Daily Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:5 So I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go on to you ahead of me and prepare your promised gift in plenty of time; this way it will be ready when I come and will be a genuine gift, not something extracted by pressure.
6 Here’s the point: he who plants sparingly also harvests sparingly. 7 Each should give according to what he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.[2 Corinthians 9:7 Proverbs 22:8 (Septuagint)] 8 Moreover, God has the power to provide you with every gracious gift in abundance, so that always in every way you will have all you need yourselves and be able to provide abundantly for every good cause —
12 because rendering this holy service not only provides for the needs of God’s people, but it also overflows in the many thanks people will be giving to God. 13 In offering this service you prove to these people that you glorify God by actually doing what your acknowledgement of the Good News of the Messiah requires, namely, sharing generously with them and with everyone. 14 And in their prayers for you they will feel a strong affection for you because of how gracious God has been to you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Reflection Questions:“God has the power to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace” (verse 8). Paul, a traveling Christian preacher who owned, as far as we know, no real estate, no life insurance, and no retirement plan, wrote those words! That does not mean it is wrong to have any of those things. It does challenge us to rethink how we define “more than enough.” Paul stressed that God-given love leads all believers to care about each other. He told the Corinthians that the Jerusalem believers “will also pray for you, and they will care deeply for you,” stressing that the giving was a two-way street even when it took different forms.
- Paul did not invent the idea that God’s people should give freely (both in terms of money and in terms of time, talent and encouragement) without pressure. In Exodus 25:2, the command about offerings to build a sanctuary in the desert was “Receive my gift offerings from everyone who freely wants to give.” What reasons would God have for wanting us to give from free, grateful hearts without coercion or pressure? When have you felt the joy of giving freely from a grateful heart filled with love?
Lord Jesus, open my eyes to the abundance you provide in my life. May my heart sing as, out of your abundance, I seek to be your physical presence to the people in my world. Amen.
Family Activity:
John Wesley’s rule states, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” Read Matthew 5:14-16[Matthew 5:14 “You are light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.]. As a family, talk about Wesley’s rule and how it can help you apply the teachings of Jesus in Matthew. Draw a picture of Resurrection’s church building. Create a collage of pictures and words inside and outside the church describing how your family can live as a “city on a hill” for Jesus. Plan to attend worship and serve in the community in the weeks and months ahead as Resurrection continues sharing the love of Jesus with all people.Insight From Denise Mersmann
Denise Mersmann serves as the Early Childhood Coordinating Assistant at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
Our family joined Resurrection in July of 1996, about two weeks before our second daughter, Caroline, was born. In October of that year Carrie passed away suddenly from leukemia that had not been diagnosed. Our family was in shock, our world had been rocked and our faith was shaken.
Within hours of Carrie’s death, we received a call from Pastor Adam that he would be coming to talk to us and help us make decisions about the funeral. By the time he arrived, people we had never met were dropping off food, offering to help in any way they could. Flowers and plants came from Kate’s Sunday school teachers and families of kids she had just met. The mom of a youth nursery volunteer called to say how heartbroken her daughter was. She had just gotten to hold Carrie the previous Sunday and wondered if it would be okay if they attended the visitation.
The next day our mailbox was filled with sympathy cards–some from people we knew, but mostly from people at our new church we had never met. Over the next couple of weeks our mailbox continued to be filled with cards and notes, signed “your COR family”, “prayers from a friend at Church of the Resurrection,” and “we haven’t met, but we go to your church.”
As we went through the days and weeks ahead adjusting to our new normal, we found that our “church family” (this group of strangers from the church that we were told would be too big for us to really get connected) had taken their time and put forth the effort to be stretcher bearers for our family.
Through the years we realized that during the darkest time of our lives, God had shown us His incredible mercy by putting us in a place where His people could show us His love in real, tangible ways. Not one person who supported us during this time did it because they had to. They did it because they know God’s grace and realize that His grace is more than enough for each of us. More importantly they know that by spreading His grace the world can be changed, one person at a time.
On Carrie’s eighteenth birthday, I pulled out the box with all those cards (over 400 total) and sat down to read the words that had carried and sustained my family many years before. As I read them and looked at the names of the strangers who had sent them, I found that most of these people weren’t strangers at all. Over the years, we have gotten to know many of the people who took the time to care for us. In fact, as I read the heartfelt message of one card I was not surprised to see the names at the bottom were a family that went from our “COR family” to our dearest friends.
You see, God knew that what we needed wasn’t just for the moment. We needed a church family that would celebrate with us, grieve with us, laugh and cry with us, and most of all live the example of what His grace looks like, so that we can one day share that grace with another family who needs it.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Our family joined Resurrection in July of 1996, about two weeks before our second daughter, Caroline, was born. In October of that year Carrie passed away suddenly from leukemia that had not been diagnosed. Our family was in shock, our world had been rocked and our faith was shaken.
Within hours of Carrie’s death, we received a call from Pastor Adam that he would be coming to talk to us and help us make decisions about the funeral. By the time he arrived, people we had never met were dropping off food, offering to help in any way they could. Flowers and plants came from Kate’s Sunday school teachers and families of kids she had just met. The mom of a youth nursery volunteer called to say how heartbroken her daughter was. She had just gotten to hold Carrie the previous Sunday and wondered if it would be okay if they attended the visitation.
The next day our mailbox was filled with sympathy cards–some from people we knew, but mostly from people at our new church we had never met. Over the next couple of weeks our mailbox continued to be filled with cards and notes, signed “your COR family”, “prayers from a friend at Church of the Resurrection,” and “we haven’t met, but we go to your church.”
As we went through the days and weeks ahead adjusting to our new normal, we found that our “church family” (this group of strangers from the church that we were told would be too big for us to really get connected) had taken their time and put forth the effort to be stretcher bearers for our family.
Through the years we realized that during the darkest time of our lives, God had shown us His incredible mercy by putting us in a place where His people could show us His love in real, tangible ways. Not one person who supported us during this time did it because they had to. They did it because they know God’s grace and realize that His grace is more than enough for each of us. More importantly they know that by spreading His grace the world can be changed, one person at a time.
On Carrie’s eighteenth birthday, I pulled out the box with all those cards (over 400 total) and sat down to read the words that had carried and sustained my family many years before. As I read them and looked at the names of the strangers who had sent them, I found that most of these people weren’t strangers at all. Over the years, we have gotten to know many of the people who took the time to care for us. In fact, as I read the heartfelt message of one card I was not surprised to see the names at the bottom were a family that went from our “COR family” to our dearest friends.
You see, God knew that what we needed wasn’t just for the moment. We needed a church family that would celebrate with us, grieve with us, laugh and cry with us, and most of all live the example of what His grace looks like, so that we can one day share that grace with another family who needs it.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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