Greater Than You Imagined

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Christmas is For All People

God’s Antidote to Materialism: Generosity By Rick Warren — Dec 20, 2015 “It’s selfish and stupid to think only of yourself.” (Proverbs 18:1a CEV) We live in a society where the goal of life is to get more, more, and more. The Bible has a word for that: stupid. Proverbs 18:1 says, “It’s selfish and stupid to think only of yourself”(CEV). God tells us that selfishness causes all kinds of problems. For example, the Bible says that the greedy “set an ambush for themselves; they are trying to get themselves killed. Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life” (Proverbs 1:18-19 NLT, second edition). You can be so busy making a living — trying to get more — that you forget to make a life. There’s only one antidote to materialism: generosity. Every time you give, you break the grip of materialism in your life, because giving is the opposite of materialism. Materialism is all about what you get. To break its grip on us, we need to do the exact opposite: give, give, give. When you do, your heart grows bigger and you grow spiritually. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How have you battled materialism in your life? Are there certain triggers — people or situations — that tend to push you toward becoming more materialistic? What kinds of problems has selfishness caused in your life? What’s one giving goal you can set as you seek to break the grip of materialism in your life? Today’s Scripture “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Greater Than You Imagined Because God loves you, He has supernatural blessings in store for you: increase, favor, good breaks, supernatural opportunities. His dream for your life is so much greater than you ever imagined. You haven’t seen anything yet! You may have a dream to get well again or be able to walk without pain, but God’s dream for you is not only that you will walk, but that you be able to run and play like you did when you were a child. Your dream may be to just keep your marriage together, but God’s dream is that your marriage would be happier, healthier and more fulfilling than you ever thought possible! Your dream may be to just pay your bills and make it through each month, but God’s dream is that you have an abundance, that you be totally out of debt, pay your house off, pay your credit cards off, and have so much overflow that you can be a blessing to everyone around you! Get ready because God has greater blessings in store for you than you ever imagined. Open your heart today and keep an attitude of faith and expectancy, and you will live the abundant life the Lord has prepared for you! A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for Your hand of blessing on my life. I open my heart and receive by faith all You have for me. Fill me with Your peace and joy as I put my trust in You in Jesus’ name. Amen.”