RECAP: In a year like 2020 where everything feels like it’s went down the toilet, things feel uncertain, a pandemic is flaring, and job security feels tenuous the temptation is to live tight-fisted. To hold on with a death grip to everything and yet what we see in the pages of the Bible is that our best life is lived when we actually live open-handed and generous, even in hard times. That can’t be right, can it? When we can take steps to trust God as our provider, and live open-handed what we realize is that open-handedness is never a loss, it’s always an investment. God is a generous God and although in times like this, living open-handed can illicit fear, what we realize as we follow Him is that the thing to fear isn’t giving away too much, it’s sowing too little!

QUESTIONS:
1.They often talk about the mentality of the generation that grew up in the Great Depression. How they hide money in mattresses, and hang paper towel on a clothes line to dry(!). What have you changed (if anything) during this COVID season when it comes to your possessions or resources?
2.Where do you tend to most live “tight fisted” vs. “open handed”? Why do you think that is? How about the reverse? Why do you think that is?
3.Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. What do you think vs. 6 means? Have you seen that in your own life?
4.According to 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 what does it say that God does and what do we “receive” when we live open-handed?
5.In verses 8-11 we receive a promise of what God will do for us, what we will accomplish, and what will happen in us. List out those promises. In the message, we talked about how it comes down to our trust in God. Why do you think it’s hard to trust God when it comes to living open-handedly?
6.“Open-handed” living is never a loss, it’s always an investment. How have you seen that in your experience?
7.What’s one step you can take to live more generously?