Life Groups // Winter 2025 // Week 2

Posted January 17, 2025 — Lincoln Berean

Sowing and Reaping // 2 Corinthians 8 & 9

Introduction

This week Pastor Bryan led us through another important passage on Stewardship: 2 Corinthians 8 & 9. We noticed how Jesus is the ultimate example of generous living and that truly understanding His grace makes us generous people too. Whether generosity is a painful or joyful experience for you, we encourage you to honestly approach your group discussion. As always, we hope you respond with grace to one another and keep pointing each other to Jesus and the way of His Kingdom! 

We invite you to look over all the questions on the following pages and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group. Some people even use these questions to take notes during the sermon. The questions are meant to stir your thinking and prompt open discussion, and we do not expect you will cover every question each week.

Warm Up (Suggested time: 30 min)

1) What was the most thrilling 15 minutes of your past year? Share with the group.

2) On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 = no interest, 10 = total buy-in), what’s your interest level in the RETHINK Workshop January 31 – February 1? Check out more information below.

RETHINK: Stewardship Workshop

January 31 // 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Februray 1 // 8:30 am – 2:00 pm

COST: Free, Childcare is available for minimal cost

We encourage you to consider attending this workshop with others from your Life Group. It will be very practical dive into the things we have discussed these last two weeks. A few of the questions that will be considered and discussed:

- - Am I viewing myself as a manager or trustee of what God’s given me, or seeing myself as owner and controller of my own stuff?
  - What am I doing to train my children to be generous givers – and not just donors but disciples?
  - Am I hanging onto excess money as a backup plan in case God fails me?
  - What am I holding onto that’s robbing me of present joy and future reward?

Getting Started

Transition into group discussion.

1. Open group discussion with prayer. Here are a few potential prayer items:

a. For the Spirit of God to lead you in truth

b. For the fruit of the Spirit to be cultivated in your lives

c. For grace to hear and apply what the Spirit says to you

2. Choose someone to read the passage aloud for the group.

Study Questions (Suggested time: 40 min)

1) What were your key take-aways from the weekend sermon or worship service?

2) Pastor Bryan mentioned a quote that attributed to Martin Luther, “There are three conversions necessary in the Christian life: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse.” Do you think that idea still holds up in our culture today? Explain your answer with a real-life example.

Which of these 3 conversions (heart, mind, purse) challenge you the most? What might need to change in order for you to think and act the way Jesus did in that area?

In 2 Corinthians 8:7, Paul seems to put generosity on par with faith, knowledge, and love as qualities that exemplify a follower of Jesus. How does this verse relate to the quote by Martin Luther in what it teaches about our view of money?

3) Read 2 Corinthians 8:9 out loud in your group: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” In your own words, explain how this verse speaks of the gospel.

Pastor Bryan challenged us to consider, “Do you think we can truly believe the words of verse 9 and not become generous people?” In a more personal manner, what would others learn about the generosity of Jesus simply by viewing the way you steward your resources?

4) 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 gives us a principle of sowing and reaping. It makes sense that a planted crop provides a harvest of equal proportions. What is the simple reality of sowing and reaping as described in the passage?

To what extent do you approach stewardship with a cheerful heart? Share some reasons for your attitude, if you feel comfortable.

What areas of your life might God be asking you to sow bountifully? How can your Life Group support you in taking practical steps toward doing that?

Personal Spiritual Exercises

Just like physical exercises help strengthen and stretch our bodies for healthy living, these spiritual exercises are meant to move us spiritually in ways that may be new so we might experience inner growth. Since God longs for us to experience Him with our whole selves—mind, body, spirit—we invite you along each week to strengthen your souls with suggestions and prompts.

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 128 was a song that reminded God’s people of the ways He would make them prosperous. What determines the blessing of God in this psalm and how does it relate to our passage today?

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
2 When you eat the fruit of the labor of your hands,
You will be happy and it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for so shall a man
Who fears the Lord be blessed.

5 The Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!

Prayer Focus: 2 Corinthians 9:8 uses strong language to affirm God’s commitment to His people. Imagine that Paul himself is speaking this verse over your life. Can you believe that this is true? Offer a prayer of response to God for the extraordinary promise in this verse.

Prayer (Suggested time: 20 min)

A significant part of “coming together” is being open and honest with our lives. Sitting in a group of people for prayer may be new or it may be familiar to you. If you would rather not pray aloud when it is your turn, feel free to pray silently and then say “Amen” aloud signaling the next person in the group to pray. Whether or not you choose to verbalize your prayer, everyone is a participant in sharing this time before God together.

Take a few moments to prepare a prayer request. What did the message, working through the above questions or the discussion cause you to notice about your own relationship with Jesus? Would you be willing to share your prayer request with the group?