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Linda
Evans Shepherd
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Chapter Five: Hugs Embrace
Read Chapter 5 of Encouraging Hands, Encouraging Hearts prior to study.
1. Hugging is an important form of encouragement. According to Author Unknown, "One size fits all and no one minds if ______________________________________.
2. Why do hugs sometimes make us nervous?
3. Hugging is Scriptural. Read 2 Corinthians 13:12, " Greet one another with a holy kiss."
Jesus hugged his disciples as well as the children who were brought to him to be blessed. He told a parable about a father running to hug his long-lost son. Why do you think Christ modeled hugs?
4. What helped Dr. Clare’s depressed patient, Glenda, recover? Why?
5. Is there a proper time to hug?
Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 aloud, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain." (NIV)
6. List the ten messages hugs communicate with others:
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7. Hugs can express God’s love. When Billy Graham had the privilege of meeting Mother Teresa on a trip to India, he was deeply touched by her ministry to Calcutta’s dying. When she mentioned she had held five dying people in her arms the night before, Billy Graham asked her why she did it. How did she answer? How did these hugs express God’s love.
8. Psalms 139:7-10 says: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (NIV)
Can you see how God’s hand has not only guided you but held you fast? Let those share who want to relate this experience.
9. What are some ways we can "hold fast to" God? Read Philippians 3:1 aloud, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (NIV)
Jesus Christ takes hold of us, how do we take hold of him?
10. For those who want to share, tell a story about a time you shared an important hug of encouragement. End the meeting with prayer and hugs for everyone.
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© 1999 Linda Evans Shepherd
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