The Ripple Effect of Giving

Main Thought

God has given us more than we might realize, and more than we might be able to imagine. He gave because He loves us. What’s the appropriate response to God’s giving and love toward us? Three words that can describe an appropriate response to God are remember, return, and rejoice. We remember God’s faithfulness to us. Moments of reflection, gratitude, and thanksgiving can help us do that. We can also return to God what belongs to Him. Our resources ultimately came from God; why not return a portion to express our love for Him? Finally, we can rejoice in God’s overflowing love and provision. God has given us more than enough for us to experience His love and live for Him. That’s worth celebrating.

Main Passages

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. - Deuteronomy 26:1-6

7 Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

- Deuteronomy 26:7-11

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

- 2 Corinthians 8:1-2

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought and Main Passages above?

2. Can you think of one gift from God that’s worth remembering and rejoicing over? If so, share with your group.

3. Deuteronomy 26:10 says (in part): “And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.” Why do you think God established a biblical pattern of worship in which we return some of the things He’s blessed us with to Him through giving? What might that look like in your life?

The Math of More than Enough

Main Thought

Math can help us solve a lot of problems, but can it help us solve a problematic lack of content and true satisfaction? The “Math of More than Enough” can! God wants to help us find true satisfaction in Him in ways that simply pursuing “more” (more money, possessions, experiences, etc.) never can. According to the Math of More than Enough:

Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain

Godliness is an inside-out devotion to God. It’s loving God more and living like Christ. We can grow in godliness when we give God our attention and when we give God our actions. Contentment comes from being happy with what we have, and deciding that we have enough. Giving can teach us to be content because it requires us to decide that we have enough. Other people are blessed when we make this decision too. If we want to increase our “great gain,” the true satisfaction and happiness that everyone wants, then we should look to grow in godliness and contentment.

Main Passages

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.“

- 1 Timothy 6:6-8

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

- 1 Timothy 6:9-10

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

- 2 Corinthians 9:7-8

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think you have found “great gain,” true satisfaction or happiness, in God? Why or why not?

2. How do you think the godliness contributes to the satisfaction we find in God? Is there anything you can do to grow in godliness?

3. How do you think contentment contributes to the satisfaction we find in God? Is there anything you can do to grow in godliness?

A Surprising Way to Get Closer to God

Main Thought

A lot of people want to get closer to God. We often use this language intuitively, but what do we really mean by that? To be closer to God is to experience more of His love, and to love Him more in response. In order to love God more, we need to give Him our hearts. But our hearts are pulled in many other directions. We need to move our hearts toward God. This is something that tends to happen gradually.

Jesus taught us an effective - and surprising - way to gradually move our hearts toward God in Matthew 6:19-24. Giving money to God can help us give our hearts to Him. In doing so, we make the willful decision to value God and His Kingdom more. We give to God when our money goes toward things that facilitate the worship of God, and when we help make a way for others to know Him. Moving our finances toward God moves our focus toward God. When we focus on God, our awareness of Him and His love grows. We get closer to Him.

Main Passages

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

- Matthew 6:19-21

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.'

- Matthew 6:22-24

'And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. '

- Matthew 22:37-38

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or the Main Passages above?

2. Think about the statement Jesus makes in Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What do you think that means? How would you rephrase that statement in your own words?

3. Have you ever thought about giving as a means to get closer to God? Has giving to God ever helped you feel closer to Him, or do you think it could?