Over the past several years, more than 200 people in our church family have taken Financial Peace University, forever changing the way they interact with money. In story after story, we’ve seen individuals take control of their finances, pay off thousands of dollars in debt and be able to give more freely to those around them.

This course has already been transformational for countless people. So this fall, we’re taking it to the next level. We’re opening up Financial Peace University to everyone in our city, with the goal of 1,000 people taking FPU together.

Why talk about money?

Most of us want to impact the world around us — we want to be able to help our friend when they’re in need, or to give more freely to certain causes. But very few of us are positioned for impact. We have the greatest of intentions, but because of the way we interact with money, because of the way we look at money, we’re not positioned to do this well.

As we walk into the fall, we’ll be looking at all that God teaches us about finances. God doesn’t just talk about finances in terms of giving — He talks to us about planning, providing for those around us, even debt. When it comes to talking about the financial aspects of your life, He does this not because He wants something from you, but because He wants something for you. He wants you to know what it is to live a rich life.

The name for this series, “Be Rich,” comes from 1 Timothy 6:17:

“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so unreliable, but their trust should be in God, who richly gives us everything we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need.”

Who is FPU best suited for?

No matter where you are in your finances, this is for you. Over the next couple weeks, you’ll hear stories about people in different places with their finances. For some of them it’s about getting out of debt. For others, it’s about planning  for the future, or managing the tension between saving and giving. Another common theme is couples who, for the first time, are finally on the same page about their finances. It has created an open door for couples to openly discuss and plan their finances rather than arguing about them.

God wants money to be something that frees you, not something that causes stress. As a community, we’re going to walk through this together.

What does it cost?

Typically at Hoboken Grace, we provide all the resources. But we want you to invest in this. We’ve learned that when you invest in it, you stick with it. We’re asking you to invest in this. The cost of $88 (for a couple or an individual) covers the materials you’ll need — a book, videos you can watch from anywhere and other resources. But we also don’t want the cost to keep anyone from taking the class. Contribute whatever you can and we’ll cover the rest. This is going to be completely transformational, and we don’t want anyone to miss out.

A few last words

What God wants for you — what we want for one another — is for us to be able to live rich lives, for us to be able to see money as a tool, not something that consumes us and is constantly causing stress in our relationships and inside our lives. Our finances can be a tool for us to be able to love better, impact the world around us and, more than anything else, to follow Him better.