{"id":26732,"date":"2026-04-14T20:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=26732"},"modified":"2026-04-14T20:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:14:16","slug":"online-small-group-bible-study-group-discussion-wk-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=26732","title":{"rendered":"ONLINE SMALL GROUP &#8211; Bible Study &#038; Group Discussion (WK. 10)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe  width=\"580\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kWqyxL5jRFc?autoplay=1&#038;modestbranding=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>The Purpose of Tithes &#038; Offerings<br \/>\nMalachi 3:8-12, Matthew 23:23<\/p>\n<p>1. READ THE INTRODUCTION<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately the words money and church usually never pair well when used in the same sentence. And even worse, there are churches and church leaders that have created this stigma. Most<br \/>\nof us have seen the late night prosperity preacher, asking people to send money, and in return, expect a massive monetary blessing from God. Churches large and small have made headlines where money was mishandled or used inappropriately. These things give the church a black eye. Money can make people do crazy things. I have seen people make change in the offering plate; I know of churches where people were caught taking money out of the plate instead of putting in; and I have seen pastors pass the plate an extra time or two because he wasn\u2019t satisfied with the offering amount. None of these things please God and are certainly not even close to what God intended tithes and offerings to look like.<br \/>\nTithing wasn\u2019t created solely for the New Testament church (as we\u2019ll see in our story). Actually, tithing goes all the way back the Old Testament (Genesis 14:18-20, Leviticus 27:30\u201334), as well as the New Testament. Tithing was never man\u2019s idea; it is God\u2019s idea. Tithes and offerings are God\u2019s financial plan to fund the work of the mission of the gospel. Therefore tithing is worship.<br \/>\nTithing also forces us to check our hearts. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus talks about the power of money and says this, &#8216;\u201cNo one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.\u2019 Money is power and has the ability to control and gratify. And anything that has those abilities can get in the way of our relationship with God.<br \/>\nIf you struggle with generosity, don\u2019t get nervous. Your small group probably isn\u2019t going to take up an offering at the end of gathering. In our story, we will learn that being generous will bring fulfillment to your life and the people around you.<\/p>\n<p>2. TELL STORY IN YOUR OWN WORDS <\/p>\n<p>3. READ THE STORY<\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8217;\u201cShould people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! \u201cBut you ask, \u2018What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?\u2019 \u201cYou have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.<br \/>\nBring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,\u201d says the Lord of Heaven\u2019s Armies, \u201cI will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won\u2019t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,\u201d says the Lord of Heaven\u2019s Armies. \u201cThen all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,\u201d says the Lord of Heaven\u2019s Armies.\u2019 Malachi 3:8-12<br \/>\n&#8216;\u201cWhat sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law\u2014justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. \u2018 Matthew 23:23<\/p>\n<p>4. LIFE QUESTIONS<\/p>\n<p>A. How was your childhood in terms of money? Did you grow up poor, middle class or wealthy? How did your upbringing influence your generosity?<br \/>\nB. Read Matthew 6:21. What did Jesus mean by this statement? How would you explain it?<br \/>\nC. What is the difference in a tithe and an offering? How is giving a form of worship to God?<br \/>\nD. In our story, Malachi talks about the \u201cstorehouse.\u201d In our context, how would your church serve as your storehouse?<br \/>\nE. The scripture talks about the windows of heaven (plural), meaning there are many ways God blesses us other than wealth. What windows of blessing has God opened in your life?<br \/>\nF. Read Proverbs 3:9-10. How does that passage correlate with Malachi\u2019s passage?<br \/>\nG. Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. What life experience can you share that validates this passage?<br \/>\nH. In Matthew 23:23, the religious teachers are confronted by Jesus. They do tithe, but lack in other areas. What areas are you lacking in?<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kWqyxL5jRFc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Purpose of Tithes &#038; Offerings Malachi 3:8-12, Matthew 23:23 1. READ THE INTRODUCTION Unfortunately the words money and church usually never pair well when used in the same sentence. And even worse, there are churches and church leaders that have created this stigma. Most of us have seen the late night prosperity preacher, asking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[45,1192,1194,1175,1186,1190,1185,1187,1191,1196,1176,1193,1183,1179,1181,1184,1595,1182,1195,177,1188,1180,1178,1177,121,1189,1594,488],"class_list":{"0":"post-26732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-videos","8":"tag-bible","9":"tag-bible-interpretation-and-meaning","10":"tag-bible-quiz-for-adults","11":"tag-bible-quiz-for-kids","12":"tag-bible-study-for-beginners","13":"tag-bible-study-group-discussion","14":"tag-bible-study-lessons","15":"tag-bible-study-topics","16":"tag-bible-study-with-me","17":"tag-bible-trivia-challenge","18":"tag-bible-trivia-facts","19":"tag-bible-trivia-questions-and-answers","20":"tag-christian-habits","21":"tag-christian-lifestyle-tips","22":"tag-christian-motivation","23":"tag-daily-christian-routine","24":"tag-discussion","25":"tag-faith-based-living","26":"tag-fun-bible-trivia-game","27":"tag-group","28":"tag-how-to-study-the-bible","29":"tag-living-as-a-christian","30":"tag-new-testament-trivia","31":"tag-old-testament-quiz","32":"tag-online","33":"tag-online-bible-study","34":"tag-small","35":"tag-study","36":"post_format-post-format-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26732"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26733,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26732\/revisions\/26733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}