Sermon
Based Small Group Lessons

Wisdom From Past
Experiences:  Repeating Good
Decisions and Correcting Bad Ones

2008 February 24

Dr. Les Hughes, Senior Pastor

Meeting Schedule

1.  Fellowship
time & snacks

2.  Share prayer
requests

3.  Pray (taking
turns with short sentence prayers is good if group members are comfortable).

4.  Begin the
lesson.

a.  Share the title (above)

b.  Ask the Ice Breaker Question

c.  Follow the guide, reading the Scripture
and asking the questions.

Ice Breaker
Questions

What is one thing you observe people doing over and over
again and think, “Boy, it seems like they would learn from their
mistakes!”

When is a time in your life that you had to make a decision
between two good things?

Pastor Les said, “God has given
us several ways to grow in wisdom.
We have His word, the Bible. We have His Holy Spirit who lives inside of
every disciple of Christ.  And one
tool he gives us is the ability to learn from the past: our past experiences as
well as the past experiences of others.”  Let’s read the passage again to
refresh us and see what happened to the people of Israel in their decision
making.

Focus
Scripture:  Joshua 7:1-12,
18-23

Digging for Truth

1. A WISE PERSON
LEARNS FROM PAST EXPERIENCES.

We
aren’t designed to do it alone.
Doing church as a team makes everyone better.  In what ways do you think believers need
one another?

Pastor Les said “MAKING UNWISE
DECISIONS CAN HAVE DEVASTATING RESULTS IN LIFE, BUT WHAT’S EVEN MORE
TRAGIC IS WHEN WE MAKE THE SAME BAD CHOICES OVER AND OVER AND OVER.”

Have you ever caught yourself in a
pattern of bad choices?

Pastor
Les talked about the value of starting over.  Do you know someone who has started over
well?

David
said,
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within
me” (Psalm 51:10).

2. A WISE PERSON
LEARNS FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS.

Les said that “We don’t
have to learn the hard way. When you see someone in a behavior or making a
decision that leads to terrible consequences, especially when it involves
disobedience to God, learn that experience. You don’t have to wait until
you experience it all yourself.”

What can we learn from the experiences
of others.

“Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

--George
Santayana, Philosopher

Can you think of a
time that you made a good decision after observing someone else making a bad
one?

What are some of
the most common reasons for people making bad decisions?  (ie, thinking of now instead of the
future, selfishness, etc.)

3. GOD BLESSES PEOPLE
WHO RECOVER FROM UNWISE DECISIONS.

People who start over well follow the
Israelites in this pattern:

Ø
They
admitted their mistake (especially their disobedience and their pride).
They didn’t make excuses or try to cover it up.

Ø
They got
rid of the sin. In this case the sin included a person and they
didn’t’ mess around. They did away with him.

Ø
They
changed their actions

In light of what’s happened in
your past, how can you act wisely today?

How can you live wisely in the area of
finances, or relationships, or  your
career?

Where are your weak spots because of
your past?

Where are you most vulnerable?

You can’t go back and change the
past, but you can learn from it and not repeat foolish patterns.

Closing Questions

1.  How have your
failures in life helped define who you are?

2.  What have you
learned from your mistakes?

3.  Has God
revealed any paths you might currently be on that will lead to failure?

4.  What are the
keys to making good decisions the first time around?

Closing Challenge

Seek
to read a chapter in God’s word every day.  You can find a great plan that many at
Westwood are doing at www.BiblePlan.org.  Sign up for the New Testament in a year
plan.