02/24/19 Study Questions

Part 5: How to Excel at Giving

1.  Read Luke 21:3-4.  "Generosity isn't determined by the amount you give but by the amount you sacrifice."  Do you agree with this statement?  Why?

     a) What is the difference between giving and generosity?

     b) What's the relationship between generosity and sacrifice?

2.  Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, 9:6-8.  Is sacrificial giving an expectation God has for all Christians?  Why?

3.  Evaluate your own giving.  How could your lifestyle be adjusted to allow you to live generously?

4.  Read Philippians 4:19 and Hebrews 13:5.  How does your degree of faith in God's interactive provision for you affect your willingness to courageously follow Him by investing the resources He's given you in His Kingdom work?

5.  Reflect on what God's taught us over the past 5 weeks through this 'Interactive' series.  What has God spoken to you specifically about, and how are you going to respond to those things?

02/17/19 Study Questions

Part 4: Generosity is Awesome!

1.  In the video of 'Catherine's Story' she said: "We give because it's the nature of Christ, we have in us the DNA of giving."  How have you experienced this in your life?

2.  Read Acts 20:35.  Paul quotes Jesus' comments about the joy we get from giving generously.  Why is joy such a significant part of giving?

3.  Read Luke 12:15-31.  Why does money give us such a sense of security?  

     a)  How can a good thing like saving stop us trusting God and prevent us from 'living with Him' on our journey through life?

     b)  What is the connection between saving and giving; worry and freedom?

4.  Bryan & Stacy were the couple in the second video who chose to put a cap on their spending so they could be intentional about giving generously to others.  How could you live more simply in order to be more generous?

5.  Read Ephesians 4:28.  Generosity is always mentioned in the context of community.  How could that motivate us as a church?

6.  Read Matthew 6:20-21 and Ephesians 3:20.  Embracing the Kingdom of God demands we choose delayed gratification.  What are some of the things we need to let go of now, trusting that we'll receive them one day in Heaven?

7.  The key to living generously is trusting God's interaction with us - that He really does provide us with everything we need to live the life He's planned for us to live.  What can you to do to trust God more and grow in your faith in His provision?

02/03/19 Study Questions

Part 3: From Scarcity to Abundance

1.  "Until we’re willing to move towards poverty we will never be able to experience living generously.”  Do you agree and or disagree with this statement?  Why?

2. Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10.  Discuss the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset, and the consequences in the way we live.

    a) How does the fear of a scarcity mindset hold you back from what God wants you to do?

3. How does our culture encourage you personally to have a scarcity mindset?

4. How do you let your expectations determine your financial decisions, rather than God’s Will for you?

5. What fears do you feel as you think about giving?

    a) Read Matthew 6:25-34, and Hebrews 13:5.  How does an abundance mindset address those fears?

    b) Read 2 Corinthians 9:10-11.  Paraphrase this and personalize it by replacing the personal pronouns with your name.  What does this do to the way you think of giving generously?

6. Read Matthew 19:16-22.  How does material wealth tend to capture your heart and inflame a scarcity mindset like it did the rich young ruler?

    a) Read Luke 16:13.  What is God trying to do in us by calling us to be generous?

    b) What is it that God might be trying to free you from by challenging you to live generously?

01/27/19 Study Questions

Part 2: God's Taken the Lead on Giving

1.  Share instances of how generous giving has impacted your life.

2.  If you earn more than $32,400 you are in the world's top 1% of earners.  How does that fact impact your perspective of your own abundance or blessing?  

3.  "Generosity is part of God's character..."  How has God been generous to you?

     a) "We have done nothing to encourage God's generosity".  How does this reality change your willingness to live generously?

4.  How is 'sacrificial giving' different to 'donation giving' from our excess or discretionary income?

5.  "Generosity always demands that we move towards poverty.  Generosity demands we experience loss, that we relinquish something, that we let go of something, that we become less, so that someone else can gain or profit as our expense."  Read 2 Corinthians 8:9 and Philippians 2:5-8.  When you think about the concept of moving towards poverty, what challenges and hesitations rise up in you?  Why?

6.  A life of true generosity is motivated by love.  What does that attitude of love add to the consequences of giving generously? - in us, and in others? 

7.  Read John 3:27-30.  How does God want to interact with you in this area of living and giving generously?

8.  Read Acts 4:32-35.  Do you think there was a direct connection between their generosity and the power of their testimony and God's grace among them?  Why?  

     a)  What can we learn from this example - for us as individuals and as a Church?

01/20/19 Study Questions

Part 1: Living With a Living God

1.  Share a story of how God has interacted with you in the past.

2.  Read Psalm 139:16 and Acts 17:25-26.  What is God showing you about His character and the way He interacts with us and leads us?

3.  Why is belief and confidence in God's interaction with us so important to our willingness and ability to live and give generously?

4.  Read 1 Kings 17:1-24.  Clearly our difficult situations in life are not limitations to God.  What are some situations you've been in when you've thought God was unable to make a difference?  Why did you think this?

5.  Read Genesis 12:1-9 and Genesis 22:1-19.  God is always working and always wants to lead us, what do these verses teach us about what we can do to ensure we interact with Him?

6.  Take a few moments to evaluate how much you actually interact with God through your week.

     a)  What things do you do that encourage the interaction?

     b)  What dulls your awareness of God and His interaction with you?

     c)  What stops you from responding to God and trusting He is at work in your life?

7.  How can you overcome your fear and reasoning when God is calling you to live and give generously?