Our Enemy is Loud AWS
Our Enemy is Loud
MONEY WHY SOME FAMILIES NEVER TRULY PROSPER
Seed Money, Part 1 Message by Your Campus Lead November 4-5, 2017 | Leader Notes
Here are some things to keep on your radar: Alan Shlemon: I hope you enjoyed Alan’s presentation. If you’d like more information please go to www.str.org. Seed Money: For the next several weeks we will be in a series about money, contentment and our hearts. I’m sure many of us have heard these principles and truths over and over. Don’t let your hearts and group become weary in practicing and growing in our knowledge and attitude toward money and possessions. After this series, we will enter our Christmas season. You might want to think about a compassion type project your group can do during the holidays. Attendance: Thanks for taking attendance every week. We are almost at 100% of our leaders taking attendance and communicating with us. Please keep it up.
MAIN POINT
Satan uses culture to twist and steal God’s word, especially as it relates to money and wealth, but God reminds us to trust him and remain content in what we’ve been given.
INTRODUCTION
As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. 1. What is one thing you heard or your parents told you growing up that you thought was silly and you ignored it, but now as an adult you see wisdom in it and actually find yourself sharing it with your friends and family now?
My mom use to say, “Nothing good happens after midnight”. As a kid and teenager, I ignored that and there were many times I was out after midnight and nothing bad happened. But as an adult I understand what she meant and I see the wisdom in it now. Maybe other statements might be... “Marry a Christian, don’t have sex before marriage, live below your income, show up 10 minutes early to work...” The list could go on and on. Go around the group and have people share something they remember as a kid. 2. What, in today’s culture, are some of the challenges to listening well? The passage we’ll study today in Mark 4 calls us to listen well to the Word of God, the type of listening that goes beyond merely hearing—in one ear and out the other—but results in an active and obedient faith. As believers, the biggest threat we face to hearing the Word of God are the “thorns,” or worries of life, that choke out the Word. As we think about simplifying our lives in order to know God more, we need to courageously identify the thorns that we’ve allowed to take root in our hearts.
UNDERSTANDING
Unpack the biblical text to discover what the Scripture says or means about a particular topic. Read Mark 4:1-20. 3. What were the dominant characteristics of each kind of soil? In an agricultural society, everyone would have understood what happened when a sower went out into a field to sow his seed. At least one path ran through most fields, and much of the terrain in Israel was rocky under a thin layer of topsoil. Dropping seeds along such paths was futile. Many fields had thorn bushes along the perimeters. Seeds falling there had no chance to grow and survive until harvest time. Others, however, did fall on fertile soil and produced a bumper crop (100 times what was sown). The seed represents God’s Word and the soil represents the human heart. God’s word is meant to be received and then allowed to take root in our lives. The goal of seed is always to produce a harvest. To prosper us! Like physical seed, the Word of God is living and active and completely able to produce growth in our lives, but the seed must be cared for and nurtured. If the seed fails to be cultivated, the harvest will never come.
4. In v. 19 Jesus says that the worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth and desires choke out God’s Word in our life. Why do you think Jesus mentioned those three things? Why is wealth and desire connected to us worrying about life? Ever since the fall of mankind humans have wanted to control everything. We were tempted to become like God. Money seems to give us the perception that we are in control. When we have money and stuff we think we are in control. When we don’t have money or stuff we worry about providing for our family and future. Our culture is loud and tells us that unless we have more than others we won’t be happy. This lack of contentment causes us to worry about life. 5. Jesus talked more about money, possessions and material wealth than any other subject. How does the enemy steal and twist God’s Word related to money, prosperity and wealth? Baptism: 40 verses Prayer: 275 verses Faith: 350 verses Love: 650 verses Finances/Material Possessions/Wealth: 2,350 verses 6. There were four areas Satan tempts and twists God’s Word (financial independence, more possessions, keeping up with appearances and better experiences). When it comes to money what area do you struggle with the most? When we think about money and wealth we all struggle with contentment and one of the areas listed above is the root problem. For many, we want financial independence so we work overtime, we don’t give, and we store up treasures on earth. For some, we want more possessions and we find our identity in what we have. For others, we compare our experiences to others and so we feel like we have to keep up our appearances. 7. Look up the following passages related to these four areas. What do these passages say about these four areas? What are some principles and implications we can learn so that we can protect ourselves from the enemy stealing and snatching God’s Word from us, especially related to money, possessions and wealth? • Financial Independence: Matthew 6:24, Deut. 6:10-12, 8:11-14, 1 Tim. 6:9-10, Rev. 3:17-18 • More Possessions: Luke 12:15, Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, 6:2, Matthew 19:16-23, Proverbs 22:7, • Appearances: Exodus 20:17, Job 27:16-17, Heb. 13:5, James 4:13-16, Luke 3:14, 1 Tim. 6:6-8 • Better Experiences: Proverbs 21:17, 23:19, Luke 15:11-16, Titus 2:11-12
APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. Read Proverbs 30:7-9 9. How is this prayer a good prayer when it comes to listening to God’s Word and blocking the enemies loud voice in our culture? 10. T he temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4 should give us hope that we too can resist the enemy and his tactics. What is one thing Jesus does to resist the enemy’s temptation and how can you apply that in your life related to contentment and wealth? You might want to identify the areas Jesus was tempted. Obviously, he used Scripture to fight back the enemy’s voice and temptation. But Jesus also kept his faith and trusted God. Remind your group to trust God to provide for them. Have the group stand up and read Jeremiah 9:23 out loud together and then pray.
MONEY WHY SOME FAMILIES NEVER TRULY PROSPER
Seed Money, Part 1 Message by Your Campus Lead November 4-5, 2017 | Leader Notes
Here are some things to keep on your radar: Alan Shlemon: I hope you enjoyed Alan’s presentation. If you’d like more information please go to www.str.org. Seed Money: For the next several weeks we will be in a series about money, contentment and our hearts. I’m sure many of us have heard these principles and truths over and over. Don’t let your hearts and group become weary in practicing and growing in our knowledge and attitude toward money and possessions. After this series, we will enter our Christmas season. You might want to think about a compassion type project your group can do during the holidays. Attendance: Thanks for taking attendance every week. We are almost at 100% of our leaders taking attendance and communicating with us. Please keep it up.
MAIN POINT
Satan uses culture to twist and steal God’s word, especially as it relates to money and wealth, but God reminds us to trust him and remain content in what we’ve been given.
INTRODUCTION
As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. 1. What is one thing you heard or your parents told you growing up that you thought was silly and you ignored it, but now as an adult you see wisdom in it and actually find yourself sharing it with your friends and family now?
My mom use to say, “Nothing good happens after midnight”. As a kid and teenager, I ignored that and there were many times I was out after midnight and nothing bad happened. But as an adult I understand what she meant and I see the wisdom in it now. Maybe other statements might be... “Marry a Christian, don’t have sex before marriage, live below your income, show up 10 minutes early to work...” The list could go on and on. Go around the group and have people share something they remember as a kid. 2. What, in today’s culture, are some of the challenges to listening well? The passage we’ll study today in Mark 4 calls us to listen well to the Word of God, the type of listening that goes beyond merely hearing—in one ear and out the other—but results in an active and obedient faith. As believers, the biggest threat we face to hearing the Word of God are the “thorns,” or worries of life, that choke out the Word. As we think about simplifying our lives in order to know God more, we need to courageously identify the thorns that we’ve allowed to take root in our hearts.
UNDERSTANDING
Unpack the biblical text to discover what the Scripture says or means about a particular topic. Read Mark 4:1-20. 3. What were the dominant characteristics of each kind of soil? In an agricultural society, everyone would have understood what happened when a sower went out into a field to sow his seed. At least one path ran through most fields, and much of the terrain in Israel was rocky under a thin layer of topsoil. Dropping seeds along such paths was futile. Many fields had thorn bushes along the perimeters. Seeds falling there had no chance to grow and survive until harvest time. Others, however, did fall on fertile soil and produced a bumper crop (100 times what was sown). The seed represents God’s Word and the soil represents the human heart. God’s word is meant to be received and then allowed to take root in our lives. The goal of seed is always to produce a harvest. To prosper us! Like physical seed, the Word of God is living and active and completely able to produce growth in our lives, but the seed must be cared for and nurtured. If the seed fails to be cultivated, the harvest will never come.
4. In v. 19 Jesus says that the worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth and desires choke out God’s Word in our life. Why do you think Jesus mentioned those three things? Why is wealth and desire connected to us worrying about life? Ever since the fall of mankind humans have wanted to control everything. We were tempted to become like God. Money seems to give us the perception that we are in control. When we have money and stuff we think we are in control. When we don’t have money or stuff we worry about providing for our family and future. Our culture is loud and tells us that unless we have more than others we won’t be happy. This lack of contentment causes us to worry about life. 5. Jesus talked more about money, possessions and material wealth than any other subject. How does the enemy steal and twist God’s Word related to money, prosperity and wealth? Baptism: 40 verses Prayer: 275 verses Faith: 350 verses Love: 650 verses Finances/Material Possessions/Wealth: 2,350 verses 6. There were four areas Satan tempts and twists God’s Word (financial independence, more possessions, keeping up with appearances and better experiences). When it comes to money what area do you struggle with the most? When we think about money and wealth we all struggle with contentment and one of the areas listed above is the root problem. For many, we want financial independence so we work overtime, we don’t give, and we store up treasures on earth. For some, we want more possessions and we find our identity in what we have. For others, we compare our experiences to others and so we feel like we have to keep up our appearances. 7. Look up the following passages related to these four areas. What do these passages say about these four areas? What are some principles and implications we can learn so that we can protect ourselves from the enemy stealing and snatching God’s Word from us, especially related to money, possessions and wealth? • Financial Independence: Matthew 6:24, Deut. 6:10-12, 8:11-14, 1 Tim. 6:9-10, Rev. 3:17-18 • More Possessions: Luke 12:15, Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, 6:2, Matthew 19:16-23, Proverbs 22:7, • Appearances: Exodus 20:17, Job 27:16-17, Heb. 13:5, James 4:13-16, Luke 3:14, 1 Tim. 6:6-8 • Better Experiences: Proverbs 21:17, 23:19, Luke 15:11-16, Titus 2:11-12
APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. Read Proverbs 30:7-9 9. How is this prayer a good prayer when it comes to listening to God’s Word and blocking the enemies loud voice in our culture? 10. T he temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4 should give us hope that we too can resist the enemy and his tactics. What is one thing Jesus does to resist the enemy’s temptation and how can you apply that in your life related to contentment and wealth? You might want to identify the areas Jesus was tempted. Obviously, he used Scripture to fight back the enemy’s voice and temptation. But Jesus also kept his faith and trusted God. Remind your group to trust God to provide for them. Have the group stand up and read Jeremiah 9:23 out loud together and then pray.
