BasicsSession 7

Giving Back - God’s Way of Blessing You and Others

Participant Guide

BASICS

Table of Contents

Introduction and Objective 3

Religion vs. Relationship 3

It's All His 4

The Ultimate Example 5

His Command for All Believers 6

My Response to His Example 7

Application Points 8

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Introduction

Basics 7 -The purpose of this lesson is to help you understand the blessing behind God’s call on us to give. There is emphasis on understanding that everything is His and that giving is both a response to His command and a privilege. When we give, we are joining Him in His mission and being good stewards of what God has given us.

Objective

Gaining a solid grounding in understanding the blessings of giving

Religion vs. Relationship:

Uh oh, here it comes again! That preacher guy is asking for money again. What is it this time? The homeless? People in China? People without dads? They want me to serve downtown at a shelter? Did I bring any cash? Is there a check in my wallet? Can anyone help me find a gift envelope? I really do not like this part of the church experience. I love the music and the talks are fun, but don’t they know that my stocks took a downturn? Don’t they know that my weekends are for me? They are always in my pockets, or so it seems. I have always wondered why he drives a Mercedes!

How did we get to this place? How did we get to the place where the glorious privilege of serving and giving to God and His work has turned into such a painful exercise? God doesn’t need our stuff, but he expects us to give out of obedience and love for Him. He gave so much – how could we not?

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It’s All HisRead: Psalm 50:10-12

Haggai 2:8James 1:17

Discussion Question:1. What are your observations? What does this say to

you?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Food for ThoughtSince God is the owner of everything, what are we?

We are but the trustees or stewards of another’s goods, His goods. We are caretakers of all of it. It is not “my” home, “my” money, “my” car, or even “my” kids. God is, in fact, the giver of life and eternal life (John 14:6). We are just a vessel to be used for His purposes.

He owns it all!

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The Ultimate Example

Read: John 3:16

Discussion Questions:1. What did you learn about giving?

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2. What does this verse say about God and his motivation?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How does it make you feel? What do you want to do in response?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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His Command for All Believers

Read: 2 Corinthians 8 & 9

Write down your observations… What is being said about giving? What should motivate you? What is the effect?

Chapter 8______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Chapter 9______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Something to Chew OnOur society is full of many great examples of people who give back to God. Here is a great example of a guy who played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1990s. He became a Christian as a result of a spring break beach outreach in Daytona Beach, Florida. God got a hold of this man and he began to give generously. Being a professional athlete afforded him a very nice salary. With his income, he gave 90% away and lived on 10 %. So many people keep most and give a little. This man learned the privilege of giving early on in his Christian life.

My Response to His Example

Giving is not just about money. It’s about giving of ourselves in many ways. It’s about giving time, talent, and treasures. It’s about giving from the heart. The Bible says that where our treasure is…our heart will be there as well. Where is your heart today? Take some time to think about your giving in these three areas.

In what ways am I currently giving of my time, talents and treasures to God?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Application Points

What is something new that you learned about God today?

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What is God telling you to do with this new knowledge?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How can what you learned today help you in your daily life?

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For next week…

Put what you learned into action in tangible ways. There are many great ways that you can be involved…

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Pair up with an accountability partner to put God’s Word into action.

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