Gospel Prism

1.  Have you ever attended the funeral of a child?  If you are able to, please share some of the thoughts that you experienced?  What did you observe as you watched the agony of the parents?  How did you process this time?

2.  Have you ever considered your own death or the death of a loved one?  If not, why not?  If so, what are your thoughts regarding death and the finality of life?  Are you afraid of death?  What are some things in your life that are affected by death?

3.  Why is death so agonizing?  1 Thessalonians 4:13 says: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”  What should the difference be between a Christian who dies and a non-Christian who dies according to this text?

4. Author Joe Bayly wrote:

Our peace is not in understanding everything that happens to us and our children, but in knowing that he is in control of sickness and health and even death itself. We accept life’s mysteries and sufferings unexplained because they are known to God, and we know Him. Of course we seek answers from the Bible and from experience, our own and that of others. But when no answer is forthcoming, we don’t attempt to rationalize (‘It could have been worse,’ ‘Look at how many people heard the Gospel through the funeral service,’ or ‘Things are getting so bad on earth, think of what he’s been spared not growing up’). Reason, we believe, is deceptively weak crutch for faith. Reason gropes in the dark for answers, while faith waits for God.

Why does reason let us down when it comes to understanding death?  How does faith allow us to deal with death differently?

5.  How does knowing that Jesus empathizes with those who grieve aid the sorrowful?  How do theologian Sinclair Ferguson’s words remind us of the comfort of Christ during our sufferings:

Jesus’ sinless and sensitive spirit felt the full force of the turning of His Father’s face from sin. He plumbed the depths. He tasted the darkness of pain, opposition, rejection, loneliness. He comes to us as the Crucified One, who is qualified to understand us and sympathize with us. But he comes also as the Risen One who is able to hold us up and keep us. In him there is comfort. In him there is also security.

6.  How do circumstances impact your view of God’s love to you?  How does the life of a person like Joni Eareckson Tada affect your faith when it comes to trials and difficult circumstances?  According to her words, what is her source of strength and joy in overcoming such agonies in her life?  How does this truth allow her to overcome pain?

God doesn’t give those who hurt mere words. He gives the Word—Jesus, the bruised and bloody Man of Sorrows who endured hell on earth so that you and I, by trusting in Him, can escape it.

7.  Are you a person who operates with ONCE logic?  Have you ever done this?  Why is such thinking self-defeating and a road to far lesser joy?  How can you break out of this cycle?  Do you even want to break out of this cycle?  Why or why not?

8.  If you have children, are you a ONCE parent (“ONCE I have some time, then I’ll disciple my child.”)?  Why is this tenuous?  Have you ever considered the death of your children?

9.  How does knowing that Jesus died and rose again help us to conquer the fear of death and all of death’s implications?

10.  How are Sinclair Ferguson’s words truth when it comes to understanding how to live as a Christian and how to respond to suffering and death as a Christian?  What trials are you facing today?  How can these words help you?

I cannot now imagine living the Christian life on any other basis than this. If the Father loves me so much that he did not spare his own Son but delivered him up to be crucified for me, no further guarantee is needed of his wholehearted and permanent commitment to me and my blessing. Whatever happens to me must be seen in that light.