The Joy of Advent (Randy)

In this short Advent devotional, we explore how biblical joy is not found in perfect circumstances, but in recognizing God’s presence and grace given to us through Jesus at Christmas. It will be a chance to slow down, welcome Christ, and rediscover the joy grounded in God’s gift of grace.

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Closer to God: Living Generously (Chris)

Chris shares perspective from his book WISEgenerosity on how the five types of generosity (possessional, personal, social, emotional, relational) lead us towards faithful discipleship and being more like Christ in our lives.  You also will learn your own Generosity Personality Type as a way to better experience and express giving that is W.I.S.E.: Well-grounded, Inspired, Satisfying, and Effective.

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Closer to God: W.I.S.E. Generosity (Chris)

Drawing from his book WISEgenerosity, Chris leads us in considering how giving and altruism in all of their forms are essential virtues for full and faithful lives.  We are made to be generous because God is generous, and Christ modeled perfect generosity.  For us to experience the full transformational potential of generosity, it must be W.I.S.E.: Well-grounded, Inspired, Satisfying, and Effective.

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Closer to God: Living Generously (Randy)

In this lesson, we continue our Closer to God series by exploring generosity as a whole-life response to God’s love. Building on last week’s discussion of financial generosity, we’ll look at the beautiful story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’ feet and discover how her bold act models seven forms of generosity: time, attention, wealth, talents, possessions, reputation, and comfort.

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Closer to God: The Grace of Generosity (Randy)

In this lesson, we explore how the gospel reshapes our relationship with money, possessions, and giving. Looking at Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler in Luke 18, we’ll examine why money holds such power in our lives, how it can subtly become an idol, and how true generosity can only flow from a heart transformed by Christ’s generosity toward us.

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Closer to God: Faithful and Grateful (Chris)

This week concludes the middle section of our series on grief, gratitude, and generosity by exploring the connection between faith and gratefulness.  We will contrast the world's view of gratitude and a Christian understanding.  We will consider the example of Jesus's mother Mary from the Bible.  We will outline methods for pursuing gratitude more fully in our own lives.  Ultimately, we will recognize the love of God expressed through the cross of Christ as the ultimate reason for thankfulness.

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Closer to God: Gratitude as Worship (Randy)

Continuing in our theme, Closer to God, tomorrow we’ll explore “Gratitude as Worship.” Our culture talks a lot about being thankful, but rarely directs that gratitude to God. Psalm 100 reminds us that true thanksgiving always leads to worship. We “enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” Join us as we learn how Jesus reorients our hearts from self-focus to genuine worship, where gratitude becomes an act of praise to the Giver of all good things.

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