Lean In // 5 minutes
What something you’ve bought that was a total waste of money?
Leader Note: Keep this question light and encourage everyone to play. In couples group it’s probably not a great idea to have them talk about what they think their partner wastes money on! Think of informercial products, silly trinkets, things that end up in the trash or in storage in a few weeks.
Transition your group by saying something like… “when it comes to our finances there’s one thing that we can all generally agree on, there never seems to quite enough of it do to all things we want to do. We want to spend time in this discussion looking at how the scriptures shape our view wealth and generosity.”
You may also want to quickly review week 8 of Rooted where we discussed how although we don’t see our think of ourselves as being “rich” that living in Orange County automatically puts us within the top of the worlds richest economies. We are rich in opportunities, resources and possessions, especially when you consider the baseline for much of the world’s population. We are “those who are rich in this present world.”
Look Down // 10 minutes
What does this passage say about wealth?
Sample answers…
- Wealth can lead to arrogance – creates a false sense of security
- You can’t put your hope in it
- Wealth isn’t something you can count on, put your hope in
- God alone gives us wealth, trust in his provision
- God gives us wealth so we can be generous, share with others
- Generosity produces a richness in us that we can’t get anywhere else
- God wants us to be rich, experience wealth, in doing good deeds
- Wealthy people are the ones who understand it’s all from God
- Wealthily people use what God has given them to bless and serve others
- Giving leads to true life/treasure that extends beyond this world
Look Out // 10 minutes
What are the traps people fall into because of wealth?
Sample answers…
- No one can tell me what to do you.. I have money so I know everything
- Creates a false sense of power and entitlement
- Thinking it makes me secure
- I own what I have, I earned it and can do whatever I want with it
- My worth is equal to my bank account
- Wealth buys happiness
- Wealth is the answer to all of lives questions
- Selfishness and greed, can’t get enough of it
- Debt, chase after it, live outside of my means
- Creates worry, anxiety, always concerned “how my money is doing”
- Disconnect you from the needs of others, out of touch with other’s needs
- I’m smarter, I work harder
Leader Note: Invite stories here for where people have seen others fall into traps because of their thinking and actions concerning wealth. For example, it someone answers… “it creates a false sense of security” ask them where they have seen that.
Look In // 15 minutes
What traps have you fallen into regarding wealth and money?
Sample answers…
- Thinking what I have is mine, I earned it and I can do whatever I want with it
- That it will solve all my problems, if I only had a little more then I would be happy
- Wealth will improve the ways people see me, give me prestige
- Worry that I won’t have enough, can’t trust that God will really meet my needs
- Money gives me ability control others, makes me a person of authority and influence
- People who don’t have significant wealth are a waste of time, thinking less of them
- Uncertain… now that I have it, I can’t live without
- If I had more I could give more, I’ll give have enough, when I’m taking care of
- That giving doesn’t really bring me peace, I do it out of obligation
- Ownership
What do you need to believe about God to get out of that trap?
Sample answers…
- That everything I have comes from him, he owns it all
- My identity comes from how God sees me, not in my wealth
- That God knows my needs and he will take care of me
- That giving is a command that is for my benefit, not my punishment
Leader Note: There are two main things we want our groups to see in this passage. Firstly, that we can’t place our hope and trust in our wealth. Secondly, that God calls us to be “rich in good deeds” through the ways we use what he has given us to bless and serve others. The first understanding is a matter of changing our perspective and the second is one of practice. Shift your group with the next question to focus on what it could look like to practice generosity for the sake of others.
What could we as a group and as individuals do to be “rich in good needs”
Leader Note: Encourage your group to dream about what it could look like to commit to giving regular with their time, talents and treasures. What are the needs in your community that you could rally around together? We believe that God has unquietly placed our groups together for a reason that goes way beyond us simply meeting together for our own encouragement! He wants to use your group serve and bless others.
Live It Out // 5 minutes
What if we made generosity a normal expression of our group? What would change around us?
Leader Note: Outreach Weekend is next weekend! Set your group up this week by telling them that you’ll have an opportunity to give and serve together, to put this week’s discussion into practice.
Key Verse: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God. 1 Timothy 6:17a
Key Thought: God owns everything
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Learn More About Flow Questions: Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.