make a list of those in your life who are younger that you that you are pouring into. Be thoughtful and strategic as you think through what and how to share wisdom with them. If there isn’t anyone currently on your list, how could you get in proximity with those younger than you, so that you can give away what you’ve learned
- A great way to do this is to begin volunteering with Kids or Students at your campus! To find out more go to: https://www.gatewaychurch.com/serve and click on “My Campus” then click “Join a Campus Serve Group”.
2. Make a list of the elders in your life who you are receiving wisdom from. How are you putting yourself in proximity to them in order to honor them and learn from them? If there isn’t anyone currently on your list, how could you change that?
FOR THE PARENTS
Hey, families! Here’s a look at what we’re covering with your kids so you can help them continue to grow at home during the week.
THIS WEEK
This week we will be learning about how Jesus wants us to remember His sacrifice for us.
THE BIBLE: “he is not here; he is risen, just as he said.” (Matthew 28:6)
THE MESSAGE: In today’s lesson, we learned about the last meal Jesus had with His disciples before He died on the cross At this point, the disciples still didn’t understand what Jesus was about to endure for them. But Jesus knew what was about to happen and He wanted to spend time with His friends, while teaching them one last lesson.
THE BIG IDEA: The Good News Is For Everyone!
ASK THIS
Because sometimes you and your kid need a conversation-starter that isn’t,
“So . . . how was church?”
- Why was Jesus going to Jerusalem with His disciples?
- What was Jesus’ promise to the disciples?
REMEMBER THIS
God wants you to know that the Lord’s Supper is a reminder that Jesus died a horrible death to forgive our sins. He wants us to remember that faith in Jesus is all that is needed in order to be forgiven and brought into a perfect relationship with the Father. Jesus spent His last meal with His disciples, teaching them about all the things they needed to know! God wants us to spend time with Jesus as well, by praying and reading the Bible, so that we can learn more about Him and get closer to Him too.
NEXT WEEK
Next week we will talk about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and how much He loves us!