A Cup of Generosity is a monthly letter from Pastor Dana Karen Reardon and the Grand Canyon Synod Stewardship Team. Feel free to use the posts or PDFs in congregational newsletters, sermons, programming or any other use. We present archives on this page. View our main stewardship page here.
"When you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Matthew 6:3
It occurred to me the other day as I was trying to work with a budget app that my daughters had talked me into, that sooner or later your left hand is going to figure out what your right hand is doing.
View this month’s Cup of Generosity in this post or in this PDF.
“We should look to see what God is doing in our lives but with the knowledge that God isn't out to get us but God is there to guide us, comfort us, perhaps sometimes to challenge us but always to be leading us in the right direction and caring for us along the way.”
View this month’s Cup of Generosity in this post or in this PDF.
Two thirds of everything Jesus said related to money and not because Jesus cared about money but because Jesus cares about us and our spiritual welfare. He taught us that where our treasure is there will our heart be also. And Jesus wants our hearts.
I read an article the other day that suggested that generosity is an early sign of Alzheimer’s. My first reaction was to laugh, because I have often told people that God has early Alzheimer’s. I say that because it tells us in the psalms that God not only forgives our sins, but also forgets them. That is one way that God is generous to us. And that is a good thing.
After I stopped laughing however, I decided that this is something I should think about seriously. Read more in this post or view as PDF.
“Has all this inflation made you nervous and maybe made you think about pulling in and not being quite so generous so that you will have enough for yourself? I think that's only natural but often when we think about something being natural, it's really sin. By our own nature we don't tend to do good. But when the spirit gets a hold of us it can do great things through us.” Read in this post or view as PDF.
“Stewardship is not just about what we give to the church, but how we spend and use everything that God has given us. Everything that we give comes first from God and passing it on is a way of affirming our faith that God will continue to bless us.” Read in this post or view as PDF.
“I see Jesus saying, ‘Give to everyone who begs from you’ as less of a command and more of an invitation into an attitude of generosity. I see all the requests and pleas and need out there as God offering us options.” Read in this post or view as PDF.
“We are stewards of something greater than our monetary wealth. Paul tells us we are stewards of God’s mysteries. We have a new stewardship campaign at our church. We are pledging to invite people into these mysteries.” Read in this post or view as PDF.
Have you ever seen somebody going through a really tough time during Thanksgiving and wondered how they could feel thankful? Or know people who are really poor and wonder how they could be generous?
What I have learned over the years is that thankfulness and generosity are intrinsically tied together and yet neither has very much to do with one's circumstances or fortunes. Read in this post or view as PDF.
I was telling my granddaughter the other day that a good portion of artistic skill lies in how you see things. I have an artistic eye, but because of my tremor, I don't do much with it anymore. However, it got me thinking there are other things that are so much in how we see things, like generosity.