WEBVTT 00:00:04.009 --> 00:00:09.320 Over the last few weeks, we've been talking about encountering God, in which we've done some of that. 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:15.904 This morning, and I hope that we continue to do that as the sermon goes on, we have been encountering God through Scripture. 00:00:15.904 --> 00:00:17.307 That was one of our sermons. 00:00:17.307 --> 00:00:26.847 In relationships through worship talked about encountering God through prayer, and today we're going to talk about encountering God through generosity. 00:00:26.847 --> 00:00:40.890 And generosity this week is someone who is generous, someone who gives of their time, their talent and their treasure above what is standard or normally expected. 00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:47.011 So we're going to start out here just by talking for a minute about where did generosity come from? 00:00:47.011 --> 00:00:48.802 And this is one of those answers. 00:00:48.802 --> 00:00:50.710 That is the great school answer. 00:00:50.710 --> 00:00:52.905 You can go ahead and call it out loud, it's fine. 00:00:52.905 --> 00:00:54.070 What's the answer? 00:00:54.070 --> 00:00:56.828 Jesus, that's right, god right. 00:00:56.828 --> 00:00:59.929 He is the one who created generosity. 00:00:59.929 --> 00:01:04.790 He showed us generosity from the very moment that he made the earth. 00:01:04.790 --> 00:01:23.731 God comes on the scene and he makes the earth and the light and this beautiful land that we live in, and then he sticks us in a beautiful garden and then he gives us the best gift ever, the most generous gift you could ever give, and that's Himself walking in the garden. 00:01:23.731 --> 00:01:31.810 What a generous God he could have decided to do it however he wanted, but he was so generous. 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:51.349 And then he goes through all of that and then we see later on in the Bible where he gives salvation to the captives in Exodus, he gives them the promised land in Joshua, and then he changes the devastation in Job's life and restores it all the way up to the New Testament. 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:59.070 He gives us Jesus the greatest of all gifts, right, the most generous thing that he could give us. 00:01:59.070 --> 00:02:05.724 And then Jesus then feeds the multitudes and then the Holy Spirit's left with us and all the spiritual gifts. 00:02:05.724 --> 00:02:19.449 And then he gives us life and freedom and understanding and power, and he gives us His word and he gives us access to His throne, gives us all of these great things, everything that's good he gives, and so on and so on. 00:02:19.449 --> 00:02:25.466 And we could be here until next year if we continue talking about all of the things God has been generous in. 00:02:25.466 --> 00:02:30.871 So God is always and has always been, is and has always been generous. 00:02:31.900 --> 00:02:36.350 And again, a minute ago I was talking about how he gave us Himself with Adam and Eve. 00:02:36.350 --> 00:02:44.826 But even though Adam and Eve didn't do the right thing and they sinned against God, god was still massively generous to them. 00:02:44.826 --> 00:02:46.270 You got to think about this. 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:53.320 This is a God of the universe who can just wipe everything out and say, okay, that was a mess up, it's not over. 00:02:53.320 --> 00:02:57.711 But no, he, he clothed them and he still talked to them. 00:02:57.711 --> 00:03:02.610 God didn't just drop them and have nothing to do with it or with them. 00:03:02.610 --> 00:03:10.347 And then even with the Israelites, you know, god had just told them on here's your 10 commandments, and one of them is don't have any other gods before me. 00:03:10.347 --> 00:03:24.865 And then Moses goes up on the mountaintop and then, while he's up there talking to God, they make an engraved image of a calf, right, and God could have just been like I'm done with it and then just scratched them off the earth. 00:03:24.865 --> 00:03:25.627 But he didn't. 00:03:25.627 --> 00:03:29.629 Yes, there was a punishment to be had and they sent them out into the wilderness. 00:03:29.629 --> 00:03:30.562 But what did he do? 00:03:30.562 --> 00:03:37.893 He fed them with manna from heaven every day, and he was still taking care of them. 00:03:37.893 --> 00:03:48.487 So we learned generosity from the God of the universe, who has been so great, so magnificent, so wonderful and gracious to us. 00:03:48.487 --> 00:03:52.210 He could have just let sinners die, but he cared for them. 00:03:52.210 --> 00:04:00.105 He could have just turned His back on us, but then he sent us His most prized possession of all, his Son. 00:04:00.105 --> 00:04:05.670 So then, for us, what do we need to be generous with? 00:04:05.670 --> 00:04:10.170 Well, it's everything our time, our talent and our treasure. 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:22.110 And we see a good picture of what the early church looked like with the scriptures that we've been walking through with this sermon series, and that's Acts, chapter two, in verses 42 through 47. 00:04:22.110 --> 00:04:25.569 Today we're going to go through just 45 through 47. 00:04:25.569 --> 00:04:48.211 So says and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need, and, day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. 00:04:48.211 --> 00:04:53.269 Let's pray, father, I just thank you again for the opportunity to stand here and read your word. 00:04:53.269 --> 00:04:53.951 Who am I? 00:04:53.951 --> 00:04:55.783 I'm no one, but God. 00:04:55.783 --> 00:05:01.769 You are so good to us and I just pray, lord, god, that you would just help us to hear your words this morning. 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:12.803 We thank you, lord, god, for how we saw the early church live and be generous, and, god, we just pray that, as we hear this morning through your word, that you would help us to live that way In Jesus' name. 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:20.122 So there's three things that stuck out to me in these scriptures, and I just want to share them with you really quick, and they were. 00:05:20.122 --> 00:05:26.348 The first one is that they were selling their possessions and belongings and giving help to those in need. 00:05:26.348 --> 00:05:31.672 Notice, though, that we didn't see that they sold all of their possessions and belongings. 00:05:31.672 --> 00:05:33.646 This is not some legalistic thing. 00:05:33.646 --> 00:05:36.646 Okay, this is not a thing that you have to do. 00:05:36.646 --> 00:05:39.507 There's no obligation to do these things. 00:05:39.507 --> 00:05:42.891 We see that again in Acts, chapter five, verse four. 00:05:42.891 --> 00:05:58.190 When they were doing these things, annanaius was selling off some of his property, and Peter says the property was yours to sell or not to sell, as you wish, and after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. 00:05:58.190 --> 00:06:05.831 So he was telling them that there was no obligation to do this, but why did they do it? 00:06:05.831 --> 00:06:08.264 So we'll talk about that in a moment. 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:14.805 So they met together in their homes and received everything with glad and fulfilled hearts, or generous hearts. 00:06:14.805 --> 00:06:23.110 One thing that I saw there and it's not a big thing, but I did want to pull it out is that sometimes we need to receive with a generous heart. 00:06:23.110 --> 00:06:36.161 I know sometimes our pride gets in the way when someone tries to give to us and we don't need, but yet we need to receive what someone is trying to do for us Right and again. 00:06:36.161 --> 00:06:54.011 The last one is praise arose from them, and it was so incredible to see how praise arose from them because of the relationship that they had with God and that God had gifted them this church family, and they had begun to see what that looked like and it was so good. 00:06:54.011 --> 00:06:56.985 So the generosity came from within. 00:06:56.985 --> 00:07:04.348 As God was moving in their life, they've started to become more and more like God. 00:07:04.348 --> 00:07:14.170 So the sermon, of course, is about generosity, but it's not just about money, but living a generous life with every breath God has given us. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.187 We're going to talk about time, talent and treasures. 00:07:17.187 --> 00:07:18.403 So the first one is time. 00:07:18.403 --> 00:07:22.908 God has given us time to steward much like money. 00:07:22.908 --> 00:07:33.461 We don't know how much we're going to have, we have no clue what we're going to end up with, but there's only so much and we must steward it properly. 00:07:33.461 --> 00:07:44.088 And it's important for us to spend time starting with God, the God of the universe, the one that is so generous to us. 00:07:44.088 --> 00:07:58.887 We need to get to know him Right, and this is something that pricked my heart and I was kind of thinking about it and an idea that I had was tithing just as I do my finances, which we'll talk about later, but tithing my time as well. 00:07:58.887 --> 00:08:01.403 To God, I need to do that. 00:08:01.403 --> 00:08:16.511 I need to give some of the first fruits of my time to him to get to know him more, to figure out what is on his heart, to figure out what he likes, what he loves, what he wants to do, what he wants me to do, and I'll only know that if I spend time with him. 00:08:17.896 --> 00:08:21.807 Another way that we need to steward our time properly is with our family. 00:08:21.807 --> 00:08:27.673 We only have 24 hours a day and in our family we're going to sleep 8. 00:08:27.673 --> 00:08:30.120 If we're lucky, you know, some of us might get 9,. 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:37.195 Some of us normally live off of 5, right, but we have this time to sleep and then we have what's time in the day? 00:08:37.195 --> 00:08:40.390 Well, we got to go earn a living 8 to 10 hours a day. 00:08:40.390 --> 00:08:43.163 We're working right With travel time and everything. 00:08:43.163 --> 00:08:43.596 So what's that? 00:08:43.596 --> 00:08:50.323 Leave us 3 to 4 hours in the afternoon with our kids, right, and we got to steward that time properly. 00:08:51.436 --> 00:08:56.047 If you are blessed here today with a massive blessing to be able to homeschool your kids. 00:08:56.047 --> 00:09:06.725 You get to put all of the time into your children to show them what it looks like to live for God and you don't have to worry about the outside world pouring their doctrines into your child. 00:09:06.725 --> 00:09:15.114 But for a lot of us, we have to send our children off to go get taught right, and so when we get home in the afternoons we've only got 3 to 4 hours. 00:09:15.114 --> 00:09:17.022 What are we doing with that time? 00:09:17.022 --> 00:09:20.195 Are we sitting there flipping through the channel changer because we want our time off? 00:09:20.195 --> 00:09:27.864 Are we sending them to their rooms so that they just go learn life on their own or talking things with their buddies and on the internet? 00:09:27.864 --> 00:09:36.168 Or are we stewarding our time with our family because we've only got so much with them? 00:09:36.168 --> 00:09:42.948 We've only got so much time to show them what it looks like for mom and dad to live a godly life. 00:09:42.948 --> 00:09:57.447 We've got to show them what it looks like when we're having a frustrated day, how we deal with that in the Scripture, how we ask for forgiveness, how we repent and make things right. 00:09:57.447 --> 00:10:01.443 And then we must steward our time to help others. 00:10:01.443 --> 00:10:07.195 It is so important for us to build relationship with others because it helps us grow. 00:10:07.195 --> 00:10:15.384 It helps iron, sharpen iron to be there for one another and the early church was doing that as well Such a magnificent way. 00:10:16.755 --> 00:10:31.264 My shameless plug here today for the church, with your time, is that there are so many things that can be done here at church, inside this church and outside this church, and this is your opportunity to share what God has given you. 00:10:31.264 --> 00:10:34.763 And we're going to talk about talents here now, but that's another way. 00:10:34.763 --> 00:10:45.149 With talents that we can give to the church, our time and our talent can be given here, because only God has uniquely made you a specific way. 00:10:45.149 --> 00:10:46.581 So let's talk about talents. 00:10:46.581 --> 00:10:55.195 Each of us, each and every one of us, has been created by God in a specific manner, for a specific reason. 00:10:55.195 --> 00:10:59.745 You are a magnificent creation from the Father, god in heaven. 00:10:59.745 --> 00:11:01.618 You hear that today. 00:11:02.681 --> 00:11:07.884 Sometimes we think that we're not good enough, but then you're talking to God's creation. 00:11:07.884 --> 00:11:09.658 God made it. 00:11:09.658 --> 00:11:16.222 It's like talking to the Son and saying you're not doing your job, you're terrible, but the Son does its job. 00:11:16.222 --> 00:11:24.947 It is so good, it warms us, it brings life, and God has specifically made you for this place in the body. 00:11:24.947 --> 00:11:34.195 We're all one part of the body of Christ and if you think about what it would be like if I ask you right now to stand up, you were one leg missing. 00:11:34.195 --> 00:11:36.841 No wheelchair allowed, no crutches. 00:11:36.841 --> 00:11:40.801 I need you to walk to the parking lot All right, get there. 00:11:40.801 --> 00:11:45.365 And then, when you get there, I need you to go out into the city and go help somebody move. 00:11:46.875 --> 00:11:47.998 It's kind of hard, isn't it? 00:11:47.998 --> 00:11:56.803 And that's exactly what this body of Christ is like when your talent's not being used, because we are all a part of this body. 00:11:56.803 --> 00:12:00.764 You might be the toe that helps us stay on balance as we're walking. 00:12:00.764 --> 00:12:05.086 You might be the hand that helps grab somebody before they fall. 00:12:05.086 --> 00:12:29.154 You might be part in the brain that helps us to administrate and make the body move, but you have a talent that's specifically made for the body of Christ to move, and that's why we tell you each week that it's really important for you to find a home, that you should be in a church home and we pray, whether it be here or somewhere else, that you need to be active in your body of Christ. 00:12:29.154 --> 00:12:34.547 That's why we don't call you a member here, because you're a partner here. 00:12:34.547 --> 00:12:42.467 You're a part of this body of Christ and we want to see you use your God-given talents for His glory. 00:12:43.836 --> 00:12:55.154 And there's places again all over this church that need you, that need what God has gifted you with, here in this body, and it might be back here with the children's ministry. 00:12:55.154 --> 00:12:57.195 It might be over here with the coffee bar. 00:12:57.195 --> 00:13:08.469 It might be making copies in the front office, but each and every one of them help Trinity Community Church move forward in its mission to reach the lost. 00:13:08.469 --> 00:13:12.174 Oh, but it's just babysitting in the back. 00:13:12.174 --> 00:13:13.500 No, it's not. 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:17.195 These kids are learning about Jesus on a level that they can understand. 00:13:17.195 --> 00:13:20.244 They're not going to be able to sit in here for 45 minutes. 00:13:20.244 --> 00:13:25.195 No, they're learning back there in a way that they understand the gospel. 00:13:25.195 --> 00:13:31.195 And then they get to go home and parents, it's our responsibility to start feeding off of what did you learn this week? 00:13:31.195 --> 00:13:34.154 Or let's look at what that means for our life this week. 00:13:34.154 --> 00:13:37.307 But see all of us working together. 00:13:37.307 --> 00:13:46.601 Help to grow the family in that, and that is where you can be good stewards of the talent and the time that God has given us. 00:13:50.684 --> 00:14:05.990 So then we get down to the treasure God has given us so much, and the Bible says a lot about being generous and how it, how he relates to money and how we should relate to money. 00:14:05.990 --> 00:14:08.831 Why does the Bible talk so much about it? 00:14:08.831 --> 00:14:13.828 It's because I believe that if we don't get control of it, it gets control of us. 00:14:13.828 --> 00:14:19.958 We need to put it in the place where it belongs. 00:14:19.958 --> 00:14:25.831 Now, of course, we all need to have money to survive and provide and enjoy. 00:14:25.831 --> 00:14:27.134 Why not? 00:14:28.544 --> 00:14:35.852 And here's the thing for so many years I had heard the saying the love of money or that money is the root of all evil. 00:14:35.852 --> 00:14:40.471 It wasn't until later that I heard it said the love of money is the root of all evil. 00:14:40.471 --> 00:14:42.510 Money is not evil. 00:14:42.510 --> 00:14:43.950 Money doesn't hurt anybody. 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:47.894 Money itself can be very helpful in so many ways. 00:14:47.894 --> 00:14:54.191 You love the money and you put that center and self to center, because that's really what that turns into. 00:14:54.191 --> 00:15:01.313 When you love money, you put yourself to center what I want and what I'm gonna get right now. 00:15:01.313 --> 00:15:02.005 You're. 00:15:02.005 --> 00:15:04.113 The love of money is the root of all evil. 00:15:04.113 --> 00:15:08.528 But money itself can be used for amazing things, much like the internet. 00:15:08.528 --> 00:15:14.152 It can be very evil if you use it that way, but the internet can be a really good thing. 00:15:14.152 --> 00:15:16.451 I can call somebody right now in China and talk to them. 00:15:16.451 --> 00:15:17.775 That can be a wonderful thing. 00:15:17.775 --> 00:15:21.711 I can share the gospel with them Within seconds across the world. 00:15:21.711 --> 00:15:28.433 So money is not evil, but what we think about it is what's important. 00:15:28.433 --> 00:15:29.469 That's the concern. 00:15:30.125 --> 00:15:33.754 Now in America, we deal with materialism and individualism. 00:15:33.754 --> 00:15:37.153 Every one of us deal with it at some point in our life. 00:15:37.153 --> 00:15:43.888 Now, america is thousands of years past the scripture that we just read, but what's really incredible is that we're still dealing with it. 00:15:43.888 --> 00:15:46.490 Right, we still do all these things. 00:15:46.490 --> 00:15:54.715 So God allowed it to pass through thousands of years of historical things, because it's still the truth. 00:15:54.715 --> 00:15:57.072 Each and every one of us are dealing with it. 00:15:57.072 --> 00:16:00.392 Until Jesus comes back, we're going to be dealing with these things. 00:16:00.485 --> 00:16:01.750 So what is materialism? 00:16:01.750 --> 00:16:17.236 Materialism is a tendency to consider possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values, and individualism is a habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant or self-centered. 00:16:17.236 --> 00:16:23.836 Each of these puts self at center, each one of them. 00:16:23.836 --> 00:16:33.576 And to combat the fleshly tendencies about self, the Bible gives tons of advice about money and possessions. 00:16:33.576 --> 00:16:46.613 So much so that even a secular financial publication called Forbes Magazine put something out a few years ago that blew my mind that they would even print it. 00:16:46.613 --> 00:16:48.932 Now I'm not saying everybody at Forbes believes it. 00:16:48.932 --> 00:16:50.429 But listen to what they printed. 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:54.695 It says that the Bible is the ultimate financial guide. 00:16:54.695 --> 00:16:54.764 Or. 00:16:54.764 --> 00:16:58.485 Their question is is the Bible the ultimate financial guide? 00:16:58.485 --> 00:16:59.469 And their answer was yes. 00:17:00.384 --> 00:17:06.108 The article has this man named Gringan Grandich I have that name. 00:17:06.108 --> 00:17:19.271 He is the author of Confessions of a Wall Street WizKid and he says the writer of the Bible anticipated the problems that we would have with money and possessions. 00:17:19.271 --> 00:17:22.373 He says that there are over 2,000 references. 00:17:22.373 --> 00:17:31.170 He says our whole culture now is built on the premise that we have to have more money and more stuff to feel happy and secure. 00:17:31.170 --> 00:17:32.767 Listen to this. 00:17:32.767 --> 00:17:37.210 He says public storage is the poster child for what's wrong with America. 00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:47.114 We have too much stuff because we've bought into the myth fabricated by Wall Street and Madison Avenue that more stuff equals more happiness. 00:17:47.114 --> 00:17:53.353 He says that's the opposite of the truth and the opposite of what the Bible says. 00:17:55.305 --> 00:18:02.396 He goes on to say that his number one, his number one financial rule is God owns everything. 00:18:02.396 --> 00:18:08.651 He says you bought the house, but you didn't have the money to buy it. 00:18:08.651 --> 00:18:09.548 God gave it to you. 00:18:09.548 --> 00:18:14.512 So this brought me to a study that I'd done many years back. 00:18:14.512 --> 00:18:20.593 One of the things that I love the most is realizing that everything out there is God's. 00:18:20.593 --> 00:18:22.612 Everything that I have, it's all God's. 00:18:22.612 --> 00:18:30.233 Now, my flesh likes to go different, but like my spirit, that's one of the favorite things is knowing that everything belongs to God. 00:18:30.233 --> 00:18:34.013 And we think about how God placed us on the earth. 00:18:34.013 --> 00:18:41.071 He gave us Adam and Eve and then he put Adam and Eve in charge of the earth, but he didn't give it to them. 00:18:41.071 --> 00:18:42.836 He didn't give it to them. 00:18:42.836 --> 00:18:45.347 He says you're gonna name them and all those things, but it's not yours. 00:18:46.384 --> 00:18:53.769 And then it reminds me of Joseph and Pharaoh, where Joseph is put in charge and Joseph didn't own all of it. 00:18:53.769 --> 00:18:54.693 It wasn't his at all. 00:18:54.693 --> 00:18:59.211 He was just put in charge of it, but Joseph got to reap the spoils of it. 00:18:59.211 --> 00:19:01.569 Joseph got to come out of prison. 00:19:01.569 --> 00:19:06.568 He got to be put up into a nice house or a castle, whatever they lived in. 00:19:06.568 --> 00:19:09.710 He got to wear the nice clothes and eat all the great food. 00:19:09.710 --> 00:19:11.951 He even had his own servants and stuff. 00:19:11.951 --> 00:19:16.315 Right, he was in charge, but yet it wasn't his. 00:19:16.315 --> 00:19:21.028 When Pharaoh said I want such and such, he stepped out of the way. 00:19:21.028 --> 00:19:24.912 It's yours, I will do as you please with it. 00:19:24.912 --> 00:19:26.250 Pharaoh would give him commands. 00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:29.406 I want you to do this with my stuff, absolutely. 00:19:29.406 --> 00:19:31.553 I do it right now because it was his. 00:19:32.484 --> 00:19:34.752 And this is the same principle. 00:19:34.752 --> 00:19:46.858 We were once slaves to sin, condemned to a life of punishment, just like Joseph, but God, being generous, paid his greatest price ever paid. 00:19:46.858 --> 00:19:54.471 He allowed Jesus to come down and give us new life and he's placed us into a new place. 00:19:54.471 --> 00:19:58.729 And now we're stewards of these gifts and treasures that God has given to us. 00:19:58.729 --> 00:20:01.309 But why does God give? 00:20:01.309 --> 00:20:03.911 God gives so that we can give. 00:20:03.911 --> 00:20:08.228 He gives us blessings so that our blessings can be blessings. 00:20:08.228 --> 00:20:10.288 They're not just for us. 00:20:10.288 --> 00:20:12.590 Is salvation just for us? 00:20:12.590 --> 00:20:16.849 Are we supposed to get the knowledge of salvation and hide it under a bush? 00:20:16.849 --> 00:20:21.015 Oh no, we're supposed to let everyone know about it. 00:20:21.015 --> 00:20:22.689 You got my pun there. 00:20:22.689 --> 00:20:27.715 Huh, they're all blessings from God, everything. 00:20:28.605 --> 00:20:36.770 And then I started looking into how often the world gets this picture of how generosity can change your life. 00:20:36.770 --> 00:20:41.313 Now we know that the Bible says that this is the way you're supposed to live, generously. 00:20:41.313 --> 00:20:59.832 But then I found this paper from the Berkeley University called the Science of Generosity, where they did a study and they concluded that people that are generous with their time, their talent, their treasure live happier, healthier, longer lives than those who are not generous. 00:20:59.832 --> 00:21:02.308 Stingy people die early. 00:21:02.308 --> 00:21:07.307 That's what it said In this paper. 00:21:07.307 --> 00:21:13.255 They also conclude that we are genetically wired for generosity. 00:21:13.255 --> 00:21:18.510 Now, of course, they turn all this toward the evolutionary reasons, but that's just their ignorance of the truth. 00:21:18.510 --> 00:21:27.018 We know it's because God created us to be generous, because God created us in His image. 00:21:27.018 --> 00:21:33.451 We have been created in the image of God and that is how we're supposed to live. 00:21:33.451 --> 00:21:36.653 We allow ourselves to be about self. 00:21:36.653 --> 00:21:39.292 We're no longer in His image. 00:21:41.305 --> 00:21:49.256 Bible teaches us that everything that is a gift or entrusted with wealth and talents and these lives. 00:21:49.256 --> 00:21:57.532 So, then, giving, therefore, is a way of acknowledging God's sovereignty over all of it, saying that we know that he's in control. 00:21:57.532 --> 00:22:06.853 When we give, when he says to, when we give, when he doesn't say to, when we give, we're acknowledging that, god, you're in control. 00:22:06.853 --> 00:22:12.172 I know that, no matter how much I give, you're going to take care of me. 00:22:12.172 --> 00:22:18.573 I know that at times, I might not be in a comfortable spot to give, but you're going to take care of me. 00:22:18.573 --> 00:22:22.133 I trust you, and that's what it's doing. 00:22:23.664 --> 00:22:34.395 The Bible says that giving is also an act of worship Offering what we have to God and to others expresses our gratitude, our faith and our love toward God. 00:22:34.395 --> 00:22:39.551 It's a tangible expression of our spiritual commitment to God and His commandments. 00:22:39.551 --> 00:22:49.419 So when we give, one of the good principles that we should have comes in 2nd Corinthians, 9 and 7. 00:22:49.419 --> 00:23:00.719 And says each one of us must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion or regret, for God loves a cheerful giver. 00:23:00.719 --> 00:23:08.739 So it's not if you give, it's when you give Like it's just expected that when we become more like God we're going to give. 00:23:08.739 --> 00:23:10.730 So when you give, give like this. 00:23:10.730 --> 00:23:14.089 Now, it doesn't matter about the size. 00:23:14.089 --> 00:23:19.752 Some of us are going to be able to give great out of the abundance that God's given us, and some of us are going to be giving sacrificially. 00:23:19.752 --> 00:23:25.663 But no matter how we give, listen to what it says in Mark, chapter 12, verses 1-44. 00:23:26.605 --> 00:23:32.298 Jesus is sitting there and he sat down opposite of the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. 00:23:32.298 --> 00:23:57.680 Many rich people put in large sums and a poor widow came and put two small copper coins which made a penny, and he called his disciples to them and said truly, I say to you that this poor widow has given more than all of those contributing in this offering box, for they are contributing out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.808 It was a sacrificial gift. 00:23:59.808 --> 00:24:01.492 And why does she do it? 00:24:01.492 --> 00:24:03.076 Because she knew God was in control. 00:24:03.076 --> 00:24:05.531 She knew that it's all right. 00:24:05.531 --> 00:24:08.865 I'll give these two pennies because God's going to give me five pennies tomorrow. 00:24:08.865 --> 00:24:09.788 It's going to be fine. 00:24:09.788 --> 00:24:11.352 I'm going to have food tomorrow. 00:24:11.352 --> 00:24:12.375 It's going to be just fine. 00:24:12.964 --> 00:24:24.806 And then another great story that we think about is when Jesus comes and there's 5,000 men non-including women and children, probably 10,000 people here in front of him and he's going to feed them and he's looking around. 00:24:24.806 --> 00:24:25.567 Nobody's got food. 00:24:25.567 --> 00:24:33.539 And so then a young person comes up and he's got a couple fish and some bread, and God multiplies it to everyone. 00:24:33.539 --> 00:24:37.313 Now, did the little kid go home without a basket full of something? 00:24:37.313 --> 00:24:39.577 12 baskets were taken up. 00:24:39.577 --> 00:24:48.093 Now it doesn't say but like I know that the little boy is not going to go home without his fish and bread, like I can just imagine him going home and like carrying his bags. 00:24:48.093 --> 00:24:49.676 And what did you get all of this? 00:24:49.676 --> 00:24:51.772 I've got to tell you the story about Jesus. 00:24:51.772 --> 00:24:53.278 Look what he did. 00:24:53.278 --> 00:24:54.825 I gave him the couple fish and bread. 00:24:54.825 --> 00:24:57.069 He gave me like 12 baskets. 00:24:57.069 --> 00:25:00.637 I mean like that could totally reasonably happen. 00:25:00.637 --> 00:25:04.054 He's not going to go home empty handed, right, god gives. 00:25:05.144 --> 00:25:07.349 The truth is that you can't out give God. 00:25:07.349 --> 00:25:11.198 Mark talked about it this morning in Luke 6, 38. 00:25:11.198 --> 00:25:13.127 Giving it will be given to you. 00:25:13.127 --> 00:25:17.317 Good measure Press down, shaking together, running over will be poured into your life. 00:25:17.317 --> 00:25:23.617 I did that earlier to lap for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 00:25:23.617 --> 00:25:26.652 So years ago this scripture was talked about. 00:25:26.692 --> 00:25:28.517 It was taught on in this pastor that I had. 00:25:28.517 --> 00:25:34.865 He brought in a basket and he had fake money and he started reading this giving it will be given to you. 00:25:34.865 --> 00:25:43.865 And he put some money in and he's shaking together, he shakes and put some more money in and pressed down and he starts pressing it down and putting some more money in. 00:25:43.865 --> 00:25:56.381 And this took like 10 minutes or so because it took him so long to put the money in and to press it down and shake together and put the money in and press down and shake together until it was running over into his lap. 00:25:56.381 --> 00:25:58.828 That's the picture. 00:26:00.653 --> 00:26:05.777 We serve a generous God, when you give, he will give to you. 00:26:05.777 --> 00:26:07.845 Press down, shaking together, running over. 00:26:07.845 --> 00:26:10.329 He'll give you a full bag of chips. 00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:11.571 You think about the bag of chips. 00:26:11.571 --> 00:26:11.952 It's full. 00:26:11.952 --> 00:26:12.493 When you buy it. 00:26:12.493 --> 00:26:14.719 You go home and there's like this much at the bottom. 00:26:14.719 --> 00:26:17.832 He opens the back of him, keeps filling it up till it's running over. 00:26:17.832 --> 00:26:22.232 Right, but he will, he will. 00:26:22.232 --> 00:26:24.571 So what are some ways that we can give? 00:26:24.571 --> 00:26:37.248 One of the ways is to show God that you know he's in charge of all of your finances, is to give a tenth of everything you've got, and I'm here today to tell you. 00:26:37.248 --> 00:26:40.656 It's not in a way to be proud or anything like that. 00:26:40.656 --> 00:26:43.153 I just want to start my testimony here just a bit. 00:26:43.153 --> 00:26:49.876 I have given 10% to this church of every dime that I've ever had since I showed up at Trinity. 00:26:49.876 --> 00:26:53.693 Okay, you need to know that because I trust God. 00:26:54.385 --> 00:27:02.010 I remember when I met my wife, we were dating for about a month and I asked her to marry me and then, like a week later, I gave her all my finances. 00:27:02.010 --> 00:27:03.173 I didn't want to deal with it, no more. 00:27:03.173 --> 00:27:08.256 But I said I got one rule and she's a new Christian, so this is all new to her. 00:27:08.256 --> 00:27:10.308 Yeah, it was smart. 00:27:10.308 --> 00:27:14.865 So she's a new Christian, so she didn't know what to do. 00:27:14.865 --> 00:27:19.415 So I said listen, I have one rule, of course, to pay the bills, that wasn't the question. 00:27:19.415 --> 00:27:26.557 But you have to take 10% of everything that comes into this account and give back to the church. 00:27:26.557 --> 00:27:27.814 You have to. 00:27:27.814 --> 00:27:28.865 It's a rule. 00:27:28.865 --> 00:27:29.948 But what if we don't have it? 00:27:29.948 --> 00:27:32.615 We don't have the money for the KUB bill. 00:27:32.615 --> 00:27:35.845 We have the 10%, but we don't have that money. 00:27:35.845 --> 00:27:43.517 Right, it's the first fruits, and I got to tell you today, as I've said here, I just told you I've given 10% to Trinity. 00:27:43.517 --> 00:27:47.888 I think you could probably audit that and find it to be true, but I've given 10% to Trinity. 00:27:47.970 --> 00:27:51.317 All of this time, and to this day, I have not been hungry. 00:27:51.317 --> 00:28:00.578 I have lived at times, very, very rough time, where we had to eat ramen noodles for you know, a couple of nights in a roll. 00:28:00.578 --> 00:28:06.690 Ramen, ramen, dante, danny, however you say it, but I had to. 00:28:06.690 --> 00:28:20.865 You know, have some rough times, not to say that we haven't, but I have never been starving, my heat's not been off, my lights have been paid, so much so that I've got a testimony of one time we were short on $200. 00:28:20.865 --> 00:28:28.696 Didn't know how we were going to pay, and we talked about it the night before and my wife's then the next morning she's trying to figure out how we're going to pay this bill. 00:28:28.696 --> 00:28:29.869 We're $200 short. 00:28:29.869 --> 00:28:32.865 And she calls me and she goes did you just put $200 in the account? 00:28:32.865 --> 00:28:33.989 And I said no. 00:28:33.989 --> 00:28:35.528 She goes. 00:28:35.528 --> 00:28:44.557 Well, you know, my check register says that we are $3.52 in the account, but yet the bank says we're $203.52. 00:28:44.557 --> 00:28:46.652 It makes no sense. 00:28:46.652 --> 00:28:50.615 So of course, this is back before our phones when we can reconcile real easily. 00:28:50.615 --> 00:28:53.573 You had to wait for the papers to come in, but we didn't do that. 00:28:53.573 --> 00:28:54.173 We're too lazy. 00:28:54.173 --> 00:28:59.497 So she starts looking back through the paper and she can't find where this $200 came from. 00:28:59.497 --> 00:29:11.494 We still, to this day, do not know how the $200 was in there extra for God knows how long, but yet there was $200 extra dollars to pay that bill. 00:29:11.494 --> 00:29:13.471 How does that happen? 00:29:13.471 --> 00:29:15.571 I don't have a clue. 00:29:16.708 --> 00:29:20.865 All I know is that God says when you give, I will give back to you. 00:29:20.865 --> 00:29:25.355 Press down, shaking together and running over until it pours out into your lap. 00:29:25.355 --> 00:29:29.855 That's what he promises and you can't out give him. 00:29:29.855 --> 00:29:30.886 Try it. 00:29:30.886 --> 00:29:44.845 So another type of sacrificial giving is and this is above ties and offering, and it is like giving to missions or to the poor. 00:29:44.845 --> 00:29:51.805 This one also kind of falls in with almsgiving, which involves giving to those in great need. 00:29:51.805 --> 00:29:59.057 This type of giving reflects the heart of God, because he cares deeply for the marginalized and less fortunate. 00:30:00.625 --> 00:30:10.534 When we give to the needy with with our attention or our finances, bible says we're caring for the least of these, and that comes from Matthew, chapter 5, 37. 00:30:10.534 --> 00:30:17.699 Then the righteous will answer him saying Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 00:30:17.699 --> 00:30:22.865 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and cloth you? 00:30:22.865 --> 00:30:25.865 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? 00:30:25.865 --> 00:30:28.065 The king will answer them Truly. 00:30:28.065 --> 00:30:34.116 I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. 00:30:34.116 --> 00:30:36.717 We're helping people. 00:30:36.717 --> 00:30:38.571 We're helping people in need. 00:30:39.086 --> 00:30:42.772 We might not always know their story, we might not always know what's going on. 00:30:42.772 --> 00:30:48.234 You might think first off that they're going to take your money and go buy booze, and they might. 00:30:48.234 --> 00:30:50.419 But that's none of your business. 00:30:50.419 --> 00:30:55.553 If God says to do it, shut up and do it. 00:30:55.553 --> 00:30:57.457 It's that simple. 00:30:58.157 --> 00:31:05.768 How many times I've met someone homeless at the store and you know, and I don't like I try to run the other way. 00:31:05.768 --> 00:31:08.195 I try to get away from them because I know their headed beeline for me. 00:31:08.195 --> 00:31:17.219 And then I get in the truck and my heart's pounding because God's telling me get out, get out of your selfish state and go talk to them right now. 00:31:17.219 --> 00:31:19.065 And I don't. 00:31:19.065 --> 00:31:19.625 I leave. 00:31:19.625 --> 00:31:26.686 How many times I've missed the opportunity to give unto Jesus, to give unto God. 00:31:26.686 --> 00:31:37.873 But oh, great joy that it feels when you walk up and somebody says they're hungry and you go well, let's go get some food, and you don't buy them junk, you go get them some good food. 00:31:37.873 --> 00:31:41.103 It is incredible. 00:31:41.103 --> 00:31:46.317 And he says truly I say to you, as you do it to the least of these, you've done it to me. 00:31:48.143 --> 00:32:05.502 And this, really one way to show the illustration of the transforming of power, of being generous, is with Zacchaeus in Luke 19, 1 through 10, and he's a Wesley taxic collector who gave half of his possessions to the poor and repaid four times anybody that he had cheated. 00:32:05.502 --> 00:32:09.159 It changed his life to be generous. 00:32:09.159 --> 00:32:18.311 It showed that, like when God showed him how gracious he was, then he's going to give graciously. 00:32:18.311 --> 00:32:22.493 God has set me free from all that he has. 00:32:22.493 --> 00:32:25.163 He's set my feet on a solid rock. 00:32:25.163 --> 00:32:28.496 He's giving me salvation when I deserve nothing at all. 00:32:28.496 --> 00:32:31.607 He provides for me and gives me a place to sleep. 00:32:31.607 --> 00:32:35.699 Tonight I've got a warm bed, I've got food on my table. 00:32:35.699 --> 00:32:41.452 Why wouldn't I want to give, because he gave so much to me. 00:32:44.018 --> 00:32:47.756 But there's a couple things that we need to remember when we're giving. 00:32:47.756 --> 00:32:49.021 There is some principles. 00:32:49.021 --> 00:32:49.965 It's really important. 00:32:49.965 --> 00:32:52.012 It's not if we give, but when. 00:32:52.012 --> 00:32:55.903 When you give Matthew 6, 3. 00:32:55.962 --> 00:33:01.981 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 00:33:01.981 --> 00:33:04.932 Nobody needs to know what you're doing. 00:33:04.932 --> 00:33:09.444 If you tell everybody, then that's your gift. 00:33:09.444 --> 00:33:14.317 No more shaking together, running over until it's poured out into your lap. 00:33:14.317 --> 00:33:17.491 You got it, you got the recognition. 00:33:17.491 --> 00:33:19.557 I hope you enjoy it. 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:25.236 We don't let the left hand know what the right hand's doing right. 00:33:25.236 --> 00:33:28.345 So when you give, keep it to yourself. 00:33:28.345 --> 00:33:40.801 And then we also got to remember that offering a portion of our income to God is important, but we can't forget justice, mercy and faithfulness. 00:33:40.801 --> 00:33:42.907 Matthew 23, 23. 00:33:42.907 --> 00:33:53.753 What do you scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, because you tithe your mint and your deal your cumin and, but you've neglected the way to your matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. 00:33:53.753 --> 00:33:56.692 These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 00:33:56.692 --> 00:34:01.067 So don't forget that we still uphold, but it's right. 00:34:01.067 --> 00:34:04.965 And then we're like oh, but we give, it's still not all about that, it's really. 00:34:04.965 --> 00:34:06.632 It still comes from the heart. 00:34:07.555 --> 00:34:11.972 So just because you give 10% doesn't mean that you're giving 10 percent from the heart. 00:34:11.972 --> 00:34:20.637 That's why the scripture says earlier when you give, you don't do it out of compulsion, you give it from a glad and generous heart. 00:34:20.637 --> 00:34:30.963 So we are generous because the love of God is in us, and we see in John 3, 17. 00:34:30.963 --> 00:34:34.978 But if anyone has the world's good and sees a brother in need yes, is. 00:34:34.978 --> 00:34:37.253 Yet he closes his heart against him. 00:34:37.253 --> 00:34:39.541 How does God's love abide in him? 00:34:39.541 --> 00:34:45.597 Scripture's just saying that when we have the love of God in us, we're going to give. 00:34:45.597 --> 00:34:55.940 So in conclusion, the Bible does not provide an exact amount or percentage that must be given. 00:34:55.940 --> 00:35:06.536 We see that God loves a chill for giver, cheerful giver who gives willingly and sacrificially, without seeking recognition. 00:35:06.536 --> 00:35:14.451 The attitude of the heart is essential when it becomes, when it comes to being generous with our time, talent and money. 00:35:14.451 --> 00:35:28.371 Generosity is an expression of love and gratitude to God, and it's not about meeting a specific requirement but honoring God with the gifts that he's given us. 00:35:28.371 --> 00:35:31.978 So how do we encounter God in this way? 00:35:31.978 --> 00:35:38.775 Because we tap directly into the heart of God in generosity. 00:35:38.775 --> 00:35:48.179 We can't we get closer and closer to him just because we are getting to know who he is when we act as he does. 00:35:49.643 --> 00:35:51.432 And then, like I, I've got a couple of things. 00:35:51.432 --> 00:35:53.157 One I like to be a puppet. 00:35:53.157 --> 00:35:55.251 I don't be personally as a Christian. 00:35:55.251 --> 00:35:55.952 I want to be a puppet. 00:35:55.952 --> 00:36:00.824 I don't want to say anything and I don't want to do anything without God pulling the strings. 00:36:00.824 --> 00:36:02.693 But then I got a picture this week about being a glove. 00:36:02.693 --> 00:36:05.123 A glove is useless. 00:36:05.123 --> 00:36:08.474 It lays on the ground if you don't have a hand in it. 00:36:08.474 --> 00:36:17.963 I want God to be the hand inside of me, moving me and taking me and grabbing and pulling out of my pocket wherever he pleases. 00:36:17.963 --> 00:36:31.920 Let us be the glove and let God be the hand, because this dip and demonstrates selfless generosity, deepening our relationship with God. 00:36:32.822 --> 00:36:36.235 See, generosity is very important to our spiritual growth and maturity. 00:36:36.235 --> 00:36:49.543