Carlon's Bible Study - Sept. 22

This week Carlon's Bible study started a new three-week small group series to address a few of the tough questions your teenagers might have. Our first week focused on the issue of pain. Why is there pain in the world? This is a common question and can be a big barrier for some young people. To address the issue we looked at Genesis 3, which includes the account known as “The Fall of Man.”

As we looked at this passage, we saw how God didn’t create pain and it wasn’t something he wanted, but pain exists in the world because of God’s love. In his perfect love, God gave Adam and Eve a choice to love him back. Without choice, there is no love. We’d be robots without a choice. For a choice to be real, there must be consequences, because without consequences, there is no choice.

This week, when you get a chance, spend some time talking with your teenager about pain. Talk about how pain affects people and how it affects your student specifically. Consider sharing a few stories of pain you’ve experienced and how you’ve grown from it. You might want to offer to help your teenager find new ways to respond or to offer advice in dealing with the pain. As always, I’m available to help you if necessary.

If you need some other questions to generate dialogue, here are some suggestions:
• How might your life be different if you never experienced any pain? Would you choose this life, if given the option? Why or why not?
• Why did Paul find such strength and inspiration from his pain and difficult situations? How do you think you might react if you went through the experiences he described in 2 Corinthians 11?
• How has pain helped you grow spiritually and become more like Christ?