Proverbs on Money
Big Idea: Slow and sweaty wins the race––win the race to lose!
1. To Win or Not to Win
2. How to Win
3. How to Lose
Preparing for Sunday
Come Ready to Worship
Each week, we provide the following resources to help you spiritually prepare for communal worship. Investing time in preparation will enable you to grow and worship God more deeply during the Sunday Service. Resources for the upcoming Sunday are available by Saturday morning.
Preparation Questions:
1. Should Christians pursue wealth? Are you (and if so, why)?
2. Can you name any wise or unwise ways to pursue wealth today (or even right or wrong ways)? How are you currently pursuing it?
3. If you kept an hourly log of your activities each day, how much time do you spend on work versus leisure? How well does this reflect on your work ethic?
4. As a Christian, how much of your money do you think should give away? Are you?
Sunday Songs
You can listen to our musical lineup for the Sunday Service using the YouTube links or the Spotify Playlist below.
Song Highlight: It Is Well
This week, our song highlight is the beloved hymn, It Is Well by Horatio Spafford. Many of you know the tragic story behind this hymn, but it bears repeating as a reminder of faithfulness and trusting in God amid life’s darkest trials.
Horatio Spafford was an attorney with much invested in real estate. There was a large fire in Chicago in 1871 that burned many of the properties he had invested in. He lost a fortune. Around that time, his 4 year old son died due to scarlet fever. Grieved by the loss of his son, he invested much of his time by helping the city's 100,000 homeless rebuild their lives. In 1873, Spafford wanted to take his wife and 4 daughters on a vacation to get their mind off the pressing issues at hand. He thought he would take them to Europe to visit his good friend D.L. Moody during his evangelistic endeavors in England. However, just as he was about to leave, he was kept back due to pressing matters at work. As a result he sent his wife and 4 daughters ahead of him with the promise that he would follow behind them shortly. They boarded a luxurious French steam liner and said their good-byes. It was November 22, in the middle of the night, the Spafford’s ship struck an iron vessel. Water gushed in the liner like the sinking of the Titanic. People scrambled to escape their cabin to safety, but many were swept away into the dark icy abyss of the Atlantic ocean. Included among the 226 deaths were all 4 of Horatio’s daughters. His wife, barely conscious, survived and cabled her husband as soon as she arrived in Wales with two simple words: “Saved Alone.” At once Horatio boarded a ship to meet his wife. And as the story goes, as he passed over the site of the wreckage he found himself unable to sleep. Through the grace of God, he said to himself, “It is well; the will of God be done.” He later penned the words, “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well with my soul.”
How could one write such words after such a horrific tragedy? His own hymn explains how in three ways: 1.) Because God is always good, looking out for the souls of his children 2.) Because of the amazing work of Christ on the cross to redeem us and make us His own 3.) Because of the great hope that He will come again and make all things new. Because of these things, whatever our lot, we too can say “It is well with my soul.”
Story Credit: Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the Worlds’ Greatest Hymn Stories by Robert Morgan