FBT Sunday School



Godliness with contentment is great gain.Lesson 2 for January 20, 2019INTRODUCTION: We are in the middle of our 2019 stewardship emphasis: Money Matters for your Family. Next Sunday will be the climax of our special emphasis with our Chest of Joash Sunday (you have to be here)! If you read much of the Bible regarding money, or listen to certain Christian preachers/teachers on the topic you may think Christianity is positioned against money. But money is required to function in our world. We have to have it! The question we must be able to answer biblically is: Do we have a grip on our money, or does our money have a grip on us? The answer to this question makes a tremendous difference for your life. Quick… REVIEW: Last week we what the Bible says about materialism. We learned that the quest for more always leads us to the wrong destination. In 1 Timothy 6 we saw that materialism is deceptive, dangerous and damning.Materialism is not a new problem. In fact we see examples of people being gripped by materialism throughout the Bible. Group work: Assign the following texts and allow them 5 minutes to read and describe how materialism is portrayed in each text.Achan’s greed and covetousness affected the whole nation and caused the death of others (Joshua 7).Delilah took a fee/payoff to forsake Samson (Judges 16:5, 18).Judas forsook Jesus for money (Matthew 26:14-16).Ananias and Sapphira withheld money that they led people to believe had been given to the Lord and were struck dead for it (Acts 5:1-11).The prophet Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, had an eye for wealth that he traded for Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:20-27). POINT: We live in wonderful times. By world standards we are all rich. But let’s not think that we are the first people in human history to be tempted by materialism. TRANSITION: Do you have “money blindspots?” Has materialism crept into your life/family’s life? Materialism is like a lot of other negative attributes: They are easy to identify in others and almost impossible to see in the mirror. Chances are, we are infected with the disease of materialism on some level. We have spent a lot of time over the last two weeks identifying the problem, but what is the solution? For that we return to 1 Timothy 6. BIBLE STUDY:Godliness and contentment are the cure for materialism (1 Timothy 6:6-8, 18-19).Don’t you want to experience “great gain” (vs. 6)?We all want it but we should be sure that “great gain” is defined by our Lord and not our world. God’s equation is: Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain.Great gain means lasting spiritual benefit and blessing. The opposite of a materialistic mindset is one of contentment. What does that look like? Christians should live simply (vs. 7-8).What does the richest man in the world take out of this world? Answer: a grave and a coffin. Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder is the richest man in the world. His net worth is $160 billion (160,000,000,000). How will his end be any different from mine? A grave and a coffin.Christians should recognize (vs. 7) that life is temporary. Jesus instructed us in Matthew 6 to store up our treasures in heaven. Read Proverbs 30:8 and discuss. The prayer here is for contentment. How can a Christian live this way in America 2019?Christians should give sacrificially (vs. 18-19).Notice what our focus ought to be: Christians should focus on being rich in good works (vs. 18). Christians should focus on being ready to distribute (vs. 18). This is the idea that we are generous. Christians should focus on being ready to communicate (vs. 18). The idea is that we are ready and willing to share what we have with others. Christians should be focused on the next life more that on this present world (vs. 19).That’s four specific qualities to put into practice in our lives. APPLICATION: Take time to wrap up with specific discussion on these questions. How much are you focused on your heavenly possessions as opposed to the earthly?Verses 18-19 listed four attitudes Christians ought to have toward possessions. How would you rate yourself in each area? Have them rate themselves silently. Which area did you rate the lowest? What is one specific thing you can do this week to work on this area? Make sure to review what will happen next Sunday in our Chest of Joash service. Hold up the commitment card and walk them through it. ................
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