WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:22.320 Well, good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.440 Great to be with you. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:25.280 You can grab your seats. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.800 Happy Sunday. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:29.839 So thrilled that you joined us today. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.120 My name's Ryan. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:45.840 21 years ago this summer, I became, I stepped into full-time vocational ministry of 21 years ago. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:46.719 I became a pastor. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:47.679 It's been 21 years. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:49.200 It's hard to believe. 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:49.840 Thanks. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.000 I think that was my own kid, I think. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:53.520 But that's awesome. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.240 It's hard to believe it's been that long. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:58.560 We were living in Chicago. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:02.079 I was finishing up my schooling at Moody Bible Institute. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:04.959 I was working at a church there doing worship. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.120 I was leading worship and drumming. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.760 We were originally intending, hoping to get back to California. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.599 My wife and I were both California kids. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:15.920 Instead, we took this detour to Georgia. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:19.840 A little bit of a different, it was a culture shock for California kids. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:20.719 Let's just say that. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.079 I remember, you know, packing up this small little box truck. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:28.879 Jenny's driving the um our car. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:30.719 Did I say she was eight months pregnant too? 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:31.280 Did I say that? 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:31.519 Yeah. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:31.760 Yeah. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:32.879 So she's eight months pregnant. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:36.879 We're driving down new location, new ministry. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:46.879 I'm hired to be this youth pastor, kind of a utility infilter because I could lead worship at this new church plant that was starting and it was well resourced. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:48.480 It had some significant givers. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.120 It had a well-known communicator. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.560 And in the South, if you got those things, you can draw a crowd really easily. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.920 It grew rapidly, lots and lots and lots of people. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:15.120 About two years into it, we came face to face, so two years into full-time ministry, pastoral ministry, we hit what so many, I think, of you have hit before, and that is the dark side of church. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:18.000 It is that church hurt. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:41.919 We did a actually summer study this uh summer, a class uh led by some incredible uh therapists on church hurt, and we're gonna do that again, but we've experienced that where power or politics or lack of integrity and something that was meant to be beautiful and amazing becomes painful and ugly. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:59.199 I remember Jenny and I, we just loved being the students that God gave us, and we we even felt called to stay an extra year, even though it was a really difficult, painful season uh to serve this group of students until they graduated. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:07.759 But as we're wrestling, my first inclination, just honestly, was like, okay, I'm only two years into being a pastor, like, peace, I'm out, right? 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.719 Like, if this is church and if this is what it's gonna look like, I don't want any part of it. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:14.960 I want to be done, music's my background. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:16.879 My brother was in Nashville, he still is. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.680 I'm like, maybe I could go and do music with him or something. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.159 I'm just thinking outside anywhere. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:30.400 And as we were talking, something that became the settled conviction for both Jenny and me. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:48.080 Is instead of bailing on the church, which that's was what I wanted, just this question: how can we help make the bride of Christ a little bit more beautiful? 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:54.400 Like you got one life to live and to give. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:04:16.319 And we, you know, have just this moment, and I I don't know about everything and all the problems all around, but but instead of bailing out, we just began to say, you know what, what we're gonna do with the little that we have and the time that we have, how can we just help wherever we're at make the bride of Christ just a little more beautiful? 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:23.759 And let me ask you, what does a beautiful church look like? 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:35.920 Like if it is the bride of Christ's body, like like what does a beautiful, an attractive church, uh, an exceptional church look like? 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.040 And, and. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:42.399 And what if the American church has got it wrong? 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:45.600 Now, listen, well, notice what I didn't say. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:53.680 Not what if that denomination got it wrong, because we can all think of the denomination or group of people, what what if that part of the country got it wrong? 00:04:53.759 --> 00:05:01.279 Because we were like, oh well, we got it right, but that, or not even like maybe that size church got it wrong. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.360 But what if the American church? 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:12.800 If there's some things that we have fundamentally where we just corporately say, Well, we got it wrong. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:20.639 When Jesus called this first community, the church, he used the word ekklesia. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.920 This is a series we're in, uh, all about the church. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:28.240 He used this word and it literally means the called out ones. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:34.480 It's from this compound Greek word ek uh eklesia or ek and kaleo, out and called out. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.279 It's like this community, this gathering of called-out ones. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.759 This was not a religious term in any way. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:41.759 This was actually a political term. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:51.759 This was a term uh of a community of called-out ones that were to bring uh shape and influence the city and culture. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:56.160 And Jesus says this new movement is called the ecclesia. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:04.319 We we we we think church is this gathering, this community called out to be an influencer and culture shaper. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:11.600 He didn't envision a brand or you know, a Sunday service with lights and band, and those are things are fun. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.800 He envisioned a called-out community that's shaping the world. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:20.240 Not a religion, but a revolution. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.319 And there's these distinctive marks of the first followers. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:36.160 In fact, three core ones, these distinctive marks that that that you we said, it's like this is what the church set it apart from everyone else. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:43.199 And the it was a radical generosity, a bold faith, and sacrificial love. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:49.120 Like if you're gonna brand the early church, it wasn't their TikTok and their social media game. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:59.279 If you're gonna brand the early church, it wasn't their worship game, if you're gonna brand the early church, it wasn't, you know, whatever kind of sound bite they could get clicks on. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:03.199 The branding of the early church was their radical generosity. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:09.120 The distinctive mark was their bold faith and their sacrificial love. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:11.839 And many of you don't know, but my name's Ryan. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:13.040 I'm the pastor here. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:15.759 I cut my hair, you don't recognize me. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.240 Because that just happens to be my distinctive mark there. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:22.560 Someone asked, Did you do that for the series? 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.240 I'm like, No, I didn't. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.199 Just a moment of lapsed judgment, that's all. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:38.720 Um, but if you cut these from the church, it no longer looks the way Jesus set out the church to be. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:46.160 Um, we're gonna spend the next six weeks unpacking each of those and what it means for us. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:50.800 Two weeks on each radical generosity, bold faith, and sacrificial love. 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:52.480 Today's a radical generosity. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.639 The sermon title is A Grace People. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.319 Would you go ahead and say that with me? 00:07:57.839 --> 00:07:58.879 Say it one more time. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.480 We're gonna get our everything. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.319 A Grace People, go for it. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:08.000 Uh, if you got your Bibles or it's in your notes, you can follow along behind me as well. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:18.160 If you open up to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, uh the context is right Paul, the Apostle Paul is writing to this church in Corinth. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:24.879 Um, and the church in Corinth really is really the Silicon Valley of the ancient world. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:32.080 It's a bustling strategic hub known for its wealth, innovation, also its moral uh looseness. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.879 It's a city uh addicted to status, ambition, and excess. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:47.200 Uh, it's in this city where the Apostle Paul, uh, the church in Corinth, he's actually calling them to fulfill a commitment they made about a year prior. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:53.200 Now, the church in Jerusalem, the mother church, where the church began, you know, Jesus said, I'll build my church. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.600 It started in Jerusalem and it spread everywhere. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:00.639 The church in Jerusalem is experiencing just extreme hardship. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:04.879 Uh, first, they're experiencing persecution from the local Jews. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:08.799 There's a famine that hit uh the land in ancient Palestine. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:11.840 And so they are just struggling. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.639 They're impoverished, poor, struggling. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:22.320 And so all these Gentile churches, Paul says, let's raise money, send it back to Jerusalem to support our brothers and sisters there. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:28.639 And the church in Corinth, this wealthy, you know, incredible hub, they like showed up, you know. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:30.799 They pledged a big amount. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:32.080 They said, Here we go. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:36.960 Uh and so much so that the apostle Paul kind of bragged about them to other churches. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:38.399 Look at this church. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:45.919 A year later, the Corinthian church had yet to fulfill their obligation or their commitment or their pledge. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:55.039 And this is the context in which the apostle Paul's writing to them to help them see and fulfill what they set out to do. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:59.120 Uh, if you got, we pick it up in chapter 8, verse 1. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.519 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:04.399 Say grace. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:07.679 In fact, every time we see grace, I just want you to say it with me. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:13.360 Now, brother and sister, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian church. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:14.159 Oh, wait a second. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.240 Now he's talking about the Macedonian church. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:17.759 Huh, let's get to them. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:30.399 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy, and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:32.879 That sentence doesn't make sense to us in America. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.639 We'll unpack that in a second. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:41.200 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability, entirely on their own. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:44.240 They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:51.919 They urgently pleaded for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people, and they exceeded our expectations. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:56.559 They gave themselves, first of all, to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:10.480 So we urge Titus, this is Paul's uh companion, just as he had earlier made a beginning to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part, to fulfill your side of it. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:18.960 But since you excel in everything, in faith and speech and knowledge and complete earnestness and in love we have kindled in you, see that you also excel in this. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:22.320 We missed a grace earlier, that's all right. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:29.360 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:42.240 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:47.360 The Apostle Paul is comparing this wealthy Corinthian church to the Macedonian church. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:52.639 Macedonia is this region about 300 miles north from Corinth. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:12:03.440 It had been devastated after Rome's conquest in 168 BC, its resources plundered, its economy left uh in shambles. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:12.159 The believers in this area are extremely poor, mostly day laborers and slaves, and they're being persecuted for their faith. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:26.639 And the apostle Paul's comparing wealthy, influential, affluent Corinth with, if you want to say, Podonc, Macedonia, this region, Philippi, uh Thessalonica, Berea. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.559 And here's what I want you to see: a grace people. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:35.759 First, grace empowers you to live a joy-filled, generous life. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.000 Grace empowers. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:39.840 Notice what he said. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:45.840 Uh, it's I want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonians. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:48.159 Like God graced them, he gave them grace. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:52.799 We think of grace as saving grace, which it is, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.799 For it's by grace you've been saved. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:57.120 How incredible and amazing is that? 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.000 Uh, not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:00.960 It's a gift of God. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:05.840 Grace is God's undeserved, unearned favor. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:12.559 And yet what we miss is that grace is both saving and empowering. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:17.200 Like grace got you in, and grace sees you through. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:22.240 Grace got you into the story, and grace fuels and empowers you all the way through. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:35.600 In fact, and a few verses later, the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, he'd be talking about uh, you know, this prayer that he has with God, and he's saying, gosh, I got this hardship, I got this thorn in the flesh. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.240 God, would you take it away from me? 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.360 And then what does God say to the Apostle Paul? 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:44.720 He says, My grace is sufficient for you. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.759 For my power is made perfect in weakness. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:59.679 Like there is a grace that isn't just for that moment when you're saved, it's a grace that you show up and you wake up and you're fueled and you're empowered today to live out a new and different kind of life. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.159 It's the empowering grace of God. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:09.039 Grace empowers us to live out a joy and generosity that is uncommon. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:10.799 And it's undeniable. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:14.080 Now, notice this about the Macedonian church. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.080 It just makes no sense. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.200 The math doesn't add up for us, does it? 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:23.279 Severe trial plus overwhelming joy. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.039 That word severe means rock bottom destitution. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:30.159 On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:32.080 It's the worst, it's a ten. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:42.879 Circumstances are a poor foundation for joy. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:49.440 Your circumstances are a poor foundation for joy. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:56.240 He says, You can be going through a five-level trial, a six-level trial, a ten. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.200 And we have it across the room. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.039 Never underestimate the amount of pain that is in a room. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:09.360 We don't know one another's story, but what I know is we have level one to level ten. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:17.279 And here's what the apostle Paul is saying: even in the tens of life, there's overflowing joy available. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:27.759 There's a grace that can empower you to experience a joy even in the severe trials and oppressions and sufferings. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:32.559 And then he goes, extreme poverty plus rich generosity. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:34.720 How in the world does that work? 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.720 Extreme means the furthest or highest degree, poverty. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:43.840 This word here is often understood as the status of someone who begs to survive. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:50.639 The state of having little or no money, few or no material possessions. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:16:00.799 Their extreme poverty welled up in what rich, literally wealth, an abundance of material possessions or resources, generosity. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:06.000 This word generous is so powerful. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:10.720 It actually, the root word just means simple, simplicity. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.399 Generous, this idea of simplicity. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:20.639 It came to be known as noble simplicity, wholeheartedness or purity. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:25.279 It's the characteristic or mindset that is heroic. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:33.919 When it comes to generosity, it's a sufficiency which has something to spare for others. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:43.120 It's living with a simplicity or sufficiency that I have something to spare for others. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:52.240 Their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:55.279 Corinthian church. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.960 Macedonian church. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:01.840 I think sometimes we go like rich generosity. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:02.639 I don't know about that. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:04.480 I can't do rich generosity. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:06.880 I'm just barely making ends meet. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:08.480 I'm just barely scraping by. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:09.839 I mean, this is Silicon Valley. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:14.079 This is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:21.440 And I'm just barely scraping by and on my$8 Starbucks every day. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:32.319 I'm just barely scraping by with my three streaming channels or platforms that I pay for and subscribe to. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:42.880 I'm just barely scraping by with that$450 lease of the car that's nicer than what I could afford and drive. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:45.440 I'm just barely scraping by. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:54.559 We have this mindset that keeps us from being the people of generosity, a people of grace. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.640 Grace empowers us to live a joy-filled, generous life. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:06.880 Said another way, generosity is not contingent, and joy is not contingent on your circumstances. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.720 It's a condition of the heart. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.279 It's a transformation of what God has done in us. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.119 We struggle with this, and here's the reason why. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:24.720 The American mindset and our Western, the problem with the one of the problems with the church is we've bought into the myth of more. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.839 The myth of more goes something like this when I get more, then I'll be content. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:32.000 Are you content? 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.160 No, I just need a little bit more. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:51.440 When I, when I, you know, I'm finally able to buy a home, when I'm finally able to drive this, when I'm finally able to have this watch or wear that, when I finally get the right job, when I finally, when I get more, then I'll finally be content. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.359 You want to talk about joy? 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.799 It's just a little bit more. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.359 And then the problem is if you get more, here's what happens. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:03.759 If some's good, more's better, right? 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:07.599 Like, well, I got that, but but that was good. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:08.880 So then what do I need? 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:10.640 If that's good, it's like another hit. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:11.519 I need more. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:13.839 If some's good, is more's better. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:19.599 And ultimately, here's what we buy into that more is the key to life, happiness, and safety. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:26.640 And so it becomes our pursuit and our passion. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:29.680 Let me ask you this. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:36.400 Why do we own more and possess less peace? 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:43.920 Why does owning more often create more anxiety rather than security? 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:51.200 You ever had a new something new? 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.680 Let's just pretend it's a new car. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.160 There's that excitement, that thrill, oh my goodness, it's got the new car smell. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:04.000 And then you go to the prune yard to park it, and you're like, oh good Lord. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.039 Right? 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:07.279 Anxiety. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:12.720 You park it as far away from everyone, you double park, and then somebody scratches it. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.240 You know, you're just, why does owning more create more anxiety? 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:22.640 Why does someone else's more tend to rob us of happiness with our more? 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:24.799 We're scrolling. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.680 How come they get that? 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.480 How come they can travel there? 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:33.599 Why do they get to own? 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:38.240 Why does someone else's more rob us of happiness of ours? 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:47.200 Why does, and studies show this, why does giving our kids more often hurt them more than help them more? 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:55.359 And why do people in other parts of the world with less seem to have more peace and happiness? 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:09.839 We buy into this myth of more, this scarcity and mindset, and I just need to get a little bit more to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be safe. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:20.559 And yet what we see with the Macedonian church, their extreme poverty, overflowing joy and generosity. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:25.920 Do you know that 44.8% of all Americans do not give anything away? 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:30.960 13.9% of Americans give less than 2% of their income away. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:37.200 Only about 2.7% give 10% of their income away. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:45.519 84% of millennials report to giving less than$50 a year, even though charitable giving ranks as a high priority. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:49.680 Nationwide, this now that was for America, this is just for us Christians. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:58.160 Christians today give 2.5% of their income across the board in America. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.440 For comparison. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.440 During the Great Depression, that number was 3.3%. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:10.000 The church today is giving less than those in the Great Depression. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.880 I think we've got it wrong. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:15.920 Only 5% of the church members give regularly. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.599 And, oh, this is interesting. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:21.599 Households that make more than 75,000 households. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:24.400 Households, not just single households. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:29.680 The medium income household is like$120,000 or more than that. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:33.119 I hear I just looked it up this morning, but I didn't write it down, sorry. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.079 But it's more, the medium, the average is more. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:42.799 Households more than$75,000 are least are the least charitable. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:43.680 Charitable. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:47.920 Statistically, the more you make, the less generous you become. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:55.599 There's an article in the Rolling Stones about the mindset of billionaires and how they are not charitable. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:03.920 Clay Cockrell, a psychotherapist, writes this says, as your wealth increases, your empathy decreases. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:10.559 Which then brings us to the last idea with the myth of more is when we could think about it with generosity. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.039 When I'll get more, then I'll give more. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:24:01.119 In fact, uh the science behind this, Christian Smith, Hillary Davidson, and The Paradox of Generosity, a research book, excellent, said if Americans want to be happier, healthier people who live with greater purpose, suffer less depression, and enjoy more personal growth, one way they might better accomplish that is to learn to be more generous. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:10.240 The scientific evidence shows clearly that more generous people are doing significantly better in their lives in many important ways. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:17.839 First thing I want you to notice is grace empowers you to live a joy-filled, generous life. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:19.920 Now let's talk about generosity. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:25.680 Generosity is the natural overflow of a life marked with grace. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:31.279 Generosity is the natural overflow of a life marked with grace. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.799 I came across this great definition of grace this last week. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:36.079 It began to frame it. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:40.960 And you heard me give a couple, like grace is God's undeserved favor, his unmerited favor. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:41.759 It's a gift. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:42.720 It's not earned. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:43.920 There's nothing you can do. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:45.920 Those are all wonderful and well. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:49.759 And then this so kind of pulled it together. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:54.319 Grace is help given to the needy. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:56.400 What a great definition. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.319 At its core, what grace is, it's help. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:03.680 It's help just given to the needy. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:13.599 The way Dallas Leward would say it is grace, is God's enabling power acting in our lives to accomplish what we cannot do on our own. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:17.759 Grace is God's help given to the needy. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:21.279 And I think this is the reason we struggle with generosity. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:35.440 Is the problem is most of us do not want to identify that we're needy, that we're spiritually bankrupt, that but for the grace of God, I would not be who I am and where I'm. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:43.440 God's grace intervened in my life, and I am now redeemed and saved. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:48.000 See what we want? 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:57.759 What we want is we want Jesus to be a life hack to make us more successful and happy. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:00.880 Because deep down we believe, yeah, we're pretty good people. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:05.680 Grace is God's help. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:10.480 When we get grace right, well, it's just that generosity is in the natural overflow. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:14.880 See, the problem is we don't live indebted to God's grace. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.279 We often live entitled, don't we? 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.279 We don't live out of the abundance of God's grace. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.799 Remember, it's his saving work and it's his empowering work. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:31.200 Like every single day you wake up to new grace, every single day, his grace, as the Apostle Paul, is sufficient. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.039 It's more than enough for you. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:48.400 Like his grace is gonna show up in that meeting, his grace is gonna show up in your marriage, his grace is gonna show up with that friendship, his grace is showing up in your life, it's his empowering work in you and through you, and his grace is all you need, it's all you ever needed, and it's all you ever will need. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:58.079 And when you recognize that you have unending grace pouring forth into your life, you don't have a scarcity mindset of like, I have to get mine, I have to hold mine, I gotta keep mine. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:03.119 It's like, gosh, God, you've given me all that I have, and so all that I have is yours. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:14.400 See, what happens is you begin to live a life of gratitude back for the grace of God. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:16.799 I want to do something. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:18.880 This is uh we'll see how it goes. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.960 There's this old hymn called Amazing Grace. 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:27.039 Like we gotta be reminded of who we are. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:30.480 Would you sing it with me? 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.000 If you don't know it, you've heard it. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:28:17.039 How sweet the sound that side me I was lost, but now I'm found was blind but now see. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:25.920 Oh, but for the grace of God that saved a wretch like me. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.359 I once was lost, but now I'm found. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:43.039 I once was blind, but now I see his grace has poured into my life, and how can I not live but a life of gratitude back to him for the grace of God? 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:57.759 Generosity, generosity is the hallmark of a life fueled and marked by grace. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:09.920 No, let me then give you five lies we live, believe about generosity, why we pull away from this. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:14.400 The first one is that I need to be wealthy to be generous. 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:22.799 Macedonians weren't wealthy, it has little to do with your economic status and everything to do with your heart. 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:29.519 God, all that I have is yours, and I'm just gonna love the person in front of me. 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:34.720 I'm gonna be obedient to what you call me and trust that you, your grace is sufficient in every moment. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.519 Number two, I'll be generous when I have more. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:38.880 We already talked about that. 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:41.200 That's not gonna happen. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:45.200 Three, generosity is only about money. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:45.920 No. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:48.960 Generosity is about your life. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:53.359 It's generous with words, generous in how you treat people. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:58.799 One of the greatest acts of generosity we give to another human is attention. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:07.359 We are now in the attention economy, and where everyone's struggling to get your attention because it pays. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:16.799 And the minute we put this down and we look another person in the eye and we give them space, it's an act of generosity. 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:21.359 Generosity is with your time and your talents and your all that you have. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:23.279 It's just it's a life. 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:27.519 Number four, generosity requires grand gestures. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:33.920 I don't know this, I can't tell you this, but I'm gonna guess. 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:35.759 This is just my guess. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:55.680 What the Macedonian church, Podunk Macedonian, was able to give, and what the church in Corinth was able to give, I'm guessing, just based on the context, that they the Macedonians weren't able to give near as much as the Corinthian church pledged. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:03.200 Here's what's interesting: is Paul was writing a letter to the church in Corinth because they had a grand gesture that they didn't follow through on. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:06.480 A grand gesture, hey, we're gonna do all this. 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:17.920 But then when it came to like, ah, I don't know about it, generosity is a daily activity of the heart towards one another with all that you have, your time, your talent, your treasure. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:22.079 And then final one generosity will leave me with less. 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:28.319 We're gonna talk more about that next week as we continue in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:38.000 That actually is something where as we give, we experience more of the goodness and purpose that God has for us. 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:48.480 But let me ask you this how difficult is it for you to give consistently, systematically, and significantly? 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:51.839 Just personally evaluate. 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.920 Don't you don't need to tell your neighbor, this isn't turn to them and go, that's hard. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:04.960 See, what the apostle Paul would say is we don't have a generous problem, we have a grace problem. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:12.000 We don't understand grace and what God has done, because grace empowers us to live a joy-filled life. 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:16.160 Generosity is the natural overflow of a life marked with grace. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:21.200 And finally, grace redefines how we see the world. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:26.400 Grace redefines how you see the world. 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:51.119 That though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that through his poverty might become rich. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:33:10.079 Like grace redefines how we see the world, that Jesus, the King, who we talked about last week, became poor for our sake that we might in him become rich, that he might give us life. 00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:16.000 See, the American mindset, this is how it referents, the American mindset says you have never enough, right? 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:17.680 It's never enough. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:21.279 Never enough time, never enough resources, never enough. 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:25.200 And so you hold on, you're like, I'm I there's never enough. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:29.279 Grace mindset, more than enough. 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:33.920 In Christ, I have more than enough. 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.039 It's actually more than sufficient. 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:41.119 Here's another way we say it around here. 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:53.039 We believe the church should unleash extravagant generosity to a hurting and broken people because we have an extravagantly generous God. 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:56.240 It redefines how we see the world. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:03.920 From how do I get mine, how do I keep mine, how do I save mine, how do I make sure you don't get any of mine because there's never enough. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:13.280 It reframes it of a God who gave all that he had for us to invite us into his family that we might have all that he is and has. 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:16.079 And so now I have more than enough. 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:22.719 And so when I look at the world, I look at it the way Jesus looks at it. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:27.599 You know the phrase hurt people, hurt people. 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:29.440 You've heard that before, yeah? 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:30.960 It's true. 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:36.079 What does a beautiful church look like? 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:39.360 Grace people, grace people. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:49.760 People who are marked, a people of grace, a grace people, grace people, grace, God's help to the needy. 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:58.000 I'm needy, he showed up in my life, and I can't help but then be helpful and give grace to the people around you. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:02.239 I'm just overflowing grace, people, grace people. 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:11.199 And that's why, like the apostle Paul says, but since you excel in everything, in faith, and speech and knowledge, and complete earnestness and love we've kindled in you. 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:13.599 See that you also excel in this. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.360 Oh, so close. 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:21.519 See that you also excel in this. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:29.360 The word giving actually isn't in the Greek text, it's just see you excel in this grace. 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:36.079 Now, our English translation puts it in there for clarity so that we understand what he's talking about, and it's helpful. 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:39.119 But he's just like it's grace. 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:44.639 Like, see that you excel in grace. 00:35:46.800 --> 00:36:00.320 2,000 years after your apostle Paul penned this letter highlighting the Macedonian church, there was another Macedonian who would rise as a picture of grace. 00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:02.000 Her name was Agnes. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:05.840 She was born August 26, 1910. 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:09.679 She was the youngest child of a devout Catholic family. 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:16.400 Her father died suddenly when she was eight, leaving her mother to raise three kids on her own. 00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:24.800 Her mother was known for her compassion, teaching her kids to see Jesus in the poor and serve uh selflessly. 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:29.039 By the age of 12, Agnes sensed God's calling to serve him with her whole life. 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:31.840 At 18, she left her home, never to return again. 00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:34.800 She joined the Sisters of Loreto. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:38.719 She traveled to Ireland and then to India, eventually teaching high school at St. 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:40.559 Mary's in Calcutta. 00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:49.920 Outside the school walls in Calcutta, she began to see the devastation of humanity. 00:36:51.519 --> 00:37:01.440 It was on a train as she's traveling and seeing the slums of Calcutta, where she said she got the calling within the calling. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:26.400 She went back to school, got six months' worth of medical training, stepped out of the safety of the convent and into the slums, and began to serve one person at a time, all by herself, with no help, no money, fueled by grace. 00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:32.800 Today, obviously, we know her as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. 00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:46.320 That single life now started what is now the missionaries of charity with over 5,000 sisters in 130 countries serving the poorest of the poor. 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:52.719 She wrote this prayer, and I long for it to be our prayer as we close. 00:37:54.320 --> 00:38:00.480 Dear Jesus, help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:04.960 Flood my soul with thy spirit and love. 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:13.519 Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of thine. 00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:24.639 Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come into contact with may feel thy presence in my soul. 00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:29.360 The same grace that fueled the Macedonians. 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:32.480 Same grace that moved Mother Teresa. 00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:38.239 It's the same grace available to you and me today. 00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:45.519 Chances are you may not move to Calcutta, but you can move toward the need in front of you. 00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:48.480 Grace people. 00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:50.880 Grace people. 00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:10.000 Would you overwhelm us with your love? 00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:23.679 Would you allow us to understand the depths of your grace and your kindness and your goodness? 00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:32.719 Would you make us a grace people? 00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:42.079 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:39:42.320 --> 00:39:46.719 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:48.960 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:55.039 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.