Poverty Week 1 – Discussion Questions
MAIN POINT:
Poverty is a state of mind. It’s time we step out of that mindset and into the freedom God has awaiting us.
ICEBREAKER:
What is the longest consecutive time you have spent in a car? Have you ever been lost or on a detour? For how long? Did it seem longer?
INTRODUCTION:
Poverty is a state of mind. It is believing “we can’t do this, we will never overcome this obstacle, this will never get better.” It is time to break that mindset. The Children of Israel wandered the dessert for forty years trying to reach the Promised Land. The time traveling was their transition. The travel time to the Promised Land could have been as short as eleven days. They were delayed because of a lack of faith. We at Faith Promise Church are in a transition. We are growing bigger, adding more campuses, and reaching more people for Christ. We don’t have 40 years to wander. We must have faith and cross to the other side of the poverty mindset. We breakthrough that mindset when we stop thinking like slaves and have confidence in the freedom Christ gave us. We are called to the impossible because Christ makes all things possible. Every time we use our faith we lay a stepping stone. The stones are a reminder to us of the times God was faithful. The stones are a symbol of challenges we conquered through faith. The stones are building a bridge for future generations to cross.
ENCOUNTERING GOD THROUGH BIBLE STUDY:
Read the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan river in Joshua 3:1-29.
1. The Israelites faced one of their greatest challenges in crossing the Jordan river. Do you have a Jordan river challenge in your life (past or present)?
2. What is your usual attitude when faced with a new challenge. Do you have a poverty mindset of “I can’t” or a hopeful belief that “God can”?
3. The Israelites saw that God piled up the waters and made the ground dry for them to cross. What evidence do you see (or have you seen) of God working in your challenge?
Read Joshua 4:1-7.
4. After the Israelites crossed on dry ground 12 men were sent back to gather stones. Why?
5. Pastor Zac talked about using the stones (past victories) as reminders to keep you moving forward. What are the stones in your life?
6. Do you think your attitude when facing challenges would be different if you looked back at your
stones?
7. Ask God to break the chains of a poverty mindset. Ask Him to remind you of His past victories in your life. Ask Him to give you faith for future victories. Ask someone to pray Galatians 5:1 over the group.
8. When facing the impossible Joshua gave the people a specific instruction. “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you!” (Joshua 3:5) What does it mean to consecrate?
9. Do you think it would change your life if you were to consecrate yourself and believe that tomorrow the Lord will do something amazing? Please explain why you feel like you do.
LEADER NOTES:
4. It was for a symbol to increase their faith. Every time someone saw those rocks they could remember that they crossed on dry ground. Our stones of past victories are building bridges for ourselves in upcoming battles. Those bridges will be there for our future generations just like the Israelites’ stones from the Jordan.
8. Consecrate meant to make or declare something sacred. It simply meant to declare that tomorrow the Lord would do amazing things. You could also say be prepared and believe that tomorrow God will do amazing things or simply, have faith – God will!
