Astonishing Generosity

I'm preaching a series of sermons on generosity in January, and this post on "Astonishing Generosity" by Tod Bolsinger caught my eye.  A blurb...

• This is not just a strategy for adding some kindness to the world.  It’s a strategy for changing the world.  (It's a revolution strategy!)
• It’s not just about making the world better, it’s about making the world new. 
• Generosity is not just about making people think we are good nice and kind, it is about helping people see that God is good, compassionate and responsive to their cries.

It is a central activity of the followers of Christ to reveal God to the world. 

Our generosity is to remind people of God’s generosity.  Our generous forgiveness of those who fail us, giving to those in need, of openhandedness to those who were clinging so hard to the scraps of life, and welcome to those who are without a place in this world would be nothing more (and nothing less!) than a reflection of the “generous love of God into the whole world.”

Comments

[Micah Mills]

I think this is something we miss the boat on in church. We have all heard sermons about tithing, but most of those are self serving. "We can't afford to pay the mortgage, You know to be a good christian God wants you to give 10%." I have been thinking in recent years were are the sermons about Christians being generous, and giving all they have to the poor (that almost sounds like something Jesus said).

I can speak from my own background. My family had some tough times when I was younger. When we did can food drives at school, we were the family that got the canned food and Christmas presents. Looking back at all of that, it sadly wasn't our church that did all of that for us it was my teachers, peers, and people from the community who were far from Christians.

All of that has definitely changed the way I live out my faith. Steve, I commend you in teaching your people to actually live out Jesus teachings.

Micah