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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Handout

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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Closer to God: Gratitude and Hope (Chris)

Our series this season is exploring three universal parts of the human experience: grief, gratitude, and generosity.  This week, we will consider gratitude.  "Thanksgiving" is a constant theme in Scripture.  Like us, however, our forebears in faith were not always celebrating success and good fortune.  They faced adversity and difficulty, and yet maintained an attitude of appreciation for God.  We will reflect on their experiences and the lessons we can apply in our own lives. 

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Handout

The Seven Holy Feast Days (Bob Daffer)

Bob Daffer begins a two-part lesson on the Seven Holy Feast Days of the Lord and how they relate to Christ's first and second coming.

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Handout

Closer to God: The Gift of Gratitude (Randy)

In our Closer to God series, we contemplate “The Gift of Gratitude.” We’ll explore why gratitude is so challenging in our modern, self-focused world and why many people feel thankful without truly understanding whom they’re thanking. Scripture reminds us that gratitude is not just good manners or an abstract feeling, but rather a proper response to grace.

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