6/20/10 Guide

I Want Something Else

Ecclesiastes 4:8-12

Week of 6/20/10

Getting Started

Who is one of your oldest friend that you still stay in touch with? How long have you known them?

This week we’re going to talk about relationships, in general, are you an introvert, an extrovert, a social butterfly or caterpillar?

Digging Deeper (Ecclesiastes 4:8-12)

1) What did you take away from the passage we looked at on Sunday?

2) Read verse 8. It describes someone who is lonely. What was one of the loneliest times of your life? How did it affect you? How does it seem to affect the man that Solomon speaks of?

3) In verse 8 the man who is working hard asks the question “For whom am I toiling?” Is there someone you’re working for? Who is it? Does having someone to work for giving more meaning to our work? What do think is the point of this passage?

4) Verse 9 says that two are better than one because they have a good return on their work. Share a project, or task that you tackled in the past, in which the help of someone else played a crucial role?

5)For fun - Each of the following projects go better with help. But if you had to pick just one, which one would you definitely want to have help with.

· Moving all your stuff to a new place

· Repainting the inside and outside of your home

· Putting in new landscaping

6) In verse 10 Solomon says that friendships make tough times easier. Share about a difficult time in your life in which people stepped in and helped you through it. Who was it that stepped in? What did they that helped?

7) In verse 11 Solomon says that relationships enable you to enjoy things that people can’t enjoy on their own. In the example given, two isolated people are two cold people. If you had to change the example, what would you say?

8) In verse 12 Solomon says that relationships provide safety. Use your small group as a reference. How does you small group provide spiritual safety?

Putting It Into Practice

Revisit question (7). Is there someone in your group that you can help? As individuals, is there someone in your life who is struggling that can use your help.