Participant's Guide (When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty) - Softcover

Tada, Joni Eareckson; Estes, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310241944 ISBN 13: 9780310241942

Publisher: Zondervan, 2002

Synopsis

This moving Groupware product examines human suffering through the eyes and experiences of Joni Eareckson Tada, a remarkable Christian woman who's turned her own life experience into a powerful testimony to God's sovereignty and plan for all of us.In six moving sessions, Joni explains her own outlook and experiences, from the tragic accident that left her paralyzed over thirty years ago to her brilliant ministry that touches people worldwide. The production follows Joni through her own everyday interactions with others, including her extraordinary 'Family Retreats' that minister both to other disabled people and to anyone suffering and asking what God means by allowing it.The life and everyday actions of Joni Eareckson Tada are inspirational in their own right. The combination of documentary-style video, individual stories of suffering and grace, and stimulating Leader's and Participants Guides make this a powerful stimulus for group discussion and individual reflection.

About this title

About the Author

Joni Eareckson Tada is CEO of Joni and Friends, an organization that accelerates Christian outreach in the disability community. Joni and Friends provides practical support and spiritual help to special-needs families worldwide, and equips thousands of churches in developing disability ministry. Joni is the author of numerous bestselling books, including When God Weeps, Diamonds in the Dust, A Step Further, winner of the Gold Medallion Award, and her latest A Spectacle of Glory. Joni and her husband, Ken, have been married for 35 years. For more information on Joni and Friends, visit www.joniandfriends.org Steven Estes holds Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary and Columbia Bible College. He is the senior pastor of Community Evangelical Church in Elverson, Pennsylvania. With Joni Tada, he co-authored A Step Further and When God Weeps and also wrote Called to Die, the biography of slain missionary linguist Chet Bitterman.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Session One
A Good God in a Suffering World
Everyone who takes the Bible seriously, and many who don’t, agree that God hates suffering.... But it simply doesn’t follow that God’s only relationship to suffering is to relieve it. —STEVE ESTES
Questions to Think About
1. Briefly describe a time when someone you love suffered. Explain how you felt, what you did for that person, how that experience affected your life, your beliefs, your faith in God, your actions.
Was there anything you could have done to relieve that person’s suffering but chose not to do? Why didn’t you relieve the suffering? How did you feel about your decision?
2. How do you suppose God views our suffering? What does he feel? What does he do? What does he think?
3. What are some possible reasons a loving, good, and perfect God would allow suffering?
Video Observations
Getting to know God in the midst of our suffering
Why a good, perfect, and sovereign God allows suffering
How God feels about suffering
Suffering can help us become more "God focused"
Video Highlights
1. What are some of the benefits of suffering that were mentioned in the video? How comfortable are you in considering these to be benefits?
2. What did you notice about Joni’s attitude toward suffering?
3. What are your thoughts about Lamentations 3:32–33: "Though he [God] brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men"?
4. Do you believe that people who are well acquainted with suffering often become closer to God as a result? Why or why not?
Large Group Exploration
How Do We Know That God Is Good, Loving, and Tender? It’s no secret that people, even Christians, suffer. But how can this be? Didn’t God the Father send Jesus to release us from the bondage of sin and its effects? Doesn’t God tell us to cast all our anxiety on him because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)? Doesn’t he promise abundant life (John 10:10)? Doesn’t he promise to give good gifts to his children (Luke 11:11–13)? Let’s take a closer look at Scripture to see what we learn about this God we thought we knew. Let’s see if we can reconcile who he is with the reality of human suffering.
1. Dozens of Scripture passages reveal that God is good. For a sampling of what Scripture says, look up the following descriptions of God’s goodness.
2. With what expressions of tenderness does God describe his love for his people in Zechariah 2:8 and Zephaniah 3:17?
3. From the beginning through the end of Scripture, we read of God’s great love for humankind and see the many ways in which he expresses that love. Read Micah 7:18–20, Ephesians 2:4–7, and 1 John 3:1. What does God’s love lead him to do for us?
4. What does Jesus tell us about God’s love in John 15:9–14?
JUST IN CASE YOU HAVE SOME DOUBTS . . .
In addition to the Scripture passages in question 1, you may want to read the following sampling of passages that affirm God’s goodness and love: Ezra 3:11; Psalm 25:8; 34:8; 100:5; 106:1; 118:1; 135:3; Isaiah 63:7; Lamentations 3:25; Nahum 1:7.
5. Jesus, as God in human form, couldn’t help but show God’s love during his ministry on earth. Let’s look at two snapshots of Jesus’ life. How did he demonstrate God’s love, compassion, and mercy?
a. Mark 1:21–34
b. John 11:32–36
Truth or Imagination?
What we think about God influences our friendship with him. It affects how much glory we give him. But our imaginations about God aren’t reliable—ancient speculations about the kind of birthday present he might like led cultures into human sacrifice. Nor can we simply trust our emotions about him—if we conceive of God as we’d like him to be, we’re sure to recreate him in our own image. We’re liable to become like the people Paul described: "They are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge" (Romans 10:2).
—STEVE ESTES
6. It is one thing to know that God is love, but we need to know that we can count on God’s love. What assurance of God’s unfailing love do we find in 1 Samuel 15:29 and Hebrews 13:8?
ESSENTIAL BIBLICAL CONCEPT
The one and only God exists as three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three of them are God together, drawing life and enjoyment from each other. We see particular evidence of this in Matthew 3:16–17, when Jesus was baptized and the Spirit descended on him and the Father in heaven expressed his pleasure with his Son. Because of the special relationship Jesus has with God the Father, they are fully united in thought and action (see Luke 10:22). As recorded in the gospel of John, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). In John 14:9–10, he explained to his disciples that because he and his Father are one, anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. Furthermore, anything Jesus said or did originated not just from him but from the Father as well. That is why Jesus is able to make the Father known to us (John 1:18).
The New Testament writers understood this concept well. That is why Paul described Jesus as "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15) and the writer of Hebrews referred to Jesus as the "exact representation" of God’s being (Hebrews 1:3).

About this edition

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0310241944
• ISBN 13: 9780310241942
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112