Covenant Child

Reading Guides

Reading Group Guide

1. This story is told from Kara's perspective. Kara is a perpetual skeptic--an unbeliever, if you will. Lizzie, on the other hand, is a believer--able to embrace her inheritance without hesitation. Which one are you?

2. Was there anything about Lizzie that made her more suitable for the inheritance than Kara, or was it equally accessible to both of them?

3. What were the conditions--if any--under which Amanda would take Lizzie into her home? What did Kara imagine the conditions would be? Do unbelievers ever have wrong ideas about the Christian life?

4. Why did Amanda watch over the girls all those years? What did her promise to Jack have to do with her commitment to the girls?

5. God promised Abraham that through Abraham's seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12, 15, 17). Galatians 3:16 tells us that the promised "seed" was Jesus Christ. How are you a child of that covenant? Discuss the parallels in this book to the promises that God kept on your behalf when he sent Jesus Christ.

6. Eloise and Duke deceived the girls all their lives. Then Rudy came along and told Kara further lies. How may you have been deceived about your own "inheritance"?

7. What is your inheritance in Christ (1 Peter 1:3-5)?

8. Has there ever been a time when lies kept you from entering the kingdom of God?

9. Why did Kara choose her poverty over her inheritance? Discuss ways that we choose our spiritual poverty over the inheritance God offers us.

10. Discuss ways that you have extinguished the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, or insisted on living a bland and useless life instead of the abundant life Christ offers.

11. When Kara finally realizes the truth, what did she do? Have you ever tried to work your way to God?

12. Is it possible to come to the Lord on our own terms? What are His terms? (See Romans 10:9-13.) Why are God's terms better than ours? Read Jeremiah 29:11.

13. Read 1 Samuel 18, 19, and 20, about the covenant David made with Jonathan. Jonathan extended that covenant to his "household" or his descendants (1 Samuel 20:15-26). What did this covenant obligate David to do?

14. Jonathan and his father, Saul, are killed on the battlefield. Opposition forces come into the palace and begin wiping out the entire family of Saul. Read 2 Samuel 4:4 about Jonathan's five-year-old son, Mephibosheth.

15. Now read 2 Samuel 9. Why did David invite Mephibosheth into his home? What was Mephibosheth's self-image?

16. Do you see parallels between the story of David and Mephibosheth, and Covenant Child? How does this biblical story affect us as believers? Can you see any parallels between your own life and Mephibosheth's?

17. If we are children of God, members of His family, and fellow heirs with Christ, do we ever have reason to feel lonely or helpless? (See Romans 8:15-17.)

18. In Luke 12:32, Jesus said, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." Is there anything we can do to earn the grace Christ gives us when He invites us into His family? What does Christ require of us?