Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

(3min)

At Granger MC we say we walk together to take the next step in a Jesus-first life.

It’s our way of saying we help each other become Fully Devoted followers of Jesus.

We hear from God’s Word to help us see where we need to make Jesus-first.

Jesus-first means Jesus is first in every area of our lives not because he forces us to, but because we want him to.

There is a danger in preaching through books of the Bible - Sometimes you encounter passages that deal with topics or issues that would not necessarily be popular or easy to deal with.

The preacher doesn’t get to cherry-pick his favorite passages, so he may need to

We

Today we’re going to talk about money!

does that make you uncomfortable?

Being Fully Devoted is being Jesus-first in your finances.

There are

In , Jesus equated some people’s love of money with the worship of a god.

In some ways, rather than being a god, for some people money is the ‘prayer life’ by which we control the one we really worship - ourselves.

32 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.

33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

34 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 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Spirit-led Generosity

(2min) (*37min)

What we have here is a picture of the Spirit-filled and Spirit-led church.

many of the same characteristics that we saw in the church shortly after the Holy Spirit fell in

Unity,

One of the greatest evidences of a Spirit-led community is found in it’s generosity.

What we will learn today is that generosity has more to do with your heart than your wallet; however, your wallet will oftentimes reveal the state of your heart.

Comes through the Holy Spirit (4:31)

(3min) (*35min)

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

32 Now the full number

32 Now the full number. . .

Genuine generosity is not natural, it’s supernatural.

Genuine generosity is not natural, it’s supernatural.

ILLUST - kids and cutting the cake fairly

JD Greear:

“The gospel had loosened their grip on their stuff and tightened their grip on each other.”

Demonstrates unity (32)

(3min)(*32min)

‘One heart and soul’

I think we oftentimes miss how diverse this group of believers were.

They were different races, different languages, different age groups, people from different socio-economic statuses - they weren’t uniform, they were unified.

They didn’t choose the Jerusalem church because they preferred it over the church of Bethlehem.

They didn’t choose the Jerusalem church because they preferred it over the church of Bethlehem.

The unifying factor was Jesus and the common thread among them was the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know of a church that has split over a fight over who would give more.

Used for mission (33)

(3min) (*29min)

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

I find that people will give to a ministry or church generally for one of two reasons: 1) because of a dynamic(?)

man or 2) a fruitful mission

Delivered through love (34-35)

(3min) (*26min)

There was not a needy person among them . . . it was distributed to each as any had need.

Money evidences what you love.

They used money to love people - too often we see the opposite.

(Illust - Driscoll)

ILLUST - As an illustration of Jesus’ love for us, a church in Kansas paid off the medical debt for 1,600 families in their state.

ILLUST -

https://www.westernjournal.com/l/kaylakunkel/church-pays-off-2-2-million-medical-debt-1600-families/

If one of the greatest evidences of a Spirit-led community is found in it’s generosity, then one of the greatest evidences that an individual is Spirit-led is found in that person’s generosity.

is Evidence of a Fully Devoted life.

(36-37)

(3min) (*23min)

Story of Barnabas - ‘Son of Encouragement’

We’ll see him several times in Acts:

Model of generosity (4:36)

Vouches for Paul after his conversion when all the other disciples are wary of him.

(9:27)

Sent to Antioch to verify God’s work among the Gentiles -

ends up being their pastor.

(11:23-25) Also called, “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”

(Men, wouldn’t that be a great way for someone to describe you?)

(Maybe because of what happened in ) he along with Paul, are put in charge of taking money to Jerusalem to help the church there after it had been hit by a famine.

(11:30)

He was set apart by the Holy Spirit along with Paul to be sent on a missionary journey to Cyprus

Gives John Mark a second chance after he had deserted Barnabas and Paul during the missionary journey.

He’s a mans who is sold out for Jesus and his mission and he put his money where his mouth was.

It all starts with him laying everything down at the apostle’s feet.

He sells some property and lays it all down at the apostle’s feet.

(We’re not calling for that)- it is the heart behind the giving that is important - not the amount that he gave.

However, the amount that he gave was what God had prompted his heart to give.

It is this spirit of generosity we are to emulate not necessarily the method

Should Christians even type thing?

Tithing was understood to be 10% portion of the first fruits of your income has commanded by the Mosaic law.

But we are not under the Mosaic law anymore.

ILLUST - What if the Church Tithed?

Christians are only giving at 2.5 percent per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3 percent rate.

what would happen if believers were to increase their giving to a minimum of, let’s say, 10 percent.

There would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute.

The global impact would be phenomenal.

Here’s just a few things the Church could do with the kind of money:

– $25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.

– $12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.

– $15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.

– $1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.

– $100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

https://relevantmagazine.com/love-and-money/what-would-happen-if-church-tithed/

We don’t tithe today in the way that many understand we give as the Lord leads us.

I’ll probably get in trouble, but I’m going to tell you not to ties not to give 10% instead going to ask you to ask the Lord what you should give what does it look like to give generously to the work into the ministry and to the mission of Christ?

To not give all that God is asking you to give is stealing from him and lying to yourself the Holy Spirit and the church

2 Corinthians 9:7

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .