Generous Living
Generosity – Trust
When we experience “Generosity” as both recipients and givers, we see that the “T” can stand for trust. Generously sharing our personal involvement, relationships and resources naturally flows out of trust in God, including the assurance that God will meet our needs. Actually that’s what “faith” means – not a specific set of beliefs in…
Read MoreGenerosity – Spiritual Deepening
Through life’s ups and downs, we are either growing or withering away. Whenever we seek to live generously, it puts us on the side of growing. So the “S” in “Generosity” can stand for spiritual deepening. How does this happen? As we focus on God’s abundant grace in the gift of God’s love in our…
Read MoreGenerosity – Outreach
When we seek to spell out “Generosity” with our lives, the “O” can stand for outreach: reaching out to others with Jesus’ quality of compassion and care. The point of outreach is not to bring people “into” the church, but to help them “be” the church, part of the Body of Christ, wherever they are.…
Read MoreGenerosity – Relationships
The “R” in “Generosity” highlights relationships. Healthy relationships weave an interconnecting web of friends, neighbors, family, church members, community folks, and people around the world whom we may never meet but for whom we pray. All of these relationships are gifts God has entrusted to us to enjoy, strengthen and share. While we usually experience…
Read MoreMoving from Scarcity to Contentment
“If some is good, more is better.” That message echoes all around us, calling us to pursue more money, more things, more recognition, more power. Money is seen as the key to all the “more” we can imagine. At some level, this insatiable desire taps into a primal instinct on our parts: making sure we…
Read MoreGenerosity – Engagement in the World
“The place God calls you to,” says Frederick Buechner, “is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” When we hear God’s call and seek to live out “Generosity,” the second “E” becomes engagement in the world. People get personally involved when they follow their passions, naturally expressing their faith in…
Read MoreGenerosity – Natural Growth in Giving
The “N” in “Generosity” points to natural growth in giving. God intends for us to enjoy giving for God’s purposes, wherever that may be, flowing naturally out of maturing faith. People grow in their involvement, often starting with a one-day mission project and then expanding as they learn about the cause, how they can help,…
Read MoreGenerosity – Energy!
When we live generously, the “E” stands for energy: an interior energy that comes from God, and the mutual energy of giving to and receiving from others as part of a faith community. The Greek word for energy means “effective activity.” It describes being vividly alive, productive and in active service. In the New Testament,…
Read MoreGenerosity – Gratitude
When it comes to spelling out “Generosity” with our lives, the “G” is definitely gratitude. It’s easy to feel gratitude to God in this season of Epiphany, when we celebrate in worship all the ways God has shown God’s love to us, especially through Jesus Christ. But also in these quieter post-Christmas days, we can…
Read MoreBenefits of Giving and Generous-Hearted Living
When we give of ourselves in order to help someone else, something great happens – to the giver as well as to the receiver. That’s amazing! In Why Good Things Happen to Good People, Dr. Stephen Post refers to numerous scientific studies – meaning actually measurable changes – that show benefits to the giver’s level…
Read MoreStewardship Sunday
Some churches across our denomination follow the tradition of Stewardship Sunday, which comes this year on November 14. Regardless of whether we are naturally timid or passionate about the subject, this Sunday invites us all to engage in life-giving talk about joyful, faithful stewardship and how we can nurture generous living. I say “living,” not…
Read MoreMutuality and Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not a season. It’s an orientation of our minds and hearts that naturally flows into a lifestyle of generosity, of mutual giving and receiving. This week I had outstanding experiences with two groups of stewardship leaders. In both situations, our conversations and learning from one another began with gratitude and ended with expressions…
Read MoreBecoming Generous
“Yes, Scripture reminds us that God loves a cheerful giver. But how can we become generous, joyful givers?” This is the question that Yvonne Martinez Thorne asks in “A Practical View,” in the just-out 2011 issue of Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation magazine.1 Ah, this is a key question, isn’t it? Most of…
Read MoreMagnetic Fields
Christian community is not just a feel-good thing. Being committed to a body of believers, reaching out and supporting one another, are parts of our stewardship of the church itself. Participating in a faith community is not just a responsibility; it is a gift from God to be celebrated, received, and shared. “I was very…
Read MoreNurturing Generous Living
Generosity is a matter of action, intentions and heart. One way to describe it is the grateful outpouring of gifts to others, out of our love for God. Outpouring is a terrific description, since the priceless treasure of the gospel (and all the gifts of covenant, relationship and life that go with it) comes from…
Read More