"Giving is not something we do, but something we are. Giving is a way of life for the Christian who understands the grace of God." - Warren Wiersbe

Generosity has a generational and eternal effect

MY NEXT STEP TODAY IS:

I need to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior for the first time.
https://thebridgevenice.churchcenter.com/people/forms/500390

I need to be baptized.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/baptism

I need to attend Starting Point.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/starting-point

I need to join a serve team.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/serve

I need to join a small group.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/bridge-groups

Dig Deeper:
1. Read John 13:34-35. What does it look like to love one another?
2. Describe at time when someone noticed you as a believer in Christ by your love for others.
3. A part of our strategy at The Bridge Church is to live generously by using our gifts, talents and resources for others. Describe in your own words what that means.
4. Generosity is a heart issue before it’s a giving issue. Why?
5. Read Acts 4:32 and Acts 2:44. What does “one heart and mind” mean?
6. Describe a time when you’ve witnessed a group that behaved this way. What was the outcome?
7. How is a church being unified different than having uniformity? What is uniformity focused on? What is unity focused on?
8. Read Ephesians 4:1-3. Are we the ones that have to create unity? Why or why not? How are we able to be unified?
9. Read Acts 4:32. What does it mean that “they held everything in common”?
10. Describe a time when you’ve witnessed a group that behaved this way. What was the outcome?
11. Read Psalm 24:1. What belongs to the Lord? List out certain items.
12. How does our time and talent also belong to God? Use examples in your own life.
13. How is God generous to us? Provide examples.
14. Read Acts 4:34-35. What would this radical generosity look like now?
15. Read Acts 4:36-37. Then read Acts 11:22-24. Knowing what you learn about Barnabus, is it surprising that he was so generous? Why or why not?
16. How do generosity and encouragement go together?
17. Who is a Barnabas to you? How can you be a Barnabas to someone else?
18. Look up all the definitions of grace. Define God’s grace.
19. Read Acts 4:33. Where does the power and grace come from? Why must there be both?
20. How should God’s grace drive our motivations?
21. Eternal investment outweighs earthly investment. We cannot take what we have with us into eternity. How does this change your mindset? Why?

Live It Out:

The church is not a place you go to but a people you belong to. As a community at The Bridge Church, we can learn this from the early church by seeing that they were:

1. A community in unity. The church is unified when we focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is there anyone in your life that you are experiencing disunity with? Determine why there is a lack of unity and what part you can play in being unified again. Pray to God, asking Him to do a work in your relationship, and take the next step to find unity in the relationship.
2. A generous community. Generosity has a generational and eternal effect. God has blessed us to be a blessing. Are you becoming more generous or less generous? Are you more generous with your time, talent, and treasure now than you were compared to last year this time? Knowing that God owns it all, and that we serve an incredibly generous God, what is your next step to using your time, talent, and treasure to glorify Him?
3. A grace-filled community. Who have you shared your testimony with? If you haven’t ever shared with someone else what God has done, and is doing, in your life, begin today. Share the free and unwarranted favor of God with others so that they, too, can be invited to share a personal relationship with Him. Share His grace with others.

Reading Plan:
Monday: John 13:34
Tuesday: Acts 4:32-33
Wednesday: Acts 4:34-35
Thursday: Acts 4:36-37
Friday: Acts 2:44, Ephesians 4:1-3
Saturday: Psalm 24:1