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Beloved Resurrection, One year ago, we embarked upon a two-year generosity initiative called Moved by Jesus. Moved by Jesus had two goals: a primary goal that 100% of our church family would participate in life-changing generosity, and a secondary goal of raising $7 million for our vision to Equip Everyone for Transformation. We are now at the midpoint of this journey, and we find ourselves convinced that God is calling Resurrection to unleash her generosity like we have never seen before. We are convinced of this because of two reasons. The first has to do with our primary goal of the Moved by Jesus initiative: 100% Engagement. 100% Engagement is a biblical call for all of us to give in a surrendered, gospel-driven way that is moved by Jesus and Jesus alone. We believe so strongly in 100% Engagement that now, at the midpoint of our journey, we are beginning a four-week series called Transform that will challenge all of us to respond to the example of Jesus’ radical generosity. We will study four teachings by Jesus from Luke 12 on the topic of life-changing generosity. The book that you are holding will help you walk through these four weeks as we hear from the Lord together. Write your name on the front, and bring it with you every Sunday until Commitment Sunday on 10/23. Throughout the week, you can use this book to meditate on Luke 12, pray through the questions, and engage the sermon content. Secondly, as we approach the halfway point of this two-year generosity journey, we are on track to reach the projection of commitments and expected gifts received last November. That amount is $5.6 million. But we believe wholeheartedly that God has more in store for Resurrection, and we would like to challenge all of us—100% of us—to take one of the three steps of generosity explained on page 7 in order to move toward this $7 million vision to equip everyone for transformation. Katherine and I began our generosity lifestyle from the first day of our marriage. And yet, Resurrection’s growth as a church always presents us with new opportunities to allow our generosity commitment not simply to be obedient but also transformational. As we prayed about Moved by Jesus and as we face one child in college with many more to follow, we needed an encounter with Jesus to give sacrificially. That is precisely what happened, and we are so thankful to finish strong in a way that changes our hearts. Join us in this journey. Be changed by generosity as we are Moved by Jesus. We are so thankful for you.
Much love,
+ S tewart a nd Katherine
TABLE OF CONTENTS This workbook is an essential tool for your Transform journey! Bring it with you every Sunday from 10/2–10/23 so that you can engage the teachings, respond to questions, and pray over the commitment that you will make on Commitment Sunday when you bring forward your Commitment Card.
Moved By Jesus: One Year Later
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Looking Forward: 100% Engagement
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Looking Forward: One Fund of $7 Million
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Transform: Being Changed by Generosity
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An Introduction to Luke 12
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10/2: A Changed View on Need
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10/9: A Changed View on Possessions
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10/16: A Changed View on Security
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10/23: A Changed View on Stewardship
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© 2016 Church of the Resurrection. All rights reserved. Editor: Bethany McLellan. Design: Alan Miller. Peter and Jesus Illustration: Kyle Rohane. Copyeditor: Ashley Davila. The Scripture is from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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OCT
2016
ONE YEAR LATER The Moved by Jesus journey began in October 2015. We faced a pivotal crossroads: Would we settle into our safe haven, or would we equip our church to send out workers to the harvest, as Jesus calls us to in Matthew 9? And so we committed to giving generously so that everyone—from the unbeliever to the mature Christian leader—could be equipped for their own personal transformation as well as the work of transforming others. So what has happened since then? How has our increased generosity launched our vision to equip everyone for transformation?
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LOOKING FORWARD: 100% ENGAGEMENT Is your giving transforming your heart? We want 100% of our church family to take one of three generosity steps on Commitment Sunday. On October 23, we will respond to the Lord’s leading by filling out and bringing forward a Commitment Card. You can find the Commitment Card folded on the back of this workbook. Please take it and pray over your generosity step during these next four weeks. The Commitment Card will have the following options:
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THREE STEPS OF GENEROSITY We are praying for 100% engagement from everyone who calls Resurrection home. Would you pray about taking one of these three steps on October 23?
#1 Make a first-time, 12-month commitment. Some of you are new to this journey. You joined our Resurrection family after last October, or you weren’t ready to make a commitment one year ago. Moved by Jesus has always been about 100% of us making a gospel-centered commitment to generosity, because we want 100% of you to be transformed by generosity, whether you have been here for two Sundays or two decades. We want to encourage and challenge you to make a 12-month commitment to give in a way that transforms your heart.
#2 Commit to finish strong. Others of you made a sacrificial Moved by Jesus commitment, and it has not been easy. Things have happened that you didn’t expect, and you have been challenged. For the next four weeks, we want you to be encouraged and nourished. Reach out to the God who loves you. He wants to strengthen you so that you can honor the commitment you have made. For you, this halfway point is an opportunity to commit to finish strong.
#3 Increase your commitment. Some of you made a sacrificial commitment last year, and now circumstances have changed— for the better. Keeping your commitment has not been easy, but when you ask yourself whether your current giving reflects that God is receiving your first and best, you may feel led to make a larger commitment. Perhaps the Lord has increased your faith through this process in a way that surprised you, or maybe your financial situation has improved. Transform is about all of us evaluating our giving based on the question of transformation. For many of us, taking a transformative step will mean an increased commitment.
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LOOKING FORWARD: ONE FUND OF $7 MILLION Our collective Moved by Jesus generosity goal is $7 million for two years, from December 2015 through December 2017. $5 million of that goal is needed to operate Resurrection, and does not include any new initiatives. At our halfway point, based on current commitments and expected gifts, we are on track to raise $5.6 million together. That would leave $600,000 for new initiatives. God is at work at Resurrection, and he has given us gifts: a beautiful sanctuary, hundreds of children and youth, young leaders eager to plant churches, and adults longing to experience transformation and respond to Jesus’ call. When we look at these opportunities, we wholeheartedly believe that we need to increase our resources over these two years to $7 million in order to catch up with what God is already doing at Resurrection.
Two Year Gift Chart
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GIFTS NEEDED
GIFT LEVEL
ANNUAL GIFT OF
MONTHLY GIFT OF
GIFT LEVEL TOTAL
1
$500,000
$250,000
$20,833
$500,000
1
$250,000
$125,000
$10,417
$250,000
3
$150,000
$75,000
$6,250
$450,000
5
$100,000
$50,000
$4,167
$500,000
7
$75,000
$37,500
$3,125
$525,000
10
$65,000
$32,500
$2,708
$650,000
15
$50,000
$25,000
$2,083
$750,000
18
$30,000
$15,000
$1,250
$540,000
25
$25,000
$12,500
$1,042
$625,000
35
$15,000
$7,500
$625
$525,000
50
$10,000
$5,000
$417
$500,000
65
$7,500
$3,750
$313
$487,500
85
$5,000
$2,500
$208
$425,000
MANY
$2,500
$1,250
$104
$272,500
TOTAL GIFT GOAL $7,000,000
NEW INITIATIVES Our ability to equip everyone is limited right now. God is at work, and we want to respond! By reaching $7 million in generosity during this two-year initiative, we could respond to God’s call with the following new initiatives:
Sanctuary Improvements God has given us a beautiful sanctuary to host worship, arts, and conference events, but our capability is limited and equipment is being damaged due to a lack of essential infrastructure such as mechanized curtains.
Facilities for Children, Youth, and Adults Our children, youth, and adult ministries currently fill the building to bursting throughout the week; we need to respond by building new classroom and ministry spaces for formation and outreach.
Church Plants The Lord is calling us to plant churches to reach the Lost and the Least, but we have insufficient resources to train pastoral residents and send plant teams right now.
Pastoral and Financial Provision We have seen an overwhelming response to the need for adult formation through RezGroups and the Transformation Intensive, but we need more pastoral staff to manage those ministries and care for our adults. We also need to increase our operating reserve, which would allow us to continue paying our mortgage and our staff in the event of unforeseen challenges. 9
The primary goal of the Transform sermon series is for you to meet Jesus and be personally transformed by his example of generosity. This workbook is essential to your journey as we learn and pray together. We encourage you to make this workbook part of your devotional life over the next four weeks as we study Luke 12.
TAKEAWAY QUESTION Every week, our preachers will be covering content from within this workbook and giving you a key takeaway question for you to respond to before the following week.
PONDER AND
PRAY
During the week, we encourage you to continue meditating on the Scriptures included in this booklet and respond to the questions, either in this workbook, online, or in your own journal.
ONLINE Listen to all of the sermons online at churchrez.org/movedbyjesus. You can also fill out your questions each week in an online form and send them to our preacher.
WEEKLY EMAIL Our preachers will be sending out a special personal email to recap what we learn each week! Make sure that you are subscribed to get these emails by visiting churchrez.org/reznews. Not seeing our emails? If you use Gmail, check your Promotions folder. If you use a different email service, check your spam folder.
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We will be studying four teachings by Jesus from Luke 12, and concluding our journey with Commitment Sunday on 10/23:
10/2
A Changed View on Need
10/9
Lk 12.22-34
Katherine Ruch
A Changed View on Possessions
Lk 12.13-21
Bp Stewart Ruch
10/16
A Changed View on Security
Lk 12.22-31
Bp Stewart Ruch
10/23
A Changed View on Stewardship
Lk 12.35-48
Fr Brett Crull
C o m m i tm e n t S un d a y
Commitment Sunday: Bringing it Forward On Commitment Sunday, everyone will have the opportunity to bring forward their completed Commitment Card to the altar in a moment of worship. We will lay the fruit of our life and labor before the Lord as a sacramental affirmation of our engagement. To review the steps of generosity that we are asking you to make in the Commitment Card, turn to page 7.
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AN INTRODUCTION TO LUKE 12 Read Luke 12:13-48. A word from Father Brett: The Gospel of Luke records some of the most startling teachings of Jesus about the Kingdom of God, especially with regards to money. In chapter 12, we meet Jesus close to the height of his popularity as a large crowd of would-be followers are eager to hear more about life in his Kingdom. While life in the Kingdom entails real sacrifice and surrender, it is never without the promise of real reward. The teachings of Jesus on money are an exhilarating invitation to a life liberated from unnecessary attachments and anxieties, fully alive to the things that really matter.
NOTES:
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RESPOND & PRAY RESPOND After reading Luke 12:13–48, consider: Who are the people in your life that you go to when you need to either get advice on a financial decision or develop your view on money? How does Jesus’ teaching sound similar to the views of those you regularly go to for wisdom? How does his teaching differ?
If you and Jesus were to have a conversation today about money, what would you say? What questions would you ask?
What do you think he would say? What do you think he would ask?
PRAY Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. Teach me to be generous, as you are generous with us. Transform my heart to be more like yours. 13
10/2
A CHANGED VIEW ON NEED
Katherine Ruch Luke 12:22-34 – Do Not Be Anxious And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 22
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 32
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10/2: RESPOND & PRAY NOTES
TAKEAWAY QUESTION
PONDER AND
PRAY
1. How did this sermon impact my view on need?
2. Which of the three generosity responses (p. 7) do I think I might be preparing to make?
Share your responses with us online at churchrez.org/movedbyjesus.org 15
10/9
A CHANGED VIEW ON POSSESSIONS
Bishop Stewart Ruch Luke 12:13-21 – The Parable of the Rich Fool Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” 13
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10/9: RESPOND & PRAY NOTES:
TAKEAWAY QUESTION
PONDER AND
PRAY
1. How did this sermon impact your view on possessions?
2. How is your current giving transforming your heart?
Share your responses with us online at churchrez.org/movedbyjesus 17
10/16
A CHANGED VIEW ON SECURITY
Bishop Stewart Ruch Luke 12:22-31 – Do Not Be Anxious And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 22
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10/16: RESPOND & PRAY NOTES:
TAKEAWAY QUESTION
PONDER AND
PRAY
1. How did this sermon impact your view on security?
2. What steps do you need to take before filling out your Commitment Card and bringing it next week?
Share your responses with us online at churchrez.org/movedbyjesus 19
10/23
A CHANGED VIEW ON STEWARDSHIP C o mmitmen t Su n da y
Father Brett Crull Luke 12:35-48 – You Must Be Ready “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” 35
Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. 41
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10/23: RESPOND & PRAY NOTES:
TAKEAWAY QUESTION
PONDER AND
PRAY
1. How did this sermon impact my view on stewardship?
2. How have your heart and mind been most affected as a result of meditating on Luke 12 this month?
3. At the beginning of this journey you were asked to imagine a conversation with Jesus about money (see page 13). How would that conversation go today?
Share your responses with us online at churchrez.org/movedbyjesus 21
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