Radical Generosity (Acts 4:32-37)

What does the Bible teach about generosity, stewardship, and money? In this message from Acts 4:32–37, we explore the remarkable picture of the early church—a community united in heart and soul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and marked by radical generosity.

As the gospel transformed their hearts, it transformed their relationship with possessions. The believers in Jerusalem understood that everything they had belonged to God and was meant to be used for His glory, the advancement of the gospel, and the care of others.

In this sermon, Pastor Timothy Stewart examines how the resurrection of Jesus creates a people who hold their resources with open hands, why stewardship is a matter of worship, and how radical generosity has fueled the mission of the church from Acts to today.

Topics Covered:
• Acts 4:32-37 Explained
• Biblical Stewardship
• Radical Generosity in the Early Church
• Barnabas: Son of Encouragement
• Tithing and Firstfruits Giving
• Gospel-Centered Generosity
• Christian Giving and Worship
• The Mission of the Church
• The Power of the Resurrection
• Living with Open Hands

Key Takeaway:
"Open hearts create open hands."

Whether you're wrestling with questions about money, generosity, tithing, stewardship, or simply seeking to grow as a disciple of Jesus, this message will challenge and encourage you to see everything you have as a gift from God for His purposes.

Scripture:
Acts 4:32-37
Psalm 24:1
Proverbs 3:9-10
2 Corinthians 8:9
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
1 Timothy 6:8

Vintage Church exists because Jesus is irresistible. Our mission is to make Jesus irresistible in everyday life.

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#Acts #BookOfActs #Generosity #ChristianStewardship #BiblicalGenerosity #Tithing #Barnabas #Acts4 #ChurchHistory #ChristianLiving #GospelCentered #JesusIsIrresistible #VintageChurch #LodiCA #BibleTeaching

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Alright, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn with me to Acts chapter four. And go ahead and take um stand if you're willing and you're able as we stand for the reading of God's Word. We stand because we believe that the Scriptures are given to us to equip us, to encourage us, to empower us in our everyday life, so that we might make Jesus irresistible, to make him known as we know more and more of his grace and his love. We believe the scripture is given to us as the word of the Lord, and it has the power to correct, to shape, to form, instruct, and so we honor it by we are standing. So we're going to be in Acts chapter 4. We're going to be reading verses 32 to 37. If you did not bring a Bible, it should be on the screen behind me. There's also some pew Bibles. But this is the word of the Lord. Now, the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own. But they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet. Would you pray with me this morning? Father, we are thankful for your word. We're thankful for the story of the mission of the church unfolding in the book of Acts. We're thankful for Luke writing it down and recording how you worked through your people for the good of others, for the advancement of the gospel, and ultimately for the glory of God. I pray this morning that you'd give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Jesus better. We ask, Lord, that you would enlighten our eyes of our heart that we might see you as you are, and that, Lord, when it comes to generosity, we give because you first gave to us. For God, you so loved the world that you gave your one and only Son, Jesus. So that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have eternal life. So, Father, would you teach us this morning that generosity starts with the gospel? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you. Let me try to make sense of my notes here. Hold on. I'm missing a page. Do you have it, Darlene? Okay. Darlene's trying to sneak one over on me. I was like, this doesn't look right. All right. Well, we're continuing in our series in the book of Acts, and this morning we're going to be talking about radical generosity. And I want you to think about as we come to the conclusion of chapter four, and really the turning of the page and the narrative of Acts and the growth of the church starts to unfold. Remember that just in the last chapter, persecution had begun. Peter and John went to the gate beautiful. They had healed through the power of the Holy Spirit and the name of Jesus, a lame man that was lame for many years. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the religious leaders of the day, were threatened by this newfound faith and this power and the gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus was king. And so persecutions began to break out. And though it wasn't as intense as it will be, persecution nonetheless had begun. But persecution galvanized the church. Persecution and suffering and hardship. It didn't discourage the church, but it actually made them pray prayers of boldness. It united them. And we see that right here in the text where it says in verse 32, now the full number of those who believe were of one heart and one soul. The early church, they understood their main calling and mission, and they were actually emboldened by the opposition. They identified with Jesus' suffering. In the words of Paul, they understood the assignment, and they knew that they did not count their life as anything unless that they would finish the task that was given to them by their Lord, by their rabbi, by their teacher. They wanted to finish the task. And so everything was on the table for them. They were on mission. And I love that Luke captures this in this second summary that we just read together. The first summary or snapshot of the church was in Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47. But the apostles or Luke gives us another snapshot here after the Pentecost happens, the Holy Spirit falls, they're emboldened, they begin to preach the gospel. 3,000 are saved, but then persecution and opposition comes. And then another pouring out of the Holy Spirit comes and it fills them with more boldness. And the church is more and more galvanized, and more and more of what started in Acts chapter 2 is now happening in and through the church. So we get the description that we just read together. But I want you to note this morning what it describes these early believers as. It described them as having one heart and one soul. They were united. And this reminds me of a story in the Old Testament of Jonathan and his armor bearer. You may be familiar with it. It's found in 1 Samuel 14, 6 to 15. And Jonathan is with his armor bearer, and they wanted to go and fight the enemies of God. And Jonathan looks at the armor bearer, and there's a great number of enemies. And Jonathan looks at his armor bearer and he says, Hey, come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised Philistines. It may be that the Lord will work for us. I want you to catch that. And the armor bearer hearing Jonathan, I mean, if I was that armor bearer, I'd be like, can I have a little bit more guarantee than may be? I mean, can you understand where like what this armor bearer says next is actually astonishing. Because the armor bearer says this. He says, Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you, heart and soul. That's astonishing faith. Not just in God, but in this leader, Jonathan. He says, Do whatever you have in mind, whatever is in your heart, I am with you, heart and soul. And I think when you look at the early church that we just read about here in Acts chapter 4, I feel like they have an armor-bearer's faith. And their faith was in Jesus. And, you know, I may need more than a maybe, but they were looking at what Jesus had done in his life, death, and resurrection. And it wasn't just a few. And this is what I think is so astonishing about this particular text. In verse 32, it says, Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Full number. We're talking about at least 5,000 men. If you include women and children, we're looking at probably 10,000 people that are galvanized, united, all together with one heart and one soul, saying to the risen Christ, and as he's leading his church through the Spirit, do what is in your heart. We are with you, heart and soul. No matter what comes, if persecution comes, if suffering comes, if hardship comes, we're in it. One heart, one soul. They were committed and they were passionate about this purpose. Why? Because the gospel had opened their heart. They had shared in the life, in the death, in the burial, and the resurrection, and now the ascension of the Holy Spirit. They had seen Christ ascend into the heavens and now, seated at the right hand of the Father, he did what he said he would do, and he poured out the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit is powerfully working in them. And so they have been absolutely changed. Their hearts of stone have now become hearts of flesh. God has opened their hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit, and the gospel has changed everything. They have been united to Christ by faith. And now the Holy Spirit, the agent of this union, was knitting them together as one. And their hearts were opened by the grace of God. Never before had they received such love, such forgiveness, such kindness, such generosity. Never before had they been loved in such a way when they knew that they had failed. I mean, think about this with me. All of the disciples knew that they had fled and ran away from Christ, failed Christ, and yet Christ comes, reconciles them back to himself, and beyond that gives them a purpose and power to do what he had called them to do. They had never received such meaning or purpose. They were dead, now they are alive, and they felt it because they had been commissioned to continue Jesus' work. Jesus himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was continuing his life, continuing his ministry in the body of Christ, in the church. The early church was all in. All in heart and soul. And here's the thing that I want you to hear this morning. Open hearts create open hands. Open hearts create open hands. What does it say in the very next verse? No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own. Open hearts create open hands. It said that they saw nothing that they had in their own possession and belonging as their own. They held everything loosely, and everything was given to the mission of God. And I think when, you know, I mean, maybe you put it this way. Have you guys ever been on a scavenger hunt? Maybe church youth group, or you guys maybe played that game like trade-up where everyone starts with like a canned food item, and your job is to go door to door and see who can come back with the coolest stuff. We've done that in youth ministry, and we came back with like a bike, a TV. It's pretty amazing. But whenever you're in a scavenger hunt or whenever you play a game like trade up, what I have noticed is everything's on the table to win. Everyone starts dumping out their purse, everyone starts emptying their pockets, and they're like, I got some gum, I got a notebook, I got this. You're like, oh, my parents were gonna give away this TV. Let's go to my house and give them the canned food item and we'll get the TV. I mean, everything is on the table because they're in it to win it. They are united in purpose, and anything is up for grabs for the sake of the scavenger hunt. And I think when you believe in something, when you believe in something greater than yourself, a mission worth dying for is a mission worth giving for. Everything is on the table. And I want to make note of something. Um no one said when they said no one said anything belongs to them, a lot of people will use this particular verse as a proof text for socialism. That they were all in a communal environment and it was mandated that nobody owned anything. And that's just not what the text says. Um, because you cannot have socialism if you have private property. And both in this verse and in the example of Barnabas and even Ananias and Sapphire, which we'll get to in two weeks, it's very clear that they gave out of their own free will. It wasn't mandated or forced upon them. And it says clearly that the early church owned houses and they owned properties. And it says in this particular verse that we just read together, it says, any of the things that belong to them. But it wasn't so much a material thing as it was a mental principle or theological value. They saw the things that they bel that belonged to them, that was their position as not theirs, that they were simply stewards of it because they understood theologically what Psalm 24:1 says, that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. So the Bible isn't teaching that private property is wrong. It's all about perspective and theology. And the early church is clearly clear that they had belongings, they had private property, they had houses, they had goods, but they didn't see them as their own because they saw themselves as stewards. And so therefore they held everything loosely. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. So we are stewards of what we have. And so they understood that everything they had in their position was a gift. But then some may say, but I worked hard for my stuff. Well, let me ask you this question. Who gave you the intellect? Who gave you the skills? Who gave you the experience? Who gave you the open doors? Who gave you the opportunity? Who gave you the breath? Who met you every morning with another sunrise and another day of mercy? Who didn't cast you into outer darkness and hell because of your sin? Stewardship comes from an understanding that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. We are creatures, He is the creator. That becomes the foundation of our idea of stewardship. And I think when we live that way, as individuals, as families, as churches, guess what? I think we see great power. We see great boldness. We see great advancement of the gospel because what we see is great grace, right there in the text. Verse 33, and, which means look at what was the environment and condition before that said word, and and with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Great grace. Not just a few, but great grace was on them all. And remember the first verse: all of them had one heart and one soul. All of them had received an open heart and therefore had open hands. All of them had been radically changed by the gospel and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so great grace was on them all. Not just the apostles, not just, you know, in our context, the leadership team or the pastors. Great grace was upon them all because the grace of God is the catalyst for everything in the kingdom. Nothing happens in the kingdom outside of the grace of God. There is no acceleration without the grace of God. And remember what Peter said: God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And I think the principle of stewardship requires, guess what? Humility. It is a humble man or woman that says, What I have is not mine, it belongs to the Lord. It is pride that says, all of this is mine. It's my precious. But it's humility that says, all of this is yours. Why is that proud to say all of this is mine? Because again, go back to what I asked earlier. Who gave you your breath? Who gave you your skills? Who gave you those opportunities? At any moment, God would have been just to send you into outer darkness, but he chose instead to show you mercy and grace and his kindness with the hopes that it would lead you to repentance. And I think that money has a funny relationship with our hearts and pride. You know, when we have little money, we feel shame. When we have much money, we often can feel pride. But I think those both are conditions that we're focused on self, not on God, and being content in what God has given us. Because if we have a mine mentality and not a yours mentality, which is that of stewardship, we will often have pride when it comes to our money and we will hold it tightly rather than loosely. Because money is not the root of all evil. Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Because it creates, I believe, pride, selfish ambition, and idolatry or self-worship that is anti-Christ and anti-kingdom. And this is why Jesus said clearly, you cannot serve God and money. It's impossible. And for those of you that are new and like, oh, this is just another preacher talking about money. Or maybe you're not new and you're like another preacher talking about money. We're just reading the Bible. I didn't pick this text to preach out of it. We're just following through the book of Acts. Just so you know. So how do you grow in humility? I think it's pretty clear from the text, and just through the Bible, the gospel. You want to grow in humility? Spend time thinking about the gospel. Because it's in the gospel, it says right here in the text that the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And so remember that the resurrection of Jesus would tell us that Jesus is king. And if Jesus is king, that means I'm not king. If Jesus is God, I'm not God. And everything I have has been given to me. And so we start with the gospel to acknowledge that Jesus is king, that creates humility in our hearts. But there's another part of the gospel that says, I was lost, and I was stained with sin, that I was a rebel, that I was dead in my trespasses and rebellion. And yet Christ died for me. He didn't have to die for me, but he came out of great love and he gave himself for me to die for me. And so he not only died for me, but he lived for me so that my old way of life would be buried with Christ in the tomb. And now I have a new life and a new name and a new power and a new purpose that's bigger than myself, all because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nothing that I earn, no resume, no good works, ever earn it. It was all gift, all grace. All of this comes through the gospel. And in light of that, I deny myself. I take up my cross and I follow Jesus. Not that I lose myself in a sense, but I actually find my true self in Christ. Because the old self has been corrupted by the things of this world and of the flesh. My values are wrong, my ethics are wrong, my sense of priority is all wrong, because I need to find again my truest self in Christ. And that's what the gospel does. It says, you come to me poor in spirit, and if you come to me poor in spirit, recognizing that you are begging poor and having nothing, then the kingdom is yours. Everything is yours. That's the wonderful news of the gospel. What does this produce in us? It produces humility, it produces a humble confidence that's only possible because of the new birth. This is not manufactured. I can't make this stuff up. It is a gift of grace that is given by faith. When I see that I have nothing, but I receive everything in Christ, it does something. And if it hasn't changed your heart and opened your heart, then I would invite you to reassess your view of the gospel. But I think when we live like this, we live together in a one mind, one heart and soul. Great grace is upon us. And here is that grace. It's grace for forgiveness, it's grace for reconciliation, and it's also grace for radical generosity. It's irresistible. So verse 34, what does it say? Verse 34 says, There was not a needy person among them. This is a fulfillment of the law. This isn't one thing that Jesus did through the church to fulfill the law. What do I say that? Because in Deuteronomy 15, 4 to 6, if you're taking notes, it says this, there will be no poor among you. For the Lord will bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess. If only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. So he says, There will be no poor among you. And when you hear that, I want you to please hear also 1 Timothy 6.8 this morning. First Timothy 6.8 says, If we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. Our definition of poor is whack in America. We live in the richest country in the history of the world. If you make 30K, which is poverty level for a family of four, you are in the top 10 to 15 percent of income earners globally. That means you make more than 85 to 90 percent of the people in the world if you make $30,000 a year. The global median income is roughly six to seven thousand per year. Our poor is rich in America. So in the church, no one should go without food. In the church, no one should go without clothing. And we should seek to shelter those in the body of Christ and beyond that, but also we should give to the fuel to fuel the mission of Christ and to help our brothers and sisters in need all over the world. If you think about the time of Jesus and the time of the early church in the Roman Empire, radical poverty, radical poverty, was met with radical generosity and it was irresistible to the pagan world. In the Roman Empire, there was a massive wealth inequality. There was no modern welfare system, no food stamps. 80 to 90 percent of the empire lived at near poverty levels. Their world was filled with beggars, debt slavery, no bankruptcy those days, food insecurity, high taxation, land loss, and frequent famine. And so many, many, even that converted to Christianity, that would actually make you poorer. Because you would lose job opportunities or you'd be kicked out of the union, their guild. So a choice to be a Christian in these days could actually bring more hardship upon your family. But the church steps in and is known for this, even by the pagan world and the rulers of Rome, because it had a reputation of rescuing abandoned infants, caring for widows, feeding the poor, helping plague victims, burying the dead, and even supporting the vulnerable, so that pagan emperors would later complain, complain that Christians cared not only for their own poor, but for the pagan poor as well. And the early church was known for this. It's well documented, and it was irresistible. It was confounding to many. But the early church was marked by radical generosity because they believed a radical gospel. So that you by his poverty might become rich. That's not rich like Tesla rich, that's rich in the Lord. The early church was funded by the radical generosity of believers who were heart and soul in the mission to make Jesus irresistible to the watching world, to preach the word, to live out the word in word and deed. And so in the text, Luke introduces us to Barnabas, the son of encouragement. And he's actually going to play a critical role in the story of Acts as it develops. And honestly, we all need the gift of Barnabas in our lives. We all need a son of encouragement. Who do you know that is a constant source of encouragement? That was Barnabas in the life of the early church. And not only did he have the gift of encouragement, but he probably had the gift of giving. And it is a spiritual gift. Read the lists in Corinthians. The spiritual gift of giving is the grace gift, because all gifts are from grace. And Paul in the letter to the Corinthians says that you should excel in this grace gift as well, this gift of giving. Not all have the gift of giving, but some do. And I think Barnabas was one who had the spiritual gift of giving. And what did he do? He sold a field that belonged to him. He brought the money and laid it at the leaderships of the churches, the apostles' feet, and said, Distribute as you see fit. And it indicates here that he probably had other fields too. He was a man of means. He was a businessman. And so he probably sold one of his fields, again, private property. His choice, it was out of his free will to see the mission of the church advance. And I think that's amazing. But you know what? Did you know that the mission of the church throughout all of church history has been supported and fueled by men like Barnabas, what we can call gospel patrons? I recently watched a movie. It's on Amazon Prime called The Great Awakening. It documents the story of George Whitfield and Benjamin Franklin and their unusual friendship and how that the Great Awakening and through the voices of John Wesley and George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards actually became the catalyst to the American Revolution. It's an interesting and good movie. But you know, we might have heard of George Whitfield, or maybe we've heard of John Wesley, but have you heard of Selena Hastings? I had it. She was the Countess of Huntingdon, and she was one of the great patrons of the evangelical rival, a revival, and the Great Awakening. She funded chapels, she funded itinerant preachers, she funded missionary work, and she funded theological education. No one knows her name, but everyone knows the name of John Wesley and George Whitfield, and yet it's on the giving generosity of Selena and other patrons that made much of the ministry of the Great Awakening happen. Or how many remember shopping at JCPenney? You guys remember shopping at JCPenney? Did you know that JC Penny was a gospel patron? That he funded churches, Christian ministries, and evangelistic work? Or do you know that the founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green, funds Bible translation efforts and much, much more? Do you know the name R.G. Laterno? He's a businessman who famously lived on 10% of his income and gave away 90%. He funded missions, Christian education, evangelism, and ministry infrastructure. He said this I shovel out the money and God shovels it back. You're like, that sounds not in the Bible. Well, it does say something to the effect of if you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly. If you sow generously, you'll reap generously. I think these all had the spiritual gift of giving. And you may not have the spiritual gift of giving. I think there are some people that were just made to make money. And they have means, like Barnabas, or these that we mentioned. But all of us are called to give. We may not all have the spiritual gift of giving, but we're all called to give. In the same way that you may not have the gift of evangelism, but we're all called to do the work of evangelism. It's the same. And I think radical generosity looks like this in the church. There's two types of giving. Quickly. First fruit giving and free will giving. First fruit giving and free will giving. First fruit giving is about honoring God. Free will giving fuels the mission of God. In Proverbs 3, 9 to 10, it says this honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce, then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. In the Old Testament, the tithe or 10% was given to support the work of the ministry and the temple. In the New Testament, cheerful and consistent giving seems to be the standard for the work of the ministry and the church. But since the church is the new temple and we, the people of the church, are the living stones, I know there's debate within the church on whether the tithe from the Old Testament continues into the New Testament. And I would simply just ask this as you wrestle this out in your own convictions and study of the word. One, I think it's undeniable that first fruit giving honors the Lord. Percentage, maybe you think of it in this way. If in the old covenant it was 10%, why wouldn't the 10, why wouldn't the new covenant be less? So perhaps you see it as a goal. Maybe there's not what you can give today, but you could maybe strive for that. I can say personally, uh, this is an area that my wife and I have struggled in and over the years, and we started at one point we felt deeply convicted at this, and we had gotten ourselves in some trouble. And so we said, we're gonna start by giving 3%, and then we went to 5%, and now by God's grace, we're giving 10%, and we give more. I don't say that to boast, I say that as an evidence of God's grace because this has not been our standard in our life. But here's the thing I want you to think about this morning. And I know this isn't fun talk for many because it, you know, I I'm a little tired and I'm a little late, but that's okay. Um you know, we sing that song, King of My Heart. Be the King of My Heart. Maybe we should sing Be the King of My Wallet. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And here's the other thing that you have to think: everyone tithes. Everyone gives their first 10% to something or someone. And most of the times it's self. I you're like, I cannot afford to give the tithe or the first fruits. Maybe. And that maybe, and the Bible does actually say that if you can't, because you're talking about clothing and food and the basic necessities, we don't want to burden you to enrich someone else. It says that. So we're not asking you to impoverish yourself. But for many of us in America, we have discretionary funding, and so oftentimes it's not I cannot afford to give the first fruits. Most of the time, it's I cannot afford to change my lifestyle and give the first fruits. And that's a big difference. Because at the end of the day, first fruits are about who you are honoring or worshiping. You see, Barnabas, though, he was one who gave a free will offering to fuel the mission. This was a one-time thing. He felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to sell this property and give towards the mission of the early church. Much like those in Exodus who gave freely for the building of the tabernacle or the gospel patrons that we read about earlier throughout all of church history. These are, in the words of Paul, a willing gift, not an exaction. God loves a cheerful giver. Barnabas wasn't like, oh, I guess I have to do this. He wanted to. Please hear me this morning. God is not glorified by your begrudging submission. If you don't want to give it, I don't want to receive it. And neither does God. He doesn't need your money, he doesn't want your money, but he does want your heart. And he does want your honor. He does want your worship because that is the best thing for you. And if you are barely scraping by and you cannot afford food and clothing, the basics of life, then of course, this verse comes into play. I mentioned it. For if the this is 2 Corinthians 8, 12 to 14, for if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need. And like I said, most of us do have discretionary income. And so therefore we get to choose where our dollars go. And that's where the heart comes into play. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So here's the last thing I want you to think about this morning. If Jesus has your heart, my heart belongs to the Lord. Well, does he have your wallet too? Because if Jesus has your heart, he also has your wallet. And if Jesus has opened your heart, he will also open your hands to share and hold loosely what he has given for the glory of God and the good of the mission. So here's the thing. If you're like, I don't know what you're maybe you just need more money because you want to put a new roof on or something. Here's the deal. If you believe what I'm saying, give to another church. Give to another ministry, but just give to the Lord. I'm in all seriousness, give to I have this is a personal conviction of me that I have grown in by the grace of God. And I can tell you that God is faithful to his word. And there's others in this room that can testify that God is faithful. And I am so thankful for those that give generously in this church. We could not do what we do here at vintage without your generosity. You free up my time so that we can love the city and love Lodi, and I can preach. I mean, for those that gave last year to my salary, thank you. I don't have I don't have stress anymore because I have to go sub. Because when you free up the gospel ministry, more gospel ministry happens. And so I am grateful for those that give. And again, if you're in here and you're new, not trying to get your money. If you're here and you're like, I don't know, wrestle with it before the Lord. And if you have questions about the stewardship here at church, ask Pat, ask me, ask Marvin. We're open books. Just hear the word of the Lord because there was something special about what was happening in the early church, and there was great grace upon them. And I think it was because there was a radical generosity that flowed from open hearts that had open hands, and they saw everything for the mission of God. Jesus, we love you. And we know that as we talk about things that can cause conviction or wrestling, or maybe even just having questions, all of that is good and it's at the table. But the reason that we give is because you first gave to us. And so as we come to the table this morning, I pray, Jesus, that you would be exalted and that you would overwhelmingly reveal your love and grace and generosity in the gospel through this act of communion. Jesus, at the end of the day, we want to be your sons and daughters that give not because we have to, but because we get to.