Discussion Questions for “The 11th Commandment”
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Take 15 min to read the following passages and to answer the following questions
Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
1.This story contrasts and connects acts of service and listening at the feet of Jesus? Why do you think Jesus values Mary’s act of sitting at his feet over Martha’s hard work?
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
2. What lessons of rest do you observe as you read this passage?
Education
“An intensity such as never before was seen is taking possession of the world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ’s loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work. These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power. They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened. Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him—this is our need. Happy will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs:
“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my Beloved among the sons.
I sat down under His shadow with great delight,
And His fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
And His banner over me was love.” Song of Solomon 2:3, 4.” (Ellen White, Education)
3.What are some of your burdens? What feels heavy right now?
4.What are you being called to let go of?
5.What are you being called to hold on to?
Read silently to yourself for 5 mins. Try reading the passage a few times.
Isaiah 49:8-15
8 This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, 9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. 11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. 12 See, they will come from afar some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan. 13 Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. 14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
Discuss the following:
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C.S. Lewis writes:
Imagine a man in total darkness. He thinks he is in a cellar or dungeon. Then there comes a sound. He thinks it might be a sound from far off – waves or wind-blown trees or cattle half a mile away. And if so, it proves he’s not in a cellar, but free, in the open air. Or it may be a much smaller sound close at hand – a chuckle of laughter. And if so, there is a friend just behind him in the dark. Either way, a good, good sound. I’m not mad enough to take such an experience as evidence for anything. It is simply the leaping into imaginative activity of an idea which I would always have theoretically admitted – the idea that I or any mortal at any time, may be utterly mistaken as to the situation [we are] really in.
Have you ever attended an appointment or social event that went much much better than you originally thought? What made the moment so good?
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What words/phrases of this passage create meaning to you and why?
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In verse 8, God promises to make a group of individuals a covenant people. What do you think it means be a covenant people?
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What role do the covenant people have? What acts of restoration/redemption are the people of the covenant responsible for? Discuss what you think each act of restoration means.
In your groups have two different people read the passage separately. Afterwards have a third person narrate the passage in their own words.
Psalm 46:1-7
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Discuss:
1. What words/phrases are meaningful to you and why?
2. Verse 6 says that the the chaos is caused by God’s voice. Why do you think God admits that he is the one causing all the mayhem and then ask us to find comfort in him? Wouldn’t his admission do the opposite?
3. Read this quote: How does peace come about? Through a system of political treaties? Through the investment of international capital in different countries? Through the big banks, through money? Or through universal peaceful rearmament in order to guarantee peace? Through none of these, for the single reason that in all of them peace is confused with safety. There is no way to peace along the way to safety. For peace must be dared. It is the great venture. It can never be made safe. Peace is the opposite of security. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer DBWE 13
Why do you think Bonhoeffer believes that peace is the opposite of security? Do you agree with Bonhoeffer? Why or why not?
4. Where do you see mountains quaking and the sea surging in your own life? How do you think God wants you to find peace? If you feel comfortable, please share.
All meals are vegetarian – vegan & gluten-free options are provided with each meal
Friday dinner
- Salad
- Soup
- Pizza
- Dinner rolls
- Cookies
Saturday breakfast
- potato gems
- eggs
- baked beans
- scrambled tofu
- veggie sausages
- Cereal & milk
- Fruit
Saturday lunch
- Salad
- Lasagna
- Garlic Bread
- Pie & ice-cream
Saturday dinner
- Haystacks
- Cake & ice-cream
Sunday breakfast
- Same as Sat brekky
Vaccinations. Lockdowns. Politics. Money. Religion.
There are certain topics that divide people into “us” and “them” very quickly. Oh, so you’re one of “those” people. Have you heard what “they” said?!
I read the following quote the other day and it made me pause and reflect on our current climate:
If you had $1 million, what would you do?
What if you had more?
If you had as much money as you wanted, what would you do with that money?
When Roy and I first moved to Melbourne in 2012, we walked through the streets of Melbourne CBD and looked up at the buildings and dreamed – wouldn’t it be incredible, we said, if one day we could point to all the buildings in the CBD where we knew there was a bible study taking place, a prayer meeting being held, or a person being encouraged through our ministries?
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Micah had an asthma attack last night. It was around midnight, and he was crying that he couldn’t breathe. I rushed into the room with his inhaler and tried to calm him down so that he could get the ventolin puffs. But he was too distressed to take a good deep breath in. I tried to stay calm, but I was also panicking, because if he didn’t breathe in the much-needed medicine, he could literally run out of breath.