02/10/2022 – 20/11/2022
Family Matters
What’s are families for? How is marriage supposed to work? How do I get along with my parents? Is child-raising designed to make parents crazy? What if I’m single? Does it matter that I’ve spent my whole life in a family and still don’t know how “normal” families are supposed to function? If you have any of these questions, God has answers! Join us as we focus on family matters and most importantly why family matters to God. We will be learning from the book of 1 Samuel to see how families were certainly not perfect and had a wider view of ‘family’ than we do today.
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How to deal with conflict
All of us will have experienced some kind of family conflict. This week we consider how to deal with that conflict in a healthy way. We ask why we need to push past our fears, pay attention to God, not prejudge the hearts of others and be prepared to walk away from provocation when we need to. We consider the benefits and responsibilities connected with healthy conflict, both of which David took seriously. David was the only person in the whole valley to give any thought to the role of God in conflict and so we consider what difference it would make if, when facing conflict, we stopped to ask ‘where is God in all this?’ We notice how Eliab’s biggest mistake was to prejudge David’s motives and how easy that is for us to do and finally we recognise that David was prepared to walk away from Eliab’s provocation and that there may be times when we need to do the same. Ultimately, this all means that, when we get into conflict, there is a need to slow down and become more thoughtful and open to the work of the Holy Spirit.
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The Ineffective Parent
There are some difficult passages in the Bible. This comes in the middle of family difficulties and David being an ineffective parent. We unpack how to be an effective parent, leader and mentor through showing resilience, forgiveness and repentance.
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Causes, Consequences and Cures of Unfaithfulness
Adultery and affairs seem to be a normal part of life, yet the devastating consequences for everyone involved seem to be brushed under the carpet. Looking at the famous story of David and Bathsheba, what do we learn of the causes, the consequences and the cure for unfaithfulness. This is an honest and open exploration of a subject that is often avoided or ignored in our churches.’
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How to deal with a difficult family member
For many of us, the most difficult people we know are the people in our own families. A difficult parent, a crazy uncle, a wayward child, a critical sibling or a stubborn grandparent. Whatever our family’s problems, big or small, David’s relationship with his father-in-law Saul has something to teach us about what is needed to deal with that difficult family member. In this talk we reflect on what he teaches us about having soft hearts, courageous confrontation, prayerful patience and Godly grace. Saul was wicked to David and yet Saul’s tiny loss wounded David to the core. David had the courage to confront those on his own side and his father-in-law Saul. Instead of rushing to force a brutal and irreversible conclusion to their relationship, he was prepared to wait patiently and prayerfully for God to work things out in his good timing. Finally, when David had finished speaking, Saul said “you have treated me well, but I have treated you badly” – a fantastic definition of grace. In all these ways he lived out the commands and patterns of Jesus.
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Why adults and children must be disciplined
Every human being needs two things to thrive. Love and discipline. This is the same for children in families, athletes in a sports team, students in a classroom, or members of a church. What does this look like, and how do we get the right balance. Looking at God as our perfect model for parenting, we see in this talk how we can help each of us thrive in life.
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Family Matters – Family Values
What values should be at the heart of a Christian family and how do we live them out in the 21st century? This week we look for answers in a surprising encounter between King David and one of his nephews which reveals David leading his family in kindness, integrity and generosity. He sought out someone from the house of his father-in-law Saul to whom he could show kindness, despite a long conflict between his and Saul’s sides of the family. He tracked down his nephew because of a promise he’d made to his friend Jonathan, “never to cut off his kindness from Jonathan’s family”. Then, when they eventually met, David modelled generosity with his welcome, his giving and his hospitality. In each of these values God was David’s inspiration which is how David is able to model for us what values to prize in our own families today.
Speakers
Paul Hodgson
Ant Dixon
Simon Russell
Simon Dust
