Before We Get Started

For our discussion today we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.

Prayer

Because the main goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for, or  anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together.

This Week’s Topic

Today, we continue our series titled, Reversal. We will be taking some time to walk through the Gospel account of Luke. Luke was an historian who set out to document the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the impact it had on the world of his day. What we see in Luke’s account is that when Jesus gets involved in the life of a person, things get turned upside-down and inside-out. Jesus brings about a reversal of everything we thought we knew.

Today’s Topic

Being Rich Towards God

Discussion Questions

1 Timothy 6:8-10

“But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”  

What do you think God wants us to do with our finances?

How does that differ from our cultural views of money and finances?

Why is money such a sensitive topic to discuss, especially in church?

What does our view of money reveal about our view of Jesus?

Luke 12:16-21

“And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

How would you define greed?

Why is greed so hard to see in our own lives?

What do a consumeristic mentality and greed have to do with one another?

Augustine

“Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure; Where your treasure is, there is your heart; Where your heart is, there is your happiness.”

What does it mean to be rich toward God?

Is it possible to be materially rich, and still be rich toward God? How?

Is it possible to be materially broke, and still be rich toward God? How?

Closing Thought

How does the Gospel, and the love of Christ, free us from greed, and enable us to be generously rich towards God and others?