Discussion Questions  |  28 June 2020

SERMON SUMMARY

This series from Proverbs has been teaching us that the Bible speaks into every area of our life. This Sunday, we look at how God’s design for us in regards to work and resources.

With work consuming around 40 hours a week for a lot of people, it is important that we have a kingdom mindset. Proverbs speaks a lot about the difference between a diligent worker and a lazy worker. Most of Proverbs shows the difference between a foolish person and a wise person, and in this instance, wisdom is connected to the diligent worker and foolishness is attributed to the lazy person. The diligent worker lives in God’s design, and a diligent worker works hard and is determined to be better at their job.

And with work often comes remuneration. Mostly it’s money, but we want to look at resources as a whole. God is OK with us having money, God is OK with us earning money, but God is not OK with us loving money and serving money. Our possessions and resources have an incredible way of working themselves into our hearts if we are not careful, and so God desires that we always are firmly aware that our resources are gifts from Him that we steward for His glory.

DISCUSSION

You can read some passages from Proverbs about work and resources:

Work: Proverbs 10:4, 12:11, 12:4, 12:24, 12:27, 21:5, 24:30-34, and Colossians 3:22-24

Resources: Proverbs 13:22, 22:1, and Luke 14:13-14

Discuss one or more of the following questions:

1. Listening to this week’s sermon, what where do you naturally land when thinking about work: a) something that is a part of your life but God isn’t connected to it, b) something that is really important and therefore God is in control of it?

2. How would you describe the differences between diligent workers, hard workers, and lazy workers?

3. Would other people see you as a diligent worker?

4. If someone watched you and the way money affected your life and emotions, what conclusion would they come to?

5. Do you believe that money/resources can be used to build character and bless others? If so, how could your money/resources do that?

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