it was chinese nite for dinner

Series: Relationships: The Good, The Bad, and Me (Hosea 1:2)
This week we began a new series on relationships. We spent some time looking at what the Bible says about our relationship with God, and we looked at some insights on dating relationships from Scripture, too.
The Big Idea:  To see the power of God’s unconditional love, and  our tendency to stray from God.  In big group we read through portions of the Old Testament book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet who delivered a lesson to Israel about God’s radical, crazy, passionate love-a preview of the intense love Jesus has for us. Lots of heads turned and eyes perked up as we  read about how God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute, and even after she left Hosea for another man, God instructed the prophet to return and love her again.
We watched this amazing video before heading to small groups that really helped to get the discussion going.

We used this story to discuss the intimate and unique way that God loves us and God’s desire to be more than just a master or ruler in our lives. Hosea 2:16 tells us, “When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’” We also talked about our tendency to stray from God’s love, and we examined how not to stray-and how to respond when we do stray.

If you’re a parent or a student we’d encourage you to think more about the story of Hosea and Gomer and what this story means to your life, especially when thinking about God’s passionate, radical love. Here are some questions you could use to get the conversation going (and don’t forget to share some your own responses right here on the blog in the comments):

• When did you most recently not “feel” like following God? What caused that feeling? How do you handle days like that?
• What’s the difference between conditional love and unconditional love?
• How long do you think most people can go without sinning? Why?

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