Message Notes for February 9, 2020

Series: 20/20 Mission Clarity

New Relationship with God and Giving

STEPS TO GIVING

STARTING POINT: GOD INVITES YOU INTO A NEW KIND OF RELATIONSHIP THROUGH GIVING

♦ Decide in your heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion – 2 Corinthians 9:7

♦ Tell God you trust Him and ask him to help you

♦ Be INTENTIONAL – Make a plan – Don’t promise if you don’t intend to follow through – Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 Put something aside – 1 Corinthians 16:2

-Consider regular systematic giving – For example, whenever you get paid – First fruits – Proverbs 3:9

-Put the time you will dedicate to the Lord on your calendar first – Make it a priority  Stick to it

♦ Follow through and give

♦ Find joy in the fact that you are a giver!

♦ Eagerly look for God’s presence, promises and blessing in your life!

STEPS TO HELP BUILD FAITH (FOR GIVING)

♦ Pray

-It’s o.k. to feel like you need to develop stronger faith and pray for help –
Remember the man who told Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief” – Mark 9:24

-Read the Bible

♦ Read God’s instructions and his promises about giving –
https://www.openbible.info/topics/giving

-Memorize Luke 6:38 and other verses so you will always have them to
encourage yourself

♦ Listen to the testimony of other givers

♦ Remember what God has done – David before he killed Goliath – 1 Samuel 17:37

♦ TAKE ACTION!  – James 2:21-23 – Start wherever you are, but START

Family/Group Study Notes for the Week of February 9, 2020

Series: 20/20 Mission Clarity

New Relationship with God and Giving

Choose 10 of these Bible references (you can do them all if you make the time!). Read them and discuss whether they are a) Instructions from God about giving or b) promises made by God about giving. Some may contain both! In that case decide which part of the verse

belongs in ‘a’ and which belongs in ‘b’

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Leviticus 27:30

Deuteronomy 8:11-20

Matthew 25:14-30

1 Peter 4:10

Hebrews 6:10

Acts 2:44-45

Galatians 6:6

Hebrews 13:16-17

Matthew 6:25-33

Proverbs 11;24-25

Malachi 3:8-12

Proverbs 19:17

Romans 12:13

Deuteronomy 16:16-17

Proverbs 3:2-10

1 Corinthians 16:1-2

Proverbs 22:9

Matthew 25:31-40

Luke 6:38

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

• Share a time when you were a ‘giver’. Maybe it was a community service event through work.  Maybe a church mission or ministry outreach. How did you feel after you were finished? Did it encourage you to give of yourself again and in other ways? Do you know what motivates you to give? What turns you off about giving?
• Read 2 Corinthians 9:7 – What do you think it means to give ‘not reluctantly or under compulsion’? Discuss what would cause a giver to be reluctant or feel under compulsion. What do you need to be a ‘cheerful giver’?
• Why do you think God has provided so many promises of blessings as a major part of the process of giving? (You can look through the verses you identified as category ‘b’ in the first exercise at the top of the page for reference) Can anyone in your group share a testimony of God’s blessing in their giving?
• Would you like to enter into a giving relationship to God and the mission and ministry of His Church? What is holding you back? What can you do to overcome this? Discuss.