Group Guide

November 5th, 2023

This Week's City 7:

1. Who is Jesus? I believe Jesus is God because Jesus said He is God and proved it by rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples, His brother James, 500 others at one time and Paul.
(Mark 3:21; John 8:58, 10:30-33, 14:9-11; Acts 9:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; James 1:1)

Ice-Breaker:

Are you a goin' out type or more of a home-body? As you've gotten older, how has your social life changed?

Discussion Questions:

Have someone read 2 Corinthians 9:1-9 aloud.

In verses 1 and 2, Paul again references the "ministry of giving." Giving is a ministry that funds the spreading of the gospel and that meets the needs of people. Paul was bragging on this church's eagerness to give, basically saying that they were always down to help. Their readiness to give, their faith and their sacrifice was an example to everyone else. Do you see YOUR giving as a ministry? Could it be said of you that you are "always down" to give when a need arises?
Paul then gives an example of a farmer who is planting seeds. A small amount of seeds only yields a small crop, but generous planting brings forth a generous crop. Each person must decide for themselves how much to give. In other words, they should led by the Holy Spirit as to how much they should give. How often are you praying over how much you should be giving? Or do you just set it and forget it?
"God loves a person who gives cheerfully." God delights in the cheerful giver because HE is a cheerful giver. God longs to see this characteristic among those who belong to Him. To be generous and give cheerfully is to be more like God. So that means part of the discipleship and sanctification process of becoming more like Jesus is becoming more and more generous. As you look back over your life the past few years, have you grown in generosity? Would God consider you a cheerful giver?
Then Paul, once again, compares the Corinthians to the Macedonians. The Macedonians, if you remember, were very poor but still eager to give all they had. The Macedonians had been blessed with contentment in their poverty, allowing them to still be moved to be generous. He was urging the Corinthians to also be content, but in their affluence, and to give generously the extra they had. Paul said in Philippians 4:11-12, "Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." Whether you have a lot or a little, are you content with what God has blessed you with? Or are you constantly driven to acquire more stuff? How do you know if you are content?
The Big Idea from Sunday was, "I'm READY to give GENEROUSLY to the EMERGENCY!" When you are moved by the urgency of the gospel getting to a dying world, you can't help but to give. Reread this quote from Francis Chan..."We have become dangerously comfortable—believers ooze with wealth and let their addictions to comfort and security numb the radical urgency of the gospel." Generosity to the emergency is the primary way we drive a stake in the heart of the idolatry of our own comfort and security. What would it look like in YOUR life to drive a stake in the heart of your own comfort? What might it look like to give generously to the emergency? What is holding you back?

Prayer Topics:

That we would always be down to give.
That we would grow in generosity.
That we would learn to be content.
That we would be moved to give to the emergency.

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