Group Guide
This Week's City 7:
3. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Since “all have sinned” and the “wages of sin is death,” Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the fine for my sin so I could be right with God.
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
Ice-Breaker:
For those who made a ProjectONE commitment: How have you seen God move in your finances in the last couple of years, since the start of ProjectONE?
Scripture:
1 Chronicles 29
Then King David turned to the entire assembly and said, “My son Solomon, whom God has clearly chosen as the next king of Israel, is still young and inexperienced. The work ahead of him is enormous, for the Temple he will build is not for mere mortals—it is for the Lord God himself! 2 Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the Temple of my God. Now there is enough gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood, as well as great quantities of onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of fine stone and marble. 3 “And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. 4 I am donating more than 112 tons of gold from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings 5 and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today?”
Then King David turned to the entire assembly and said, “My son Solomon, whom God has clearly chosen as the next king of Israel, is still young and inexperienced. The work ahead of him is enormous, for the Temple he will build is not for mere mortals—it is for the Lord God himself! 2 Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the Temple of my God. Now there is enough gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood, as well as great quantities of onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of fine stone and marble. 3 “And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. 4 I am donating more than 112 tons of gold from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings 5 and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today?”
Discussion Questions:
- Last week we talked a lot about David's heart for seeing the temple get built. We were challenged by his example of extreme generosity and living for something bigger than ourselves. We talked about WHY we give and the place we give FROM. We have to get this part right first. This week is all about what we give TO and what we are giving FOR. And, once again, we look to David in 1 Chronicles 29. He willingly and cheerfully gave ALL for the building of the temple. The temple was the place that the presence of God dwelt among His people. It's where people came to worship, pray and make sacrifices in order to have fellowship with God. It was the center of spiritual life and community for the people of God. David was giving his ALL for ETERNITY. David cares more about the eternal things of God than the temporal things of this world. He could have built a nicer home, more homes... bought a newer model chariot! There's nothing wrong with nice things. David had plenty of nice things. But his DEVOTION to God led him to sacrificially donate everything he could for God’s house, God’s purposes and God’s people. How much does your desire for nice things, or NICER things, inhibit your ability to be generous?
- David cared more about the fame and name of God than he did about his own name and fame. The temple was going to establish that the God of the universe is Israel's God and that He was with them. God is going to bring glory to Himself through His house! The Church is the house of God that exists to make Jesus' name famous throughout the world. Like David, we should be willing and excited to sacrificially give to build and grow God's house in order to make Jesus famous. When you give to the church, are you connecting those dots in your own mind? Are you thinking about and praying that God would use your gift to make His name known? Or are you simply giving the church because they asked you to or because that's what you've always done?
- The temple would eventually be built by David's son, Solomon. David was giving is ALL for something he would never even see or experience! This is another reason we know that for David it wasn't about himself. No, it was about HIM and THEM. He gave his all for THEM. It was about the glory of God and God's people. The temple would be a blessing to the nation of Israel. And David knew that he was blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others. What about you? Do you make the connection that you are blessed SO THAT you might be a blessing to others?
- The big idea on Sunday was that DIRECTION reveals DEVOTION. Remember back to Matthew 6... Jesus said your treasure reveals the desire of your heart. In other words, money reveals what we treasure and where our idols are. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul talks about how each of us will give an account of our life on judgement day. This is what is known as the BEMA judgement seat for believers. Paul says we will "receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." We'll give an account for our life, family, resources, spiritual life, etc. With that in mind, Clayton challenged us to GIVE like you're going to STAND before the SEAT. If you had that eternal perspective, how would affect the way you live? The way you give?
- The challenge for the series was ALL ALL IN. Not some giving all or all giving some, but all of us all in. Now that ProjectONE has come to a close, what is God saying to you about your giving? Are you still willing to get uncomfortable in your level of generosity? Is there still some room to grow in this area?
Prayer Topics:
- That we would be a people of generosity.
- That we would give for HIM and THEM.
- That would would spend our money in a way that makes sense in light of eternity.
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