9/29 - 10/3 Life Group Questions
^ Click Take A Note ^ Remember to write down some short notes for each of the questions below before heading to life group.
1.
Share 1 thing that stood out to you about Sunday's Message. (1 minute max please) Also press play button in image above to watch or listen to Sundays message if you missed it or just to refresh your memory. (Each Individual)
2. And The Survey Says...
Leviticus 27:30
30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord ’s. It is holy to the Lord .
Malachi 3:8
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
Which of the following do you think is the most consistent reasons CHRISTIANS give for not tithing into their local church?
I don't believe in tithing.
I don't think God wants to have anything to do with money.
I don't have enough.
I don't trust the church.
I want more of my money.
I think giving what I can when I can is enough.
I think those who have more should be the ones to give more.
I don't understand the principal of tithing or how it is important for me, my family, or my church.
Religion shouldn't cost anything.
My tithe won't make a difference anyway.
What is your reason for not tithing or what WAS your reason before you became a tither? (Each Individual)
After each person has shared what they think the #1 reason is and what their reason is or was, then discuss the truth or falsehood of the reasons above. (Group Discussion)
3. What Wage Am I Worthy Of?
1 Corinthians 9:4-11
4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? 8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn talked about the church giving Pastor Ben Whittaker from Australia the largest offering or honorarium our church has ever given for the ministry he did over the course of a week at The Way. We learned that Pastor Ben left his family and church to spend a week sowing into so many different areas of our church, helping our leaders, visiting life groups, preaching and more. The question Pastor Vaughn asked in connection with the passage above is “should Pastor Ben also have to pay the financial cost incurred to serve us in this way?”.
How many of us feel personally accountable for making sure The Way has the financial resources to honor visitors like Pastor Ben? Why or why not? Personally accountable for the regular monthly financial needs being met for the church? Why or why not? Personally accountable for providing for our Pastors and their families financially? Why or why not? Is this something you consider when deciding whether or not to tithe? Should this be different for youth, young adults, singles, married, elderly? Why or why not? (Group Discussion)
4. It's About Salvations
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Paul ends this chapter reminding everyone that his primary focus was not on money coming in or out but on people getting saved. On Sunday Pastor Vaughn said that understanding the role of Apostles & Pastors and how tithing, offerings, & support actually work in the lives of believers and the church can not be separated from the goal of the church which is to win souls for Jesus.
Proverbs 11:30
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.
Some people are able to understand the basic principles of giving & receiving and sowing & reaping and they are able to immediately become tithers in the Kingdom but others struggle for a multitude of reasons. One of the main reasons is believers don't understand or believe that their giving is directly connected to the saving of souls and the gospel reaching the lost.
How much of the conversation around "tithing" should be about what you are personally getting in return and how much should be about how the unsaved are being given an opportunity to meet Jesus? What other areas of life are there where you invest time or money or other resources into things that are partially or mostly or completely about others where you are expecting limited or no return on your investment? (Group Discussion)
5. What is 1 area you feel God is calling you to take specific action in, based on Sunday's message and tonight's Life Group gathering? (Each individual)
* Remember to pray for each other before heading home from life group and to stay in communication here in the app throughout the week on your life group messaging thread!