Solutions December 2019 | Page 46

Giving Is The RESTORE Good Life by Randy Alcorn In 1996, Life.Church began in Oklahoma with a handful of people. By 2005, church growth brought floods of requests to purchase Pastor Craig Groeschel’s sermons. A staff member asked, “What would happen if we just gave them away?” “That moment changed us,” Craig says. “Generosity became one of my top values.” Craig and his church decided to give away something of value without 46 • Solutions expecting a return. From the moment they made that decision, giving became contagious at Life.Church. He says, “Generosity is not something we do—it is something we are.” 1 Their giving went far beyond not charging a fee for sermons. Life. Church has contributed more than 9 million resources to more than 355,600 church leaders around the world. 2 They also created YouVersion, which has been downloaded 355 million times, making it the most popular Bible app