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“Roll Over and Play Dead” – General Conference to the Conferences
By Jack Hoehn | September 15, 2019 | I am a lifelong member of the Seventh-day Adventist church, an ordained elder, a Sabbath School teacher. I am also a delegate from my church to the September 15, 2019, Constituency Session of the Upper Columbia Conference (UCC) of Seventh-day Adventists. I am asking questions raised by […] Source: https://atoday.org/roll-over-and-play-dead-general-conference-to-the-conferences/
Tuesday: Generosity
“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7, NIV), and generous giving is an important aspect of the Christian life. While we must allow the Bible to challenge our giving and financial priorities, generosity is more than just throwing money at a cause, no matter how worthy.
Instead, generosity is one of the largest of life attitudes and a key quality of “those who fear the LORD”, as noted a number of times in Psalm 112: “Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice” (Ps. 112:5, NIV).
What do the following texts teach about generosity toward those in need? Lev. 25:35-37, Ps. 119:36, 2 Cor. 8:12-15, 1 John 3:16-18, 1 Tim. 6:17-19.
Generosity
In his New Testament letters, Paul regularly cited the generosity of God—expressed most fully in Jesus’ giving His life for us—as the source of the Christian hope. In turn, His death for us was also the motivation for our living a life of generosity toward others: “I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ” (Philem. 1:6, NIV).
Generosity is an attitude toward life that is large, bold, and embracing. So much in our individual lives, societies, and cultures prompts us to focus on ourselves, to keep as much as we can for ourselves. And let’s face it, for most of us the default mode is always self, self, self anyway.
If it is real, our faith will cause us to die to self and live more for others. Our faith helps us imagine the world and its people as God sees them, in both their goodness and their brokenness, and it impels us to seek to help those in need, to whatever degree possible.
As a quality of living, generosity is readily appreciated by fundraisers and charities. Such generosity is measurable and directly practical. But large donations do not necessarily indicate a generous life (see Mark 12:41-44). A generous life is larger and more valuable than any donation. We need better to appreciate and cultivate a generous spirit in all that we do. For most people, generosity doesn’t come naturally; it is grace that we need to express in our lives proactively and purposely, regardless of the pull of our sinful, selfish humanity.
| Besides giving money, even generously, what are other ways that we should manifest a generous spirit? |
Amen!
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12.3 Generosity – TO LOVE MERCY | Pastor Kurt Piesslinger, M.A.
Series THE LEAST OF THESE with Pastor Kurt Piesslinger, M.A. |
12.TO LOVE MERCY |
It is easy not to look at the oppressed. Caring for those people who are neglected, produces blessing for us and those around us. Jesus will give us the power for this service.
12.3 Generosity
My God bless you today and always.
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Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/12-3-generosity-to-love-mercy-pastor-kurt-piesslinger-m-a/
12: To Love Mercy – Singing with Inspiration
We are reminded on Sabbath afternoon that the horrors of this world for the poor, homeless, oppressed, slaves, the exploited, the selfish, greedy and violent will come to an end abruptly as
“Jesus Is Coming Again”, Hymn 213. Other hymns of this flavour are
Hymn 212, “’Tis Almost Time for the Lord to Come”,
Hymn 215, “The King Shall Come”,
Hymn 208, “There’ll Be No Dark Valley” and
Hymn 216, “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder”, to name just a few. We are then encouraged to stand up again these evils and sing
“Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus” Hymn 618.
In reading Matthew 6:25-33 on Sunday we find that
Hymn 467, “Life Is Great! So Sing About It” has verse one singing parts of the scripture. This is followed by verse two of 
Hymn 577, “In The Heart of Jesus”, then verse two of
Hymn 55, “Jesus, Tender Shepherd, Hear Me” and closing with verse one of
Hymn 224, “Seek Ye First the Kingdom”.
On Monday there are hymns about our compassionate Jesus to sing:
Hymn 70, “Praise Ye the Father”,
Hymn 100, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”,
Hymn 191, “Love Divine”,
Hymn 485, “I Must Tell Jesus”, to name a few.
On the topic of prayer, there are many hymns. Here is a sample:
Hymn 478, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”,
Hymn 501, “Tis the Blessed Hour of Prayer”,
Hymn 505, “I Need the Prayers”,
Hymn 658, Heavenly Father, Hear Our Prayer” and
Hymn 684, “Hear Our Prayer, O Lord”.
God is the most cheerful giver on Tuesday in
Hymn 12, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”.
To be peacemakers we are first to have our own peace in
Hymn 463, “Peace, Perfect Peace” along with
Hymn 466, “Wonderful Peace”.
Ecclesiastes 3:7 “a time to be silent and a time to speak” will give us two hymns:
Hymn 479, “Tread Softly” and
Hymn 434, “We Speak of the Realms”. May we speak up for those who need our help.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
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