Week 8 - How Does God View Money


Week 8

Don’t forget that week 8 for your group will be a little different. Always consider how your group will be doing their daily devotions at a pace that helps build the habit. Be clear about those instructions. Please, remind everyone in your group.

There is still some preparation for you to do as a facilitator:

  1. Pray for each member of your group to hear God speaking into their financial situation whether that means grace, wise budgeting, or generosity.

  2. Look over the discussion guide and reflection questions. There’s not a lot in there, so consider writing a few more that help shape the conversation around the pitfalls, stressors, and misconceptions about money.

We will talk from stage a little about God’s perspective on money, but then your groups will continue the conversation. This is such an important aspect of our lives. Please, continue to coach your group and yourself in finding healthier ways to view their finances. This could be a huge game-changer!

The big idea: All goods and resources are ultimately already God’s. Everything we have is graceful gift to enjoy or to redistribute for his work.

Following the conversation around money, we will also prompt you all to have a conversation about your rhythms, action steps, and group life beyond Rooted (see below).


“Why are we meeting as a whole group to talk about Generosity?”

You might be asking this question. I certainly was. Churches who have done Rooted over the last several years all throughout the country, highly recommend giving some specific clarity about how their specific church financially operates. It gives the church’s leadership a chance to clarify how important giving is for their specific community and how that giving is used.

More importantly, money is a sacred idol for most people. That’s true for modern Americans, in a society that’s built on capitalism and consumerism. Not that any of that is evil at all, it just grants money a lot of power in our lives. Jesus’ appearance on the planet was perfectly timed, as economies were increasingly moving toward a money-based economy (rather than goods-based) and were more interconnected than ever. His teaching about money was extensive. Look at this quote from a leadership and financial teacher, Howard Dayton:

Jesus talked much about money. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions. In the Gospels, an amazing one out of ten verses (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money. The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions.

We want to make sure we get this conversation right and have everyone on the same page. Christians are only giving at 2.5% of their income right now. If they would only double this we’d be able to substantially address most, if not all, preventable suffering. That’s particularly a helpful as we remember the week 4 conversations. “Where is God is suffering?” Maybe part of the question is “Where are we in suffering?”

Check out this article again that we gave you all during our Pilot Rooted Experiences.


Financial Coaching

In the past we’ve offered free classes for anyone who’d be interested in some financial coaching. Mention this to your group and have them reach out to Todd if it’s something they’d be interested in doing.

God-Money-Budgeting Discovery Style
Whether you are in financial crisis, one paycheck from disaster, good “financial” shape, or have reached a God-honoring financial lifestyle, this course enables you to reflect on your relationship to money and how it impacts your relationship to God.  More than just a learning experience about budgets and finances, this course will help you understand how money really works and discover where you could be transferring money away unknowingly and unnecessarily. Very simply, if you find ways to be more efficient with money, you will have more to give to God, more to direct toward your future and ease the day to day stress associated with money so the journey along the way is a pleasant one.     

 No cost to attend.  Free childcare available.

 Doesn’t fit into your schedule? Contact us to make other arrangements.


After Rooted

The end of Rooted is coming quickly. Before we’re done, consider together how the people in your group might continue.

  1. Would they like to continue as a Journey Group? (If so, who would lead it?)

  2. Would they like to be distributed to other existing Journey Groups?


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Beyond Rooted

The point of this experience is to help establish 7 Rhythms that foster a transformational lifestyle. We want to provide a few opportunities to help everyone continue:

Neighborhood Groups
Rooted encourages you to have conversations about staying together as a group. We’d absolutetly encourage you to consider that. But in many recent cases, this didn’t seem like the best option longterm. When the season is over, I’ll be in touch with you and those in your group about the best next options to keep everyone growing in communinty.

See our Neighborhood Groups Page to see some basic info and registration form.

Serving Within the Church
God calls everyone following him to engage a lifestyle of service in everday life and within organized missions. That always includes the church. Please invite evryone in your group to consider serving in some area within the church. Click the button below for the sign up form to see options. Explain the heart behind this, invite your group to join, and then share it with your group.

Other Upcoming Opportunities
We have a revolving door of great opportunities to serve and grow. You can find more information about the big things going on at Discovery over on our events page. This might include upcoming trips to El Salvador, ways to serve our local area, classes, or many other things beyond regular worship gatherings.


When you get there, we'll have a few extra things for you and your group. I'm attaching all of these below so you can see them for yourselves.

1) Jesus is Cards. One for each person in your group. These are to help facilitate telling their story after week 9, they will talk about what Jesus has done for them in this Rooted season for Week 10 before you speak truth into their lives. It doesn't have to be confined to their story from this specific season, but it is helpful to reflect on the positive things that have happened.

These cards are slightly different than the ones we used in our pilot groups. On one side they say "I was _______" and the other says "Jesus Is _______." Feel free to let them explain beyond those constraints. I love that this flips the subject from the person to Jesus, though. 
 
2) Continue the 7 Rhythms. This is basically a signup sheet for a few specific upcoming opportunities: A financial class, El Salvador trip meeting, and serving at our church. They can sign up on the back of the sheet or on the main screen of the app. This is an individual choice, not a group decision. 

3) Facilitator Nominations. Lastly, we want to hear from you about three different people. (1) One or two people who might want to share their story at the Celebration. (2) Someone to lead this group if it continues (it could be you). (3) Someone in your group that might be especially interested or gifted at leading a future Rooted group (it could be you). Talk to them privately about why you chose them too.  We don't need an answer to any of these before April 7th, EXCEPT for the story nominations.  

I'd like to hear about potential Rooted stories to share soon. 

Make sure your group knows we will be doing Baptisms on 4/5. If anyone in your group is interested in truly going all-in with Jesus, point them to that date. We'd love for you to be a part of that day too!

Here are the goals for your group beyond this week leading to the 
- Have your group speak encouraging truths into the lives of each other. 
- Identify leaders and the best future for this group. 


Todd Ransom