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Week 1 Sermon Questions For Groups

September 3, 2017

Overcoming Financial Fear 

Introduction:

God is in the multiplication business. If you give God your talent, He’ll multiply your talent. If you give God your energy, He’ll multiply your energy. If you give God your time, He will multiply your time. If you give God your money, He will multiply your money. If you give God your relationships, He will multiply your relationships. Whatever you give to God He will multiply and give it back. God is in the multiplication business because when God is added to the equation, He can do far more than we can do by ourselves.

Bottom line: Jesus plus whatever you have is greater than everything you have minus Jesus.

Something To Talk About:

Not only can God make something out of nothing, God can take a little and turn it into a lot. In Luke 9:10-17, God took five tiny loaves of bread and two fishes, multiplied them and fed a crowd of 5,000. It is lesson in duplication, one that has application in our lives. Matthew 25:29 tells us, “For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. But from the man who is unfaithful, even what little responsibility he has shall be taken from him.”

  1. God multiplies what is blessed: First, we see that something must be blessed before it can multiply. The story of feeding the 5,000 is a well-known Biblical story. What do you think would have happened if the disciples decided to just give the fish and loaves to the nearest person. I’m guessing here, but maybe one or two people would have enjoyed a light snack. It probably would have never multiplied, because the reason it multiplied was because Jesus blessed it. Jesus blessed and added value to everything He was given. He was given a boat and turned it into a pulpit on which he could stand and teach the multitudes. He was given a donkey and made it an image of servant leadership. He was given a bowl and a towel and made a model of humility. He was given a cross, and made it a symbol of our salvation. No matter what it is, no matter how small it is, it will multiply if Jesus blesses it. 
  1. God multiples what is given away: What if the disciples had eaten the fish and loaves Jesus blessed themselves. It would never have multiplied. They would have had a couple of bites of food each instead of full stomachs and twelve baskets of leftovers. They had to give it away so that it could multiply The blessing is essential, but there is no multiplication until it is given away. If you have given something to Jesus and He has blessed it, don’t consume it yourself. It will not multiply until it is given away. John 12:24 says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.” If you go to the garden store and buy a pack of seeds, they won’t do anything until you put them in a place where they can multiply. The same principle applies to every area of our lives. If we give our time, talent and treasures to the Lord, first, He will bless them and give them back to us so we can give them away and have the joy of watching them multiply. In God’s economy He doesn’t just add blessings; He multiplies them. We will not see our time, talent or finances multiply until we give them away.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How can God’s multiplication manifest itself in our lives today?
  2. What has He given you? What has He given you that has multiplied? How can we be generous with what Christ has provided for us?
  3. What would it take for you to stop and ask God to bless whatever it may be that you are doing? Often times we accomplish something then ask for God’s providence and blessing. What would happen if we asked for his blessing first so that whatever we accomplished was truly in and of God’s will?
  4. Should the size or the depth of the need impact our decision to do something to help and trust God to provide?
  5. It is through our giving where the greatest blessings and provision can be seen. Agree or disagree and why?
  6. What is your first step toward seeing God’s power multiply in your life?
  7. At this point in your life, if God asked you to give up (fill in the blank), would you be obedient? If not, what are some steps you could take in order to follow God wholeheartedly with a give-to-give not a give-to-get mentality? 

Take One Thing Home with You:

When you think about it, the Bible is a story of multiplication. It is amazing to think that God multiplied life through the life, the death, and the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because of the one life of Jesus, because of the one death of Jesus, because of the one resurrection of Jesus, because of His victory over death, there are literally millions and millions and millions of Christians around the world. All the people who found eternal life did so because Jesus gave His one life. Jesus life wasn’t taken from him. No one could take Jesus’ life. He gave it willingly to save us and purchase us from death.

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” (John 10:17-18)