The Generosity Project

by Tony Payne, Geoff Robson

In Christian circles, generosity is often code for giving money. But generosity is about far more than money. God is lavishly generous towards us in a thousand ways, and most of all in the grace of the gospel. God s powerful generosity through the gospel not only saves us, but sets us free to live a new, big-hearted life a life which is no longer turned inwards on ourselves, but which flows out to others with an open, generous hand. The Generosity Project is a set of resources to help you discover and live this new, generous life. Through this book and its free online videos, you ll work with a small group of other Christians to engage with what the Bible says about generosity, read or watch input from leading pastor-teachers, and work out what it all means in practice in your life.

Genres: Christian

129 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

Tony Payne began work as Matthias Media’s first editor in 1988. Since then, Tony has been a busy guy: with his wife, Alison, he has grown a family of five children; he has completed a degree in theology at Moore Theological College; and he has written or co-written numerous ministry resources, and edited many others. Tony’s main responsibilities are to oversee everything we publish (including The Briefing), and to get as much writing done as possible.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I get excited about what would happen if every Christian (including me) became super generous. This is a book that aims to start the process.

Pages 116-118 have a helpful summary of the book (which is meant to be read in a group, but I just wanted to finish it! So probably could be 5 stars if I did it properly)
1. God generously created and sustains the world, so we respond with trust, thanks, praise and generosity ourselves.
2. Our impulse is selfishness / forgetting God, but God generously saves us.
3. Our salvation leads to radical generosity not just in money but in giving time, attention, service, forgiveness and much more.
4. Money gives us power, and so we should use that power to serve, faithfully (in meeting our responsibilities) and generously (helping those in need, furthering the gospel)
5. Gospel has set us free, to be partners with God and with one another through our generosity.

Especially interesting that they don't count giving to pay your pastors as "generosity". Because generosity is to go above and beyond what is expected ... "a generous serving of ice cream". A challenge for me to consider how I'm generous outside of my church giving.

Won a copy thanks to the Geneva Push / Reach Australia seminar.
Had to finish it in a day, so I could "generously give it away" to the others who missed out on the win.

[Amy Heap · Rating 4 out of 5]

We used this for a term at Bible Study, in conjunction with the video content. It's about being generous with all that we have, in response to God's immeasurable generosity towards us. It is engaging, practical, thought-provoking, challenging, and encouraging.

[Alastair Gooderham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful and challenging set of studies on generosity grounded in study of Bible. Best for use in small group context or study triplets, useful extra video material available to supplement.

[Josie Seto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical, pushes my boundaries on generosity in a positive way

[Grace King · Rating 5 out of 5]

refreshing, challenging, a deeply interpersonal attitude to using our resources to collectively benefit those around us and worship the one from where all good gifts come

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the way this book expanded my view of what it means to be generous. It also gave me great practical ideas to grow in generosity. It did start to feel a bit repetitive towards the end.