God's Generosity
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Good Morning! Well today we starting a new sermon series entitled “The generous life.”
We are also starting our community groups this week and want to encourage you to join a group… I really believe as we dive into this series on generosity that it will impact us both personally and as a local Church..
We are going to break this series into two parts...
First, We are going to begin with
what has been Given to us The Inflow of Generosity… then second half of the series we are going to focus on the Outflows of Generosity..
A great way to view Generosity is to picture it like a funnel —The top of the Funnel represents all that has been received, given and poured into our lives… It can a range of things from our experiences to blessings of life…
All the things that we would be thankful for… All the things that have been poured out in Salvation..
The funnel has flow… and what ever has been poured into our lives has purpose and a flow.... The funnel was never designed to hold liquid — it was just designed to be a pipeline of blessing…
In Matthew 10 when Jesus commissioned his 12 disciples to go proclaim the gospel… He gives them some instructions..
He tells them to bi pass the gentiles and go straight to the lost house of Israel…simply because the time was not yet for the gentile mission. They were to be on a mission to..
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Jesus tells his Disciples as you Go... dont take extra money Gold or Silver... extra bags or luggage….
9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts,
10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.
Jesus says to his disciples don’t take any provision
It’s a little like travelling on Delta airlines… bring nothing extra..no extra luggage. Leave behind your extra coat and tunic…
The truth is that many of the disciples of Jesus didn’t have much to begin with… many of the disciples came from very humble backgrounds.... The Historian Josephus tells us that most philosophers and peasants of the day only had one coat.
When you think about the commission --- it was no easy task.... Not only does Jesus says go with nothing… he tells them..
Go preach the kingdom of heaven… that a tall order....especially when you think of conflict that Christianity had with Judaism....
Most of us get stumped on this one task of evangelism… We read the statistic a few weeks ago that only 3 in 100 Christians ever share their faith… and only one of them does it consistently.....
But add to the list...
Heal the sick…now that’s difficult… Raise the Dead…cleanse the lepers…cast out demons…
You can’t do all these things without God’s power at work in your life…
These disciples didn’t go out cold turkey into the mission field…
Jesus had spent at least 3 years training, equipping, modeling and empowering these Disciples..
Jesus had poured Generously into the lives of his disciples .... their tanks had been filled up and it is now it was their turn to pour out what been given freely given to them.
Jesus doesn’t call the equipped as much as He equips the called..
The apostle Paul expresses this same principle — That receiving from God always precedes Giving… This has been called the law of the Harvest. Paul writes to the Church at Corinthians… . In context it is about the offering taken up for the church in Jerusalem.. Paul was reassuring the Church that as they gave… God would meet their own needs.
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
Paul tells the Church… that has they gave… God would provide for their needs.. He would give the seed for the sower... The lesson is that.
God’s abounding grace extends beyond the mere replenishment of resources.
He is powerful not only to replace resources spent in Christian service but also to multiply them to the point that at all times and in all things we have all that we need…
This harvest does not consist of personal wealth and riches
It is a harvest of generosity. God will take inadequate efforts at good works and increase them so that they bless many people. All a person has to do is give.
Generosity has inflows and outflows
T/S Why should we be concerned about pursuing a generous life?
1. Generosity gives Purpose and Meaning!
1. Generosity gives Purpose and Meaning!
"The world is peppered with people who can coax small seeds of inspiration into richly flowering ideas that put humankind on a better path. And then there's that guy in Des Moines.. Iowa"
Early one morning, a trooper with the Iowa State Patrol had attempted to pull a man over—but he "stepped on the gas and triggered what turned into a 10-to-15-minute pursuit."
The chase finally ended when the cars got off the freeway, and "a pit maneuver - when police bump the back of the vehicle and put it into a spin..
So what caused the driver to speed away from his traffic cop? "[T]he 46-year-old at the helm of this idea told authorities that leading police on a chase was just something on his Bucket List."
one of the local sergeants "told the Associated Press he'd never heard such an excuse" in almost 30 years of law enforcement work.
Hopefully not many of us have a dream of being chased by police, but we do all have dreams and goals --- One of the keys to finding purpose and meaning has to do with our contribution..
Generosity speaks of our contribution in life… What am I giving? It focuses on a deep felt need within all of us! We all want to make a difference.. whether it’s in our homes, in the Mark place, in our field of study…Whether we are farming rice or growing crops… there is the sense that what we are doing is making a difference.
We all have this desire to have our lives count..
Winston Churchill said..
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”-Winston Churchill
Good way to frame life… we can either “Make a living” or “Make a life”… If we are going to make a life --- it’s going to be marked not by withdrawals --- what we are trying to get out of life...but by our deposits…
Before Pam and I got married… We had excellent premarital counseling that has really helped over the long hall… We actually did it twice just to make sure… Once with Dave and Janet Cunningham.. and then again with our Dave and Chrisy Eden... Both amazing Couples…
They told us that it is not what you get out of marriage, but what you put into a marriage… It’s all about our contribution… Marriage is like a fruit basket — If you keep both keep on taking fruit out of the fruit basket nothing will be left… But every time you add something you making an investment and contribution and that is what makes a marriage — If you are going to make a life rather than a living it has to be marked by deposits.. contribution.
Jesus taught the principle of generosity… He taught that it was more blessed to give than to receive.” In Luke Jesus taught that when it came to forgiveness… we are to be generous.. with forgiving others.... Forgiveness involves setting a person free from the past and the obligations of recompense that attach to his actions. But Jesus’ demand is yet more radical… not only are we to forgive but we are to offer an open hand of generosity to that person...
38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
The “good measure” here is a generous measure. The imagery is that of the measuring out of grain by volume. The giver presses down and shakes the grain to fit in as much as possible, and not content with even this full measure, he piles it above the rim of the measure to the point where it cannot be contained by the measure and spills out.... Jesus teaching that when we give in generosity God will pour generosity it will be pour back to you in a similar measure… Peter asked Jesus how often he should forgive a brother who sinned against him? Peter throws out what he considers a generous number… 7 times?…
Jesus responds… seventy times seven… in other words there is isn’t a value you can put on the number of times that you forgive… This just goes to show you how we differ from God… We sent boundries and limitations on how generous we are going to be...
Why the Generous life?
1. Generosity gives Purpose and Meaning!
2. Generosity makes your World Larger.
2. Generosity makes your World Larger.
If you look at the Icons on the background slide you will notice that the Generous life…has several categories.... We often just think about generosity in monetary terms… it is that… but it’s much more..
.. Generosity starts in your Home… How do we treat each other in our homes…do we hold on to grudges… or are we generous towards one another… Are we generous in the our work place…Do we do the least the or do we do the most to help the business or organization… Do we think of others in our work environment…How can we make our coworkers life easier?… .. How about our time?… Do we look at our time do we guard our time or do we make time for others…
The Bible teaches us that Generosity actually expands our worlds.. Give and will be given… Sow and you will reap.
The book of Proverbs expresses this truth with lucid imagery.
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.
This verse is kind of counter intuitive — From the time we are children, we are used to thinking of certain things as “ours”. We learn early on that there are boundaries..The material world is divided between what is “mine” and what is “not mine”….. Just this week.. on Valentine’s Day - Pam bought “G” one of the children she takes care of… this huge sugar cookie - it had this thick icing and Shaped like a heart… It was so big — And all Pam wanted was a little piece… but “G” was not going to have of that… We all have that in our nature don’t we… We all have that cookie that we hold onto...
Scripture challenges the lines of “mine” and “not mine.”
One of the ways that Generosity is going to enlarge your life is that
Shifts our focus off of ourselves.
While it’s important to maintain a healthy level of self-awareness and sensitivity to oneself, often the focus we put on ourselves is filtered through a negative lens.
Many of our thoughts about ourselves are tinged with criticism, stress, doubt, uncertainty and obsession, none of which do any good for our level of confidence and success.
Generosity distracts us from the scathing insults of this inner voice while creating quite a strong argument against it. It is difficult to prove we are worthless when we are watching someone else benefit from our actions.
Generosity Enlarges our world is an amazing principle… Because it means that giving means greater rewards..
If you are wanting to increase and an area become Generous in that area… If you want to be rich in friendship… begin to offer friendship
The person who scatters seed, giving away his resources, increases all the more. The person who withholds, or is stingy, does not enjoy blessing. The person who waters others will be watered; God will meet the needs of that person.
Why pursue the Generous life?
1. Generosity gives Purpose and Meaning!
2. Generosity makes your World Larger.
3. Generosity is good for Your health and well being.
3. Generosity is good for Your health and well being.
Studies tell us that generosity not only benefits others but actually impacts our own health and wellbeing..
A study at the University of Michigan reveals that the positive effects of generosity include improving one’s mental and physical health and promoting longevity. In another Michigan study, which traced 2,700 people over 10 years, researchers found that those who did regular volunteer work had death rates 2.5 times lower than those who didn’t. The study concluded that..
Generosity can help reduce stress, support one’s physical health and enhance one’s sense of purpose.
In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul told the Corinthian Church that the Lord loves a Cheerful giver…we should not give reluctantly or under compulsion but rather out of a cheerful heart.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
In recent times there has arisen a ‘theology of prosperity’ which teaches that God will bless with health and riches those who give generously in support of Christian ministry… This would be one of those proof texts… spring board verses…
If you read this verse carefully
What Paul promises to the generous giver is not wealth-in-return but all that you need and also sufficient for every good work (verse 8
T/S If we are going to reap all the Benefits of a Generous life… We need to understand that Generous life gives us meaning, makes our world bigger… and it good for our heath…
As a Christian Generosity need to be more than a philosophy — it has to come from our understanding of God…
Theology of Generosity…
T/S As a Christian Generosity begins with our View of God..
Like everything we interpret life through various filters and experiences. If our view of God is one who is to be feared or to be appeased…A Father like figure who we pursue to have his approval ---We are going to fall short.
In the sermon on the Mount Jesus taught his Disciples about Prayer.. He brings to very practical elementary level…Prayer simply Asking, Seeking and knocking— Ask and it would be given to them… Seek and you will find… Knock and will be opened to you… Because Everyone asks Receives, one who seeks finds… one who knocks it will be opened…
This part of the supplication part of worship… But how does God respond to Supplications??? How does God respond to our needs??
Jesus tells us that God answers like a good parent who knows what is best for each individual child..
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
If earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children when they ask... “how much more” will God respond appropriately…
Now he may not give everything every child asks, but he will not withhold his gifts from those who desire and seek what is right —
One of the things we desire more than anything is the best for our Children… We spend so much of time protecting… providing .... for our children.. Have you ever wondered how much it costs to raise a child… There are lot of factors --- including where you live.. but..
The U.S. Department of Agriculture -- in its 2011 report titled, "Expenditures on Children by Families" -- notes that parents will spend an estimated $169,080 to $389,670 from birth through age 17....Now this includes housing and Education..... As a parent it dosent come to a dollar amount but rather we want whats best for our children…
God is infinitely better than the best of human parents, and he promises to supply the needs of his family...
This idea that God is a good God and rewarder of those who seek him --- Is fundamental to worship..
The psalmist writes.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
He is a generous Protector.
The relationship between sun and shield is that they both offer protection. For the shield that is obvious, but we would not necessarily think of the sun in those terms. Nonetheless Assyrian kings use the metaphor of their protection spreading over the land like the rays of the sun....
T/S Why Pursue the Generous life...
4. God Demonstrated
Generosity in Creation.
4. God Demonstrated
Generosity in Creation.
How many times have you stopped and marvelled at the palet of colors in a Sunset?… Or been blown away by some scenic vista that we have stumbled upon?…One of the ways that God has made himself known… or disclosed himself to the world is through creation…
Paul talks about creation giving us insight into the very heart hand nature of God… In the book of Romans...
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Paul tells that GOD’S ATTRIBUTES or his invisible qualities have been made visible..
Astronomers have powerful telescopes scanning the skies every single day looking for new planets looking for anything that even resembles earth… These telescopes are so powerful telescopes that could see a camp fire on the moon… . Astronomers get excited when they see a wobble out there in deep space...because it means that a planet is being orbited…
The Bible teaches us that everything has been created for a purpose
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Everything in the creation has been put there by God for a purpose..…Ultimately everything points back to an eternal God who is all powerful… All things were created for him and through him… All things point to the Greatness of God…
There are things in Creation that really we didn’t need… We didn’t need to have roses or hedgehogs, we can easily live without them.... We didn’t need 25,000 varieties of orchids. The orchid is just one of 270,000 species of flowers…
Was all that Necessary? Why is everything in creation so large? There seems to be a lot of wasted real-estate out there!
In our galaxy there are 100,000 million stars, like our sun. Our galaxy is one of 100,000 million galaxies. In a throw-away line in Genesis, the writer tells us, ‘He also made the stars’..
And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
home.
The book of Colossians tells us
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
God sustains all things hold it all to gether..
T/S God’s Generosity is seen in
5. GOD’S GENEROSITY IS SEEN IN HIS SELF Revelation.
5. GOD’S GENEROSITY IS SEEN IN HIS SELF Revelation.
There is Perhaps no better summation of God’s true nature as found in Exodus chapter 34… This is God’s own description of Himself… it’s full disclosure...
Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving the law for second time..
The first attempt and God giving the People his law was a total failure… While Moses is on MT. Sinai the people became tired of waiting and took matters into their own hands… They gathered all their gold and and melted it into the form of a golden calf and began to worship an image … When Moses descends from the Mountain He sees what happens and drops the tablets… …The tablets were tokens of God’s unique relationship with Israel…It wen they were dropped it was symbolic The law was broken both figuratively and literally…
Exodus 33 reveals that because of Israel’s idolatry God decided to withdraw his presence from his people. God ordered Moses to establish a “tent of meeting” outside the camp of Israel so that God could meet with Moses and be separated from the Israelites (Ex. 33:7).
It is during these visits with God at the tent of meeting that we get an incredibly revealing glimpse into Moses’ heart. Moses wanted more of God. He wanted to understand what God was doing and to peer into his plans. He also wanted to make sure that God would be with him as he led the people to the land of promise
It was at this moment of deep intimacy that Moses made his boldest request of God. He not only wanted God’s presence to be with Israel, but he also wanted to experience God’s presence on a personal level and in a unique way. Moses said to God, “Now show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18).
What exactly did Moses want to see? After all, he had seen the ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the Egyptians. What more did he need? But Moses did not ask to see God’s power here. He had seen that sure enough.
He wanted to see God’s glory. He wanted to experience the weightiness of God. He wanted to experience fully the splendor of God’s presence on a personal level. Moses was looking for the tangible God… want to see God’s glory… No man has seen God and lived… and so God reveals to Moses who he is ....
This is what takes place in Exodus chapter 34.. Moses experienced a new vision of the glory of God asTestator of the covenant. God Discloses himself to Moses...
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
God passes by Moses twice and called out his Name —Yahweh and then again Yahweh..
The use of repetition in Semitic literature is a method of emphasizing the importance —
This is God unique name in the OT… it means the I am…
“The One Who Always Is,” really is..
and again in case you missed it… I am ..
“The One Who Always Is,” really is..
I am the - God who is always is… Compassionate…
God who always is.. Gracious … slow to anger..Steadfast in love.. All these words similar… and the basic idea is the passionate loyalty of God, especially when it is undeserved...
The God says He is Abounding means --- speaks of Generosity…God excels in Mercy and Grace…
Steadfastness love and Faithfulness.
Where do we see this Generosity… through his love to thousands… forgiving transgressions and sin....
Careful studies of the Hebrew word, ḥesed, translated as “love” by the niv here demonstrate that it connotes long-term, reliable loyalty of one member of a covenant relationship to another.
God says he is going to keep his side of the Covenant.
However fickle and unreliable humans may be in their relationship to God, he is nothing of the sort but can be counted on in every situation and at all times to be completely faithful to his promises for his people.
God orders the tabernacle built indicates that he would reside with his people in spite of their apostasy...
Grace and Truth reside side by side in God’s nature… While God is gracious… We need to be careful that we presume on God’s grace.. as Romans teachers us..
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
God himself is full of Grace but he also describes himself as abounding in truth —
God will always operate in the realm of Truth..
The other side of God’s nature, in punishing as well as forgiving the sinner, is also brought out.---
but at the same time he is just and will punish the wicked… and the descendants of wicked.
Conclusion
As we close this Morning.. Think about that Funnel and all the things that God has given to us… The list may look different for each of us…Some of us it’s Good health, Some gift or abilities, Time…
We have seen the generosity of God… being poured into that Funnel… but the whole Goal is to be a pipeline of Blessings… to others..
The Church Father St.St. Augustine said...
God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them. —
What is it that you have let go of this morning?