Consider this

  When my granddaughter was young, she would hold out some of her snack, and I would say, “Oooh… is that for grandpa??”  Then she would take it back, eat it and laugh!  It was the funniest thing to her.  Lately, that has changed.  At a recent Bruins game, she sat down beside me and said, “Grandpa, this popcorn is for both of us”, and happily shared it with me.  Generosity is a sign of growing up. Occasionally, God’s people were mature enough to really understand the value of giving. In the earliest days, when God’s people first started worshipping him, they gave so much that Moses had to tell them to stop bringing their gifts (Exodus 36:1-7).  Later, when King Hezekiah reopened the temple, they gave so many gifts that they were piled in heaps around the courtyard (2 Chronicles 31).  Generosity was one of the most prominent qualities of the New Testament church ...

 If we see the word of God as just a bunch of rules and things for us to do, we see it incorrectly. The word has power to change and shape us in ways that we do not see or understand https://youtu.be/_ykQut1RztI  

  In 2021, after years of hard work and dedication, Polish javelin thrower Marie Andrejczyk realized a dream by winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. While this accomplishment was worth celebrating and remembering, what she did next was even more impressive.   Andrejczyk heard about an 8-month-old boy who needed heart surgery, so she decided to auction off her medal and donate the money to the family. A Polish convenience store named Zabka purchased the medal for $125 000. The family of the little boy received the money, and the surgery was completed. However, the story does not end there.   After winning the auction, Zabka contacted Andrejczyk and informed her that they were returning the medal to her. In the end, the store received some good publicity, a baby received the medical care he needed, and Maria was able to keep the medal she had worked so hard to win. That is what happens when we lead with kindness.   Unfortunately, kindness is not a word t...

  What generosity says about us and why it matters   https://youtu.be/Z3W-2-xUsGg  

 Five words to help shape 2026.  https://youtu.be/Nodiu3Eowiw  

 Knowing the real details of Jesus' birth makes it even more powerful.  https://youtu.be/h_LKDmd5RWQ