Back to creative ideas for generosity -- one person suggested providing hot chocolate and cookies to shoppers at area retailers. Cool idea because it gets us out from the church and into the community.

Without knowing it the American church has mistakenly turned Christianity into something that's done in a building at a certain time. Effectively people have to go to church to hear about Jesus. That's a problem because people are increasingly distanced from church. So we need to hear Jesus' call to "Go and make disciples." Serving the community helps us do that. Any new thoughts on writing a story of generosity?

Here's a service project example I found on the web. I share it here just to spur on our thoughts.

Generosity stories are springing up. One woman told me that she and her husband have been going through some very challenging financial times. Paying the mortgage has been a serious challenge. But God provided just when they needed it! During this time frame of not knowing if the mortgage could be paid, God touched her heart to invite a single mom to our Women's Candlelight Dinner this weekend. The single mom did not have the money to pay for the ticket so this woman told her that the ticket would be covered. The next day someone left a $20 bill on her coat which she found after a meeting -- enough to pay for the ticket!

Let's write a story of generosity. What's your story?

I heard of a church that paid for the materials of a new home, supplied free labor to build the home, sold the home for a profit that was under market cost to a family that needed it, and used the profit to help people in their community. That's quite a story of funding generosity! What are your ideas? (Check out 2 Corinthians 9:12-15.)

What if we brought Christmas -- the whole thing -- to a needy family? Tree, decorations, gifts, food, carols -- everything!

That was one email comment I received in response to the challenge to write a story of generosity. Other ideas included: putting shopping cart away at stores, raking leaves and cleaning windows, collecting food for the food shelf, and providing a public list  of skills available from different people -- then providing some sort of way for people to connect the need with the skill. Another idea was to provide a baby sitting service for a Couples Night Out.

Wow! Those are some great ideas! Keep them coming! Let's pray about this and see what God does!

Compassion moves us into the world. When Jesus told His followers to "Go and make disciples", they had a mindset of intersecting with the world. The typical Christian mindset today is to tell the world to "come" to us.

Mark 8:1-10 tells the story of Jesus feeding thousands of people through the miracle of transforming loaves of bread and a few fish into food for all those people. I notice that this happened in a remote place (verse 3) and because Jesus had compassion (verse 2). It's hard to know people's needs if you do not intersect with their world and "go" to them.

As you meet people this week, try to discern their need.  And if you have a heart of compassion, act on it.

If you see a need, let me know by clicking on comment.

A good story is like a virus -- it spreads all over. (I've had a cold for over a week and I'm ready to have it done!)

Yesterday I challenged the congregation to create a story that is so compelling that it gets talked about. I'd like to invite you into a conversation about ideas of beginning the story of generosity in our area. Perhaps we can do this through a church wide service project. Some ideas I offered to get your creative juices flowing include:car clinics, raking leaves, holiday meals, free root beer floats, food collection for the food shelf, handing out water at parades, washing windows, coffee giveaways, gift wrapping for Christmas, cleaning restrooms, free shoe shine, scraping fireplaces, cleaning chimneys, cleaning leaves out of gutters . . .

Let's talk about creating a story of generosity.

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. (2 Corinthians 8:7)

Generosity is diverse. Whether it's our time, our talents, or our treasures we can be generous. In a world that wants to take Christ calls us to give. That will change your marriage (Ephesians 5:25), your relationships (Ephesians 4:28) . . . everything. What is the potential for generosity to change your world?