Message Notes

WHAT'S THE CHURCH GOOD FOR?

Learning to Manage What God Gives Me

Breaking Out Of the Debt Trap

November 9, 2003

Danger Signs: Entering the Debt Trap!

  1. Living on                                instead of                     .

    "Don't withhold repayment of your debts. Don't say 'some other time,' if you can pay now."
    Proverbs 3:27-28

    • shows a lack of                                                         (Luke 3:14)

    •                                          on the future (Proverbs 27:1)

  2. Delaying                                          or paying the                                    .

    "Let no debt remain outstanding."
    Romans 13:8 (NIV)

  3. Unable to                           or                     .

    "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you ask, 'How do we rob You?' In tithes and offerings."
    Malachi 3:8 (NIV)

    "The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets."
    Proverbs 21:20 (LB)

  4. Unable to                                          .

    "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
    Matthew 22:21 (NIV)

  5. Extravagant                                         .

    "Indulging in luxuries, wine, and food will never make you wealthy."
    Proverbs 21:17 (GN)

  6. Looking for                                                                ideas.

    "Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty."
    Proverbs 21:5 (LB)

    "Dreaming instead of doing is foolishness."
    Ecclesiastes 5:7 (LB)

Eight Steps Out Of the Debt Trap

  1.                                to becoming debt free                !
    "The wicked borrow and do not repay..."
    Psalm 37:21 (NIV)

  2. Start paying                 and                                first.

    "The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives."
    Deuteronomy 14:23 (LB)

    THE 10/10/80 PLAN

    Malachi 3:8-11; Proverbs 3:9-10; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Proverbs 21:5, 20 -- Tithing & Saving

  3. List all I                 and all I                .

    "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established."
    Proverbs 24:3

  4. Get good                                and establish a                     

    "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity..."
    Proverbs 21:5 (NLT)

    "Get advice if you want your plans to work."
    Proverbs 20:18 (NCV)

  5. Decide to do it in                      the                      !

    "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
    Luke 18:27 (NIV)

  6. Add no                      !

    "Be content with what you have..."
    Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

  7. Share my plan with my                                              .

    "When your ways please the Lord, He will make your enemies into friends."
    Proverbs 16:7

  8.                                                                   !

    "Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't get discouraged and give up."
    Galatians 6:9 (LB)

    "We owed a debt because we broke God's laws. That debt listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us and took away that debt and nailed it to the cross."
    Colosians 2:14 (IBC)