What s In Your Wallet? - outline The First Priority: Serving God For Jesus Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. (Matthew 4:10, NIV) For Us Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1, NIV) Matthew 6:24, NIV No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. The Big Battle: The Power of Money To Capture Our Hearts For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10, NIV) To Rob Us of Contentment Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5, NIV) To Lose Sight of the Big Picture But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:20, NIV) When God s the Boss Money Loses Its Grip On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (1 Corinthians 16:2, NIV) Money Becomes Instrument for Good The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have. (Luke 10:35, NIV)
What s In Your Wallet? - Reflection Questions 1. Have you ever made plans with a friend only to have the cancel at the last minute? How would you feel if you found out they did something with someone else instead? Have you How does it make you feel to be replaced like that? 2. In the ten commandments, command one and two are about us making God first and only worshipping God. How does this help us understand Jesus words in Matthew 6:24? Have you ever thought of money as an idol? 3. Jesus uses the Aramaic word m?môn (pr. ma-mohn, wealth ) but he personifies it as if a competing Lord (Grk., kurios). Why do you think Jesus personifies Mammon this way? How does this help us understand the power that wealth can have over our lives? 4. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus tells Satan that we are to serve only God. The word used here is also used in Romans 12:1. What connection is there between Jesus teaching on Mammon and Matthew 4:10 and Romans 12:1? 5. Can you think of a time when the promises of money caused you to lose sight of the big picture (cf., 2Cor 5:10)? What helped you overcome it? 6. In the story of the good Samaritan, the Samaritan paid two full days wages to the innkeeper to care for the injured man and promised to pay more on his return if it was needed. What are some other examples of money being an instrument for good (scale it into something useful for your circumstances)? 7. What s in your wallet -- a master or a servant? What can you do this week to ensure that your mammon submits to the only true Lord?
A Little Bit More - outline But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you vs. 20 Luke 12:13-21, NIV 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 14 Jesus replied, Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? 15 Then he said to them, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. 16 And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. 18 Then he said, This is what I ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I ll say to myself, You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. 20 But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? 21 This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God. Crazy Rich -- Who is it? Then he said to them, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. (Luke 12:15, NIV) Crazy Rich -- What does that mean? Then he said, This is what I ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. (Luke 12:18, NIV) Crazy Rich -- When is it okay? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:21, NIV)
A Little Bit More - Reflection Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. What s the most tragic story you have heard about people fighting over an inheritance? What was Jesus response to being asked to settle a legal matter? In Luke 12:15, the word translated as greed in the NIV (Grk., pleonexia) is defined as a state of desiring to have more. Some versions translate this as covetousness to pick up on that idea. Why do you think greed/covetousness is considered so serious in the NT (cf., Mk 7:22; Rom 1:29; Col 3:5)? We often think of certain other people as being wealthy or crazy rich and not ourselves? Can you think of anyone (include the entire world) who would consider you crazy rich? Once we consider crazy rich as a relative idea, we see it is not really a money issue but a heart issue. Give a few examples of how someone with less money than you could have just as much struggle with this as someone with more money than you. While the sin of wanting more of what we already have often relates to possessions and money, it relates to more than that at the heart level. What are some other things people struggle with in terms of wanting to have more of what we already have? There is an old saying that first we own our stuff and then our stuff owns us. How is this idea seen in the story Jesus gives? What are some ways this reversal can affect our lives and resources? How do passages like 2 Corinthians 5:10 help us keep our eye on the big picture as we manage our resources and our lives as followers of Christ? Jesus says the farmer s orientation to his wealth showed him to be a fool. Instead, Jesus says people should be rich toward God. What are some things that can make us rich toward to God. Be sure to connect some of your ideas to Jesus actual words in v.21.
The Widow s Might - outline The Treasury Box: Following God s Command to Give Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. (v.41) 6 [to the temple]...bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. (Deuteronomy 12:6, NIV) Mark 12:41-44, NIV 41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Big Gifts, Little Gift: Your Gift Equals Your Worth...Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. (vv.41-42) Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything all she had to live on. The Heart of the Giver: A Faith that Believes God will provide They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything all she had to live on. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV) And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, NLT)
The Widow s Might - Reflection Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Think of a time where you worked really hard to help out and people did not really appreciate what you did? How did it make you feel? Mark 12:41 says that Jesus sat across from the treasury to observe the crowd giving money to the Temple. What does this tell us about generosity in Jesus day? Consider Deut 12:5-6; 2Chron 31:5-6 in your response. Mark 12:41 gives a deliberate contrast between the many wealthy people who gave much and the one poor widow who gave two small coins. Who would people normally consider the most important in this contrast? Why? How does this compare to Israel s - even Samuel the prophet s - evaluation of Saul in 1 Samuel 16:7? What does this teach us? It is important to note that Jesus does not criticize those who gave big donations - they were being obedient to God. What is the central lesson about giving that Jesus teaches here? What does it say about Jesus that he would use a poor marginalized woman as an example of a model disciple? What can men and women disciples learn from this today as we follow Jesus? As you consider financial matters in your own life, what will you do to show both obedience to God in giving and doing it with the right heart?
The Generosity Game Plan - outline Our Worldview Matters Two Competing Secular Worldviews of Money Debt Save Avoid Bad Debt Acts 20:35, NIV...Lord Jesus himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Romans 12:2 Don t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. A Biblical Worldview of Money Marked by Generosity God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 Our game plan for generosity begins by accepting Jesus worldview: It is more blessed to give than to receive
The Generosity Game Plan - Reflection Questions...Lord Jesus himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35, NIV) 1. Reflect on a time when you were able to give to meet a real need. How did you feel when you did this? Do you think God was pleased? How do you relate this to Acts 20:35? 2. Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:42 that even giving a cup of cold water in his name will be remembered and rewarded by God. How do you feel about a God who chooses to forget every sin we do and remember every good gift because of our faith in Jesus Christ? How does this affect how we give in little things and in big things? 3. There is an saying that to fail to plan is to plan to fail. How does making a plan regarding our generosity (time, talent, treasure) help us actually do the things Jesus wants us to? 4. Paul says in Roman s 12:2 that we should let God change our minds on things. How has God helped your thinking about generosity and making plans that allow you to be generous? 5. C.S. Lewis said that for Christians there will be things that we do not have or experience because we have chosen to be giving. What are some things that you could have enjoyed if you chose to keep instead of to give? Replace the most significant of those things for the words cup of cold water in Matthew 10:42 and reflect on God s faithful promise. 6. Do you have a generosity game plan? In light of the message, what can you do in this area that you currently are not doing to strengthen this vital area of Christian discipleship?