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 primary 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

The Gospel of the Kingdom

Jesus’s Kingdom, as He himself taught, is not of this world. While His Kingdom influences and transforms people and structures, fundamentally, it does not belong to an individual or ideology. His is the kingdom and the power and the glory, as he taught us to remember in prayer.

Today’s Topic

Get Rich or Die Trying

Discussion Questions

The Question

Matthew 19:16

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

Proverbs 17:23

The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.

Proverbs 18: 11

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

Proverbs 11:4

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath…

What was the man really seeking when he came to Jesus and asked him what he could do to get eternal life?

What kinds of things do we often hope greater wealth can help us accomplish?

How can the pursuit of wealth distort a person’s life publicly, relationally, or spiritually?

The Grief

Matthew 19:17-22

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

 “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, “and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Why does Jesus remind the man that only God is good?

How can paying attention to our good deeds and faithful obedience to God help us? How can it hurt us?

Why did Jesus tell this man to sell all his possessions, give to the poor, and then come follow him?

The Impossibility

Matthew 19:23-24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 5:3-10

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

    for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

How can privilege inhibit our spiritual growth?

What are the characteristics of a person Jesus called blessed in Matthew 5?

How can accumulating our culture’s markers of success keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God?

The Hope

Matthew 19:27-28 

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

1 John 3:16-18

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

How does the gospel reveal God’s generosity toward us?

How can we know if we are struggling with greed?

How does generosity (both God’s and our own) make space for hope in the world?

Closing Thought

2 Corinthians 9:6-9

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 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. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written.

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”

Commit to setting aside some time each day this week to thank God for his generosity toward you, and commit to doing one generous act in the next seven days by giving your money, time, or labor to a friend, neighbor, or stranger.