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October 19, 2025

shrewdness, mammon, and a crook

luke 16:1-13  //  josh mathews

Audio available Sunday afternoon, video available on Tuesday.

Discussion Questions

Week of: October 19, 2025 // Sermon Text: Luke 16:1-13

Sermon Overview

Followers of Jesus shrewdly manage mammon now for eternal purposes.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 16:1-13

  1. How was the crooked manager in the parable shrewd?

  1. If you're a follower of Jesus, what would it look like to be shrewd for kingdom purposes?

Mammon can be defined simply as money and possessions (like in verses 9 and 11). And it can be understood as a demonic power that uses money and possessions to lure people away from God (like in verse 12).

  1. Mammon will fail (v. 9) because it goes up and down in life, and when we die, it will be worthless. If you believed this through and through, how would it change your life?

  1. Western culture is a materialistic culture. What blind spots do you think this causes in our lives and church when it comes to spending your money with kingdom priorities?[1]

  1. How have you experienced the influence of mammon inside of you? How have you looked to money to give you peace, security, significance, adventure, pleasure, etc?

  1. In what ways is Jesus a better God to serve than Money? Why is this easy to forget in day-to-day life?[2]

  1. Often, we connect with what Jesus has done in the past to motivate our lives now (e.g., Jesus was generous, so we should be generous). In our passage, Jesus motivates generosity and faithfulness with future eternal rewards (see v. 9 and v. 11). Do you think much of eternal rewards? Why or why not?

  1. Imagine the eternal rewards God promises for shrewd stewardship of mammon, like eternal friends (v. 9) and true riches (v. 12). What comes to your mind?

  1. How can we, as a Gospel Community, together encourage one another to look forward to eternal rewards?

Prayer


[1]Luke 12-24 For You, Mike McKinley, 79.

[2] Ibid.

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