TABLE TALK QUESTIONS:

July 2011 Calendar GOD IS MERCIFUL

July 6, 2011
Have you ever shown mercy to someone? Who and why?
Begin the conversation by reading the simple definition of Mercy on the calendar. Mercy=not giving someone what they deserve. Be prepared to give an example from your own life to help your children understand what it looks like to show mercy to someone. If they still have trouble thinking of a time they extended mercy, you can prime the pump with the following suggestions for them to show mercy in the future:  Choose to help someone by cleaning up a mess they made even though they deserve to have to pick it up themselves.  Someone breaks something of yours. You could ask them to replace it but choose to forgive and to replace it yourself.  Be kind to a person who is mean to you. They don t deserve your kindness but you give it anyway.

July 12, 2011

Do you think parents need God s mercy? Why? Do kids? Why?
The goal of these questions is to underscore the fact that ALL of us need God s mercy. Determine ahead of time not to get defensive when your kids answer the question about parents. What they share may raise some issues you might need to address later. You can say, Let s talk more about that sometime, but for now For the sake of this discussion try to keep focused on the fact that we are all sinful and we all need God s mercy.

July 18, 2011

What can we do to show God s Mercy as a family and as individuals?
Have some of your own ideas ready to help prime the pump. The idea is to help your kids see that God s Mercy can influence our behavior and motivate us to extend mercy to those around us. It s easy to talk about mercy but much harder to put into practice. The question could reveal some problem relationships your kids might be experiencing. They may not tell you about a classmate who s mean in the course of normal conversation, but in the context of extending mercy they may. Again, be ready to be a good listener, pray for wisdom to know how to respond, and remember that you don t have to solve all the problems around the dinner table.

July 27, 2011

Because God is Merciful, should we ever be disciplined for our bad choices?
We live in a culture that has so twisted what it means to be merciful that the answer to this question can t be taken for granted. We must help our children understand that choices do have consequences now and in eternity. God s Mercy does not ignore His Justice. A penalty had to be paid for our sin. Because of God s Love and Mercy, Jesus paid the penalty for us by dying on the cross for our sin.