Continue: A Garden, a Certian Place and a Promise
Speaker: Pastor Josh Jansen
Read: Genesis 28:10-22; 1 Corinthians 3:9
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What resonated with you as listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
2. It was said that with toiling comes pride, with striving comes greed and with self-protection comes hoarding. What does this mean to you with regard to how we regard our finances and those things we have acquired?
3. It was said that our lives are significantly better when we allow the principles of God to shape our finances. Read Malachi 3:10, Galatians 6:7-8 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-9. What principles do you see in these Scriptures?
4. Does tithing play a role in your finances? If not, what challenges you about it?
5. Why do you think some people are offended by the idea of tithing?
6. How does tithing benefit the church and the work of the ministry?
7. It was said that the logical response to God’s faithfulness is radical generosity. What does this mean to you? What does radical generosity look like?
SERMON RECAP
When God placed humanity in the Garden of Eden, He meant for it to be a pleasurable place to work the ground, grow things and to reproduce. It was based on a trusting relationship whereby man would be fellow workers with God and man would trust God to provide for his every need to live a fulfilled life. But when Adam and Eve sinned, the trust was broken, the purity of the garden was destroyed, and toiling, striving, and self-protection entered the world. This is illustrated in the life of Jacob and how he was striving to gain the blessing that belonged to his brother Esau after apparently being prideful enough to think he was deserving of it, and then had to protect himself by running to Haran. Fortunately in a certain place he had an encounter with a faithful God who reminded Jacob of who he was, the promises of God and the assurance of God’s presence with him. This led to a change of heart and a radical sense of generosity whereby Jacob determined that he would put his trust in God and demonstrate that trust by giving a tenth (tithe) back to God of all that God would bless him with. Today, there are some who struggle with the idea of tithing to the church. But God is calling us back to the garden – to a place where we put our trust in Him for not only our finances, but for our lives. We too may need to have an encounter with Him and be reminded that He is a faithful God, that He alone is the provider and that He is always with us. Such an encounter will change our hearts and our logical response will be one of generosity because we make sacrifices for what we hold in high regard.
