Living Generously - films for small groups and individual study

"Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair." (John 12:3 NRSVA) 

In this eight session course, Director of Giving, Jonathan de Bernhardt Wood, explores the simple, powerful moment in which Mary, a friend and follower of Jesus, displays the kind of astonishing generosity God Himself pours out on us. The wonder of the gospel is that this can be our story too as we discover the freedom of living generously.

More about Jonathan

Living Generously Films

Focus on church tower visible through out-of-focus leaves. 'Living Generously' text overlayed
Living Generously Series Trailer

In this single verse Mary demonstrates seven distinct ways of living generously. Hers is the story of how her love for God enabled her to live a generous life. 

1 min read
Focus on man's feet walking on a pathway. 'Generous with time' text overlayed
Living Generously Session 1 - Generous with time

Mary’s first generosity is with her time. There were other things she could’ve been doing. There are even things that could have been seen as more virtuous, as Martha, her sister points out.

1 min read
Focus on church tower visible through out-of-focus leaves. 'Generous with attention' text overlayed
Living Generously Session 2 - Generous with attention

Mary’s second generosity – that of her attention - is one for this day and age where we are constantly distracted by news, opinions, information and gossip.

1 min read
Lone seagull floating on water. 'Generous with wealth' text overlayed
Living Generously Session 3 - Generous with wealth

Mary had just seen her brother raised from the dead, so when she was generous with her wealth, she knew that her ‘sacrifice’ was utterly insignificant by comparison. 

1 min read
A stained glass window seen beyond a church aisle in candlelight. 'Generous with talents' text overlayed
Living Generously Session 4 - Generous with talents

Like us all, Mary had God-given gifts and talents. This film explores her generosity with ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable’.

1 min read
Man walking down a staircase, hand on rail, only torso visible. 'Generous with possessions' text overlayed
Living Generously Session 5 - Generous with possessions

The cost of the nard Mary used is one thing, but it was also a treasured possession – what can we be generous with that’s not necessarily expensive, but precious to us?

1 min read

Accompanying study guides

Each film above comes with a free downloadable group Study Guide. This includes questions to get the discussion going, things to be thinking of when watching the films, biblical exploration and suggestions for taking your learning into everyday life.

Download Study Guide 1 - Generous With Time

Download Study Guide 2 - Generous With Attention

Download Study Guide 3 - Generous With Wealth

Download Study Guide 4 - Generous With Talents

Download Study Guide 5 - Generous With Possessions

Download Study Guide 6 - Generous With How We're Perceived

Download Study Guide 7 - Generous With Comfort

Download Study Guide 8 - Generosity Webs

Right Now Media

The Living Generously films were made in partnership with Right Now Media, a streaming library of biblical content. You can sign up for free access to the Church of England section.