Datchet Baptist Church Money Study 2: Spending
Adapted from ‘For Love or Money’ Dudley R & Graysone P Christian Aid, 2000
For a quick study, follow the items with headings in bold type
Aim
To consider how we might buy goods that benefit the producer and us spiritually and materially.
You will need...
A Bible, somewhere to make notes of purchases this coming week.
Starter
Think of one thing you enjoy spending money on, and one way in which spending money is a
negative experience for you. Compare the two items – does this reveal anything about your
attitude to spending?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, help us to want only what is good, so that we may buy only what is valuable.
Teach us to treat riches in a Godly way, so that we may cling tightly to you.
Read Isaiah 55:1-9; Matthew 6:19-21
Imagine you are shopping in a market place listening to the ‘persuasive’ cries and shouts of the
stall holders. With those voices in mind, read Isaiah 55:1-9 again. Notice how Isaiah uses the style
of the market place, particularly in verses 1 & 2.
• Note the items in the passage that can be bought with money, which offer life, food, joy or health.
• Isaiah also mentions things people work for which don’t satisfy, make a note of what you
think he means?
• Isaiah tells us that the Lord’s ways are higher than our ways – does this mean that God is
not interested in how we spend our money?
• The Independent 15 June 2008 “Shopping is the top leisure activity and accounts for 37 per cent
of all money spent in England”. What would Isaiah say to us today about our shopping habits?
During the week
Identify a few purchases this week, it doesn’t matter if they are major items or very ordinary.
Firstly note where they came from, then ask 4 questions about each item: