Extravagant Generosity

Extravagant Generosity: Through the practice of Extravagant Generosity, we offer our material resources in a manner that supports the causes that transform life and relieve suffering and that enlarges the soul and sustains the spirit. God uses our giving to reconfigure our interior lives and form us anew.  We give back.

Exploring Disciples:

•       Thank God for the many ways that God provides for your needs.

•       Consider how a monetary gift made during the worship service is an offering or a response to God’s love and provision in your life.

•       Occasionally give a monetary offering when the plate is passed during the worship service.

Growing Disciples:

•       Budget a specific amount of money each week or month to give to God’s work.

•       When you hear about critical needs in the world, in the local community, or in the church, listen for God’s prompting to make a financial gift to help meet that need. Examples include natural disasters or a special benefit for a family displaced from their home because of a fire.

•       Participate in a small group that is studying finances from a spiritual perspective.

Close to Christ:

•       Make a commitment to move toward tithing 10 percent of your income to God’s work. Set a percentage with which to begin, such as five percent, and begin making regular gifts in that amount. Identify when you will plan to take your next step in moving toward a tithe.

•       Consider how the remainder of your income is spent. Adjust your savings, debt and spending decisions in light of an understanding that all that we have already belongs to God.

•       “Live simply so that others may simply live.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Committed to Christ

•       Give the first 10 percent of all income to God’s work. Be responsive to God’s voice to give beyond the tithe when prompted to do so.

•       Consider how all of your material assets, not just a portion of your income, could be used by God to further his kingdom. Perhaps some of your assets no longer give you the pleasure they once did. Consider donating them for some mission purpose.

•       Make a provision in your estate plan for a portion of your assets to be given to God’s work after your death as a testimony to your investment in the treasures of heaven and the ongoing provision of God’s work in the world.

•       Ask God to show you how your life could be defined by generosity. Begin to live into that vision.

Serving others

Christ says “the second commandment is like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39)