DEEP-DIVE SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

Based on: "First Things First" — Week 2 | Sermon by Pastor Torren Wells Primary Texts: Malachi 3:10; Genesis 4:1–5; Matthew 6:19–24, 33; Matthew 25:14–29 Time: 90–120 minutes

LEADER PREPARATION

(Read before your group meets)

Overview: Pastor Torren Wells made the case that God consistently works through a pattern — he prepares and orders what he plans to fill — and that the tithe is one of the clearest expressions of this principle in Scripture. The sermon challenged groups to move beyond seeing tithing as a transaction or obligation and to understand it as a transformational act of worship that reorients the heart around God's priorities and lordship.

Big Idea: Tithing is not a test God gives us — it is a test we bring to God, an act of trust that declares his preeminence and opens us to his promises.

Essential Background:

• The word tithe literally means "tenth" and appears across multiple biblical covenants — before the Mosaic Law (Abraham), within the Law (Leviticus, Deuteronomy), and after the Law (Malachi, Hebrews, Jesus' teaching). This continuity is theologically significant.
• Malachi 3 is written to a post-exilic community that had returned from Babylon but was spiritually and financially withholding from God. The "storehouse" referred to the temple treasury, which funded Levitical priests and care for the poor.
• The distinction between stewardship (managing what we have) and lordship (who ultimately owns it) is central to the sermon's argument and worth slowing down on with your group.

Preparation Checklist:

• Read Malachi 3:6–12 and Matthew 6:19–34 twice
• Review the word studies below and practice saying the transliterations aloud
• Think through your own honest answers to the discussion questions
• Pray for each group member by name before you meet

Facilitator Encouragement: You don't need to be a financial expert or a biblical scholar to lead this discussion well. Your job is to ask good questions, create space for honest conversation, and trust the Holy Spirit to do the deeper work. This topic can feel vulnerable — lead with your own honesty and the group will follow.

OPENING

(5–10 minutes)

Icebreaker Question: Think back to when you were a child or teenager. What was your earliest memory or understanding of money — either from your family, church, or culture? What "rules" or values around money did you absorb growing up?

Leader note: Keep this light and brief. You're warming up the room and surfacing the fact that everyone brings a history to this topic.

TEACHING TIME

(15–20 minutes)

Share the following content conversationally — you're not lecturing, you're giving your group the background they need to go deeper together.

HISTORICAL & CULTURAL CONTEXT

(5–7 minutes)

The book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and was written around 430 BC to a community of Israelites who had returned from Babylonian exile. They had rebuilt the temple, but spiritually they were going through the motions. Priests were offering blemished sacrifices. People were withholding tithes. The community was asking, in effect, "Does faithfulness to God actually pay off?"

God's response through Malachi is striking: You have robbed me. The language is confrontational, but the invitation is equally bold: Test me in this. God is not threatening — he is pleading with his people to re-engage with a pattern he has established for their flourishing.

The "storehouse" mentioned in Malachi 3:10 was a physical room in the temple complex where tithes of grain, wine, and oil were stored. This provision funded the Levitical priests (who had no land inheritance of their own) and served as a social safety net for the poor, the widow, and the foreigner. Withholding the tithe wasn't just a personal spiritual failure — it had real consequences for vulnerable people in the community.

This is important context: the tithe was never only about an individual's relationship with God. It was always embedded in community. When you give, someone is cared for.

KEY WORD STUDIES

(5–7 minutes)

"Tithe" — Hebrew: ma'aser (mah-ah-SER) This word simply means "a tenth part." What's significant is its first appearance — it's used of Abraham's gift to Melchizedek in Genesis 14, before any law commanded it. This suggests tithing flows from a posture of gratitude and recognition of God's provision, not mere legal compliance. The New Testament picks this up in Hebrews 7, connecting the Melchizedek-Abraham tithe to the eternal priesthood of Jesus.

"Preeminent" — Greek: prōteuōn (pro-TOO-on) Used in Colossians 1:18 of Christ: "that in everything he might be preeminent." The word means first in rank, surpassing all others — not just highly ranked, but in a category of his own. Pastor Wells described it this way: "He's not just first. He's first-first." When we talk about Jesus having preeminence, we're saying no other loyalty, possession, or priority can occupy the same tier. This is the theological foundation beneath the entire discussion of tithing.

"Test / Prove" — Hebrew: bachan (bah-KHAN) In Malachi 3:10, God says "test me in this." The word bachan means to examine, to put to the proof, to assay (like testing metal for purity). It's a word used elsewhere for refining gold. Remarkably, this is one of the only places in Scripture where God explicitly invites his people to test him. The invitation is not presumptuous — it is God's own offer, and it carries the weight of his character behind it.

IMPORTANT CROSS-REFERENCES

(3–5 minutes)

• Genesis 4:1–5 — The first recorded offering in Scripture. Abel brings "the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions." Cain brings "an offering of the fruit of the ground" — but with no mention of first or best. The contrast reveals that God is attentive not just to what we give but to the posture behind it.

• Proverbs 3:9–10 — "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty." This pre-dates the explicit tithe command and frames giving as honor, not obligation.

• Matthew 6:19–24, 33 — Jesus' teaching that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" and "you cannot serve God and money." Jesus understood that financial patterns reveal spiritual allegiances. Seeking the kingdom first is the New Testament expression of the firstfruits principle.

• Hebrews 7:8 — "In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives." The writer of Hebrews argues that when we tithe through the church, we are ultimately giving to the living Christ — the eternal high priest.

• Matthew 25:14–29 — The Parable of the Talents. The master entrusts different amounts to different servants and expects faithful management. The servant who does nothing with what he was given loses even that. Stewardship and trust are deeply connected.

SCRIPTURE READING & OBSERVATION

(10–15 minutes)

Read aloud: Malachi 3:6–12 (try two translations — NIV and ESV or NLT work well together)

Then read: Matthew 6:19–24 and verse 33

Observation Questions (give the group 2–3 minutes to read silently before discussing):

1. What words or phrases are repeated in these passages?
2. What surprises you or feels unexpectedly strong in the language?
3. What questions do these passages raise for you — things you want to understand better?
4. What does the passage assume the reader already believes about God?

DEEP DIVE DISCUSSION

(40–50 minutes)

SECTION A: Understanding the Text

1. Malachi 3:8 uses the word robbed — a striking accusation. What does it imply about ownership that God would use that word rather than something softer like "withheld" or "neglected"?

[Leader Tip: If the group gets stuck, push gently with this follow-up: "If everything belongs to God, what does that change about how we think about the 10% — and about the 90%?" The goal is to surface the ownership question beneath the obedience question.]

2. Pastor Wells made a distinction that's worth unpacking: tithing is about lordship, not just stewardship. Your budget is about stewardship — your tithe is about lordship. What's the difference, and why does that distinction matter?

3. The sermon traced the principle of "the first" across multiple biblical moments — the firstborn, the firstfruits, Abraham's tithe, the tithe in the Law, and ultimately Jesus as the "firstborn" who redeems the rest. What is the theological logic connecting all of these? What does God seem to be communicating through this pattern?

[Leader Tip: This is a synthesis question — don't rush it. The key insight is that the pattern of "the first redeems the whole" reaches its climax in Jesus. Tithing is a financial echo of a much larger theological reality.]

4. In Genesis 4, why do you think God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain's? What does the text actually tell us — and what does it leave unanswered?

SECTION B: Theological Connections

5. The sermon introduced the idea that God "prepares and orders what he plans to fill" — Noah's ark, Moses' tabernacle, Solomon's temple, the feeding of the 5,000. How does this principle show up in areas of life beyond finances? What might it mean that "organization precedes multiplication"?

6. Pastor Wells said: "Tithing isn't about transaction. Tithing is about transformation." What does it mean for a spiritual practice to be transformational rather than transactional? How does that reframe not just tithing, but other spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, or serving?

[Leader Tip: Watch for the group to conflate "transformation" with "results." The deeper point is about heart formation — the practice shapes us whether or not we see immediate outcomes. You might ask: "What disciplines have changed you over time, even when you didn't notice it happening?"]

7. Hebrews 7:8 says that when we tithe through the church, we are ultimately giving to "one who is declared to be living" — Jesus himself. How does understanding tithing as an act directed to Christ change the emotional and spiritual weight of the practice?

SECTION C: Contemporary Application

8. The sermon described how Abram tithed because he recognized God's blessing — not in order to be blessed. How does that order (response before request) challenge the way we typically approach God with our finances? Where else do we tend to get that order backwards?

9. Pastor Wells was honest that he avoided tithing until he was 23 — and that he struggled financially in those early years. Without requiring anyone to share private details, what are the most common reasons people give for not tithing? Which of those reasons do you find most understandable — and what does the sermon say in response?

[Leader Tip: Keep this from becoming a shame spiral. The goal is honest engagement with real objections, not guilt. If someone shares a genuine struggle, acknowledge it before moving on.]

10. The illustration of the employer sending money through three employees — and then adjusting based on their faithfulness — drew on Matthew 25:29: "From those who do nothing, even the little they have will be taken away." How do you sit with that verse? Does it feel harsh, or does it feel just? What does it reveal about how God views stewardship?

11. The sermon closed with this image: "We can't just be comfortable worshiping God with lifted hands. We have to grow in our faith to the point that we're willing to worship God with open hands." What's the difference between those two postures — and which one is harder for you personally?

PERSONAL APPLICATION

(15–20 minutes)

Invite the group to take 2–3 minutes of quiet reflection before discussing.

Reflective Questions:

1. On a scale of 1–10, how much does your current financial practice reflect what you actually believe about God's ownership and your role as a steward? What would need to change to close that gap?

2. Pastor Wells described the moment his question shifted from "God, can I trust you?" to "God, can you trust me?" Which question more accurately describes where you are right now — and what would it take to move toward the second?

3. Is there an area of your life — financial or otherwise — where you've been asking God to "put in an order" when he's actually been asking you to "put it in order"? What would it look like to take that step?

This Week Challenge:

Choose one of the following, based on where you are:

• If you're not yet tithing: This week, calculate what 10% of your income would be. Sit with that number. Pray over it. Ask God: "What would it look like for me to take one step toward this?"
• If you're tithing but it's become routine: This week, give your tithe with intentional worship. Before you give, pray: "God, this is an act of trust. I'm declaring your lordship over everything I have."
• If you're ready to start: Take the step this week. Give your first tithe. Pray Malachi 3:10 over it — and watch what God does.

PRAYER & CLOSING

(10 minutes)

Prayer Focus: Invite the group to pray in pairs or triads around one of these themes:

• Surrender — releasing financial control to God
• Trust — believing God's promises in Malachi 3:10
• Transformation — asking for a heart that gives joyfully, not reluctantly

Suggested Closing Prayer (leader can pray this or adapt it):

Lord, we open our hands today — not just as a financial act, but as a declaration. You are first. You are preeminent. Everything we have came from you and belongs to you. Where we've held back out of fear or doubt or habit, forgive us and lead us forward. Where we've been faithful, deepen our joy. Transform us through the practice of generosity until our hearts look more like yours. We trust you. Test us. And let us bring you the test. In Jesus' name, amen.

Closing Vision: This week, pay attention to the connection between what you spend and what you love. Your financial patterns are a window into your actual priorities — not your stated ones. Let this study be the beginning of a longer conversation with God about what it means to seek his kingdom first.

Guide prepared for small group use. Encourage participants to bring their Bibles next week and continue the conversation throughout the week.