Flywheel Bible Study

Flywheel

by Sherwood Pictures

Buy the movie!

*7:53 – Jay makes a big profit

What’s your dream? What do you want for your career? What do you want to be?

Jay Austin wanted to sell cars and be a successful businessman. Was he successful at selling a car to this young man? Yes, but what did he do to sell that car? He lied to the buyer about it never having been in a wreck and he flattered him by telling him how good he would look in the car.

Is that the right way to be successful and achieve our goals? No.

I’m sure you all have dreams and good things that you want to do in your life, but if you want to honor God, you have to achieve those goals the right way. Having a good goal in mind is important. But it’s even more important how you achieve that goal. Are you going to lie, cheat, and take advantage of people, or are you going to be honest, work hard, and achieve your goals the right way? That’s the choice we all have to make.

*9:31 – Scrap paper

What do you think of Jay treated his wife and son in this scene?

What could Jay have done differently?

He could have called the person on the phone back and paid attention to his family.

God created the idea of a family for a reason. Those are the people who are supposed to be most important to us. No matter what else we have going on in life, we have to love and appreciate and take care of our families. Our priorities should be God first, then loving our family the way God wants us to love our families, then school or work or whatever else we have to do. God, family, everything else.

*11:26 – Hurt

Have you ever done anything that hurt someone’s feelings? What about someone in your family? What did you do?

Has anyone ever hurt your feelings? What did they do?

*14:36 – Someone to look up to

Are you being the kind of person your children can look up to? Are you being the kind of person other people can look up to?

You can’t live and pretend that what you do only affects you. Someone is always watching you. God calls us to live as examples of His love and to do what is right so that we can encourage and inspire other people to do what is right.

Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

*16:59 – Tithing?

Jay seems to be all about making money and keeping it all for himself. Why is it important to give to the church?

When we give our tithes our offerings, we’re helping the church reach out to more people. Our money helps give more and more people the opportunity to hear about God and be saved. That’s much more important than just keeping all of our money for ourselves.

Secondly, God commands that we give a portion of our income as a thanks to Him for providing it.

Malachi 3:6-10 – ““I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. ⁷ Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse —your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

*26:29 – The minister’s prayer

What did the pastor pray God would do to Jay?

He prayed God would treat Jay the same way Jay treated him.

Have you ever thought about that? What if God treated us the same way we treat other people? It makes you think about being a little better to people, doesn’t it?

Here’s another question: What if God treated you the same way you treat God? You ignore God, He ignores you? You sin and do something wrong against God, He does something wrong to you? I’m glad God doesn’t do that, but again, it makes you think about how you treat God and how you treat other people.

*31:47 – “Do you understand me?”

What do you think of that? Did Jay have the right to talk to his wife like that? Are husbands allowed to talk to their wives like that?

Ephesians 5:21-33 – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

The Bible says that husbands are the head of their families, but it also says that husbands are to love their wives, not treat them poorly.

The husband is the head of the house setting a good example and leading in love, not pushing everyone else around.

*38:09 – “You’ve got a different set of rules for yourself!”

Jay wants to point the finger at Bernie, but obviously forgets the things he does himself. It kind of reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-5:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

It’s easy to judge other people and look at what they’re doing wrong, but Jesus says to take a look at yourself first. Take the plank out of your own eye, take the sin out of your own life, before you try to tell someone else what’s wrong with them. Setting things right always starts with looking at yourself.

*44:48 - Flywheel

Jay knew that he was someone whom God was not proud of. Has God ever been not proud of you?

I know God hasn’t been proud of me at times. The great thing about God, though, is that no matter what we’ve done, He still loves us and He still gives us the chance to change. He also gives us a second chance to make Him proud of us.

Jay learned that there was something missing in His life, just like the car had a part missing. That part for Jay was God. If we don’t have God in our lives, if we’re not living the way God wants us to live, our lives just aren’t going to run right. God designed us. He knows how our lives are supposed to go. If we’re living how He made us to live, things will work. If we don’t, they won’t. It’s that simple.

If you want your life to be better, live your life the way you were supposed to.

*54:01 – “No.”

Have you ever lost a friend because of your beliefs, or because you stood up for something and did the right thing?

Matthew 10:34-36 – ““Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law —³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.'

Jesus said that living for Him would turn some people against us, but that would it be worth it. Being in a right relationship with God, knowing that you’re doing the right thing, and being able to look forward to an eternity in Heaven is worth having a few people walk out on us. Jesus is our priority. We care what God thinks of us more than what other people think of us.

*1:15:45 – Generosity

There’s something to be said for generosity, isn’t there? It feels good to be giving and to help other people.

Acts 20:35 – “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Psalm 112:5 – “Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.”

*1:27:33 - Reward

What did you think of that news story?

You know, when we’re living for God, we’re going to have a good reputation with other people. And having a good reputation is a reward in itself. Feeling good about who you are what your name stands for is its own reward.

But then God also blessed Jay for changing his life and doing what was right.

*1:36:00 – Humble Pie

Have you ever had to apologize to someone? Why is it good to say you’re sorry?

A lot of times when we realize that we’ve done things that are wrong, we just decide not to do them anymore, and we think that’s enough. But a big part of repentance is owning up to what we’ve done and taking responsibility for it. We should confess our sins to God, but also to each other. It makes us humble ourselves to the other person and make things right with them.

Matthew 5:23-24 – “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

James 5:16 – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed…”

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