Be Rich: “Congratulations, you’re rich!”
I Timothy 6:17-19
Connect:
Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.
Discuss how resolutions made last week in “growing more like Jesus” worked themselves out— what did God do in and through you (Phil 2:13)? Celebrate those together!
Prayer:
Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.
Read:
Review: Remind the group of the focus of this series:
o This series is focused on stewardship and the mindset/habits/perspective that Scripture calls us to have toward finances.
o The focal passage is in Timothy, and this week looked at the question of “But does this have anything to do with me?”
Read the passage together: I Timothy 6:17-19
Reflect:
Discuss your thoughts on what makes a person cross the line between rich and not rich:
o How do you feel about the fact that >95% of the world is less rich than the average American?
o Is ‘being rich’ as simple as “make a budget with margins and live within your means” …or is there more to it than that?
o The “real cost of living” for a family of 4 in NJ is reportedly just over $74,000 (LSNJ-PRI) combined family income per year; is that “the line” between rich and not rich? Why or why not (in the sense that Pastor Scott was talking about on Sunday)?
Pasto Scott made the point that we look down to assess our morality (“I’m not that bad”) but up to assess wealth (“I’m not that rich”).
o Is “…but I’m not as bad as that guy/girl…” a good measure of our own morality? (Read Luke 18:9-14, Matt 7:1-5)
o What does Scripture say about the measure of wealth (Matt 6:28-34, Luke 21:1-4, Acts 2:42-47)
If “being rich” is about what we do with income, not just how much we have, Discuss the widow in Luke 21:1-4:
o The widow had no margins; she gave “all she had”— was that an unwise thing to do? Explain.
o Was this widow “rich” in the sense that Pastor Scott was talking about this past weekend? Explain.
o What would you have done in that moment if you had been with Jesus among His disciples at that time? (offered the widow some of your own money, prayed God would bless her, ask her why she did that...?)
Discuss the progression of “I don’t feel rich, so I don’t think I’m rich, so I don’t act rich”:
o If “rich” is defined as “the ability to give to others without the feeling of denying myself”, will anyone ever get there?
o Is it possible that God holds us accountable for what we can do, not what we cannot do? (Deut 8:18, 1 Cor 4:7, Lev 27:30, Matt 16:24-27, 2 Cor 8:12-14)
Respond: (Divide the group into pairs)
o The essential question this week was “Am I ready to steward my finances with an open hand towards God?”
Pray for the humility and the courage to surrender this part of our lives to God as an act of worship
Pray the Lord’s prayer together in closing
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