Discussion Questions  |  5 July 2020

SERMON SUMMARY

In today’s COVID-19 world, two topics dominate the global conversation. The impact of the pandemic on our health and our economy. It is especially evident today that the world we live in is an economic one which not only affects the running of our country, but also affects the running of our families and home. Every day we are confronted with economic stresses and vulnerabilities, and the economic well-being of our people and country is intricately connected with human flourishing. This series will explore how money is important because the gospel speaks to the economic world we live, play and work in.

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DISCUSSION

In Ephesians 4:20-29, Paul gives specific directions for living the new life Christ has given us. This involves putting away certain things, and new ways of acting and relating which are signs of newness of life. One of these directions involves a new way of managing our money with:

1. A New Heart – stop stealing, start working

2. A New Capacity – stop managing your money, start stewarding God’s money

3. A New Preoccupation – stop being a dam, start being a river

Read Ephesians 4:20-29. Discuss one or more of the following questions:

1. Listening to this week’s sermon:

a) how did God speak to you

b) why was that significant for you?

c) what practical implication does that have on the way you manage your money?

2. Ps Chee shared that ‘our salvation has an implication on the way we manage our finances. The way we handle our money is a spiritual matter.’ Discuss.

3. Are there areas in management of money where you need to ‘stop stealing’ and ‘start working’?

4. What is the difference between managing your money vs stewarding God’s money?

5. Paul addresses a new capacity to work diligently to increase our financial capacity to contribute to those in need. Does this stewardship capacity include our ability to create wealth? Why is wealth creation such an unspoken topic among Christians?

6. Our potential to steward God’s money is lost because of two distorted biblical teachings: the prosperity gospel and the poverty gospel. Which teachings have influenced you? In what ways do these teachings hinder our potential to steward God’s money faithfully and fruitfully?

7. Share with one another an example of someone you know who is preoccupied in managing their money like a river instead of a dam.

8. What is the one thing you can put into action this week?