Redemptive Poverty Work Student Workbook

L E S S O N 1 | A B R I E F T H E O L O G I C A L R E F L E C T I O N / 1 3

A Brief Theological Reflection

L E S S O N 1

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Welcome in the strong name of Jesus Christ! After your reading, study, discussion, and application of the materials in this lesson, you will be able to: • Renew your thinking concerning people who live in poverty. • Reflect on how your preconceived ideas about those in poverty measure up to key biblical themes. • Provide a brief practical theology for your poverty work. Pray the following prayer: Jesus, you are the King of Glory and the King of Creation. Teach us to recognize the ways of your kingdom that we might participate as faithful and devout residents in the space between a broken world and the coming kingdom of God. Amen. Read Matthew 25.31-46 . Reflect and journal on potential life application. Close this section by listening to “The Sovereign Love of God” and meditate on the Scripture you just read. If I could wave a magic wand, I would do so to give every Christian a passion to study their Bible. In several decades of ministry, I have come to believe the number one problem we face is biblical illiteracy. I know when I began to read the Bible for all its worth, it changed the trajectory of my faith. I hope every Christian will have this testimony at some point in their life. The condition of poverty is a huge theme we find throughout Scripture. One thing concerning this theme commonly overlooked is the fact that most biblical characters lived out their faith while in poverty. The whole book of Exodus is about how God delivered an impoverished nation of slaves, showing generosity by giving them a land of their own. Jesus was born into poverty, lived while working among the poor, and condemned the abuse of wealth. One of the reasons why I think this theme is not recognized is the stigma that is often attached to those in poverty. This stigma is the common ~ Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.

Lesson Objectives

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Devotion