We are Fam-i-ly!

LESSON FOCUS
God has designed us to live in families. Families are the basic building block of any society. Across the world and across time, families have consistently been places of nurture and refuge. Children are born into family settings for their protection and care. Family ties are deeply connected bonds that provide physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual security for human beings. In this text, Paul outlines the roles played by individuals within the family context. As Christians, the undergirding presence of the Holy Spirit empowers the family members to live in community with each other in ways that are beneficial and edificatory.

HELPFUL INSIGHT
For the first time in its history, Western civilization is confronted with the need to define the meaning of the terms “marriage” and “family”. . . The Judeo-Christian view of marriage and the family with its roots in Hebrew Scriptures has to a significant extent been replaced with a set of values that prizes human rights, self-fulfillment, and pragmatic utility on an individual and societal level. It can rightly be said that marriage and the family are institutions under siege in our world today, and that with marriage and the family, our very civilization is in crisis.
-Andreas J. Köstenberger with David W. Jones, God, Marriage and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation, Crossway Books, 2004, p. 25.

FOCAL PASSAGE: Ephesians 5:18-6:4

Daily Readings
The family is God’s idea. He has placed us in families at birth. We cannot survive alone. We need a family to be a healthy individual. Our families provide us with love, acceptance, care, nurture and shelter. Families are the core building blocks of healthy societies. The Bible offers us examples of families like Jacob’s or Timothy’s or David’s – so that we can learn both what to do and what not to do!

Monday:                                  Genesis 37:1-37
Tuesday:                                 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Wednesday:                         1 Timothy 1:1-14
Thursday:                              Ephesians 5:18-6:4
Friday:                                      Colossians 3:1-4:1

ISSUES/QUESTIONS TO ADDRESS

1. What are some of the unique challenges facing families today?
2. Why is family life so important and fundamental to our society?
3. What are some ways family life can improve in the face of the demands and challenges of 21^st century pressures?
4. How can we be more responsible in our respective roles in our own families?