14th July 2020
It's Thursday, 14th July 2020.
Hello everyone, it’s Mr Keep here.
May the Lord be with you.
We are Bishop Ridley, we are One Community, Learning & Growing Together, Sharing the Love of God.
Today, we will be thinking about generosity.
Our Bible verse for today is 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Generosity Encouraged
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”[a]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Our song for today is My Lighthouse
Our thought for the day
Today we are going to think about “A generous heart”.
We are going to look at this through two stories, one from the bible and one from modern times.
Let’s start by thinking about the story of Zaccheus. You can watch the video below to remind you of the story:
Think about his generosity when he comes to believe in Jesus. This inspires him to give away half his wealth. But he doesn’t stop there – he goes on to compensate those whom he has cheated by giving them back fourfold (Luke 19). Why do you think he did this?
In more modern times – let’s think about Project Malachi – this is an exciting homeless housing project that was inspired by 5-year old Malachi, who gave his £5 tooth fairy money to the Salvation Army to build houses for homeless people. 3 years later and 42 units have been built to give those who don’t have a home a place to live.
This is a really inspirational story and you might like to find out a bit more by visiting https://popuphostel-ilfordsalvationarmy.nationbuilder.com/about
Time for reflection
Malachi, like the widow in the story yesterday, gave all he had. Look at the difference it made!
I wonder how these stories makes you feel?
Is there anything you can do to show generosity to people in your life?
A prayer for today
Think about what this prayer (written more than 400 years ago by St Ignatius Loyola) might mean and use it to help you to reflect on how you can be more generous:
Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous;
teach me to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to seek reward,
except that of knowing that I do your will.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.