11 Dec The Truth About Money | Part 6 “Developing the Spiritual Gift of Generosity” | All Locations

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Alpha: New ministry – conversation style Small Group called Alpha that Mehdi and April will be leading.It is for seekers, those on the fence about faith, or disenfranchised from faith.It is to reach lost people. Join the conversation today @ waterschurch.org/alpha

All announcements and the Waters Event Calendar can be found at:  waterschurch.org/events

Alpha: New ministry – conversation style Small Group called Alpha that Mehdi and April will be leading.It is for seekers, those on the fence about faith, or disenfranchised from faith.It is to reach lost people.  Join the conversation today @ waterschurch.org/alpha

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Key Verse: 2 Corninthians 8

Generosity is catching on in our world. The billionaires are signing a giving pledge giving away money before they die.  As of today, 230 billionaires have pledged to give a majority of their wealth away before they die. Being at the top is still not enough, so they are trying to be generous. 

God has been good to us.  He is a good giving God.  We cannot out-give God.   There are immense health benefits to giving away money.  It lowers our blood pressure and lengthens our lifespan. Our bodies are programmed to be givers. 

GENEROSITY does the BODY GOOD.

The more we give the better we live.  God makes the most promise for his people based on giving.  He blesses giving the most.  Giving is a predicate for receiving great things from God.  We give because we got we don’t give to get.

Q. How is your generous giving helping you live better (what health benefits are you noticing because you give)?

2 Corinthians 9:6; 9:8; 9:10 (ESV)

God has promised he would bless every area of our life when we are generous like Him.

The church in Corinth was one of Pauls special projects as a church. The people in Corinth were filled with problems. They had a common problem that most people have, searching for pleasure and realizing it was not as fun as we thought it would be.  Corinth was a lot like America.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV)

Paul was writing a plea for money.  There was a famine in Jerusalem, the first church of Jesus was struggling.  They were getting persecuted and were hated for their beliefs.  Paul wrote to all his predominately gentile churches to raise money for another church because the church takes care of the Church. We give and support one another, we are our brothers keeper. We have to help each other, we should never want to see anybody struggle in our church.  We must go beyond tithing (the tithe goes to the House).  Because of our generous church, 2022 has been our most impactful year in the history of Waters.

Q. What impacted you the most to desire to be more generous in your giving after watching the video?

Growing in Generosity

1. Generosity is not BASED on your GETTING, it’s based on GRACE.

Generosity doesn’t just happen.  Generosity is not for people with a lot of money.  Most generous people in America make $40,000 or less.  We don’t have to be rich to be generous, we need to have God’s grace.

2 Corinthians 8:1–2 ESV

The story was that the grace of God enabled them to give.  That is what enables us to give.  Severe affliction plus extreme poverty plus abundance of joy equals a wealth of generosity.  This happened because the church is a Supernatural expression of God’s power. We want to give because we know the true giver.

Generosity is a visible sign of grace at work.  God’s power is alive in us.  God empowers us to live good lives through His grace.  Not just to go to heaven but to let His power be activated in our life to do good things.

Q. How does the church in Macedonia challenge you to give when you have very little to give?

Growing in Generosity

2. GENEROSITY is an act of MINISTRY.

When we give generously we are serving others. 

2 Corinthians 8:3–5 ESV

Giving is a ministry.  It is a service.  We are the hands and feet of Jesus when we give for other peoples sake.  Much of the Church today is performance driven.  Giving is ministry we don’t need a special calling for.  Anyone can take part in giving.   We don’t need a stage to be used by God, but we can impact others through our giving. 

Q. What are some examples of generosity have you recently witnessed personally?

Proverbs 19:6 ESV

Generous people live better lives. 

Proverbs 19:17 ESV

When we give to poor people it is like God is taking out a loan on us. Our giving lends to the Lord.

Proverbs 11:25 ESV; Luke 6:38 (ESV)

When we give it comes back to us.

Q. What example can you share from experience where you had given and it came back to you?

Growing in Generosity

3. GENEROSITY is a spiritual GIFT that God can GROW in us.

We can grow in generosity.

2 Corinthians 8:7–8 ESV

Giving comes from Gods power not ours. 

Q. How has your view of giving changed over the years?

2 Corinthians 8:8 NIV

The church of Corinth could probably have given way more than the Macedonia church.  Comparing ourself to other’s giving is good. 

Growing in Generosity

4. GENEROSITY is the RESULT of RECEIVING the GOSPEL.

For us, whose lives Jesus changed, generosity is a non-negotiable.

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

We are on the way to heaven today because over 2000 years ago God came to earth to save us. Our heavenly Father sent his Son, born and laid in a box (manger) so we could be rich in His blessings.

We should tithe and then bless others around us.  People who came to our church before us gave to make sure there was a space for us.

CHALLENGE: START BEING GENEROUS