5) COMPASSION – BE THE CHANGE

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This series is written in an interactive small group format. I have personally used this material for Student and HYPHEN ages, however, the content could be adjusted for any age group. The content is based on Zach Hunter’s book, Be the Change.”

KEY SCRIPTURES:

  • James 1:27 (KJV) Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

TALK: Go around the room and have everyone answer

  • Explain a time when you served someone in need. How did it make you feel? How do you think it makes God feel?

THE HEART OF THE MATTER:

George Muller was a compassionate pastor who founded the George Muller foundation for children in Germany. George was walking on the street one day when he met a little orphan girl named Emily who was out with her little brother. She asked him for a shilling, and walked off. George realized he had seen hundreds of beggar children like Emily on the street, and decided he needed to do something to help them. He felt God tugging at his heartstrings, telling him to help these kids. He decided to start a “Breakfast Club” in which he fed orphans and led them to Christ. The breakfast club soon got so large that the Mullers decided to build an orphanage to meet the massive needs. As children kept pouring in, two more orphanages were soon established.

One day, there wasn’t enough food to go around. George called all the children to the table, and they prayed together. George thanked God for the food that God would provide for them. As soon as they said “amen’” there was a knock at the door. The baker who lived near the Mullers had baked two loaves for them the night before, because God had told her the Mullers needed it. Soon, there was another knock on the door. This time it was the milkman. His cart had broken down right in front of the Muller’s house, and the milk was going to spoil if someone didn’t use it. There was enough milk and bread to go around, and they even had enough milk to put in their tea at teatime. How amazing is that?

DISCUSSION: Go around the room and have everyone answer

  • Do you think of serving the poor and needy as a way to get to God OR as an OVERFLOW of the relationship you already have with Him? EXPLAIN.

TAKE ACTION: COMMUNITY CHALLENGE – Go around the room and have everyone answer

  • Think of a practical way to show the overflow of God’s grace to someone in need. You could go and buy hats, gloves and coats to donate to a homeless shelter. Or maybe you could buy a secret present to brighten the day of someone who needs a friend. Or come up with your own idea.
  • JUST DO SOMETHING. BE THE CHANGE.

FINAL THOUGHT

  • How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life, you will have been all of these. – George Washington Carver (1864-1943), Inventor, Educator, and Former Slave

SERIES

1) INFLUENCE – BE THE CHANGE
2) COMMUNITY – BE THE CHANGE
3) COURAGE – BE THE CHANGE
4) LEADERSHIP – BE THE CHANGE
5) COMPASSION – BE THE CHANGE
6) ENDURANCE – BE THE CHANGE
7) SACRIFICE – BE THE CHANGE
8) STANDING FIRM – BE THE CHANGE

7 thoughts on “5) COMPASSION – BE THE CHANGE

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