CreatingCommunity is an email devotion to guide your preparation for worship next Sunday. Imagine how much more clear and relevant God's Word will be if you have had an opportunity to read, reflect, and dwell in the Word prior to worship. You may do this devotion alone, with others, as a family, or at the start of a committee meeting.

This devotion is to be done in preparation for Sunday, October 10, 2021.

Please follow these three steps:

1. Read through the text
2. Respond to the questions (select one of the sets of questions)
3. Offer a Prayer
Mark 10:17-27

As [Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
No Experience Necessary Questions:
  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  2. What delights me in this text?
  3. What stories or memories does this text stir in me?
  4. What is God up to in this text?
Family Questions:
  1. Are you wealthy, rich? How do you know? To whom do you compare yourself to get your assessment?
  2. See your wealth compared to others in the world here? Did that surprise you? Does that learning inspire any changes in your Christian Stewardship life? Explain.
  3. The man was concerned about internal life. What do you think that is? Are you as concerned as the man was? Why or why not?
Advance Questions:
  1. Do you know that Jesus speaks more about our relationship with money, wealth than anything else other than the kingdom of God? Why do you think that is?
  2. The message of our culture is that we will find life by consuming. The message of the gospel offers an invitation to find life by divesting for the sake of the other. What do you make of the difference?
  3. The story suggests the redistribution of wealth by the gifts of the rich to the poor. This is good for poor people, but the core of what Jesus teaches is also good for rich people. How do you react to the notion that you are bound to the structures of this age that inhibit your ability to contribute to the coming kingdom of God? Where is the good news?
Click here to watch this week's CreatingCommunity song
“Jesus calls us o'er the tumult" with lyrics.
Meditate on the words as you reflect on this story.
Pray a Prayer of your own or this one.
Lord, we look for you in the wrong places. We put our trust
in material things. We worry about things we cannot change.
We wonder if you are even there at all. For all the times we have doubted you, Lord, forgive us.
For all the ways we have neglected your word and ignored your people, forgive us. Do not be far from us, Lord. There is no one else we can turn to for help. Renew our fickle hearts and help us put our trust in you. Amen.