Generosity

It’s understandable that today many have jaded views of the church. As we imagine the future of our church, what can we learn from the earliest days of the church? It was refreshingly dynamic, characterized by personal transformation, vital community, authentic spirituality, radical generosity, and contagious hospitality.

Maintaining perspective is so difficult. Just getting through the day can seem like a major accomplishment. But a healthy perspective gives us a vantage point that’s essential to living a life that prioritizes what’s truly important.

What can shape us into people who are open-handed and big-hearted? The answer is found in this stirring and stretching ancient prayer.

Can you imagine sacrificial generosity in the midst of extreme suffering giving rise to overwhelming joy? While this may surprise us, it’s exactly what we find in a moving story about an ancient community of faith. This beautiful example has the power to renew our modern sensibilities about the meaning of life.

Generosity is found less by facing greed than by facing fear, which is the root of greed. Sobering as it may sound, Jesus tells us that the path to overcoming our worldly worry is to accept that much of what we treasure will be lost. Only his Kingdom is eternal.

When we’re struggling, what do we really need? In these concluding words from Romans 8, a high-water mark in the entire Bible, Paul shares words that can lift us and lead through even the most challenging of circumstances.