Nov. 08, 2020

Lives Generously

 Primary Text:  Proverbs 11:24-28                 November 7 & 8, 2020

1)  Refreshing

 Proverbs 11:24-28:  One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.  A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.  People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.  He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it.  Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

DQ 1) Define “generosity.”  Describe a situation where someone 

           else’s generosity was an extraordinary blessing to you.  

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 2)  A Basis for Generosity 

 1Timothy 6:6-8:  But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 

DQ 2) Define “contentment.”  Are you content with your current 

           position in life?  Why?

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 3)  Contradictory Love

 1 Timothy 6:9-10:  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

DQ 3) How does “materialism” deceive our hearts and inhibit love

           for other people?

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 4)  Temporal Love

 1 John 2:15-17:  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 

DQ 4) Has the Lord revealed to you this year ways in which you have loved the world without clearly recognizing it?  Have you been deceived into loving some aspects of the world?

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 5)  A Multiplier Effect

 Luke 6:38:  Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

DQ 5) How and why does generosity beget generosity?

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