Sermon Tone Analysis

Keys to Stewardship Living #2

1 John 3:1; 16-17

Generosity

Well I have to warn you if you are a guest today or a regular that missed last week, we are talking about GIVING today, talking about stewardship this month

Last week we started by talking about the Keys to Stewardship Living

I compared these to the Tumblers in a lock.

So, last week we got the first number in the combination, Contentment.

As we learn to be content we are on the way to opening up the blessings of Living as a steward

Well today we are going to turn the lock around to the next number,

Generosity

*READ 1 John 3:1-2*

!

*1.

Generosity Comes Out of a Grateful Heart*

Generosity is born from an understanding of what has been done for us and the engine is gratitude

There must be an understanding of our obligation and a willingness but borth are the result of gratitude

1 John 3:1 says /“How Great is the love”/ NIV

YLT – /“see what love”/

KJV – /“Behold, what manner of love”/

This phrase “how great” or “what manner” is the Greek word, /potapos - pot-ap-os what country, race, or tribe; what quality/

There is a gratitude that realizes that the love of God comes from a whole different country than what we have known before.

It is of a different race, a different tribe, a difference species of love.

Great Love that he /“has lavished”/ - it is found here as the Greek word /dedoken/ which is in in the perfect tense of the word /didomi/ – meaning that when this love is given, it is once and for all given, it is a permanent possession.

The Great love that God has bestowed on us through Christ Jesus, once received, is PERMENENT … HOW GREAT a LOVE …

What I have in Christ Jesus cannot ever be taken from me.

What you have in Jesus Christ is YOURS … are you grateful??

What is the possession that has been permanently given to us in Jesus?

We have been given the position of being the “children of God” That is particularly the adult sons, fully vetted as his children.

So, his other worldly love has been given to us permanently as the blessed sons of God with all the rights and privileges of that relationship.

How can we help but be generous when we are the children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

/Alexander the Great is said to have tossed several gold coins to a beggar.

His aide commented, “COPPER coins would have suit his need, master” to which Alexander replied, “But, Gold Coins Suit Alexander’s giving”/

We are the children of the one who loved us so much that his generosity spilled over in giving his one and only son that whoever believes may have everlasting life.

We haven’t just been saved FROM our sins by his love.

In addition, we have been saved TO something.

We have been saved TO being his graced, privileged children.

And it goes on to say /“And that is what we are!”/

We don’t just appear to be his children we truly genuinely ARE his.

V2 says I don’t know what all that means but it does mean that we will be like Jesus, so the best is yet to come

So, if we are going to be LIKE Jesus how can I be anything BUT Generous

There is an expectation that we will respond LIKE God because we have been given his name … V1 says /“that we should be CALLED (named) the TEKNON (born children) of God"/

The problem is that we don’t always live UP to our name do we?

Did your parents ever say “we don’t do that” or “we do this” … they mean that THIS is the WAY we expect you to act if you are our children.

I certainly have expectations for my sons

And so does our Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Let me stop for a minute before I go further and make some observations regarding generosity and giving.

Specifically regarding giving of money … Christians will have different levels of generosity.

Some people have developed generosity by experience and circumstances.

Their life has developed in them a desire to be generous.

Others have a natural personality trait toward generosity.

It is God-given, but it is a natural inclination nearly from birth.

Then there are those who have a Spiritual Gift of Giving.

It is a grace gift from the Holy Spirit.

It is a spiritual passion through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

They may not have even been generous before they came to know Christ.

However, since they received Christ, they have a compulsion within to give and so order their lives in such a way so as they are able to give abundantly.

But whether natural, spiritual, or not, ALL Christians are to give out of a grateful heart.

How do I know that we are ALL to give?

Because it is a command but all it is part of the result of our spiritual DNA

LOVE is part of God’s DNA, It is an Otherworldly love … and that LOVE has GIVING as the natural outgrowth

God SO Loved that he what?

GAVE

The Love of God does not withhold but it gives.

And if we are his CHILDREN then we have his spiritual DNA. 2 Peter 1:4 says that we /participate in the divine nature/

* So … that begs the question WHAT IS GOD’S LOVE and WHAT does that mean for me?

Look back at verses 16

*READ 1 John 3:16*

/THIS IS LOVE – Jesus Christ LAID DOWN his life for us … and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers/

Now brothers and sisters … can I say, gently, that the challenge is that we are often “good” or even “godly” by our estimation.

But I believe the greatest problem among followers of Jesus Christ is not the DOING of BAD things, but the NOT DOING of the Good that we ought

Sure we struggle with levels of sins committed

But most of you are good people and you are not doing bad things … but

While you are restraining from evil are you STRAINING toward GOOD

Are you sharing your faith?

Are you giving your life?

Are you giving your resources?

Are you using your talents?

Jesus /“laid down” – tithemi = tith-ay-mee = to put, appoint, deposit, lay aside, lay aside money/

Jesus Christ deposited his life into an account for us he emptied his resources for us

It was not enough for Jesus just to come and live a good life for us and not do anything wrong, he had to GIVE of himself to show his love and for us to experience the best of the love

Then it says

/“we ought to lay down our lives”/

It’s not enough just to stop doing bad things …

Isaiah 1:16-17 says /“stop doing evil … learn to do good”/

We have to MOVE toward the things that God expects of us

While we are trying to live up to the righteousness within us, we need to do the things of a follower of Jesus Christ

This is not a book of suggestions where you pick what you like and leave out what you don’t.

We have a tendency to approach the life of a disciple like a diet plan and take what we want ignore the rest.

No, this is the WORD OF GOD, be DOERS of the Word not just hearers only

“Ok Pastor so I’m supposed to lay my life down like Jesus, but does this mean monetarily too?” That’s a great question

*READ 1 John 3:17*

“material possessions”

This doesn’t just mean if you are wealthy …

It literally means “goods of the world”

If you have stuff of this world

If you have an income

If you have possessions

If you have resources

If you have talents

If you have time

Those are all “goods of the world”

Then we are expected to invest those things in the lives of brothers in need