Healing the Wounds of Trauma

A. What if you only have enough food for your family, and your neighbors come and ask for food. Do you help? Read Luke 10.25–37 (Good Samaritan), 1 Kings 17.9–16 (the widow of Zarephath), Matthew 25.1–13 (the parable of the ten virgins), and 1 Timothy 5.8. 1. According to Luke 10, who is your neighbor? 2. In 1 Kings 17, what happened to the widow’s flour and oil when she shared it with Elijah? 3. In Matthew 25, how are the five virgins who did not bring oil described? How did the other five respond to them? 4. In 1 Timothy 5, who does Paul say we should care for especially? 5. Do you think there are times you should say no to your neigh- bors? Explain. It is good to share, but if everyone has been told to prepare in advance, those who have prepared are not necessarily obliged to help those who have neglected to do so. Pray about each situation that arises and ask God for wisdom. B. What if an angry person threatens to kill you if you don’t allow them to steal things from you? ReadMatthew6.24–33, Hebrews 10.34, and Luke 12.15.Then discuss the following questions: 1. In the Matthew passage, what does Jesus teach about posses- sions? 2. The writer to the Hebrews says that they have accepted some- thing gladly. What was that? 3. In Luke 12.15, Jesus says that our lives are not tied up in what? People whom God has made matter much more than material goods. Goods can be replaced later on; people cannot. We should be willing to give up our possessions rather than be killed.

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Looking Ahead