Seasons of Sorrow Application Questions & Group Study Guide
Since releasing Seasons of Sorrow I have been asked if I can provide application questions (for people who may be reading it individually and who wish to be deliberate in applying what they read) and a group study guide (for people who may be reading it with a Bible study, small group, or reading group). Preparing such resources was on my list of things to do—and is now done.
The free Seasons of Sorrow Application Questions & Group Study Guide is available as a free download. You’ll find questions related to each of the chapters that are meant to provoke meditation and application, and you’ll find a plan to read through the book in either four or eight sessions.
You can download it for free right here:
Also remember these additional resources that are related to the book:
- A Letter to Parents – This is a letter I have prepared addressed to parents who have lost a child. If you plan to give bereaved parents a copy of Seasons of Sorrow, you may like to print this and include it with the book.
- Helpful Things To Say To Grieving Parents – If you are walking through the loss of a child with a friend or family member, this article will help you know how you can best serve them in their darkest hour.
You Might also like
-
A La Carte (December 13)
If you’re in the mood for some Christmas music (and who isn’t in mid-December?) you may be interested in tonight’s live-streamed “An Irish Christmas” concert by Keith and Kristyn Getty. It is being broadcast live from the Museum of the Bible.
Logos is having a Christmas sale and offering up to 50% off on a variety of products. They are also offering discounts on some of the Best of 2023—some that were bestsellers and some that were judged especially noteworthy.Here’s some sweet encouragement from Paul Tautges: “How quickly you heal is not important. What is important is that you live by faith in the promises of God, resulting in more love for God and for others. As you do, often imperceptibly, you are moving forward each day—from grief and pain, toward acceptance and joy—and you are helping others to do the same.”
Brad’s article will take some time to read, but I think it’s worth the effort. He reviews a recent book and explains why it’s so destructive to see the world solely through the lens of power disparity. “Such a book might have begun with the concept of authority, a concept almost entirely absent from contemporary Western life. Both Left and Right, he might have observed, have fallen into the trap of seeing freedom only in relation to power. For the Right, freedom is always freedom from power; for the Left, it is freedom through power. But either way, it always turns out to be a zero-sum game…”
Amy writes movingly about God’s kindness to her and her family. “This useless womb, which caused me nothing but pain, inconvenience, and sorrow – turns out it was actually the impetus for the beauty in my life today. In a strange irony, it was not useless at all.”
This is a lovely piece of writing about God’s love for shepherds.
I appreciate Stephie’s thoughts about connection. “Relationships, at their very best, are beautiful when they are subservient to relationship with, devotion to, and rest found in God. When we are rest, and realize that our deepest longings are met by God, we will have the ability to love people without exploiting them and seeing them as commodities. This allows us to love without needing anything back.”
Esther has a brief new poem that is well worth the read.
When I read Mark 11:25…my first thought is not, “God forgive me for my lack of forgiveness!” or “Okay, so who do I need to forgive?” My first thought is “Yeah, but what about this situation or that situation?” When God goes big, my first tendency is to go small.
I am throwing all my good works overboard, and lashing myself to the plank of free grace; for I hope to swim to glory on it.
—Charles Spurgeon -
A Christian Father’s Last Will and Testament
In the name of God, I, being of sound mind and body, bequeath to my children the small store of wealth and the few possessions I have been able to accumulate over a lifetime of labor. I divide these equally among my children and ask them to accept it all with my blessings—to keep it or to give it away as they see fit.
Of infinitely greater value, I bequeath to them all the fervent prayers I have made for their salvation and their sanctification—prayers I began to pray before they were born and prayers I continued to pray until the day of my death.
I bequeath to them the Christian religion that has encouraged and sustained me for so many decades. This is the faith that has given me so much joy and comfort since Christ became my Lord and Savior, the faith they heard from my lips and the faith they learned by my example. I trust that it will bless them every bit as richly as it has me.
I bequeath to them the love of a father who, though imperfect, loved them truly and purely—who loved them in a pale but purposeful imitation of the perfect love of the perfect Father.
I bequeath to them the hope that they may imitate whatever in me was true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and worthy of praise. And equally I bequeath to them the hope that they may eschew any errors I made, that they may avoid the sins they saw in me, that they may be holier and godlier than their father ever was.
I bequeath to them the sure confidence of a glorious family reunion when their pilgrimage, like mine, comes to its end and when together we shall meet again to inherit riches innumerable and eternal.
And finally I bequeath to them the one possession that symbolizes all of this—the Bible we read from through so many years of family worship. May it remind them of the days we gathered as a family to read and to pray, and may it continue to be a lamp to their feet and a light to their path that illumines the way to heaven.
In the name of the God who created me, the Savior who redeemed me, and the Spirit who sanctifies me—the triune God whom I call as witness—I make this a Christian father’s last will and testament.Inspired by The Wedding Ring by De Witt Talmage
-
A La Carte (July 13)
This week you can find 50% off on the ESV Journaling Bibles at Westminster Books. They are a great resource for better understanding and applying the Bible.
There are not a lot of Christian Kindle deals today, so I added a few general market options that caught my eye.
(Yesterday on the blog: Breathe a Sigh of Relief or Recoil in Terror)
How Evangelicals Lose Will Make All the Difference
That’s an intriguing headline, isn’t it? And it’s got a good article behind it.
The Gray Havens – I’ll Fly Away (Live from The Zion Caravan Tour)
I enjoyed this new rendition of “I’ll Fly Away” by the Gray Havens.
What is our greatest need?
Compelled by a desire for men to know God’s love, Washer draws from the church’s greatest theologians to herald Christ’s centrality in revelation, salvation, sanctification, study, proclamation, and glory. The Preeminent Christ will stimulate you to zealously seek Christ and His gospel over all worldly “needs.” (Sponsored Link)
Use Your Comfort Zone to the Glory of God
“‘Get out of your comfort zone.’ We hear it all the time, from friends, family, business leaders, church leaders, and actually, the whole rest of the world, it seems. But I’m going to encourage you here to do just the opposite: to find your comfort zone and stay in it.”
Shooting For The Earth
This article seems to me to nicely complement the previous one. “Shoot for the moon, they say, and even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. I‘m not so sure.”
Your preaching is primarily for believers
This is so important to consider. “In certain circles, seeking to get unbelievers into church is seen as the highest possible goal. There is nothing better, according to some, when unbelievers come into the church and under the sound of the gospel. That, they aver, is what we ought to be about. At the risk of being deemed a contrarian, I just don’t think that is true.”
LORD, My Heart Is Not Haughty
What a great reflection/meditation/prayer.
In Dependence
Here’s one for those especially independent people. “Not long ago, I was talking to a 25+ year friend and former colleague, and, in a teary moment, said to him, ‘I need you to hear this.’ As I paused, he said, ‘Lisa, I have never thought of you as needing anything.’ His honesty set me back on my heels.”
Flashback: What a Wonder Is a Human Being!
A mighty oak from the smallest acorn, the greatest mustard tree from the tiniest seed, and a great and noble life from the littlest child. So much potential bound up in so tiny a person, so many possibilities lying latent, so many opportunities to serve simply waiting for time, for growth, for maturity.The nearness of God, secured by the gospel, is a source of all kinds of comforts and wisdom. —Ed Welch