“WHICH BLENDS BEST?”

●    shocking destruction of pricey phones challenges our values

PRICE-CHECK: ARE YOUR VALUES VALID?

●    ‘rich young ruler’ running up a ‘go-getter’
●    Jesus challenges label of “good”: what value grid? More than just a teacher?

INSUFFICIENCY OF “THE GOOD LIFE” AND LEGALISM

●    doing commandments has left him with a lack
●    Judaism suspected wealth indicated God’s favour
●    religion majors in “DO”; Jesus offers relationship with love

RICHES A ROADBLOCK TO RELATIONSHIP

●    Jesus’ challenge exposes heart’s attachment to possessions
●    difficulty / impossibility of rich being saved - but God can help
●    prosperity brings risk of pride / arrogance, self-sufficiency, forgetting God, all kinds of evil, wandering from the faith
●    generosity frees us to hope in God rather than hoping in “uncertain” wealth

GOD’S REAL-RETURN POSSIBILITIES

●    possibility-creating God saves us from fatalism in other major religions
●    sacrificing for Jesus and gospel yields 10,000% - plus persecution
●    believers “one in heart” shared all they had, eliminated neediness

RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT: BASICS FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS

●    basic needs for sharing Good News in India / Nepal: safe toilets, wells, bicycles, warm footware