Rooting Path · Christian Living · Lesson 7: Death and Hope · Death and Hope
This lesson in one sentence: Only when you have thought clearly about how to die do you know how to live; with hope, go back and revise your Rule of Life card.
Timing (about 60 minutes)
- Opening5 min
- Read Together10 min
- Discussion20 min
- Revise the card15 min
- Pray for One Another10 min
Opening
If you were to sum up your life in one sentence, what would you want it to be?
Read Together
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.
Revelation 21:4 · WEB
These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Matthew 25:46 · WEB
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21 · WEB
Discussion
- “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (Ecclesiastes 7:2)—why does the Bible say a house of mourning is better than a feast?
- “Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)—how does the hope of resurrection change the way you face death?
- “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)—with this hope, how would today be different?
- If you had only one year left, whom and what would you give your time to?
- “grieve like the rest, who have no hope”—how is grief with hope different from grief without hope?
This Week
Open your Rule of Life card and revise it in the light of these seven lessons: which line is written too big, and what should be added? When you are done, show it to your companion.
Each person brings their Rule of Life card and revises it in the light of these seven lessons; in pairs, look at each other’s: which line is written too big, and what should be added?
Closing
In pairs, pray for the newly revised line on your partner’s card; finally the leader prays for the whole group’s year ahead.
Tips for the leader
- Someone in the group may have recently lost a loved one. Ask at the start; if needed, slow down and let them decide whether to speak.
- The answer to Question 88 is solemn (eternal punishment and eternal life). Read the text as it stands, and don’t discuss in the group ‘where so-and-so will go’; if someone is anxious about family members who don’t believe, stay with them privately afterward.
- This is the last session of the Rooting Path. Agree to come back together in a year to revise your cards; those who want to begin leading and serving can go on to the Sending Path.
- To members who have just lost someone, don’t say ‘don’t be sad’ or ‘they’ve gone to a better place’; the Bible never tells us not to weep. Just be with them first.
General principles for leaders
- The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
- Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
- Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
- For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
- What is said in the group stays in the group.
- At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.