Class #2: God's Part - Owner of All

More about last week's subject: Money's god-like power (insights from Mark Vincent of Design for Ministry)

1.Money outlives us.
2.Money's circle of influence is greater than ours.
3.Money is mysterious. Example: former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's “this could happen ... or that” predictions.
4.Summing up points 1 through 3, money exists in the realm of things we are temped to worship. (Compare to cults have formed around natural forces, fertility, personality, and death)
5.Money mimics everything God promises, especially heaven and the New Jerusalem.
6.Money is something that we wield, like a scalpel or a sword, for healing or for harm.
7.Everything can be monetized (i.e., can have a price placed on it).
8.Money can lead us to think that we are gods. Example: wealth raises the threshold of what we pray for; consider the increasingly affluent person who ceases to ask the church to pray for his head cold, and merely stays home and takes Tylenol.

The best defense, as always, is sound theology.

Today’s key point: God is Owner of all.

1 Chronicles 29:11-12 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

God's ownership:Deut. 10:14
Ps. 24:1
1 Cor. 10:26

Specifics of His ownership:Lev. 25:23
Ps. 50:10-12
Hag. 2:8
Heart Check: evaluate your attitudes of ownership toward your possessions. Do you consistently recognize the true Owner? How might you become more consistent in this?

God controls circumstances:1 Chron. 29:11-12
Ps. 135:6

God controls people:
Prov. 21:1
Is. 40:21-24
Acts 17:26
Heart Check: do you normally recognize God's control of all events? IN what ways might you become more consistent here?

God controls and uses difficult circumstances:Gen. 45:4-8
Gen. 50:19-20
Rom. 8:28
Heart Check: why is this important to realize? What impact does it have on you and your financial life? Share an example and how God ultimately used it for good in your life?

God's provision:Ps. 34:8-10
Psl. 37:25
Matt. 6:31-33

God's distribution of material possessionsJob 1:20-22
Jer. 27:5

God's distribution is inequal
Matt. 25:14-15
Heart Check: how should this influence your perspective on those who have more than you? On those who have less?


Getting Practical

Quit Claim Deed [a clever device for giving over specific possessions to God's control, and arranging for friends to keep you accountable. E-mail me and I'll get you a copy.]

Financial Goals: list them! [Again, I can provide a simple and commonsense form for organizing your goals]

Money Autobiography: for those of more of a journaling frame of mind. Write out your answers to these questions:
Who taught you to manage money?
How was/is money discussed in your family?
How was/is money discussed in your church?
What is your current money situation?
What are your financial goals?