April 7: Pursuing Spiritual Gain

As you finalize your preparations for this week I want to remind you of the two leadership events that you need to plan on attending and encouraging your leaders to attend:

•  MyStudyBible.com Basics, Sunday, April 14, 6:00 pm. This is actually for everyone in your class, too. There is a sign-up sheet in your box for this Sunday. Please let help us know how many will be attending and who will be bringing a laptop or tablet.
• Shepherding Your Sheep: Connect Group Ministry Training, Sunday April 28, 6:00 pm. This is for every teacher, co-teacher, and your current/potential class ministry leaders.

There are many teaching options for this week's study. I hope you find what you need to hit the target of teaching people how to study and live the Bible!

THE TARGET
Focus on what adults should leave knowing, understanding, and doing. 
Adults should be able to identify the dangers of pursuing material wealth and the benefits of pursuing spiritual gain. They will be able to determine whether they are focusing on earthly success and wealth at the cost of growing spiritually.

Use the following to supplement your ETB Leader Guide, Discovery Study Guide Teaching Plan (online), or QuickSource. Don't forget to check out EXTRA! too.

TEACHING PLAN SUGGESTIONS

Look Up: "Soft Methods" to draw attention to the study as adults are visiting and gathering for Bible study.

Option One:
See Consider This in the Discovery Study Guide, p42. (Click to see a copy if you don't have the information). Provide copies for each person or direct adults to read the story in their study guide. Once adults arrive, lead a discussion using the questions at the bottom of the page.

Option Two:
The following idea is provided in the online Discovery Study Guide Teaching Plan:

As adults arrive, direct them to respond to the following question: Would you rather receive an immediate payment of $100 or a series of payments of $10 each month for the next year? Encourage them to share their rationale. Be willing to share your choice and rationale as well. Ask them to postulate on whether the choice made by most of the group would be true for most groups.

Option Three:

Write the following on a markerboard: "If I were rich . . ." Adults enter the room ask them to consider how they might answer the question. Once most adults have arrived ask them to share their responses. You could also consider instructing the group to write their responses on post-it notes and place the responses on a focal wall.

Miscellaneous Options:

There are several other options in your resources that will work very well:

• ETB Personal Study Guide story, page 53. Good opening story. Ask the group to read; then discuss. 
• Introduction in QuickSource, p28.

Look In: Supplemental ideas for unpacking the text.

Context
Review previous week's lesson context using the following:

• Watch out for false teachers.
• Role clarification for men & women in the church.
• Leadership standard for pastors, deacons, and for leaders like Timothy.
• Principles on how to care for and relate to one another. 

Remember: the city of Ephesus reached the pinnacle of its grandeur and importance during the times in which Paul wrote 1 Timothy. Wealth, prosperity, and luxury and all their trappings were prevalent in the culture and were influencing the young new church. 

Today: We will look at the dangers of pursuing monetary wealth over pursuing spiritual growth. 

1 Timothy 6:3-5

The ETB Leader Guide (p. 70) includes information regarding the following questions:

• What standards do adults today use to determine the validity of their beliefs? (Discuss how we sometimes measure the validity based on those who are teaching us. Is this a good measurement?)
• What three adjectives from these verses did Paul use to describe false teachers?
• What would be some contemporary examples of a person using religious devotion as a means for material gain?
• What are some practical action steps to guard against such a a temptation?

The online Discovery Study Guide Teaching Plan contains a very good guide for looking at these passages. See the information under the heading, Spotting Greed.

Other Discussion Options:

• Ask the group to identify symptoms of greed that are exhibited by the teachers. What are their actions? What are their attitudes? What is their motive? (godliness is a way to material gain) 
• Based on these passages, how would you describe the group environment that was created by someone who teaches other doctrine or disagrees with the sound teaching of Christ? 
• Explain: Paul is not teaching that only poor believers have correct teaching. Since this is the case, what is he teaching? (There is a danger when money enters the picture, because it becomes easy to take our eyes off of Christ and look to any material blessings.  The solution comes in the next verse (v. 6). See QuickSource, p28.

1Timothy 6:6-10

See QuickSource, p30 for a different idea related to 1 Timothy 6:9-10. There is an interesting suggestion related to using a mouse-trap.

Great questions from the Discovery Study Guide, p43:

• How do you respond when you see greed in others? 
• How do you respond when you see it in yourself?
• How can a personal, intense focus on pleasing God crowd out the temptation to give in to greed?

Quotes to share:

• Avoid desiring the provision of God more than the Provider Himself. (DSG, p43) 
• His ignorance makes the false teacher a pathetic figure, sadly deluded and in need of instruction. However, his arrogance makes him a difficult person to help. He will not listen because he is convinced he is right and hesitant even to entertain the possibility he is in error. Such a person becomes especially dangerous, however, when he also delights in debate. At best this individual only stirs up occasional controversy; at worst he actually succeeds in deceiving others and leading them away from the truth of the gospel. (ETB Adult Commentary, Spring Quarter, p62)

Additional Discussion Options:

• What are some personal examples of when the truth of verse 10 was experienced or witnessed in your life or someone else's life? (See ETB Leader Guide, p70) 
• Explain: The word "but" contrasts the gain of the false teacher, material gain, with that of godliness where contentment is the gain. 
• Do I sometimes think, "If I were only more godly I would have more wealth"? Or, do I sometimes equate my lack of wealth with somehow not being godly enough?  What is wrong with this thinking?
  
• It does not say godliness and contentment but godliness with contentment. What does it mean when it says, "with"? Can you have one without the other? (godliness and contentment) 
• How does this relate to desiring to be successful?

Learning Activity Suggestion:
Ask the group to draw a line across the top of their study guide.  Instruct them to place an "x" on the scale that illustrates how much time, energy, and thoughts they spend thinking about money.

Contrasting and Comparison Activity. 

Ask the following discussion questions. List responses on a marker board. (OPTION: consider using post-it notes and asking the group to place them on a focal wall)

• Share at least one benefit of pursuing godliness over material gain.
• Share at least one benefit of pursuing material gain over godliness.
• What are the pitfalls of pursuing godliness more than material gain?
• What are the pitfalls of pursuing material gain over godliness?
• Ask the group to identify, based on the Scriptures, what their lists state about pursuing godliness.

1 Timothy 6:11-16

QuickSource provides some good questions for this passage. See page 28.

Discussion Options:

• What are "these things" you should run from? (the items mentioned in verses 3-10). What meaning do you take from the word "run"? 
• List "Run, pursue, fight, take hold of" on the marker board, or have the group circle these words in their Bibles or study guides. Why were these attributes necessary for Timothy? Why are the needed by believers today?

Explanations of key words above:

• Run from these things: Recognizes the allure of material possessions and calls for an active and decisive effort by the believer to avoid the deadly trap (1 Timothy 6:9-10). 
• Pursue: Instead of run away, pursue with your entire being; righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. We don't just run away from something but pursue Someone and His attributes. 
• Fight the good fight: Athletic imagery to urge persistence in Christian living. Fight is a verb used to describe the athletic "struggle." A good example of this is the young man on the University of Louisville basketball team who broke his leg. He is not giving up and he asked his team not to give up. He challenged them to win! 
• Take hold of eternal life: Translates a strong word meaning to "grasp" or "grab hold" of something. Embrace it and don't let go of the gift of eternal life given to those who believe. 

Learning Activity Option:

In advance, gather 6 sheets of 81/2 x 11 paper. Write one of the following words on each sheet of paper: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Tape the sheets to the wall or place on the floor in your room. Instruct each learner to get up and stand by the one they struggle with the most and to discuss with other learners how they can better pursue this quality.

Learning Activity Suggestion:

As with the other passages, ask the group to draw a line across the top of their study guide again.  Instruct them to place an "x" on the scale that illustrates how much time, energy, and thoughts they spend thinking about spiritual growth. Ask the group to compare the two scales and to consider what this reveals about their focus on pursuing spiritual growth.

Consider using the following questions from the Discovery Study Guide, p45:

• How have your possessions gotten in the way of your sharing the gospel? 
• What would be the value to you of spending more time studying or memorizing descriptions of the Savior such as the one found in verses 13-16?

1 Timothy 6:17-19

• What should be our proper perspective if we are wealthy?
• What kind of riches should a wealthy person pursue?
• Ask the group to imagine they have come into a lot of money. What rules would you need to set for yourself based on this passage?
• What does he mean, "so that they may take hold of life that is real?" Have you ever heard the statement, "He doesn't live in the real world?" Could that be the meaning?

Look Out: Hitting the target and applying it to daily living.

QuickSource provides some good ideas for concluding the study. It is under Personal Challenge on page 28. The following are excerpts:

• Our attitude toward money speaks volumes about our walk with Christ. 
• Ask yourself: Which concerns me more: how much money I have or how much of me God has? 
• Do I pray more about God meeting my material needs or about developing my character?
• Do I spend more time and money caring for my house and lawn than I do helping others?

ETB  Leader Guide, p71 under Get to the Point provides a great illustration using a five-dollar bill. You might want to email everyone before the session and ask them to bring a $5 bill to class for use during this illustration.

See Discovery Study Guide questions, p46:

• Most people are rich in some ways and poor in others. For example, some may be financially wealthy but relationship poor. Others may be poor in material goods but find joy in the treasure of their relationship with Christ. 
• In what ways are you wealthy? 
• In what ways are you poor? 
• What spiritual treasures are worth a life change to acquire?
• How will you go about making that change?

Read 1 Timothy 6:20-21

Is anything causing you to deviate from your faith? Is pursuing godliness your greatest priority?