Generous Living Worksheet
Generous Living — A Five-Part Journey
Introduction
Sunset Lake Camp invites you to discover the adventure of Generous Living. This five-part worksheet is designed to be used alongside the Generous Living videos on our YouTube channel.
Follow the link HERE, visit our channel, then open the Generous Living playlist to begin.
Begin each session by watching the video. Then explore more deeply using this worksheet. Finally, experience the adventure of generous living by completing the assignment. This series can be done over five weeks—or stretched to five months if you want to go deeper.
Our prayer is that this journey is not the end, but the beginning of a lifelong adventure of living generously. Let us know if you’re taking the journey—we would love to pray for you along the way.
Lesson 1 — Grace
Read Matthew 20:1–16. Which of the vineyard workers do you most identify with, and why? How would the landowner’s actions have made you feel?
Read Romans 6:23; Romans 7:14–25; Ephesians 2:1–9. What do these verses teach about the contrast between fairness and grace? What do they reveal about the generosity of God?
Read Matthew 25:34–39; Matthew 18:21–35; Matthew 25:31–46; Luke 10:25–37. How should God’s grace shape the way we treat the people around us?
Assignment
This week, watch for opportunities to choose grace over fairness.
When your flight is canceled, extend grace to the ticket agent.
When someone cuts you off on the highway, pause to pray for them.
When your spouse gets on your nerves, choose grace.
At the end of the week, journal your reflections.
How did choosing grace make you feel?
What was hard? What was easy?
Where did you struggle?
How did others respond to the grace you extended?
Lesson 2 — Gratitude
It takes time to re-orient the story of your life. This week, spend a few minutes each day exploring what Scripture says about gratitude. Use a concordance, a study Bible, or even a quick online search.
After reading several passages, write down the ways you are grateful for what God has done in your life.
Here are some verses to begin with:
Philippians 4:6–7; 2 Corinthians 4:15; James 1:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Colossians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Ephesians 1:16; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 110:4.
Assignment
Begin a gratitude journal. Record something each day that you’re grateful for, and note how this practice is shaping your life.
Buy 4–5 thank-you cards. Write to people who have blessed your life—perhaps someone from your past or someone who recently showed you kindness. Consider thanking people who rarely hear the words “thank you.” Track in your journal how God is using gratitude to change the world through you.
Lesson 3 — Abundance
This week, read John 15, especially verses 15–17. Consider the following questions:
What is the difference between a slave and a friend?
How does my relationship with God change as I move from slave to friend?
Jesus promises that the Father will give us whatever we ask—but in the context of bearing fruit. How does that context shape the promise? How does it shape the way you serve him?
Jesus begins the chapter with the image of the vine and the branches. How does my connection with Jesus influence my experience of God’s abundance?
In John 15:17, Jesus commands his followers to love one another. How is God’s abundance connected to our ability to live out that command?
Assignment
You have the “credit card of heaven” in your back pocket—access to the abundant resources of a loving God. So the question for this week is: What’s next?
You are connected to Jesus. His abundance is flowing through you. You have a friend in the throne room of heaven.
Spend time praying and wrestling with where God may be leading you. What next step is he calling you to take?
Prepare for an adventure as he opens unexpected opportunities and challenges.
Lesson 4 — Surrender
Spend time quietly reading Mark 12:41–44. Reflect on these questions:
If you had been in the temple that day, which givers would you have noticed—and why?
What does Jesus want most from his followers?
What is God asking you to surrender?
Now contrast this with the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10:17–31. Reflect on these questions:
What did Jesus see in this man that caused him to love him?
What was the man clinging to, and why was he unwilling to let it go?
Have you ever felt that following Jesus wasn’t worth it? What encouragement can you find in this story?
Assignment — Discipleship Posture Prayer
Pray this posture prayer throughout the week, using the physical motions to reinforce your surrender.
(Hold closed fists)
I confess that my natural posture is to fight for my rights and try to make things happen. But as a follower of Jesus, I choose a posture of surrender.
(Open hands)
My life is not my own. It belongs to you, God. You can have it.
(Closed fists at waist level)
I confess that my natural posture is to keep, to hold, to cling. But I choose to open my hands—my life—in a posture of generosity.
Freely I receive… (pause and ask God for what you need today) …and freely I give.
(Fold arms over chest)
I confess that my natural posture is to spectate and to criticize. But I choose an open posture of mission.
(Open arms wide)
I say to the lost and the needs of the world: Here I am.
Amen.
Lesson 5 — Extravagance
Read these stories of extravagant giving:
Genesis 18:1–8; Exodus 35–36:7; Matthew 4:18–22; Matthew 9:9–13; John 12:1–8; Acts 2:43–47.
Then consider:
What prompted such extravagant giving?
Read the story of the Golden Calf alongside the temple offerings. How does Israel’s fall and restoration lead to extravagant giving? Where else do you see this pattern?
What does a lack of extravagance in my life reveal about my relationship with God?
Is your church community known for extravagance? Why or why not?
If someone spent $50,000 today on a jar of perfume and used it all in one day, would you view that as waste or extravagance? Why?
What extravagance is Jesus calling you to?
Assignment
Using your gratitude journal, write the story you hope your life will tell five years from now about extravagant generosity. Then spend time asking God what steps you can take today to begin that journey.
