Generously, Joyfully, Willingly - Woody Morwood

In this message, Pastor Woody Morwood shares a powerful teaching from 2 Corinthians 9:6–8, exploring the biblical heart behind generosity, stewardship, and joyful giving.

Through a moving personal story from 1991—when he lived with a Christian family in the former Soviet Union—Pastor Woody illustrates what sacrificial generosity truly looks like. Despite living with very little, this family demonstrated deep joy and faith by giving generously out of what they had. Their example becomes a living picture of the kind of generosity the Apostle Paul encourages in his letter to the church in Corinth.

This message reminds us that biblical generosity is not primarily about money—it’s about the posture of our hearts as followers of Jesus.

Paul teaches that believers are called to live with three key attitudes:

1. Generously
Our generosity reflects God’s own generosity toward us. Every good gift comes from Him, and when we trust His provision, we can live open-handedly rather than fearfully.

2. Joyfully
God loves a cheerful giver. Giving should not come from guilt, pressure, or obligation, but from gratitude for the grace we’ve received through Jesus.

3. Willingly
Everything we have ultimately belongs to God. We are not owners but stewards, entrusted with resources to participate in God’s work in the world.

Pastor Woody challenges believers to take a step forward in their generosity journey—from nothing, to something, to consistent giving, and ultimately toward sacrificial generosity that reflects trust in God’s faithfulness.

The message concludes with an opportunity for the congregation to respond together through prayer, connection, and participation in giving.

Resources & Scriptures Mentioned

Bible Passages

• 2 Corinthians 9:6–8
• 2 Corinthians 9:7
• 2 Corinthians 9:10
• 2 Corinthians 8:2–5
• 2 Corinthians 8:8–9
• 2 Corinthians 8:11–12
• James 1:17
• John 3:16
• Mark 12:41–44 (Widow’s Offering)
• Luke 21:1–4
• Psalm 24:1
• Psalm 112:9
• Genesis 1–2
• 2 Corinthians 6:1

Biblical Locations Referenced

• Corinth
• Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Church, if you got a Bible, go ahead and open it up to 2 Corinthians, or if you got your phone app, you can do that. I want you to be ready in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. But before I start uh reading that and us uh we take some time to study a little bit, I want to tell you uh a story again. I love stories. I've been so shaped by the stories. I want to tell you a story again about Christians in another place besides right here in California. In 1991, I had a chance to go live with the family for part of the summer in Kiev, Russia. And if you are a map type person, if you're a history type person, you know right now that uh Kiev, Russia isn't even called Kiev anymore. It's called Kiv, and it's actually in Ukraine. History and things and war change so many things. But what doesn't change is the faithful believers that are there living for God. And I got to live with a set of Christians in Soviet Union at the time, USSR, 1991, before everything collapsed. And the family I stayed with had two little kids, and there was a dad by the name of Sasha. And Sasha was a fun man because he so badly wanted to connect with three college students that were coming from the United States to help them pour out to build a church, to reach people with the gospel. And he was so excited that he spent a year trying to learn English so that he could talk with us at dinner time and engage in conversations. And I'll never forget being in his home, and every night when we would sit down, they would go over to the China cabinet, and it was a China cabinet with three different um kind of doors that would open up with glass, but they were totally empty except for in the middle. There were six plates and six crystal glasses. They would take those out, set them up around the table. And we had some funny moments too when we were there because in 1986, Chernobyl had just happened, and uh that town is only about 34 miles away from Chernobyl. And we would sit down to dinner with these beautiful plates, these beautiful cups, and we ate cabbage every single meal. And the reason it was funny, not funny, is every time we sat down to eat dinner, the kids would point at the cabbage and say, radiation, radiation. So if you ever see me glow, just know that in 1991 I was close to Chernobyl. But during those dinners, Sasha would talk about what it was like to live in the Soviet Union. He would talk about he got his uh communist job right after he was in school and he had been paid the same amount his entire life, which was barely enough, to pull things off. He talked about a season in his life when vodka was the main thing that guided every decision he made, and how now God was the one that was guiding every decision he made. There was a joyfulness about Sasha. He was a fun man. He would talk about there's always enough. God is enough, he's providing. And every time he set up dinner in front of us, it felt like the most bountiful feats because he was wanting to do everything he could to bless us and love us. What was so fun about this church plant is we would go to this church and they would take offerings. And every time they did an offering, I knew that a lot of the people there in Kiev, Russia at the time didn't have much money, but they were so thrilled and excited about what God was doing in Russia, a godless nation at the time where God was not highlighted at all. They were excited that God was changing their lives and they were planting churches. They were raising money to send people out. And I would watch the offering happen during the church service, and it felt just as vibrant, if not even more vibrant, than a great song sometimes. People with excitement would drop rubles in there, and there are these amazing, beautiful women called babushkas. Basically, that's a Russian grandma, if you don't know. These babushkas would reach into their little coin purse, and there is nothing more powerful than during an offering, hearing little coins drop into an offering bucket because they are so all in on what God is doing in the world. I had one moment that I regretted uh over those dinners, and it wasn't anything wrong, but I'm not sure I wanted to happen what happened. And I was trying to be nice, and I was doing my best with English and a small amount of Russian, and I basically told Sasha one time at dinner, your glasses are beautiful. Thank you. I love them. I can't believe you let us eat from them and drink from them. And the night that we were packing up and getting ready, and he was gonna drop us off at the train station. Sasha walked into my room, and he handed me all six of their crystal glasses, and I tried to talk him out of it a hundred times. Even when he went to drop us off, I tried to like give it back to him, and he kept saying, I want you to have these. My family for years now, for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, special occasions, try to use these to remember what generosity in the world looks like from a believer, a brother in Christ, who gives out of even having little so that he could bless somebody else. We're gonna talk about living generously today. And I'm gonna give you a couple other examples in Christian uh in uh second uh uh Corinthians, like Sasha. And one of the best ways that I can highlight that is to probably just give you a heads up here at the beginning. I am gonna highlight three different adverbs that push us to a spirit of how we live, to a tone, kind of an attitude of how we look at the world, and then how it impacts us enough that we live radically different. And so I encourage you to open up your Bibles or your phone apps to 2 Corinthians chapter 9, and I want to read for you verses six through eight. It says this in the scriptures. Remember this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. I want to pause there for a second with that scripture up, and I want you to put on your farmer mentality right now, your farmer brain. Or how about this? How about spring seed planting so your grass fills in again from all the dead spots? The Apostle Paul begins a conversation reminding us that when your grass is dying, you don't go to Lowe's, buy a can of seed, and then go to your backyard and just pluck out two of them and throw them out on the grass and hope for the biggest, greenest, fullest lawn you've ever seen. What the Apostle Paul is doing here with that verse six, he's also saying a farmer that has hundreds and hundreds or thousands of acres of farmland doesn't go and get wheat or barley seeds and go out there and just get a little tiny handful and throw it out in the middle of a thousand acres and hope that it will all be a bountiful. If you've ever seen farming or anybody that's ever done grass, you start throwing that stuff as generous as you possibly can because you want it to come up big. That's the imagery that the Apostle Paul is giving these believers in Corinth. Verse 7 says, each of you should give what you have decided in your own heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Can I bring some relief to you here for a second? I don't feel like today's a money talk. Even if some of you are like, oh no, here comes a money talk. I don't feel like it's a money talk. When I read this scripture, there is so much highlighting God's abundance. There's so much about what it means to make sure my heart is correct. I actually think this is a heart sermon and a God's abundance sermon, then even it is a money sermon. But technically, money is being hinted at in here. Can I tell you a little bit about the context so maybe you can understand why uh chapter 9 uh came up in verses 6 and 8 that the apostle Paul would even be saying this? All right, I got a really big trick question, and I promise you, you should all get this one right. It's not difficult. We're reading out of 2 Corinthians. What comes before 2 Corinthians? Yes! I knew Hillside was a smart church. Uh some of you right now might be going, well, why are you reading in 2 Corinthians? Shouldn't you start with first? Yes, but the good stuff is in chapter uh nine of 2 Corinthians, and what I'm trying to get us focused on, so let me give you context. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes a church that he had gone and done life with. He liked them, they were living well, they were doing a lot of the right things, but they had some shortcomings just like every single one of us. And in 1 Corinthians, he wrote them a letter about how they could continue to grow in Christ, what they needed to work on, but he also highlighted what they were doing well. Here in 2 Corinthians, the reason that he's talking about their attitude, their spirit, and especially around generosity is because in 1 Corinthians they were so fired up about God and what God was doing in the world, they had told the apostle Paul that they would be all in and they would be willing to raise an offering so the gospel could spread. It's kind of like God saved us, God transformed us, we want to see more people know about this. We're all in, we can get in on this. And so, 2 Corinthians is the Apostle Paul trying to remind them. Remember the very first part of that verse 6? It says, remember this. He's trying to get them to remember what they had already committed to, what they were already excited about, what they at one point had this spirit, this attitude of doing. And so, one of the things I want to do, I told you I'd mentioned three different adverbs, actions, or spirit. The apostle Paul is trying to remind God's people, God's church, that they should be living generously. It's a really simple truth, but it's a powerful one. As Christ followers, there's nowhere in scripture that it says, and make sure to live really stingy, calculated, and only watch out for you, number one, because nobody else will. I promise that's not in the Bible anywhere here. This is a passage about living generously. And here's why we live generously and why the Apostle Paul was trying to help them to live generously, because they needed to be reflecting God's abundant grace and provision. This Christmas, I had a moment in our Christmas gatherings where I got to highlight uh a passage of scripture, uh, John 3.16. And I know a lot of you have it memorized. And uh it goes something like this for God so loved the world that he got really calculated and he only gave a tiny bit of Jesus so that we might possibly be saved on just the tiny bit of Jesus. Is that what John 3.16 says? For God so loved the world that he what? He gave his son. And not just partially, but all in. The Son of God was crucified for you and I all the way to death, through suffering, for the forgiveness of sins, generously. And what I love about all the different passages that we'll hear in uh 2 Corinthians is the Apostle Paul himself felt like God had been so generous with him. It's why he was living so radically. If you've been here the last six or seven weeks, we've been in uh James. Do you remember what James chapter one, verse 17 says? It says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. I love the powerful language in scripture sometimes. How happy are you that God doesn't change to yucky one minute, good another moment? He is consistent in his pouring out of his blessings. He is sowing generously amongst us in our lives. What does it look like for us to have those same attributes, attitudes, and to live generously in the world? The Apostle Paul in chapters, uh uh kind of the first six chapters of 2 Corinthians highlights so many different times how much God has changed his life, how much God has forgiven him, how much he can't help but only think about the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it has had such a radical impact on his life. And so here's what I did in chapters uh uh nine. I wrote down all the things that God does. Why we would live generously, because God's been generous. What God does is this God loves, God blesses abundantly, God supplies seed for the sower, God increases, God enlarges the harvest of your righteousness. If right now you're like, what does that harvest of your righteousness mean? Well if God's gonna enlarge that, what does that look like? Can I read that verse 10 to you? I haven't read this one yet. Look a little bit earlier in chapter 9. It says this. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed, and he will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. If anybody came today hoping that I was gonna preach a prosperity gospel, maybe I will, but it's based on the righteousness of your life, not your possessions or your bank account. Here's what's so great about chapter 10. I'm in chap uh verse 10 out of chapter 9. Do you ever have those moments where you are in right relationship with God, where your life is being transformed, where you're living in a way that absolutely honors God and it just feels good? Have you ever had those moments when it's like, this is what it means to be a Christian? I am so glad I am all in. I am forgiven. I am joyful, I am generous, I am living into this. This generous lifestyle will produce a life of righteousness because what God is stirring in us, we can't stir on our own. This is not a prosperity gospel. This is not a, if you live generously with your church, with other Christian organizations, with neighbors, friends and families, you will guaranteed get all the desires, possessions, and bank accounts and 401ks of your life. That's a prosperity gospel. But to live into the promises of, if I live into being generous like God has been generous with me, I can't wait to see the nature of a life lived with righteousness everywhere. It's beautiful. This passage is so encouraging as the Apostle Paul is trying to encourage the Corinth church to remember who they are, how they're supposed to live. And it's fun because if you turn to chapter 8, I want you to see verses two through five, because the apostle Paul gives an example of two other churches that are living radically like this. They're known as the Macedonian churches, the church at Philippi and the church at Thessalonica. Listen to this amazing description of generous living churches, generous living Christ followers. In chapter uh eight of 2 Corinthians verse 2, it says this in the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability. Let's pause there for a second. How radical is some of this language? They were under severe trial, which basically means they were being persecuted, they were being wrested, they were being beat up, they were being treated horribly because they were following Christ. It also hints at that they were poor, but it wells up in generous, rich generosity. And then verse three is hilarious for me. It's almost like the apostle Paul's telling us a story, and then he goes, Oh, wait, I forgot about something. Let me tell you one more thing. The first thing he told us in verse uh three was, hey, they gave as much as they were able. You could have stuck a period right there. Oh, that's great to know. They gave as much as they were able. But no, the spirit of God that was at work in them was stirring them so much that it says, and even beyond their ability. Listen to verse four. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people. And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. The church in Philippi and Thessalonica, the apostle Paul was saying, Come on, church in Corinth, I know you got this. God's got you. But listen to how these other two churches are living. Do you hear how radical that one section is in the encouragement? They begged to be a part of what God was doing. Isn't that amazing? They were like, we want to get in on the action. How can we also see churches planted, see people come to know Jesus? Like, I don't want to just be about my own finances, my own things. I want to be a part of God's kingdom things. I wrote down a little bit of in this particular passage what living generously looked like for those two churches. They lived generously in poverty, they welled up in rich generosity, they gave as much as they were able, and they even gave beyond. They pleaded for the privilege to be in on God's work and they gave themselves to God, and they gave themselves to each other. I'm so challenged and inspired by this church, Philippi and Thessalonica. I want you to think about this for a second because sometimes people get nervous with words like generously. When you and I feel like we don't have very much, we feel sometimes like we can't be generous. Do you know in this passage the amount of something isn't mentioned at all? It is not about a dollar amount, it is about a spirit and an attitude. Remember, I was mentioning the babushkas uh in uh Kiev, Russia, that I heard their little tiny coins being dropped in, and it was one of the most beautiful things in the world. Do you realize in Luke chapter 21 and in Mark 12, there's uh a real life example that Jesus gave of the widow's might? He was watching all the people in the church sometimes celebrating and dumping tons of money into the offerings, and and this widow just quietly comes up and drops in, and Jesus was paying more attention to the condition of the heart. When it comes to living generously, the things I like to highlight are in me is their sacrifice, is their giving in a way that stretches my dependency and trust on God, not just a dollar number that would impress myself or impress anybody else. It is a heart issue. And what's so fun about this, I felt like as I was uh getting ready for the sermon today, if I didn't give God a ton of credit and tell you some of the ways God has moved in my life and my wife's life, I would miss the point. You've gotten to hear examples of churches. I told you an example of Sasha in Russia in 1991. Can I tell you some of the amazing things God has done for me and my family in ways that we would have never imagined? My wife and I, when we were early married, I was a youth pastor, and uh I, man, we didn't get paid much. She was a babysitter, a youth pastor and a babysitter, newly married in Southern California, trying to make ends meet. A card table and fold up chairs was our dining room table, giddy up everybody. It was awesome. And by the way, we were really happy. But one time we were hanging out with uh nieces and nephews. And when I say nieces and nephews, adult nieces and nephews who had also gotten married, and it was at one of the kids' birthday parties. And uh it's never fun when you're at a family party and you become the focus of attentions and questions. You know what I'm talking about? And we're there, all the kids were in the backyard playing. I don't know if there was a pinata, they were hitting each other with a baseball bat or something, I don't know. And uh all the adults are inside, and all of a sudden, uh one of uh Julie's uh uh nephews, I'm sorry, cousins, says to her, Hey, you guys work at a church, right? Did you guys do that tithing thing? You give money to the church that you work at? And I'm sort of going, oh no, I don't want to do this conversation right now. And uh we're trying to be a light and an example because at the time uh not many of them were following God. And but at the same time, I also didn't want to reveal the secrets that I'm trying to do before God and keep whatever. And but I was like, all right, God, give us wisdom what we say. And I go, Yes, uh, we do tithe. Uh it's important. I feel like this is all God's money, not our money. And it's a small amount that we give back to God. And I was like, phew, okay, hopefully that's over. And all of a sudden a different family member goes, but you guys don't make that much. Why do you give to the church if you already worked there? Like, can you afford that? They were like getting up in our business, right? They all had newer cars, we didn't. Uh, and some of the, I think their uh questions were out of concern, like, you foolish people, don't you know? Uh, like you're not gonna make it in Southern California. And uh, I was getting ready to answer, and all of a sudden, my wife, by the way, have you noticed how many times that any of my great godly examples are my wife? She is the saint in our home, and I'm like the mentee trying to figure it out. Uh she looks at them and says something like this. It was a long time ago. I'm trying to get it exactly right. She said, We don't know how to explain it, but God math is so powerful and fun to live into. Yeah, we don't make a lot. Yeah, it probably doesn't make sense. Yeah, our car is older, but in God math, God's got us, and we're gonna live into the truth that He's called us to. And we choose to live generously. Yeah. And that God math language has continued to be the thing that we say to each other in different moments when we feel stirred by God that we're supposed to help somebody that we know or do something here at church. Like a lot of times we'll look at each other and go, that plus that doesn't equal that. God math. Trusting his truth to live generously. I want to uh read that uh portion once more so it just sticks with you out of that chapter nine, the second half of seven. God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Here's the second adverb, the second spirit, the second kind of attitude of what I see in this passage in 2 Corinthians. God is doing something in us so that we can live joyfully. Joyfully, joyfully celebrating God's goodness. When we live generously and we give money, when we give a portion of our tithes and offerings back to the church, back to God, there's actually a joyful celebration in that. Uh, let me be facetious again and read the scriptures in the wrong way because sometimes I need to be challenged. And by the way, you're like, don't read the scriptures in the wrong way. That's dangerous, but you'll get what I'm about to say. Does verse 7 say this? God loves a grumpy giver. So just force yourself to tithe. No, it says God loves a cheerful giver. It also doesn't say God loves a calculated strategic giver to make sure God doesn't get the better end of the deal. It says God loves a cheerful giver and he will bless you abundantly and he will give you what you need so that you can continue to abound in every good work. People, that is great news. If you showed up today and you're like, I need some hope, I promise that is truthful good news. Sasha, when he gave me his prized glass crystal cups, there was such a joy on his face that I think the only reason I didn't trick him and run it back and put it in the car and then jump on the train and take off is I saw God was doing something really powerful in him. God was blessing him in ways that if I said no, probably would have missed out on what God was doing. I tell you today, I still wish he would have held on to him. I didn't want to take them, but they have been a shaping factor in my life, and the joy that was on his face was contagious. Joyfully celebrating God's goodness. I want to read this one part because it really focuses on the heart issue of what it means to be generous. In 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 7, you've already heard this, but I wanted to read it again. It says, Each of you should give what you have decided in your own heart to give. That is not a, okay, I get to decide for myself, what do I want to give? I think the Apostle Paul's pointing back to 1 Corinthians, where they were already all bought in. They all wanted to see the churches grow, they all wanted to see the gospel spread, but somewhere in there they had lost their passion, conviction. And the apostle Paul is trying to remind them you already made this decision. Don't be hesitant, don't be begudy about this, don't be hesitant about this. Be all in with God. The third one that I see in this passage is willingly, an attitude of willingly. Willingness that looks at and focuses in on trusting God's faithfulness. I already hinted to you the God math uh conversation with my wife and I, but can I give you another one? When my wife and I didn't have a ton of money, and by the way, if you're thinking that was one month, it was more like 12 years, um there was a time when our kids were young and we really wanted to try to get them a playground set, but we couldn't afford a new one, not a Costco one, not a Walmart one, not anyone. And we were trying to save up for it. And if I I remember that season, something came up where Julie wanted to help out somebody, and the money we were trying to save up or do something, she was gracious, generous, and watching out for a friend, a neighbor that needed help. And all of a sudden, our uh our playground set money went to no playground set money to only like five, ten bucks. My prayerful, dependent, trusting wife, willing to do what God told her to do at any moment. That week was driving down the road and there was a playground set, and she was able to get it for ten bucks. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. God math. Generously, joyfully, willingly. I want to introduce a word to you. It's called stewardship. In Genesis chapter one and two, it's hinted at when Adam and Eve are asked to be caretakers of the garden. By the way, 10% of the garden wasn't God's, and 90% was Adam and Eve. God owned the entire garden and he asked them to steward it, to be caretakers of it. In this conversation around being all in with God, one of the best ways for me to think is to imagine this. I am called to stewardship rather than ownership. And when I live like that, I don't hold on and grip anything too tightly because it's all God. So anytime he needs it, wants me to let go of it, it was all his in the first place. Wow, that's really interesting, God. Sometimes you're only asking for 10% and I get to steward the other 90? Do you realize how generous and abundant this God is that watches out for us? Remember, this isn't a money conversation, this is a heart conversation. And if you're like, why is that guy so happy talking about this? Because I have experienced the abounding generous nature of God when we live all in and we don't grip anything too tightly. Church, I'm hoping today that this is encouraging news for you. You're being invited into being God's coworkers. We're being invited in to be God's stewards of what we see around us. I don't know if you guys know this, but there's a whole lot of homes being put in between us, the 15, Fontana, and all the way around. And if some of you are like have a thousand different thoughts, here's the only thought that I have is God, how many more families are going to come here that might need Jesus and a church? Help us to be ready to giddy up. And that will only happen when we are ready to be generous beyond ways that we can't even imagine. I think it's good for you to know that as a team of pastors, as leaders, as board members, as volunteers, one of the things that I kind of want to apologize to you for that we started to realize was maybe an unintentional thing is do you know we have not passed buckets, connection buckets, engagement buckets, giving buckets for over five years now since pre-pandemic. Do you remember in pre-pandemic you were nervous that you could get like uh like a germ or you could get sick? And so we got rid of all that, and then we pushed really hard to give online, which is really easy, and a lot of people do it. But you know, we have been talking as a staff that maybe sometimes we miss out on the beauty of that as part of our worship as well. Seeing a whole room, knowing what they're doing. They are being obedient, joyfully, willingly, and generously with God. And so today's gonna be the first time we've done engagement, connection, giving buckets in church since the last five years, because we want to worship God in really significant ways and to remember it. What's fun for me is my wife and I give online, and this is a practice that I do that I'd love to pass to you because it gets to the heart issue for me. If we give online, I never really have a moment where I'm pulling money out or I'm writing a check or I'm dropping it. I think I miss some of like the body engagement, mind engagement of this is so fun to do. I trust God. That when I get an email that updates me, the transaction happened with the church. Do you know I stop, close my eyes, and I go, God, even though the bank did all the work and some money wire, some connection or AI, whatever did it, my heart is so excited to be a part of what you're doing in the kingdom. God, thank you for letting me use the money that you do, and may you use it in your church and for your kingdom. That keeps shaping my heart for what God's doing. And so today, part of what I'm hoping you captured with my excitement is God owns it all. The Psalms remind us He is the maker of it all. Can you believe that He lets us steward it? He wants us to do this generously, reflecting God's grace. He wants us to do it joyfully, celebrating God's goodness. He wants us to do it willingly, trusting Him for His faithfulness. And part of the reason I was so excited to preach this today is I almost feel like if we didn't point out these kinds of scriptures, sometimes we are keeping you from some of the greatest goodness of God. This is a freeing up heart sermon, not a money sermon. May God guide our church what it means to live in radical ways. It's really fun. A couple weeks ago, we had a uh a generosity moment that we were talking about living faithfully. And I had a 19-year-old come up to me and basically said, I'm not sure how do I do this. Like, could you explain it more? What's in the scriptures and stuff? And I just want to give you a little something that we share in rooted and in different moments when people aren't totally sure how to do this. Because sometimes it's really hard to go from zero to all the way to tithing to them being overly just. And so here's a couple different ways that you could think about taking small steps if you want to live into trusting God and being generous people. If you're in a spot right now where really giving away from yourself isn't happening anywhere, what would it look like for this week to that move to something? And then what if it moved from something to something consistent and then to something generous, and then to something even sacrificial to see how much God could be trusted with what he wants to do in the world? There's so many places that God is at work. How do we get in on that action and receive the joyfulness of what that looks like? Here's how we're gonna end today. I mentioned to you these buckets. Don't grab them yet. The first gathering, everybody was so excited, they were like throwing them all over the place and putting them on their heads, and no, I'm just kidding. Um, but they were really excited about doing it. On the left side of the aisles, there is a bucket underneath every seat. And during this worship song that we're gonna end with as we sing, I'm hoping some of you that are new here were brave enough to give us some info so we could be relational with you and connect with you. I'm hoping some of you that aren't real uh fans of technology and don't know how to submit an online prayer request, I really hope you helped us know how we can pray for you, whatever you're going through. And if some of you don't want to walk all the way to the give boxes and want to put this in here, it could also be a joyful church moment where we're all living into what God is calling us to do. You'll pass them down the aisle, and if you're somebody that gives online, maybe you'll even take the bucket and go, God, you know what I do online and what my bank does? Use it. Thank you that I get to give in this season. May what happens during this last song and in this last moment of worship really be a heart matter. Will you stand with me and I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna sing and pass these buckets as an engagement moment. Lord, thank you so much for how generous you've been with us. God, I thank you and praise you for God math. You know what you're calling us to, you know how to pull it off. God, your generosity with your son dying on the cross. Jesus, thank you. You have gone above and beyond in ways we will never understand or comprehend. I pray that our worship and our singing, our giving, our connecting and engaging with one another would be something powerful in this season. Lord, hear our worship, see our worship, and do something powerful. In Jesus' name, amen.