Community of Prayer Resource Page

Materials to assist your stewardship journey

This page is meant to accompany the book Community of Prayer and is designed as a supplemental resource for the weekly “Going Deeper” segments.  You can order Community of Prayer from Christian Board of Publication (Discounts for quantity orders apply)

Week One – Creation as a Blueprint for Generosity

The creation poem of Genesis 1 tells us that generosity is in our DNA.  As those created in the image of a generous God, our natural instincts are therefore inclined toward generosity.  The seventh day as Sabbath rest indicates that God can be trusted to provide (even on a day absent of labor), so we can exercise that generosity with confidence.

Week Two – Self-Care and the Gospel as Building Blocks for Stewardship

Important aspects of stewardship include the care of ourselves (beyond treasure) so that we may more fully express our talents and abilities for the benefit of others.  Further, we have been entrusted with the Gospel and its final word of God’s triumph over the powers and principalities of this world. God’s love is unstoppable and we are charged with sharing that Good News.

Week Three – Understanding Our Relationship with Money

The biblical witness challenges us to look at how we feel about what we have.  While relatively neutral about wealth conceptually , the concern is how having or not having resources impacts our encounter with the world around us and our reliance on God.  Do we fear losing our stuff (and thus hoard) or do we see having assets as a way of participating in the Realm of God (and thus share)?  If we are lacking resources, are we motivated only by acquisition for its own sake?

Week Four – Generosity as an Agent of Transformation and Pathway to Joy

If the world is to know wholeness and transformation, it will be by God working through us.  People and communities are the tools by which God blesses, reveals, and changes human circumstance.  When we deploy what we have been given on behalf of the Realm with the power of the Holy Spirit, things are different.  And we, like God, delight in the change that occurs, including the change that happens within us when we are free to give.