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Tag: Living Generously

Living generously 3

Written by Lee Ames on . Posted in Sermon.

In our final week of, Living Generously, we turn to an encounter of Jesus in the last few weeks of his life. In Luke 18:18-30, a rich ruler asks Jesus how to obtain eternal life. Jesus quizzes the ruler and finds a person who has allowed his wealth to take prominence in his life. Jesus’ charge, sell all you own, and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, Jesus invites the man to follow Him. But the request proves too difficult, and the ruler walks away disheartened.
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Considering this story and generosity, we must ask ourselves a few questions. Does Jesus want us to sell all we own and give it away? Is our eternity linked to giving? The answers to these questions and so many more are found in the lessons of Luke 18. This study considers the heart and how quickly we betray our faith. We have to be careful not to allow this world's things to become more important to us than our faith in God. Living Generously means recognizing that all we have and all we are belong to God.

Living Generously 2

Written by Lee Ames on . Posted in Sermon.

LIVING GENEROUSLY "The Love of Money"
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In our second week of Living Generously, we study the A
postle Paul’s instruction to Timothy. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul prepares this young pastor for ministry in Ephesus. This letter covers many topics ranging from theology to basic community life instruction.
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Our focus comes from chapter 6 in which Paul offers insights about wealth and the dangers of allowing life to be consumed by its pursuit. This chapter informs our understanding of Living Generously by reminding us that a life of service and generosity leads to the storing up of treasure that is real life in Christ.

Living Generously

Written by Lee Ames on . Posted in Sermons.

LIVING GENEROUSLY
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Society tends to be more generous during the holiday season. We often open our hearts to those around us in ways not typical throughout the year. We might sponsor families for Christmas gifts, purchase food items to offset costs or connect to one of the many local programs that assist those in need in a myriad of ways. It is truly beautiful to see the reach that believers can have when choosing to go beyond themselves.
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Living Generously is a sermon series geared towards wrestling with some of the central scriptures related to generosity found in our Biblical text. So often, series like this are offered in churches and are followed closely by some type of financial ask or campaign. Not this series. The series aims to discover what Scripture says about living a generous life and continuing to do so. One thing is certain: generosity, as well as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are the outflow of a Spirit-led life (Galatians 5:22-23). New Testament authors anchor these practices in the faith community and how that community shows up in the world surrounding it.
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You are invited to join us as we tackle some of the most well-known stories of our faith while navigating through another holiday season that warms our hearts and offers many opportunities to be generous.

Living Generously 1

Written by Lee Ames on . Posted in Sermon.

The Widow’s Offering
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In our first week, consider one of the most famous giving passages in scripture, the widow’s mite found in Mark 12:38-13:2. This short story has stood as the standard lesson on proportional giving. The central figure of this story is a widow who chooses to present an offering that goes beyond generosity. This offering was all that the widow had to live on and represented literally the giving of her life. Jesus contrasts her gift with that of those giving out of their abundance. We are left to determine what lesson is to be garnered here.
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Our task in this first sermon is to wrestle with the text leading into this story and immediately follow it to determine if we may have misunderstood the point Jesus was making. Could the widow’s gift be proof of Jesus’ rebuke lodged at the scribes just a few verses prior? Was this sacrificial gift offered as a result of scribes who made a practice of devouring resources while losing sight of their responsibility to care for those like the widow? We will unpack, working through the text, to see what lessons can help shape our hearts as we strive to live generously.