St. Edmund's, Crickhowell
Lent 2002
Home Group Study 4
Spending and Saving under Control?
Leader's Copy
[Material within square brackets does not appear in the general notes]
Joseph's actions as Pharoah's Prime Minister show a prudent way of dealing with surplus. "Boom and Bust" is not part of God's economic policy.
Welcome
[15 mins.
This and all the following timings are for your guidance. You may tailor them or alter the sequence but beware of allowing prayer to get squeezed out.]
If you received £100 you were not expecting would you:
- Put it into a savings account "for a rainy day"?
- Use it to pay off some of your overdraft?
- Buy something useful for the house?
- Have a romantic dinner with someone special?
Worship
[15 mins.]
Genesis 1: 20 - 31
Praise God for the abundant resources of his creation.
Word
[60 mins.
The readings are quite short to allow them to be read aloud. It may, therefore, be necessary in this and subsequent studies to fill in some background.]
-
Read Genesis 41: 25 - 36 and
Genesis 42: 1 - 5
If Jacob's family suffered from the famine then they must also have enjoyed the surplus.
- What does that say about the management of their family resources?
[Remember that they were herdsmen not arable farmers and thought they may not have built up any stocks when grain was plentiful they at least had the cash to buy it when it was scarce.]
- Does it have any relevance for the way we manage our family resources?
- Read Genesis 47: 13 - 26
Joseph brought the whole population of Egypt under Pharaoh's direct economic control.
Did he exploit the weakness of others?
What were his priorities? What should they have been?
- Consider the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12: 15 - 31.
- Where did he go wrong?
- What can we learn from his mistakes?
- Is there any way in which our ecomomic policies at a personal & domestic level can make a difference at a national or international level?
Is it worth bothering?
[A copy of the Fairtrade Fortnight Action Pack will be available for you to stimulate discussion and ideas on this point.
The Fairtrade website is at:
www.fairtrade.org.uk
Further information and resources from Christian Aid
and the Trade Justice Movement]
Witness
[30 mins.]
- Pray for those in need in our community.
- Pray for those who lack the skill to manage their resources.
- The logo at the top of the notes is the badge of the
Trade Justice Movement which is supported by Christian Aid and other aid agencies.
- Pray for those who are trying to bring about justice in World Trade.
- Is there any way that the group can be involved in these issues?
[If the notes for the next study are available then you may offer them to people this week. Alternatively you may inform people that the notes may be viewed and printed via the church web-site:
www.stedscrick.org.uk]
Last updated 1/3/2002