Gratefully Generous

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" ~ Hebrews 13:16

I used to get into debates with friends and people from an old church about an opinion of mine that was apparently a hot take, but I never understood why. It was my view that anytime we go out to dinner, we should always tip generously, regardless of how we feel about the quality of service provided. For me, we always have the right to choose whether to return to the restaurant in question, but we might not get another opportunity to tip the server in question. Even now, some of you reading this who are on the other side of the debate think I'm crazy. Maybe you think like my friends, who would tell me their tip was a sort of judgment on the server for their work ethic. But I felt, and still feel, strongly that our level of generosity toward others must come not from how we feel about them, but our recognition of how good God has been to us. If you are in a position to afford eating dinner out at a restaurant, you have been blessed in a number of ways that should make it a relative no-brainer to bless others who are serving you. This week at Friendship, for our last sermon in the current series, we'll talk about what it means to be "Gratefully Generous" as followers of Jesus. There is a reason that Thanksgiving comes before Christmas, as true humble gratitude should beget generosity. We hope you'll join us for this spiritual checkup, where you'll also hear from one of Friendship's own members on some specific ways we can practice generosity as we head into 2025.