Men’s Retreat 2005
Introduction to the Theme
As Christian men, we live in faith that God provides. In our faithfulness even against great odds, God promises that our descendants will be as many as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.
Read Hebrews 11:8-12
If there’s a will, there would be a way to pass your assets to your descendants.
If there’s a will, there would be a way for you to make a difference for a more just society.
If there’s a will in God’s will, there will be a way to follow the way of Christ leading us into faithful discipleship.
Saturday Morning—What are Your Treasures?
Introduction: Thought I lost my Cross pen; “Don’s Box of Old Things.” Some things are valuable because they hold sentimental value. Other things are valuable because they have monetary worth—house, car, jewelry, stocks, etc. But when we compare ourselves to the rest of the world, we have great abundance.
Activity: Either/Or
BMW—Lexus—Volvo—Hummer
Plasma—Big Screen Projection—LCD—Home Theatre System
Cruise Around the World—European Tour—South Pacific Getaway—
St. Francis Hotel Weekend
Prime Rib—Maine Lobsters—Chinese Banquet—Tommy Toy’s
Scriptures: 1 Chronicles 28:1-8 (Solomon is instructed to build the temple to leave an inheritance to his children.)
2 Chronicles 32:27-33 (Hezekiah’s prosperity and achievements to which his descendants honored him.)
Small Groups: What are our greatest treasures? We all have been richly blessed.
“Baker’s Dozen”
Make a list of 13 things that you think are your most valued things (house, car, jewelry, antiques, money, etc.)
Now draw a line through the 3 things you could live without the easiest.
Which 3 do you find very precious? Draw circles around these. These are your greatest treasures.
Share those circled and those crossed out.
How do material possessions affect positively or negatively in your life?
Saturday Evening—Is There any Inheritance Left to Us?
Introduction: Our children fighting over our LP records or inheriting the house. When Joy and I first had our two children, we decided to have a will. Although it’s way overdue for us to update it to a living trust, we decided to give the few valuable things that we had in the 1970s. For Greg, we said we would leave my seminary rocking chair and a bull’s horn we bought at the Alamo in Texas, a stop we made when answering the call to work in Valley Forge in 1978. For Lauren, we said we would leave our piano, the very first significant piece of furniture that we purchased after marriage. It sat in our seminary studio apartment for two years, moved to Daly City, moved to Malvern, PA, and then moved to Sausalito in 1998.
Scriptures: Genesis 31:1-21 (Rachel and Leah question Jacob whether anything will be left for them.)
Activity: Draw your Family Map.
Identify your immediate family, extended family by name or initials. Are there also close friends? Include them as well.
Place a letter or symbol next to each name or initials:
R if the person is a relative or F for a friend
O for the persons you see Often
Star on the left of the names of those people whom you are really happy to see
Star on the right those people who you think are happy to see you
X on the names that you have some differences
Circle those whom you feel would or should inherit some of your property.
Small Groups: Share reasons why you would leave an inheritance to these (kinship, special circumstances, unique reasons, etc.)
Sunday Morning—Store Treasures in Heaven
Introduction: Some things are consumed by moths or rusted out (termites, wood rot, water damage, etc.) When we decided to move into our home in Sausalito, we never imagined what we were getting ourselves into—it was like a “house of horror!” Termites were devouring a corner of the house. Water damaged our driveway and our walls. Birds and rodents nested between the roof and our ceilings. Ivy crawled up the walls pulling away the stucco.
Although we need to see our houses as our primary earthly treasures, Jesus also said that none of these things really matter because treasures are not on earth but in heaven. We can focus too much on our material possessions that we lose sight of trusting God with our future. Sometimes we can see where our priorities are by reviewing how we spend a typical day. For most of us, our most valuable possession is time.
Scriptures: Matthew 6:19-21; 24-34 (Jesus teaches us to store treasures in heaven and for us not to worry because God will provide everything that we need.)
Luke 12:13-21 (Jesus teaches us through the Parable of the Rich Fool that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.)
Activity: The Pie of Life
Draw a large circle. Divide your circle into four quarters using dotted lines. Each section represents 6 hours. Now estimate how many hours or parts of an hour you spend on each of the following areas in a typical day. Your answers will differ from one another.
1. On Sleep?
2. At Work?
3. With Family, including meal times?
4. With Friends, socializing, sports, etc.?
5. On Chores around the house?
6. At Church, worship, meetings, fellowships, etc.?
7. Alone, reading, watching TV, prayer and devotion, etc.?
8. In Community involvement?
9. On Other pastimes?
Your estimates will not be exact, but they should add up to 24, the number of hours in everyone’s day.
Are you satisfied with the relative sizes of your slices? Assign each slice how you feel about what you do: High, Neutral, or Low. Ideally, how big would you want each slice to be? Draw your ideal pie. Realistically, is there anything you can do to begin to change the size of some of your slices?
Small Groups: Share your pie slices with each other.
How much do you give to God? Would you like to give more to God?
Men’s Retreat 2005
Saturday Morning—What are Your Treasures?
1 Chronicles 28:1-8 (Solomon is instructed to build the temple to leave an inheritance to his children.)
2 Chronicles 32:27-33 (Hezekiah’s prosperity and achievements to which his descendants honored him.)
“Baker’s Dozen”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Small Groups
Share those circled and those crossed out.
How do material possessions affect positively or negatively in your life?
Men’s Retreat 2005
Saturday Evening—Is There any Inheritance Left to Us?
Genesis 31:1-21 (Rachel and Leah question Jacob whether anything will be left for them.)
Family Map
Identify your immediate family, extended family by name or initials. Are there also close friends? Include them as well.
Place a letter or symbol next to each name or initials:
R if the person is a relative or F for a friend
O for the persons you see Often
Star on the left of the names of those people whom you are really happy to see
Star on the right those people who you think are happy to see you
X on the names that you have some differences
Circle those whom you feel would or should inherit some of your property.
Small Groups
Share reasons why you would leave an inheritance to these (kinship, special circumstances, unique reasons, etc.)
Men’s Retreat 2005
Sunday Morning—Store Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 6:19-21; 24-34 (Jesus teaches us to store treasures in heaven and for us not to worry because God will provide everything that we need.)
Luke 12:13-21 (Jesus teaches us through the Parable of the Rich Fool that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.)
The Pie of Life
1. On Sleep?
2. At Work?
3. With Family, including meal times?
4. With Friends, socializing, sports, etc.?
5. On Chores around the house?
6. At Church, worship, meetings, fellowships, etc.?
7. Alone, reading, watching TV, prayer and devotion, etc.?
8. In Community involvement”
9. On Other pastimes?
Are you satisfied with the relative sizes of your slices? Assign each slice how you feel about what you do: High, Neutral, or Low. Ideally, how big would you want each slice to be? Draw your ideal pie. Realistically, is there anything you can do to begin to change the size of some of your slices?
Small Groups
Share your pie slices with each other.
How much do you give to God? Would you like to give more to God?