supplemental resources
For “Going Deeper” with Community of Prayer
Creation as a Blueprint for Generosity
The creation poem of Genesis 1 reminds us that generosity is woven into our DNA. Created in the image of a generous God, we are made to reflect that generosity in the way we live and share. The seventh day of creation—Sabbath—reminds us that God can be trusted to provide even when our own labor ceases. Because our lives are held by more than our striving, we can practice generosity with freedom and confidence.
Self-Care & the Gospel: Building Blocks for Stewardship
Important aspects of stewardship include not only our treasure but also ourselves, so that we may more fully offer our talents and abilities for the benefit of others. We have also been entrusted with the Gospel and its final word: 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.
Understanding Our Relationship with Money
The biblical witness invites us to examine not simply what we have, but how our relationship to what we have shapes our lives. Scripture is less concerned with wealth in the abstract than with the ways abundance or scarcity can affect our trust in God and our relationships with others. Do we hold tightly to our resources out of fear, or see them as gifts that can be shared in service to God’s Realm? When resources are scarce, are we driven only by the desire to acquire more, or can we still imagine faithful ways of living with generosity, trust, and enough?
Generosity: An Agent of Transformation & Joy
If the world is to know wholeness and transformation, it will be through God working in and through us. People and communities are among the means by which God blesses, reveals, and transforms human circumstances. When we put what we have been given to work on behalf of the Realm, empowered by the Holy Spirit, things change. And we, like God, can delight in that change—including the transformation that takes place within us when we are free to give.