18 Feb It’s Not About The Money | Part 2 “It’s About Grace” – All Locations

For this week’s Announcements please visit: (waterschurch.org/events):

Really Big Things 40-Week Offering: Our 40-week offering collection is fast approaching! The Really Big Things offering is on the weekend of February 17/18th. Please keep saving and praying for God to Really Big Things through Waters Church for the spread of the Gospel and the Glory of Jesus Christ. For more information please visit: waterschurch.org/give/really-big-things

Winter Coat Drive for New England Locations:

One of our Action Groups is collecting winter coats in Youth sizes 14-18 and Adult Small and Large.  This for for a school in Providence where a lot of under-privileged children attend.  You can drop off your brand new or gently used winter jackets and coats in your perspective location’s bin no later than March 31!

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Reminders:

✳ Please regularly check your Planning Center profiles for requests to join your life groups, remove members from the list that no longer attend, or add members not listed. Please ensure that you have added no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and encourage your members to do so as well.  This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site. Thank you!

Waters Class Schedule:

• 1st Sunday: Discover Waters – after 1st service
• 2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
• 3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
• 4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service

Waters Help: Need marriage and family care  or have a group member in need of marriage and family care?   Click here:  help resources page  or visit waterschurch.org/help

Location Text Alerts:

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 8-9

Ice breaker:

Q.  If you had to choose a completely new career path starting tomorrow, what would you choose and why?

America has a generosity problem. Out of all the countries in the world America is the wealthiest. We are blessed as a country because we are generous as a country but we still have a severe generosity problem.

We could give so much more than we do.  Eighty-five percent of Americans give less than two percent away every year.

We serve a generous God and if we want to be His people, we should be generous. 

Giving boosts our immune system.  Giving money away releases four times the endorphins as exercise does.   Giving is good for us because our God created us in His image and our God is generous.

There is so much more we can do because our God is generous. If we want to be his people we should be generous.

Q.  How have personal experiences of giving affected you or others emotionally, physically, or spiritually?

Grace is the CURRENCY God uses to SAVE us and CHANGE us.

We are not only saved by grace but we are also changed by grace.

Grace comes from the word Charis (charismatic) which means a gift of God’s grace.  Every Church should be charismatic – filled with grace, not just to be saved but also to be changed.

1. Grace EMPOWERS giving.

2 Corinthians 8:1 ESV

The Churches in Macedonia exploded with giving.

The Christian Church started as a Jewish movement.  The Church in Jerusalem now needed money so Paul spent thirty years in Rome for money for the Churches in Jerusalem.  The Gentiles had been blessed and the Jewish people were in need.

Paul saw the grace of God move on them to give.

Q. What role does sacrificial giving play in our lives, and how might the grace of God move us to give more generously?

2. Grace EMPOWERS EXTRAORDINARY giving.

2 Corinthians 8:2 ESV 

We should not just give but be extra-ordinary in our giving. 

As God’s grace goes to work in us, we are empowered to give beyond what is ordinary.   Many Christians give only about 3.2 percent of their income away.

If we want to know God, we have to be generous.

Tests of affliction plus extreme poverty equals an abundance of joy and generosity.

Grace is God’s POWER to do the IMPROBABLE in IMPOSSIBLE situations.

(Leader – Choose one of the following):

Q. How can experiencing affliction and poverty lead to joy and generosity, and what role does grace play in this equation? Share personal experiences or observations that reflect this dynamic.

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Q. What situation did you not think you were going to get through but by God’s grace you got through it?

2 Corinthians 8:3-4 (ESV)

God’s grace empowers you for great things.  The people of the Church in Macedonia were poor but gave a lot of money. 

God can use us beyond what we can give.  He will pour out his grace.  Many examples in the Bible show how God pours out his grace and uses people beyond what they can give.

3. Grace EMPOWERS RESPONSIVE giving.

2 Corinthians 8:8-9 ESV

Christ, who was rich and eternally with the Father, emptied Himself to die for us.  He became poor so by his poverty we became rich.

What would God not be willing to do for us?  We have already received such grace.  None of what we have is ours. We are not even our own – we belong to Him!

Luke 7:41–43 ESV

Luke 7:45–47 ESV

Some of us should not have what we have and all of us should not be where we are.  We are objects of God’s grace.  Giving back to Him is an obvious choice because He has given us so much.

(Leader – choose one of the following depending on how your conversation is going):

Q. How does understanding the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and grace towards us influence our perspective on giving? Discuss how recognizing everything we have as a gift from God might change how we view our resources and the act of giving.

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Q.  What are some personal experiences or testimonies where you’ve seen God’s grace at work in your life, particularly in ways you didn’t deserve or expect?  How do these experiences inspire you to give back to God and others?

4. Grace EMPOWERS REWARDED giving.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 ESV

This is not about the tithe, this is a special offering for the Church in Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 9:8-11 ESV

God gives seed to sowing people not keeping people.  He gives seed to the sower.  He will bless the sower.

There is spiritual growth that occurs in a giver’s heart.

Sermon in a sentence:

God’s GRACE turns TAKERS into GIVERS who find GIVING opportunities are actually BLESSING opportunities in disguise.

Challenge: Identify a specific need in your community, church, or among people you know that you can meet. This could be financial support, offering your skills or time, or providing emotional or spiritual encouragement. Ensure your act of generosity goes beyond what you might typically consider, challenging yourself to give extraordinarily, as inspired by 2 Corinthians 8:2.