ST NICOLAS, NEWBURY

HOME GROUP QUESTIONS

WEEK BEGINNING 13 MARCH 2005

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: PARENTS

For home groups that would like them, here are some questions based on the talk at Sunday's 6:30 pm service. There's no need to answer them all - just tackle the ones you have time for. You don't need to stick to the areas mentioned here - feel free to discuss any other issues that arise for you.

We're following J John's book "Take Ten" [ISBN - 0-85476-874-2] and 10+ Study Guide [ISBN 1 85424 545 7]. This session is headed 'How to keep the peace with your parents'.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

 1. It has been claimed that the cost of family breakdown to the UK taxpayer in 1999 was £5 billion pounds. How would these costs arise? Who would pay for them?

 2. You are writing a novel that features a vicious and scheming villain. What sort of background would you invent for him/her? Is linking crime to family background stereotyping or does it have a basis in reality?

BIBLE STUDY

 3. Read Exodus 20:12. What does it mean to 'honour' your parents? (Thinking of what it means to dishonour might help.)

 4. Why do you think this commandment emphasises the mother as well as the father? (Very unusual in the Ancient Near East.)

 5. Read Leviticus 19:32. How does this extend the commandment to honour our parents?

 6. What is the link between reverence for God and respect for the elderly?

 7. How do we honour God and honour our parents at the same time? Can there be a moral dilemma here? See Matthew 15:1-9; Luke 8:19-21; 1 Timothy 5:1-4.

 8. How have you found this works out in practice? Look also at Ephesians 6:1-2 alongside Ephesians 5:21 which gives the context for the relationships mentioned.

 9. How does the example of Jesus help us? See Luke 2:41-50; Luke 2:51; John 19:26-27.

10. In Ephesians 6:1-4 Paul takes the fifth commandment and draws attention to the promise. Why do you think there is a promise attached to this commandment?

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION / TIME OF PRAYER

Draw a picture of you, your parents, any brothers and sisters, a spouse, your friends, and anyone else you feel is a key person in your life. Put a thick line between you and the people you feel close to, a thinner line between you and the people you feel not so close to, and the thinnest line between you and the people you feel least close to.
N.B. These lines are about how you feel now, rather than how you think you should feel. Now spend some time thinking/praying about your diagram. Is there anything you would want to change? If so, how could you set about doing this?

Helen Wilkinson
13 March 2005