Cell notes for 30 th October 2011

Whose money is it?

Read together Mark 10: 17-31 The rich young man

We began by looking at some of the ways that money – a lot or the lack of it, challenges our everyday lives.

Qu 1 What would you do if you won or inherited a million pounds?

Qu 2 Would you consider it a blessing to be so rich?

In the passage the rich young man asks Jesus v17 what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Qu 3 What do you think he means by this question?

In his book ‘Love Wins’ Rob Bell challenges the modern day view of heaven. We have read to the end of the gospels and know what happens - that Jesus died on the cross and rose again, conquering death and entered eternal life in heaven. Do we tend to think of heaven as somewhere to go at the end of life? Where do we think that we will go?

‘Jesus didn’t come to tell people how to go to heaven. Heaven, for Jesus, was connected with what he called this age and the age to come’ (Rob Bell)

The rich young man would know the scriptures and the words of the prophets in the Old Testament and would be anticipating the day when the world is restored, renewed and redeemed by God. Jesus says in Mark 1:15 that God is at work now, on earth – that is the Good News. We see Jesus healing the sick, showing care and compassion for people, love for the needy and marginalised..... As followers of Jesus we are called to work with God to create heaven on earth in the here and now as well as in the age to come. But so often our hearts are full, distracted or discouraged by chasing material things, or other things that we seek after or we yearn to have someone else’s gifts, personality or lifestyle that we miss so much of what God has given us to use to build His kingdom.

So the question to Jesus is: How will I make sure that I’m part of what God is doing, now and in the age to come?

Qu 4 What would Jesus say in reply to you?