THE DANGER OF GREED

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MEETING AGENDA

  1. OPENING PRAYER – Ask one person to open the meeting in prayer.
  2. GROWTH QUESTIONS – Ask everyone the Growth Questions.
  3. ATTENDANCE – Take attendance through the DG Attendance System.
  4. TODAY’S LESSON – Go over this week’s DG lesson.
  5. GIVING – Encourage everyone to give on the App.
  6. CLOSING PRAYER – Ask for prayer requests and pray.

GROWTH QUESTION #1

Who would like to share a highlight, praise report, or testimony from this week?

GROWTH QUESTION #2

What did you learn from this week’s sermon?

GROWTH QUESTION #3

What was your most important accomplishment this week?

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Luke 12:13–21 (NLT) - 13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” 16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

BACKGROUND

  • A man in the crowd asks Jesus to settle a dispute about inheritance. Instead of taking sides, Jesus addresses the deeper issue: the condition of the man’s heart.

  • Jesus responds with a warning about greed and then tells the parable of a rich farmer who stored up wealth for himself but neglected what truly mattered.

  • This story teaches us that the greatest danger in life is not poverty. The greatest danger is living for temporary things while neglecting eternal ones.

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

Why do you think Jesus warns so strongly about greed?

POINT #1

LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY WHAT WE POSSESS

(v.15) - Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

  • Jesus begins with a clear warning: “Guard against every kind of greed.”

  • Greed is dangerous because it disguises itself as normal life:
    • Envying what others have
    • Always unsatisfied with what we have
    • Measuring success by possessions
  • Jesus reminds us that life is bigger than our income, our houses, or our possessions.

  • True life is found in our relationship with God, not in what we accumulate.

  • Possessions can never satisfy a spiritual hunger.

  • Ask yourself: What am I relying on for security — God or what I own?

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

What are some ways our culture encourages people to measure life by possessions?

POINT #2

GREED FOCUSES ON SELF INSTEAD OF GOD

(v.16–19) - 16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”

  • In the parable, the rich man talks only about himself:
    • “What should I do?”
    • “My crops”
    • “My barns”
    • “My grain”

  • His entire plan revolves around personal comfort and security.

  • The man believed that if he had enough stored up, he could finally relax and enjoy life.

  • But he forgot something important: God was not part of his plans!

  • When life becomes centered on ourselves, we slowly push God out of the picture.
Proverbs 11:28 (NLT) – “Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.”

  • Greed shifts our focus from trusting God to trusting ourselves.

  • It is possible to gain the whole world and still miss what matters most.



INTERACTIVE QUESTION

Why is it easy for people to slowly drift into living for themselves instead of for God?

POINT #3

ONLY WHAT WE INVEST IN ETERNITY LASTS

(v.20–21) - “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

  • In the middle of the man’s plans, God speaks a shocking truth: “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?”

  • The man prepared for retirement, but he never prepared for eternity.

  • His problem wasn’t that he was rich... it was that he was rich toward himself but not toward God.

  • Everything he built was temporary.

  • Jesus finishes the story by saying this is what happens when people store up earthly wealth but ignore eternal wealth.

  • Matthew 6:19–20 (NLT) – “Don’t store up treasures here on earth… Store your treasures in heaven.”

  • The only investments that last forever are the ones made for God’s Kingdom.

  • Instead of asking “How much can I store up?” we should ask “How can I use what God has given me for eternity?”

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

What does it practically look like to be “rich toward God”?

GIVING

Generosity brings abundance.

Proverbs 11:24 (NLT)
Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.

Encourage everyone to give their tithes and offerings.

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PRAY

QUESTION #1

Who are you praying for to be saved?

QUESTION #2

Who can you invite to the next meeting?

QUESTION #3

What are your prayer requests?