Treasure Test Message 1 Chavurah Questions

Why do you believe people are uncomfortable talking about a Rabbi or congregational leader talking to them about generosity? On a scale of 1 - 5, 1 being very uncomfortable to 5 being very happy, how does talking about generosity making you feel? Why?

In , Yeshua cleansed ten lepers but only 1 leper came back to thank him. Take a minute to read that passage out loud. How is giving thanks and faith connected?

Get out a good Bible Dictionary and look up the word “Samaritan” or search the internet and find a website that talks about the relationship between Jews and Samaritans in the first century. Based on your study, what are some reasons it might have been difficult to come back and thank Yeshua?

Read out loud. Yeshua says that there are two ways you can live your life and two different outcomes for how your live your life. You can treat others as your Heavenly Father has treated you and reap an amazing reward or you can rely on some other model and reap the reward of that model. That means that each believer should have a common experience marked by the compassion of the heavenly Father. Maybe it was once, maybe twice, maybe it is daily. Talk to members in your group about a time you felt the compassion of the Heavenly Father in your life.

In what ways are believers supposed to be “generous” according to ?

Not Judgmental = Generous with Grace

Don’t Condemn = Generous with Grace

Not Unforgiving = Generous with Grace

Not Stingy = Generous with Grace (Here is a hint, it is not money. It rhymes with race.)

In the message it was said that to figure out why generosity is a gateway to intimacy with God it was possible to use a couple of contrasting statements.

Stinginess is a gateway to intimacy with God.

Miserliness is a gateway to intimacy with God.

Greediness is a gateway to intimacy with God.

Why is generosity a gateway to God based on ?

According to the message there is a right and wrong defintion for biblical stewardship. What is the wrong definition and right defintion?

Do you agree with the idea that you should faithfully give 10% of your income or that you should slowly build up to 10% percent? What did you think about the analogy, given in the message, of the 6th grader only answering one test question a year on a ten question test.

In the message the idea of the “scarcity mindset” was highlighted. Read the quotes below and discuss where you have seen this show up in your life or the lives of others you have known.

People with a Scarcity Mentality have a very difficult time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit— even with those who help them. They also have a very hard time being genuinely happy for the successes of other people— even, and sometimes especially, members of their own family or close friends and associates. It’s almost as if something is being taken from them when someone else receives special recognition or windfall gain or has remarkable success or achievement. - Stephen Covey

…scarcity makes you myopic (exhibiting bias toward here and now). The mind is focused on present scarcity. You overvalue immediate benefits at the expense of future ones (e.g., procrastinate important things, such as medical checkups, or exercising). We only attend to urgent things and fail to make small investments even when future benefits can be substantial. Shahram Heshmat

In Malachi, God enters into a series of disputes with Israel, actually five disputes with Israel regarding how their scarcity mindset is driving them further away from Him and that if they will “repent” and develop a generous mindset then they will start to experience his blessing. In dispute #4 the people of Israel say, “Times are too tough tithe” but God offers them single handedly one of the greatest promises ever about tithing in .

Read and record what God says to you.

Write what you said to God in response.