Vision + Provision | Message 8

Vision + Provision | Message Eight

This new series is called “Vision and Provision.”

By ‘vision’ we mean the big spiritual questions of life:

❔ Why are we here?

❔ What is our dream for our life, and what is God’s dream for our life?

By ‘provision’ we mean the practical resources God provides to make dreams a reality: time, money, effort, energy, etc.

Scriptures | Mark 10:17-22

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. - Mark 10:17-22 

Question 1 | You don’t have to have heard the sermon from Sunday, but if you were in church, watched online, or listened to the podcast, what stuck with you?

Question 2 |  What Jesus is saying in this scripture is NOT that we can sell all our possessions and earn entry to heaven.  What Jesus is doing is identifying the sore subject in this man’s heart, which in this case for this man was the subject of money.  This man was willing to bow before Jesus, and claimed to be completely righteous.  He claimed he had kept all the commands of God since I was a boy.  Quite a claim!  But he was not willing to part with his wealth, power, and privilege.  

Jesus often touches the sore subjects, the uncomfortable topics, or the pain in our heart.  But he touches our pain in order to heal our pain.  In another story, John 4:4-42, Jesus touches a sore subject with a woman, and she does not run away, the presses further into the conversation.  

So we have the choice to press in or run away.  

❔How is Jesus challenging you, stretching you, or perhaps touching on the pain in your heart right now? 

❔What is one of those subjects that makes you squirm of feel uncomfortable, but you feel Jesus may be calling you to enter that uncomfortable space? 

❔And how can you press in rather than run away?  (Remember: This has to apply to you and be uncomfortable for you, this is not something that is comfortable for you and uncomfortable for others).

Question 3 | Following up on the last question:

❔ In what ways has money been a sore subject or uncomfortable topic for you, even slightly?  

❔ Rather than avoiding the topic of God and money, how have you pressed in to this topic, and what is Jesus teaching you?

Question 4 | The rich man in the scripture went away because he had great wealth.  But his net worth was not the problem.  The problem was not just that he had wealth, but that wealth had him. 

❔Can you share an experience, past or present, when you came to realize that money, wealth, comfort, or material resources had more influence on your life than you previously thought? (Perhaps it was/is financial fears, anxiety, avoidance, preoccupation, anything!)

❔How can you loosen the grip that money has on your life? 

Question 5 | The core hopeful message of Sunday sermon was this: Christ like generosity heals the heart.  As Christians, we don’t aspire to be average and compare ourselves to our neighbors, we want to be like Jesus, in all ways, including in generosity.

❔So if Christ-like generosity heals the heart, how will you practice Christlike generosity?