WEBVTT 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:22.640 Reading today is from Second Corinthians chapter nine. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:38.159 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:46.240 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:54.240 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you for being so confident. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:04.319 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have been promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:12.159 The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:19.599 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:28.560 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency and all things at all times, you may abound in every good work, as it is written. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:34.319 He is distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:42.719 He who supplies a need to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:48.799 He will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:55.840 For the ministry of the service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:06.000 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:13.120 While they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.479 And so reads God's word. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:16.879 Thank you for for joining us. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:18.400 Uh, my name is Mark. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:24.240 If you're new or visiting, I'm one of the leaders here uh at City, and it's great to have you with us. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:32.319 Um we are taking a pause uh for two weeks uh from our Romans uh sermon series. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:40.960 Uh we've been in the book of Romans uh since January, and we'll get up to uh the end of chapter eight by the time the summer comes around. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:03:09.439 But we're taking just a uh a two-week little uh pause uh to do something that we we do every year at uh at around about this time to uh to think about uh what it means for us to be a generous people, uh, what it uh what it looks like for us to be a church that partners with and blesses uh others, because we believe that that is a that's a good thing for uh for our hearts as individuals and uh as a as a culture of a church. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:16.719 We want to be uh known as uh as a church family that is uh generous and kind uh to others. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:30.719 And so we're uh we're taking two weeks uh essentially to uh to think a little bit about where generosity comes from, because there's lots of kind of confused thinking about generosity and about money in the Bible. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:34.560 And if you're here for the first time, you're like, oh my goodness, it's a money sermon. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:35.919 Please stick with me. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.360 It's not there isn't going to be a heart. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:46.240 I'm gonna want to show you the beauty of what it means to be generous, because I think actually we all want to be, we all want to be known as generous, right? 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:50.479 We want to we want everybody to say of us, he's such a generous guy. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:56.400 You know the person, you know the person who's the last one to put their hand in their pocket to buy around. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.360 And you know that you don't want to be that person, right? 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:12.240 So it's worth thinking about the um the underpinnings, where does that come from, that desire that is uh so sought after and commendable and not altogether easy to uh to achieve. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:31.759 But also to um to uh profile a little bit some of the people that we uh that we bless, that we that we partner with, because sometimes it can feel like uh you uh you set up your standing order and you give your money to the to the church and you're not quite sure what kind of black hole it goes into. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:37.839 Um now, if you're really not sure and you're not a member of City Church, can I encourage you to become a member? 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:42.160 Uh, because that's one of the places where we really do kind of have a lot of transparency. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:51.279 But it's good just to see uh little snapshots this week and next week about how uh our generosity goes to be a blessing to other people. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:59.839 Uh one here uh in our midst today, and then uh one outside of us uh next week. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:16.720 One of the things that uh I'm constantly struck by in the Gospels, those those biographies of Jesus' life, is how his miracles are so uh lavish and abundant. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:24.480 If you want to know what a miracle is, in people, miracles are little snapshots about what the kingdom of God is like. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:28.240 The kingdom of God is a place where there is no sickness, and so Jesus heals people. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:33.199 The kingdom of God is a place where death does not rain, and so he raises Lazarus from the dead. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:37.279 Uh the kingdom of God is a place where there is no chaos, and so he calms the storm. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:46.319 The miracles are supposed to give us little hints and insights into what the kingdom of God is like, the kingdom that Jesus is is bringing in. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:58.399 So you think about some of his miracles, and one of the things that you see is that one of the things about the kingdom of God is the kingdom of God is lavish, it's abundant, it's generous because our God is generous. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:05:59.839 Let me give you two examples. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.319 First, Jesus turns the water into wine. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:08.639 It's his first miracle uh of his public ministry, it's the first recorded miracle uh in John's gospel. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.319 You all know the story, they're at a they're at a wedding and the wine runs out. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:22.079 Not a good thing, uh, not a good thing in any wedding, but a particularly shameful thing at a uh at an ancient Near Eastern wedding that would have gone on for days and days and days. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:26.560 And so you don't want to just be serving water to guests. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:40.879 And Jesus fills up these uh these huge ceremonial water jars uh that would have held about 1200 bottles uh of kind of standard wine and he turns the water into wine. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:59.920 Now, I don't know where you are in your faith journey and what you think of Jesus, but I know that there are lots of people uh who think that Jesus is the guy who actually turns wine into water, uh, that he's a bit of a killjoy, and that if you become a Christian, then you can't have uh any more fun and you just have to be a miserable person for the rest of your life. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:05.519 Um uh but what we see from Jesus turning the water into wine is that that is simply not true. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.160 He turns the water into 1,200 bottles of good wine. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.839 That's what the master of the ceremony said. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:13.759 You save the best and the last. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:23.199 And it's not that he just gives enough wine just to kind of get them through, to kind of save face and to uh to get them past their embarrassment, socially speaking. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:23.680 No, no. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:31.920 He lavishly provides for them way far and above what they needed in that moment. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:39.040 Or if you're you hear, you know, I don't really like the don't really like the wine example, think about the fighting of the 5,000. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:45.360 The feeding of the 5,000, you again, you may remember the story, you may have even colored it in in Sunday school as a kid. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:46.399 Uh, what happens? 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:53.600 Well, there's a little boy who has a who has a lunch box, he's got a pack lunch, and uh, and there nobody else has any food. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:08:00.399 And the disciples find the little boy with the pack lunch and they bring it to Jesus and kind of go, Well, would would would this would this do? 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:01.519 Do you think it would stretch? 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:03.199 Could we cut it up really small? 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.639 Uh and Jesus performs a miracle. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:13.519 He provides uh for the 5,000, well, 5,000 men, so about 20,000 people. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.680 And what do we read there that everybody ate and was satisfied? 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:23.279 It's not as though Jesus went, okay, uh this is a wartime situation, we're gonna need to ration this. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:29.279 Everyone's just gonna get just enough to make sure that they uh they don't collapse on the way home. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.799 Everybody's stuffed, they're all carrying their food babies home. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.559 Uh, and how do we know? 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:39.440 Because there's 12 baskets of broken bits left over. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:41.679 That it's lavish, it's abundant. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:48.720 And so if you think, well, the miracles are supposed to tell us something about the kingdom of God and what God is like, well, what do you conclude? 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:59.600 Well, you conclude actually that God is generous, that the kingdom of God has a has a culture of generosity. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:08.320 How do people know that the kingdom of God has come about in earth, on earth? 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:11.120 How do we know that the kingdom of God is in this place? 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:18.960 Well, one of the ways is that people would perceive that among us there is a a spirit of generosity and and self-giving. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:24.159 So it's not even just about what you do with your material wealth, it's your it's your whole disposition. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.279 It's how it's how you regard your time. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:28.879 Are you time generous? 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.559 How do you regard your talents and the things that God has gifted you to do? 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.480 Are you generous with those? 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:46.000 One of the ways that people will know at City Church that the kingdom of God is amongst us is by how we view our generosity. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.759 Is it something that we feel like we have to do? 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.879 Or do we feel like it's something that we get to do? 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:57.440 Why is this a marker of the kingdom? 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.399 Why is this a marker of God's work in the world? 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:07.679 Well, because I think that generosity doesn't always come instinctively or naturally to us. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:21.279 Augustine, when he talks about sin, and apologies if you've been at City Church for more than five minutes, because you've heard me talk about this before, but Augustine describes uh sin as being turned in on ourselves. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:28.000 That actually by by nature we are navel gazers, we're inland inwardly focused. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.480 We want to uh to keep for our for ourselves. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:35.759 We don't want to give to others. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.720 You see that with uh with kids. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:42.559 Uh I'll give an example uh from from my two. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:54.159 Um that if we if we put a pizza on the table uh and we say, okay, you can have uh you can have four slices each because we've cut it into cut it into eight. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:02.720 Actually, what they'll do is they'll not eat a slice at a time, they'll they'll put their quota onto their plate because they're like, okay, this is mine. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:06.080 I'm gonna put you know, zoo and I'm gonna put ketchup all over it, right? 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:07.919 So you because he's a horror, right? 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.639 So you put ketchup all over it and you guard it. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.120 You can't let anybody else have it. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:15.919 That's our kind of natural disposition. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:36.480 And one of the things that the good news of Jesus does when we see what he is like, is he begins to un unwind us so that we no longer just look in at uh at me, myself, and my, but we look outward to others. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:40.480 Religion can't make you generous. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:48.080 You think of the uh the parable of the good Samaritan, again, a story that may be familiar to uh to many of you. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:56.399 What have you got in the parable of the good samaritan where you have a man who is who is beaten and lying injured, uh dying at the side of the road? 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:00.559 And the religious leaders pass by and they're they're protecting themselves. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:06.879 They don't want to become ceremonially unclean, they want to get on to their religious activities. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:13.279 And then along comes a Samaritan who in those days was a religious outcast. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:20.559 And not only does he tend to the man and see if he's okay and bind up his wounds, but he goes above and beyond. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:21.919 He takes him to an inn. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:29.360 He sees that he's uh given the care and treatment and uh medical assistance that he's needed and says, Well, send send me the bill. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:35.840 You see, in the kingdom of God, people don't ask, have I done enough? 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.399 They ask, have I done everything that I could? 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:43.919 The religious person might say, Well, no, I think I've done enough. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:48.879 I can probably kind of step back there, I think I've that's uh that's sufficient. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.840 You know, the person who is kingdom generous says, you know, have I done everything that I could. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:11.200 We must continually, and this is why we kind of talk about these things annually, it's we we must continually pursue generosity as a community virtue, as a as a culture among us, as a value that we hold on to. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:21.759 Yes, because there are practical needs and burdens that would need to be seen to, but also because our generosity is good for us as human beings. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:31.440 You don't you don't want to uh to be someone who is uh who is consumed by the need to uh to keep and to get. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:37.519 Remember how it is that uh Ebenezer Scrooge is described at the start of a Christmas carol? 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:48.080 Dickens says of Scrooge that he was as cold and solitary as an oyster because he was so miserly, because he didn't have a generous heart. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:57.279 None of us wants to be known as that, certainly not feel that in us, that actually we're cold and cut off from others. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:02.320 But another reason why we need to pursue it is because actually generosity has evangelistic force. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.720 It's something that is so unusual in a sense. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:17.840 These guys bless others, and even when it's a burden to themselves, that they give for the needs of others. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.840 What a strange and curious thing that you would do that. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:29.039 But if a generous heart doesn't come naturally, where does it come from? 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.399 What creates a generous heart? 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:38.960 Some people might say, well, it's you know, it's peer, you know, peer pressure. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:55.200 The pressure and expectation of of others, you know, everyone else is giving, so I should give and it'll look bad if I if I don't, and you know, I need to be the part, you know, the social convention dictates that I need to be one of the people that puts my hand in my pocket and buys around. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:01.600 Social pressure might produce generous actions, but it can produce a generous heart. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:04.399 So what's produced is a generous heart? 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:09.600 Well, some people then say, well, what about guilt and fear? 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.879 Certainly, sometimes uh churches have peddled on that. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:22.080 Other charities have implicitly played on the sense of guilt that you are a have. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:24.720 Look at these have nots. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:30.559 And you go, oh gosh, yeah, no, I should I should probably help. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:37.279 Again, those things can produce generous actions, but they might not produce a generous heart. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.120 In fact, they cannot produce a generous heart. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:52.080 What needs to happen in order for any of us to become radically generous is that we need to encounter the radically generous God. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.080 Only God can change the human heart. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:05.279 And it is when we encounter him and his generosity that we ourselves find that we are changed by him. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:21.759 Uh Jared read for us uh 2 Corinthians 9, uh, where Paul in this section, uh really through um through 8, 9, and on into 10, Paul has been uh talking about a particular need that's going on at that time. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.000 There's a famine in Jerusalem. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:43.840 And so he's been talking to some of the uh the wealthier churches, uh and in particular the church in Corinth here, which is a trade center of the ancient world, and kind of say making them aware of the the need and kind of saying, Hey, we actually really need you to help, but also giving the theological rationale for why they ought to be generous. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:52.080 And in the chapter before the one that Jared read, he uh he writes this in 2 Corinthians 8, uh verse 9. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:17:08.720 He says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:10.559 Do you see what he's saying there? 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:12.240 Let's unpack it. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:38.000 You know the grace saying Corinthian Christians materially well off, but you know, at one time you were spiritually lost, and God has come to you in undeserved kindness, that's what grace is, undeserved, unmerited kindness, and he's been gracious to you. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.079 How has he been gracious to you? 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:56.880 Well, he says that the Lord Jesus that though he was rich, the King of heaven, the beloved of the angels, the ruler and owner of all things, the one who is due all splendor, glory, and honor, he did what? 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:01.039 He set it all aside, he became poor. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:08.319 He gave it all away, and literally on the cross was stripped naked. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:15.200 He had no earthly possession, he was the poorest of the poor. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:21.599 They even bartered for his clothes, and he died with nothing. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:23.599 Why? 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:32.640 Well, again, in this very tight little verse, Paul tells us so that for your sake you might become rich. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:36.799 By his poverty, you might become rich. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:38.400 Rich in what terms? 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:39.599 Rich materially? 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:41.440 No, not necessarily. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:46.640 Many many followers and believers in the Lord Jesus are materially very poor. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:55.359 There is no guarantee in this life that you become a follower of Jesus, that that that wealth and prosperity are yours to claim. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:05.279 And yet, and yet the Christian is some of the richest people on earth. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:23.519 Because we know what it is to have our sins forgiven, to be adopted as children of the King, to have experienced the lavish grace of the Lord Jesus, to know that his perfect righteousness is now ours. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:48.880 By his death on the cross we are made rich, our debt of sin is cancelled, and that we are now clothed in the royal robe of his perfections, adopted as sons and daughters of the King, never again to be abandoned, never again to be forsaken, loved unconditionally, eternally, hell secure by his nail-pierced hands. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:53.359 Paul says that that is what creates a generous heart. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:20:03.039 That when you encounter that generous Jesus, you have your heart transformed by his own reckless generosity. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:05.759 And so you look at your life differently. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:13.680 You look at all the things that you have and think, well, I'm not gonna put my trust in those things because I'm putting my trust in Jesus. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:28.079 Actually, I'm not gonna put my hope in those things because if those things are taken away from me, my possessions or my career or uh my family or comfort or whatever it is, if those things are taken away from me, then if my hope is in them, what happens to my hope? 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:33.599 It's no, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna put my worth, I'm gonna put my hope, I'm gonna put my trust in him. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.119 Because that, because he can never be taken away. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.279 He lives forever in heaven. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:46.640 So to attach our hope to him really means that we can look at the things that we have and go, oh, it's a gift. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:49.680 I don't I don't use it to define me anymore. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:51.839 I can be a blessing with it. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.960 I can hold it, but hold it with a looser grip than I did before. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:05.920 The thing is, if you if you hold it with too tight a grip, one of the things that you'll find is it just begins to kind of fall through your hands like sand. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.279 Or that you'll crush it. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:19.759 And so we can say with the the hymn writer, my worth is not in what I own, not in the strength of flesh and bone, but in the costly wounds of love at the cross. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:30.720 My worth is not in skill or name, in win or lose, in pride or shame, but in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:35.599 The good news of Jesus creates generous hearts. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:59.200 The good news of Jesus creates generous people, because it is an encounter by faith with our generous God, who walked on the stage of human history and showed us those miracles that I referred to, and showed us the culture of the kingdom, that culture of lavish generosity. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:06.640 And so our generosity then is a is a response, a necessary response. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:14.559 Because if if we're being you know one of the ways of talking about Christian discipleship and sanctification is to say you become more like Jesus. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:21.359 Okay, well, what's the Jesus uh uh that we're supposed to come become more like like? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.319 Well, he's generous. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:31.200 So our generosity is a response to wanting and striving to become like him. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:41.920 It is an act of faith and dependence of saying that my my heavenly inheritance is secure, so I can hold my earthly possessions with an open hand. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:47.039 It is an act of worship that says, all that I have has come from you. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.400 Well, hold on a second, Mark. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.960 Like I worked really hard, actually. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.119 Yeah, you have. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.440 God has given you the intellect and the skills and the abilities to do that. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.559 All that you have has come from him. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:16.240 It is an act of discipleship as we cultivate generous hearts together, not just with our material wealth, but with our time and our and our gifts as well. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:33.359 So in the passage that that Jared read, Paul gives us some uh principles to think through as we as we think about well, how should we pursue generosity as a uh as a community together? 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:35.680 What would that what would that look like? 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:47.039 The first thing that the Paul says is that he's encouraging the the Corinthian Christians to give uh willingly, thought, thoughtfully. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:50.240 Uh, that he knows that they have this desire to be generous. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:24:03.119 And so in the uh in the first uh two or three verses, basically what he's saying is uh I'm on my way to you, and I don't want to embarrass you by uh by putting you on the spot. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:14.480 And so I'm sending this letter so you're prepared and have thought about how it is that you're going to be to be generous, because I don't want you to be humiliated if you're if you're unready. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.000 He doesn't want to just spring it on them, so he's making them aware of a need. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:30.079 The second thing uh that that he says connected with that is that he wants them to give uh prayerfully, so willingly, prayerfully. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:41.519 Verse 7, he says, each one of you must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:48.640 But each of you has decided in his heart, that for each of you it should be something that you pray about, you think about you reflect upon. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:54.799 Well, what does it mean for me with my means to be generous? 00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.559 Generosity is not about what's in your bank account. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:07.440 You can be very well off and not very generous, like Scrooge, right? 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:17.680 Or you can have very little and be very generous with it, like the widow that Jesus talks about, who came and gave the two small coins. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:20.559 It's not about your bank balance, it's about your heart. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:30.799 And so you should prayerfully consider well, what does it mean for me with my means to be generous with what God has given me? 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:40.240 And then he says, thirdly, third principle, is that it should be done joyfully, not under compunction. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:43.279 You shouldn't sit here and think, well, okay, fine. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:45.920 Mark's Mark's turned the screw. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:51.359 So I'll finally, you know, I'll scan the QR code and I'll go to the giving page, right? 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:51.680 Fine. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:56.400 No, no, don't then, right? 00:25:57.680 --> 00:25:58.720 Joyfully. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:02.799 Actually, God has been lavishly generous to me. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:06.799 I can see his blessing in my life. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:15.680 I want to be a person who continues to grow in that grace and in uh in generosity and being a blessing to others. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:22.319 And so, because of those motivations, I gladly think through, okay, how can I be a blessing to others? 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:30.319 To do it joyfully, and then fourthly, to do it uh sacrificially. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:36.799 Paul here in this passage mentions the Macedonian church uh in verse 2. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:41.680 And the Macedonian church, what you need to know about them is they were the opposite to the Corinthian church. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:44.880 They were not a church that was well off. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:54.000 Corinth was in a major trade center, loads of money traveling to it's like it was like having a church in the city of London or in Manhattan. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:55.440 That was Corinth, right? 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:01.279 Uh and yet here was Macedonia, and Macedonia, you know, could be uh, you know, dingle, right? 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.599 Uh down in down in Kerry. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.000 They're a church that's just kind of out in the stinks. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:18.880 And what Paul is saying is those guys, even though they didn't have nearly the material wealth that uh that the folks in London or Manhattan have, that actually they gave beyond their means. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:23.200 That they gave so that it hurt them a little bit. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.599 It caused they had to they had to tighten their belt. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:30.319 They didn't think, well, actually, we're we're not gonna get that, we're not gonna get that take out. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.960 Uh we're going to we're gonna increase our giving a little bit. 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:36.079 Do you see? 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:46.559 And they gave in response to a need, as I'd alluded to, that Paul made them aware that there was a famine in Jerusalem. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:51.440 At City Church, uh our mission, you want to know our mission as a church? 00:27:51.680 --> 00:28:00.160 Our mission as a church is this to connect people to Jesus, to grow them to spiritual maturity, that they might serve the community and go to the nations. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.240 Four things connect, grow, serve, go. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.119 That's what we're about. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:11.119 We want people to meet Jesus, we want them to be mature and believers, and we want them to be a blessing to others wherever God has placed them. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.599 That's what we're about. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:22.160 And our giving, how we give as a church, reflects that uh in terms of who we partner with. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:45.839 I want you to know that each year uh we give uh over 10%, we give closer to 15%, about 45,000 euro, uh, of our income to support other churches, uh, chiefly among them uh Redeemer, our daughter church that we have planted, but other organizations and individuals as well, uh, both here in Dublin and uh and beyond. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.279 And one of the people uh that we support is is here. 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:51.200 Uh he's doing your sign today. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:52.640 Uh it's uh is Owen. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:54.960 So I'm gonna invite Owen down just very briefly. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:29:00.079 I'm gonna give him this, and just for a couple of minutes, we're just going to check in with him. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:08.079 We uh interviewed him before um he started his time with uh Christian Unions Ireland. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:15.359 Uh they are an organization that we support, and we support uh Owen in his work there as a as a relay volunteer. 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:17.119 So he's given a year of his time. 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:24.240 He could have gone on and uh and uh and made all of the uh you know the ridiculous income that teachers get. 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:28.480 Um yeah, yeah, you know, that that that big teacher dollar. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:36.160 Uh he could have done that, but he turned aside from it in order to volunteer to serve students uh on campus this last year. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:39.359 So why don't you tell us just a little bit more about what that work looks like? 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:42.799 What do you what does it mean to say that uh you serve students on campus? 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:44.079 Yeah, absolutely. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:54.000 So yeah, the vision of Christian Unions Ireland as an organization is to give every student in Ireland the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:55.359 So it's a big mission. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:59.839 Um my part in that, there's kind of there's four different steps of this I can tell you about. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.039 Firstly, is I meet students individually, um, students who love the Lord, I meet them for Bible studies. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:12.160 We'll look at the Bible together, we'll we'll think about what it looks like to go on a mission, how do we grow in faith, how do we grow to know Jesus more? 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:16.559 Um, and yeah, I really encourage other students, and I'm built up myself by doing that. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:20.720 Um, I also help the local Christian unions on different campuses. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:29.359 So I work specifically with DCU and Trinity, um, and I'll meet the committee, I'll help them think through what does it look like to reach to put on a good outreach event? 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:33.279 How can we effectively um tell people on campus about Jesus? 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:43.680 Um, I'll go with them onto campus and say if we're trying to advertise an event, I'll show them, oh, this is how you can approach somebody and I'll help them and support them and encourage them in reaching out to their campus. 00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:51.200 Um, also, Christian Unions Ireland, we will run different events and and programs for resourcing and training students. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:31:00.960 So Christian Union leaders will come to different conferences and events and we'll train them and encourage them and try and show them from the Bible why we reach out and fuel them that way. 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:04.400 And finally, it's a lot of pouring out, but I'm also poured into. 00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:06.319 So I receive discipleship. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:11.839 I have a theology study program that I follow where I get to grow and I get to learn more myself. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:14.799 So that's kind of what I do in a given week. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:20.000 You're coming up to the uh actually to the end of your time with CUI, last couple of months. 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:28.799 As you reflect on the year just gone, are there some ways that actually you've seen the Lord at work uh either in you or through you in your ministry? 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:30.319 Yeah, absolutely. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:35.680 I think to like to preface that question, it's why is what I do, why does it matter? 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:36.559 Why is it important? 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:42.400 And actually, university is such a time where people are searching, they're trying to figure out what is what is my life all about? 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.400 What where is my life gonna go? 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:46.640 Um and there's a real openness for the gospel there. 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:48.720 People are trying to figure out what life's all about. 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:54.799 And even students who are already Christians who go to university, they're trying to, it's a real it's a real decision time. 00:31:54.960 --> 00:31:57.200 Am I gonna follow the Lord with my life or not? 00:31:57.359 --> 00:31:59.200 What's that gonna look like in my life? 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:09.920 Um, so yeah, in in those things, how I've seen the Lord at work, firstly, is I've really seen growth within the students that I meet or within the students involved in the Christian Union. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:14.880 Um, I've seen people grow in their confidence and their ability to lead. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:21.119 Um, I've seen people be more excited to actually I can take that scary step and invite my friend to an event. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:22.640 I can tell my friend about Jesus. 00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:33.039 And I've really seen the Lord working inside people's lives as they grow in the assurance of their faith and their their willingness and excitement to reach out to others, which is such a blessing to see people grow in that way. 00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:40.640 Um, and a consequence of that is that I've seen people who don't know the gospel come to events and hear the message of Jesus. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:46.079 I've seen people, yeah, just walking by on campus, become aware there's a Christian union on campus. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:49.680 People are here who care about the gospel and it affects their lives. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:52.960 So I've seen the gospel going forward to people who don't know Jesus. 00:32:53.119 --> 00:33:01.599 And I personally haven't seen anyone come to faith through that, but people do come to faith, saving faith in Jesus through the work of Christian unions across Ireland and across the world. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:05.440 Um, and finally, I have seen the Lord at work in my own life. 00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:19.599 Um, yeah, I in one way I've been able to grow in skills and what it means to give a talk, what it means to open the Bible with somebody, but also just in my own heart, seeing more of who Jesus is, seeing more of what it means to live a life dependent on the Holy Spirit. 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:28.160 Um, so I've seen growth in my own life, and yeah, that will be hopefully be a blessing to the church and to others throughout my life, not just this year. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:28.720 Great. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:33.519 And finally, so we are uh we're not the only church that supports you. 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:37.200 Um there are there are others that are partnering with you. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:48.559 Uh what does it mean uh to you to have uh folks like your brothers and sisters here, your home church back home in Cork, uh, to be uh to be generous? 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:52.960 How significant is that uh for for you this last year? 00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:55.839 Yeah, you you could say it's pretty significant. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:57.519 I mean, it's quite simple really. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:02.799 Without the generosity of you guys and others, I can't do what I do this year. 00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:11.440 You know, when I go to Little and do my weekly shop where the roof over my head, 100% of my income this year is the generosity of people towards me. 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:13.760 Um so like that's incredible. 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:19.920 The only reason I can support student ministry is because people have chosen to give towards this work. 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.239 Um so like it's massive, it's huge. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:30.719 So when you give to that black hole of the City Church giving page, part of that is actually enabling me personally to engage with student mission. 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:36.480 Um and yeah, there's a lot there's a number of individuals and my church in Cork as well, who who are supporting me. 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:42.559 And yeah, I probably don't often enough express how grateful I am because it really is, it makes such a difference. 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:54.159 It enables me to give this year, I could have gone into teaching, but I have the freedom and financial ability to give this year to help students and proclaim the gospel on campus. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:56.320 So yeah, I'm incredibly grateful. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:00.239 So thank you all for um for giving to me and supporting me in this. 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:01.599 Thanks, brother. 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:02.239 Thank you. 00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:04.320 Yes, give them a round of applause. 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:23.599 Yeah, one of the things that struck me as Owen was talking there, it's about a lot of uh a lot of generosity in uh towards Christian ministry is about uh is about saying that uh the people who have the desire to serve the Lord full-time and the the ability and the gifting to do so are simply freed up to do that. 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:31.519 Uh you know, Owen uh uh Owen has not, uh to the best of my knowledge, you know, gone off to the dealership and put a deposit down in a Maserati or anything like that. 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:40.960 You know, he is not, you know, this is uh his annual what his annual support has not enabled uh enabled a particular lifestyle. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:42.320 It has simply freed him up. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:50.960 The money is not a uh something that he needs to be concerned about while he's giving himself to the uh to the work of to the work of ministry. 00:35:51.280 --> 00:36:02.000 And uh and he is just one example, and there'll be uh more next week, but of the the partners that we are uh that we seek to be generous uh towards. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:13.199 Uh I want to uh just then also just make uh you all uh aware of uh of where we're at uh as a church. 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:17.679 Now, when we do our members' meeting, like I said, this is the best place to kind of uh get this information. 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:22.159 When we do a members' meeting, we have a much fuller breakdown of uh of everything. 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:33.519 And we believe that actually the financial transparency is uh is a uh is a crucial thing for for any church or charitable uh organization. 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:36.239 Um but let me just give you a snapshot. 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:39.119 So there's a slide that's gonna come up uh just just here. 00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:47.360 This is I just pulled this from our from our last members' meeting, and this gives you just an idea of of where we're at uh as a church. 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:54.159 So you'll see there that our uh our income uh is around about 26,000 uh euro per month. 00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:56.400 Now, let me just double-click on that number. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:37:00.719 That number is uh is taken from two streams. 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:10.480 Uh there's you guys, uh there is the internal uh giving income, and then there's external support. 00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:19.920 So again, if you come to a prayer meeting or a members meeting, uh we pray for uh those uh those churches uh that partner with us. 00:37:20.079 --> 00:37:42.239 So as we're generous to places like Redeemer and uh and Calvary Church Loch Ray, there are churches that are being generous towards us and pouring into us, and there are individuals as well who stand with us and who are uh and who give to us on a uh on a regular basis who are not um uh regularly part of our our church family. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:50.960 If you want to know how that number is made up, it's broadly made up uh two-thirds internal, one-third uh external, but that's what that number is. 00:37:51.039 --> 00:37:57.360 So we uh we normally generate around about on average 26,000 uh per month. 00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:04.719 You'll see there total expenses, uh total um just over uh 30,000, about 30,400 or so. 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:06.159 You think what does that include? 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:16.079 Well, it includes our uh includes our giving, uh includes running the church, staff, venue rental, uh ministry expenses, those those sorts of things. 00:38:16.159 --> 00:38:18.000 And again, become a member. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:21.760 If you're like, oh, I've got questions about that, become a member, come and ask those questions. 00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:31.119 Uh and then you'll be able to um uh uh to see uh how it is that we administrate uh the the funds at City Church. 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:44.880 And as it stands, what that means then, because you're you've all uh uh done sufficient maths that you can subtract uh 30,000, uh sorry, 26 from 30,000 and realize that we've got a monthly deficit of about uh 4,000 euro per month. 00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:50.159 Now, that is uh that's not counting the external uh giving. 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:56.719 If all of our external support dried up, um I'm doing a generosity sermon 52 weeks a year, right? 00:38:57.039 --> 00:39:13.199 Um but uh given uh that that is uh uh that those uh partners are are with us and we believe with us uh through the medium to long term, we're looking at a deficit of around about 4,000 euro per month. 00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:15.280 But actually, it's really great news. 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:22.880 Uh I'm very heartened by that big red number over there because I have seen um City Church for the last 10 years. 00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:31.119 Uh and uh things have uh have gotten better and better and better uh throughout the uh the life of the church. 00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:43.920 And so I want to put it to you too, as you're prayerfully and uh and and and considering uh how it is that God would be calling you to be generous, I want to encourage you that I think together we can we can eliminate that deficit. 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:58.000 I think that together, uh, if uh if there are a hundred of us, say, that think, well, I could increase my giving by 10 euro per week, uh, then that deficit is gone. 00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:03.679 Now there are some of you who won't be able to do an additional 40 euro a month. 00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:07.679 There are some of you who'll be able to do way in excess of that. 00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:23.360 I'm simply asking you to prayerfully consider how it is that you might be able to uh contribute to the work of City Church, to the support of Owen and Redeemer and others, as we seek to be a blessing here uh here in the city. 00:40:32.800 --> 00:40:39.199 In considering our own personal response, let me uh let me give you Paul's final principle. 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:46.800 So Paul's final principle here in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 is one of uh is one of sowing and reaping. 00:40:47.039 --> 00:41:00.079 Now, let me acknowledge right at the start that uh that Christian preachers and churches have have used this principle in order to manipulate people uh out of their out of their money. 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:03.679 And I do not think that that is what Paul is trying to do, actually. 00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:07.599 Um uh and so I am uh not going to do that either. 00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:09.679 I certainly hope. 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:29.280 The reason why I think uh that uh that those preachers and teachers use this verse in order to manipulate people out of their money is because uh there is this false idea uh that uh that sowing and reaping is a is a singular monetary transaction. 00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:35.199 That actually, if I give some money, I'll reap back more money. 00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:44.639 The end, that it's a it's a transaction that I am uh that I am enacting with God, that if I give a little bit, he'll give me back more. 00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:48.719 But I simply don't think that that's what these verses are are teaching us. 00:41:49.440 --> 00:42:02.480 Now, when Paul uses this principle of sowing and reaping, the first thing that he wants to tell you, the first thing that he wants to encourage us with is this idea that when you give, it's not in vain. 00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:11.760 And so we uh we jokingly uh allude to, I did and Owen did, you know, they it feels like sometimes you go on the giving page and like you're just giving money into a black hole. 00:42:11.920 --> 00:42:24.000 Well, Paul's saying, no, that's not true, that as you give, as you sow, God has so ordered the world and ordered his kingdom that there will be a return. 00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:28.239 And we've given you a glimpse of what that return looks like. 00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:33.280 And so his first encouragement is to say, your giving is not in vain. 00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:38.079 It doesn't just go into the into oblivion, into the ether. 00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:41.039 It actually achieves something. 00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:47.280 It actually achieves something worthwhile, that as they're sowing, there is a return. 00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:56.880 Paul is encouraging us that as we give, that giving will not go unutilized by God, but will realize a return. 00:42:57.119 --> 00:42:59.360 And then you ask, well, well, what is the return? 00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:05.280 And this is where some people go wrong, because they think, well, the return is just it's a monetary return back to me. 00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:09.440 But again, that's not his emphasis. 00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:11.519 Have a look at verse 10. 00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:13.280 Uh, or let me read it out to you. 00:43:13.440 --> 00:43:22.800 He says, He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of what? 00:43:23.360 --> 00:43:25.519 Of your righteousness. 00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:28.639 What's the harvest? 00:43:28.719 --> 00:43:30.000 What's the return? 00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:45.519 Well, Paul's primary focus is actually when you're when you're generous, when you give as a blessing to others, what you reap in your own life is a gospel shaped heart. 00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:46.880 It's righteousness. 00:43:47.199 --> 00:43:54.400 You become more like Jesus as you lean into the generosity that He Himself models and exemplifies. 00:43:56.719 --> 00:43:59.840 God gives you resources and then encourages you to use those resources. 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:01.920 Resources to be a blessing to others. 00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:02.320 Why? 00:44:02.559 --> 00:44:10.239