Summary
This chapter helps us realize the importance of being focused. It’s not about being busy but productive. Being productive in the Christian life is getting to know God better which facilitates a closer relationship with Him. It’s this root that will lead to fruit and actions such as kindness, giving, evangelism, etc. But the focus always needs to be on the root that produces the fruit.
Scriptures
- Luke 10:38-42
- Luke 9:16
- Psalm 127:1
- Gen. 3:1-7
Ch. 3 Outline
- “What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
- Drumroll – God’s character. Now that’s a complex thing but we can see it embodied in Jesus. Jesus simultaneously speaks to us about who God is and our identity in Christ. So that’s the one thing you need to know about God because it makes everything else easier or unnecessary. When you know his love and so much easier to love others. When you know He wants to be your provider, it makes it unnecessary to constantly be concerned about money. The list goes on.
- Mary & Martha – Martha wasn’t an evil person. She was just distracted.
- “Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.”
- How being distracted is effecting the church – we’re talking too much about marriage and finances and evangelism, etc. The thing I would say about that is if you want to talk about those things you can start a group outside the church, but at church the message needs to be focused on Jesus and a message that applies to all.
- It’s not about being busy it’s about being productive – being productive in a spiritual sense is getting to know God through Jesus. Simple. It will lead to all those other things but those things should never be focus.
Questions
Keep these questions in mind as you read Chapter 3 and come back to them after you read the chapter.
- Read Luke 10:38-42. Was Martha an evil woman? Why was she distracted? Who do you relate to in the story and why?
- What is the one thing that by knowing it makes everything else in the Christian life easier or unnecessary? Why do you think this is?
- What or who is God’s character embodied in?
- What does Jesus speak to us about God and who we are?
- Read Gen. 3:1-7. What lie did the serpent tell Eve? What was the result? How do you think this is relevant to our society today?
- Do you think people who don’t go to church are rejecting God? Could it be they are just rejecting an incorrect message they’ve heard about God? How can we combat this?
- How is success defined in the Christian life?
- What should be the focus of ministry?
- What is the best thing that can happen for a pastor?
- What do you think a church that only focuses on the one thing would look like?
