Next Steps--Lesson 28--The Purpose of Tithing

Discussion Questions:

1.     How is tithing a tool to help one set priorities and learn discipline in the area of finances?  How did God use tithing in the Old Testament as training wheels to help mankind understand the importance of maintaining a spiritual focus in a material world? 

2.     How does tithing help one learn to revere the LORD God always? (Deuteronomy 14:23)

3.     How does tithing and offering our first fruits go together?  What would the first fruits be in your life?  Is it fair to say God gave us His first and best to redeem us?

4.     Why would God require tithing in the Old Testament, but say nothing about it being required in the New Testament?  How would living according to grace require less than what God required under the Law?     

5.     How was Abraham’s and Jacob’s responses to God to give a tithe an act of worship?  What connection is there between generosity and a sense of awe and gratitude for what God has done?

6.     Why do you suppose the Israelites, who whined and complained through their travels in the wilderness, gave so freely to the building of the Tabernacle and then the Temple?  What brought about such joyful and sacrificial giving?

7.     Is there anything about tithing that causes you fear or anxiety?  Why or why not?

Stand Alone Sermon--The Dance: Faith and Covenant

Discussion Questions:

1.     How has your experience with walking by faith had its shaky moments?  What kinds of things add to or enhance faith being shaky?

2.     How do God’s covenant promises provide stability to your shaky faith?  What kind of security do you feel when you consider the promises already fulfilled in God’s word?  How does this help you with the things you are waiting upon?

3.     How has God called you to surrender your past, present and future to Him in faith?  Which of these three things do you find the hardest to surrender in faith?

4.     How well do you know the character of God?  How does knowing His character intimately help you navigate through the trying times and moments of unrest?

5.     Who is taking the lead in the dance of faith and covenant in your life?  Why is surrender such an important part of being in a dance with God?

6.     Peter provides a great example of how our actions are dictated by our faith in the walking on water story.  How have you seen your daily choices and actions bounce around based on what you believed at the time?  How does this show the importance of having time each day to see things from the LORD’s perspective?

7.     How is faith in the promises of God and our own personal discipline a part of this dance?  What areas of discipline do you need to develop more in your daily walk of faith?

Next Steps--Lesson 27--Don't Be Short-Sighted--Various Passages

Discussion Questions:

1.  What difference does it make that the billionaire and the beggar come into the world with nothing and leave the same way?  How are our lives like playing a game of Monopoly?  What will you be able to take with you into life after this world?   

2.  Since there are no death evaders, what should we focus upon during the time we have on this earth?  What kinds of things make an effort to keep your focus upon this temporary world instead of God’s eternal Kingdom?

3.  How do our desires in this material world point to life beyond?  Are desires for pleasure, possessions and power inherently bad?  Why or why not?  How has God provided healthy ways for the desires of pleasure, possessions and power to be fulfilled?

4.  How do the disciplines of fasting, prayer and giving assist in developing better control over the desires God has placed within us?  What struggles or distractions keep you from growing in these important means of maturation, so your desires stay healthy and righteous?

5.  What role should delayed gratification play in the maturation of a disciple of Jesus?  What types of things fight against you living according to delayed gratification?  How has God shown through mankind’s history that He wants us to recognize the importance of delayed gratification?

6.  What does a pilgrim or sojourner mentality look like for a disciple of Jesus?  What should we learn from Paul’s teaching that we live in tents?  How does this tie to us being the tabernacle of God?