Pilgrim - Church and Kingdom

A Course for the Christian Journey - Church and Kingdom

Stephen Cottrell, Paula Gooder, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson

• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780898699524
• eBook ISBN: 9780898699531
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Course 8: Church & Kingdom: What does it mean to live as a child of the kingdom of God and follow in the way of Christ each day as a member of his church? How does it affect our life at work as well as at home? How does it affect what we do with the gifts we have been given, especially those gifts of time and talents, passions, resources, and money? How is the Christian faith changing us and shaping us so that we become more like Jesus? The importance of prayer, living out our faith, celebrating Sabbath, and reflecting generosity is explored. We look at how faith in the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shapes and changes all our relationships

SESSION THREE:

LIVING GENEROUSLY

In this session we look at what it means to reflect the generosity of God in our own lives.

Opening Prayers

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed;

the Almighty has done great things for me

and holy is his name.

He has mercy on those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm

and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

Casting down the mighty from their thrones

and lifting up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away empty.

He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,

to remember his promise of mercy,

The promise made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

LUKE 1:46-55

Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever. Amen.

Loving God,

shine the light of your gospel

in and through my life each day;

help me to live as a disciple of Christ,

an ambassador for peace,

and a sign of your loving presence in the world.

Amen.

Conversation

How did you get on with thinking about issues of balance in your life and how the things we celebrate in worship overflow into and shape the rest of our lives, especially at work, where sometimes the things we have to do are in conflict with the values of our faith? What do you think it means to love generously?

Reflecting on Scripture

Reading

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; ²for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, ⁴begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints—⁵and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, ⁶so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. ⁷Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

⁸I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. ⁹For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. ¹⁰And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something—¹¹now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. ¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. ¹³I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between ¹⁴your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. ¹⁵As it is written,

“The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”

2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-15

Explanatory note

“The churches of Macedonia” refers to Christian communities in northern Greece, and would have included communities in Philippi and Thessalonica among others. This letter is addressed to the Corinthian community, which was located in southern Greece. The reference in verse 15 is to Exodus 16:18.

• Read the passage through once.
• Keep a few moments’ silence.
• Read the passage a second time with different voices.
• Invite everyone to say aloud a word or phrase that strikes them.
• Read the passage a third time.
• Share together what this word or phrase might mean and what questions it raises.

Reflection

JOHN PRESTON

Abundant giving

Even if a church had more money than it knew what to do with, it would still need to teach church members about giving. For as we learn to give, we find our place in God’s amazing plan of generosity, and we begin to reflect God’s character as we learn to live generously.

Generosity is right at the heart of God’s character.

Generosity is right at the heart of God’s character. God’s provision is always rich—we are not given just one butterfly in creation, but over 15,000 species of butterfly. All that we have, and all that we are, are part of God’s abundant giving.

But the simple truth is that our churches do need our giving of time, skills, and money in order to fulfill the ministry and mission that God is calling us to. Indeed, that invitation to us to participate, unworthy as we are, is itself part of God’s generosity.

Living generously requires us to give of all that we have—of time, hospitality, gifts, and money. The Macedonian Christians that Paul writes about in the reading we have looked at in this session knew what it was to live generously, even though they were themselves very poor and facing difficult times. Their priority was to put God first, and as they did so, they gave generously to the needs of the apostles with them, and to the collection for the church in Jerusalem.

There are many opportunities for us to give, and many ways to do so. Whether we give time, money, hospitality, or whether we give ourselves in prayer and compassion, Christian generosity is a rich tapestry of giving. This is beautifully illustrated by Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)—who gave time to stop, gave of himself by putting himself at risk in a dangerous situation, gave of his comfort in putting the injured man on his donkey and walking with him, and finally gave of his money when he got to an inn and paid for whatever care the man needed.

And here’s the amazing thing—as we allow God’s grace to flow through us, and give to those in need, so we find ourselves giving back to God. Matthew records Jesus teaching: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing” (Matthew 25:35-36).

We are called to be “Good Samaritans” as we respond generously to the situations that we encounter. But we’re also called to give in a planned and regular way. While this particularly applies to money, it is also good to give our time in a regular way through finding those opportunities where we can be of service to others in church and community, perhaps as a volunteer.

In short

Giving is important because it allows us to find our own place in God’s amazing plan of generosity. Even if the Church didn’t need our money, we would need to give.

For discussion

• If we reflect on the times when we give of our t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Welcome to Pilgrim
• Introduction to Church & Kingdom
• Session One: Praying through Life
• Session Two: At Home and at Work
• Session Three: Living Generously
• Session Four: In All My Relationships
• Session Five: Confronting the Injustices of the World
• Session Six: Treading Lightly on the Earth
• Notes