Hosts
Make sure to start off with prayer. Then choose one or more icebreaker questions to open up with.
- What was your most awkward "stage" in life? (Childhood, adolescene, college age, now, etc)
- What is the biggest act of generosity you have ever witnessed?
Message Review
Main points and scriptures from this week's message.
First, thank you to all the small group hosts on and off campus. Your commitment to helping people grow in relatioship with each other and with God is greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!
This weekend was one of the most unique expressions of generosity and teamwork you will ever see.
People of all ages, at both campuses, participated in this year's Legacy Offering. This year we are celebrating 30 years in ministry in the Northwest and so we decided to make a name change from Liberty Offering to Legacy Offering. With so many people having been blessed by this ministry it is important that we continue to advance and continue to support this ministry through our generosity on weekends like this.
Point 1: Giving doesn't come easy for most people.
From the time we are born we begin to receive love, care, gifts, clothes, toys. Our parents, family and others give us things we need and enjoy. Remember the joy you felt as a child receiving a new pair of tennis shooes, a new baseball glove, or some other toy.
As time goes by, some people start to realize that while receiving is fun, there is completelely underestimated upside to giving. This does not mean that we don't sometimes forget or need to be reminded, it just means that there are tremendous benefits assicaited with a lifestyle of giving that many people are unaware of.
Before we talk about the upside of giving, can you think of any reason why it's NOT a good idea to be a giver?
Point 2: The one reason why anyone might think it's not a good idea to give is that "if I give, then I have less."
I understand the logic in this thinking, but scripture repeatedly says the opposite.
Luke 6:38 (NIV)
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.
2 Corinthians 9:10 (NASB)Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;
A consistent habit of giving is one of the best habits you can make in your life. Your giving sets in motion a process of inevitable return on the habit you have of seed sowing.I don’t think that giving is the only thing you have to do to experience progress You can’t just say I’m giving so I don’t need to work hard or pray about my decisions. You can't just assume that giving will cover the consequences of a bad attitude towards those around you. BUT giving in faith and giving generous proportionate to Gods blessing in your life is an important part of continuing to see a harvest of blessing in your own life.
A farmer does not get a harvest simply by hoping and praying for it. A farmer gets a harvest by sowing seeds in faith. They give their seeds into the ground, believing that it will come back to them. And you will not receive a harvest in your own life without sowing seeds of giving, and believing that it will come back to you.Point 4: Giving makes us rich in good works.
1 Timothy 6:17,18 (NASB)
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works...
So when we give we do not just create a harvest for our own lives, but we create a harvest of good things for those around us as well.
Someday we are going to stand before God and give an account for what we did with what was given to us. Did we keep it all, or were we rich in good works?
I grew up in a church that was supported by givers like you. The people who gave provided me with a place to learn about God, they provided opportunities for fun youth events to attend, and the youth leaders who gave to me by way of their time and effort. The people who gave to help young Kevin Gerald may never know where I ended up, and that their seeds produced another seed sower who is now sowing seeds into people in a younger generation, who are then doing the same. You never know how far the seeds you plant will go.
People may ask me how to explain how God has opened so many doors and opportunities for my life and ministry. The only explanation I can give is that I have been generous. No matter what, whether Sheila and I had little or had abundance, we always gave above and beyond our tithe. In fact, there have only been a few years in all of our years doing Liberty Offering that we were not the top givers. I say that not to brag, but to show you the power of generosity.
Proverbs 11:24,25 (MSG)
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
Message Discussion Questions
Read the following guidelines before starting your group discussion.
- Answer the question specifically. Avoid tangents and try to stay on target.
- Limit your responses to 1–2 minutes per question.
- Use I, me, or we statements. This is designed to be for personal reflection, not a time to fix others with your opinion.
- Each person is free to share without interruptions when sharing within the suggested guidelines.
The following questions will help guide your discussions and give your group some opportunities to open up and share.
- Has your view on giving vs. receiving changed over the years? Explain.
- Do you feel that giving and being generous to your church and to others directly reflect your faith? Why or why not?
- What are your fears when it comes to giving? (think outside of just financial giving)
- How have you seen the law of sowing and reaping play out in your life?
- A good farmer will find good soil to plant their seeds. When it comes to giving of your time and resources, what do you look for when it comes to finding good soil to plant your seeds?
- If you were to take an honest look at your life, would you say that you are "rich in good works?" If so, what can you do to continue in that? If not, what can you do to change that?
- "The world of the generous gets larger and larger..." What would your world getting larger and larger look like?
Live It Out
Encourage your group to start doing. Commit to a step, and live it out this week.
- Take on the mentality of a seed sower. In a daily journal, write down the seeds that you sow each day and begin to notice and record the ways that God is bringing you a harvest each day.
- In your bible reading begin to notice and write down examples of people that reaped a harvest because of their seed sowing.
- Be intentional about thanking others that are sowing seeds. Do not just be thankful, but express your thankfulness by letting someone know that you notice their good deeds, writing them a letter, or sending a text to encourage them in their generosity.
Closing Thoughts
- Finish group with prayer requests and praise reports.
- More resources always available here: Small Group Resources