Climate Change (1) – The Forecast (Gen 4:2-9)

6-9-13  Climate Change (1) – The Forecast (Gen 4:2-9)

If you were here last Sunday I hope you were as encouraged as I was after pastor Jerry’s sharing and testimonies.  I felt that God has placed a greater potential in me than I probably have realized.  I hope you felt the same.  I hope you start believing more about what God can do through you rather than what you can’t do by yourself.  This world needs a message of hope, and they need to see that the God you and I believe in can bring hope to their hopeless situations.  You can I have the potential to bring that hope but the key is would you be willing let God mold you into a messenger of hope?
Therefore today I am starting a series called Climate Change and I want to talk about relationships.  Because relationships are often the channel in which we usher hope into hopeless situations.  Did you know that you have an emotional climate?  It goes with you everywhere, but often times you can’t see it or are unaware of what it really is.  But it’s a big deal.  Research shows that the number one obstacle people face in their relationships and careers is an inability to understand the emotional climate of the people around them and to recognize their own emotional climate.  We’ve all been around people with difficult climates.  What if you are that person?  Would you be willing to take the necessary actions to alter your emotional climate?

Moving Forward
This week, ask three people one question: “What’s it like to be on the other side of me?”
Sit down with a notepad and listen to their responses. Don’t interrupt, apologize, rationalize, or defend.
You’ll hear things that will encourage and surprise you. You’ll hear things that will hurt your feelings.
You can dismiss what you hear or take it to your heavenly Father in prayer and ask for help.

Discussion Questions

1. Talk about someone you enjoy being around. What do you like about that person?

2. Why do our relationships feel less urgent than our jobs and other responsibilities? What can you do prioritize relationships?

3. What could you lose by ignoring the climate of the relationships in your life

4. Read Genesis 4:8–9. What does it mean to be “your brother’s keeper”?

5. Which of your relationships needs a climate change—marriage, kids, friends, coworkers, boss? What do you need to do to begin to change the climate?