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Nov 11, 2018

Loving With My Resources

Passage: James 5:1-6

Speaker: Ben Seneker

Series: James

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: charity, give, greed, money, resources, sacrifice, wealth, love, serve, work

Our interaction with the resources God’s given us (i.e. our pursuit of it, as well as how we spend it, save it, and give it) truly comes down to matters of the heart and of faith. We tend to “spend” our resources (time, talent and treasure) for our own luxury and happiness, forgetting that everything we have is a gift from God and given to us with the purpose of glorifying Him and loving others. Jesus, who had the full resources of the entire universe and with his relationship with The Father and Holy Spirit, willingly gave it all up to serve us. In so doing, we are freed from the tyrannical murderous dictator of earthy resources so that we can actually enjoy not just the resources we’ve been given but ultimately the giver of our resources.

ORDER of Worship

Call To Worship: Isaiah 61:1a, 10a ESV

LEADER: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,

ALL 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

Reading: Proverbs 11:28, 1 Timothy 6:9 & 1 Peter 1:24-25  

ALL: 28 Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

LEADER: 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

ALL: 24 For, all people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Songs:

  • Prelude - I Surrender All
  • Amazing Love Oh What Sacrifice
  • Lord I Need You
  • Before the Throne
  • Crown Him with Many Crowns
  • Band: Guitar & Vocals - Randy Johnson, Vocals - Emily Johnson, Keys - Don Briola, Cajon - Ben Seneker

Gratitude: Revelation 3:17-20 & Prayer of Confession (from The Service for the Lord’s Day)   

LEADER: 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

ALL: 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

ALL:  O Merciful God,

We confess that we have not loved you with

our whole heart, mind, and strength

And have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

In your great mercy, forgive us,

renew us, compel us, and lead us,

That we may delight in your will,

walk in your ways; find joy in your Word.

Through the finished work of Christ. Amen

Message Title: Loving with My Resources

Central Text: James 1:5:1-6

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Response: 2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

LEADER: 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,

ALL: so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Benediction: Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

LEADER: 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

ALL: 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Additional Scriptures:

  • Leviticus 19:13
  • Deuteronomy 24:14-15
  • I Kings 21
  • Proverbs 21:13
  • Jeremiah 2:11-13
  • Jeremiah 9:23-24
  • Matthew 6:19-33
  • Luke 6:24
  • Luke 16:19-31
  • Luke 19:1-10
  • 1 Corinthians 7:31
  • 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Media:

11.11.18 Album

Discussion Questions:

  1. What “resources” do you personally have...your time, talents and treasures?
  2. How do you generally “spend” your resources?
    1. What’s are you trying to “buy” with them?
  3. If you look at your life, how do you tend to primarily view (and therefore use) your “resources” for your own “luxury”?
  4. How is this related back to last week’s passage about how life is a “wisp” and to not put our hope in this world?
  5. Think of an example of how you have lived with the motto “your life for mine” (where you use others to make your own value and kingdom grow).
    1. How do you like it when others treat you like that?
  6. The cure for this disease is to re-define your belief in:
    1. The source of our resources. (the answer is in the word itself...“re-source”)
    2. The purpose of our resources.
    3. How my greed has murdered The Righteous One.
  7. Why didn’t Jesus resist?
    1. What does that say about him?
    2. How is that the OPPOSITE of the greed issue we have?
  8. What of your desire for significance or security makes you hesitant to be generous?
  9. How might (daily) remembering His sacrifice for our gain (new identities, eternity) compel us to extend the same for others?  
  10. Give some everyday practical examples of how a gospel perspective on wealth and  resources would effect:
    1. Community
    2. Equipping Others
  11. List some inspiring illustrations of generosity found in art & media (movies, tv, etc.)?    

Quotes:

  • “Materialism is both socially destructive and self-destructive. It smashes the happiness and peace of mind of those who succumb to it. It’s associated with anxiety, depression and broken relationships.” - George Monbiot
  • It's not about money. It's about sending a message. Everything burns." - The Joker (The Dark Knight)
  • “Labor to get a sense of the vanity of this world, and labor to be much acquainted with heaven.” - Jonathan Edwards
  • “As with any of God’s gifts, if the focus is on enjoying the gift rather than the giver, it becomes an idol.” - Dr. Dan McCartney
  • “If you put the happiness of others ahead of your own, what do you get…happiness.” – Timothy J. Keller

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