O Brother – Week 5

Wealth | July 22 – 28, 2018

Series Big Idea

James, the half-brother of Jesus, shares wisdom on how to overcome challenges that can trip us up as Christ-followers and keep us from growing to maturity.

Message Big Idea

When it comes to our maturity, wealth can either be a snare or a tool.

Scripture

James 5:1-6

Ice Breaker & Opening Thought

1. If you won the lottery, what is one charitable cause you would give to or get behind?
2. Wealth can be a tool to advance God’s Kingdom, and it can also lead us away from the kind of life God wants us to live. Discuss as a group how you’ve seen wealth be used in both ways.

Bible Discussion

3. Read James 5:1-6 in several translations. What do you notice about the text? What questions does this raise for you?
4. James warns against cheating, hoarding, being self-indulgent, and systems of injustice. What do these practices look like today? How might these same attitudes apply to other resources besides money? Time, talent, relationships?

Life Application

5. Money is not necessarily an evil; it’s our attitude toward it that counts. In what way have you experienced money as a tool for blessing someone? How have you experienced it as a snare?
6. How would you describe your current relationship to your wealth and resources? In what way is it like a snare or a tool?
7. What is one way you could be more generous and just with your resources in the next week, month, or year?

Challenge

Spend some time this week reflecting on how you can be more justly related to the world through the way you manage your money. You might consider looking at slaveryfootprint.org and fairtradecertified.org and making one or two small tweaks or decisions about an upcoming purchase. You might also examine how openhanded and generous you are with the resources you possess and look to be generous to someone else this week.