“THE GENEROUS GOD”

Matthew 20:1–16 (ESV)

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

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PRAY

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WEVE BEEN GOING ON A JOURNEY OF REDISCOVERING WHO GOD IS.

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and then allowing that to FRAME FOR US - WHAT GOD DOES.

Q: Have you ever wondered how DEEP God’s pockets are?

Is there are a point at which God’s generosity runs out?

Does God have a bank account somewhere in heaven.. with a cloud drive through and a printing room

Is God Loaded?

and if God is LOADED with all of the rescources that ever exist in heaven and on Earth

Whats Gods approach to MONEY?

Is GOD A tight God? STINGY?…. DELIBERATELY HOLDING OUT ON EVERYONE (you know the guy that always forgets his wallet when the check comes at the table?….

or is GOD….

a generous GOD?

THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD NOT BE FOUND IN HIS BLESSING… BUT IN HIS NATURE. HIS CHARACTER.. HIS PERSON-ALITY

Generosity is a THREADED THEME IN THE WORD.

Its all THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE.

If you ever wanted to KNOW ALL THE TRUTH THAT EXISTS ABOUT MONEY YOU NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE BIBLE:

Here is the biblical definition for GENEROOSITY: “The free and liberal bestowal of wealth, possessions or food upon others.”

Or…..“The selfless concern for others”.

Or…..Compassion for another

Or…..a desire to see someone ELSE be blessed.

Some WORDS that we see in the bible that speak of generosity: …This gives us the ability to understand concepts and more broadly get what this is all about

When we think about GENEROSITY here is a few other words….

consider some of these words:

Blessing, Abundance, Prosperity, Overflow, Increase, Provision, Expansiveness and so on!

But where did all this… where did “GENEROSITY” originate from?

the wanting to be a BLESSING

The desire to show compassionate care

The Desire to see someone else have A GOOD THING

the DESIRE TO SEE OTHERS BLESSED

The power of generosity is seen all through the scriptures as to relates to GOD.

Let me show you a few verses here as get this going: on Generosity & Gods abundance

Deut 8:18 “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth (or to be blessed), that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

1 Tim 6:17-19 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” …..

It is better to give than to receive:

Ever notices how it JUST FEELS SO GOOD when you actually get a chance to really bless someone?

Acts 20:35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ””

1.GOD IS GENEROUS.

Our God is a lavish, overflowing, generous, bountiful, magnanimous God who loves to give good gifts to his children. He even blesses those who hate him with thousands of good things. How much more will he bless those he bought with his Son’s precious blood.

When we look at his creation we can catch a glimpse of God’s overflowing, lavish nature.

Psalm 24:1-2 “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”

He created billions of galaxies and stars. The sun, the moon, the planets…God didn’t create just one simple kind of star. He is over-the-top creative…generous. The heavens declare the glory of God, including his abundant, bountiful nature.

Look at the earth. There are more than 750 species of butterflies alone! and 11,000 species of moths that have been recorded and many many more out there yet to be recorded. There are somewhere over 22,000 species of fish.  There are over 150 species of roses. I might have guessed 6. Heck, there are 35,000 species of spiders in the world.

But HOW SHOULD WE LOOK AT ABUNDANCE AND PROSPPERITY AND HOW GOD WANTS US TO LIVE?

****** WHITEBOARD*******

We have a way of skewing things: We have to be very careful when it comes to the way we see God - There has been always a pendulum swing when it comes to the church and this topic of Wealth , Abundance and Here is some thing to illustrated

Property Gospel: Following JEsus means you MUST be POOR. You have to deny yourself everything. You should expect nothing & you should live a life of POVERTY. That its almost as though THATS WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOUR LIFE: FOR YOU TO BE POOR: But here is where that breaks down: in the spiritual sense, weve been “made rich” and Blessed in so many ways

Ephesians 1:7-8 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”

SO THATS ONE WAY

The Prosperity Gospel: This is the other side which is that because you follow you JESUS that automatically means that you SHOULD BE RICH. that somehow by your faith you are walking around driving nice cars and wearing GOLD chains and EVERYONES JUST LOADED!!!! That’s ridiculous. God wants you to be blessed but he also wants you to be an example of His blessing so why WOULD he put something IN your LIFE that’s going to destroy your life? Or worse yet give him a bad wrap!!!

SO what it is - is NOT POVERTY GOSPEL, NOT PROSPERITY GOSPEL - BUT….

GENEROSITY GOSPEL> thats the HEART OF GOD.

The TRUE GOSPEL to be lived out is a generous GOSPEL, because its MOST ACCURATELY REFLECTS THE HEART OF THE FAITHER>

I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT….. GOD IS ABOUT THE OVERFLOW….

He wants you to be BLESSED…. SO you can BE A BLESSING. Not Rich so you can KEEP it all to yourself. He wants your LIFE FILLED in a way so that there is OVERFLOW to cause BLESSING to flow into the life of another.

BUT GOD WILL ALWAYS TAKE OF YOU, AND HE WILL ALWAYS GET THE GLORY.

Its GOD’s Choice to be generous:its HIS NATURE: lets look back at our text

Matt 20:14 “Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.”

Matt 20:15 “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’”

Its His nature to GIVE

Bit our GOD is a GOD who no matter what, WILL GET THE GLORY, HE WILL BEGLORIFIED.

SO when it comes to GENEROSITY IN HIS NAME.

The FULL WEIGHT of HEAVEN is BEHIND that ENDEAVOR: a GENEROUS GOD, WHO GIVES GENEROUSLY but ITS HIS CHOICE.

2.GOD LOVES IT WHEN WE ARE GENEROUS

2 Cor 9:7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

HIS GENEROSITY RUNS EVERYWHERE IN OUR LIVES

Weekly Challenge: I want you to take a moment this week in your quiet time and think about and remember HOW GOD has been GENEROUJS to you! (Family, friends, sport, hobbies, food…. Weather! //

You’ll find HIS GENEROSITY runs everywhere in your life!

WHY WOULD GOD LOVE IT WHEN WE ARE GENEROUS?

BEcause weve been adopted in: Your ADOPTION IN is your PERMISSION to LIVE A GENEROUS LFE

THATS WHY A STINGY SPIRIT DOESNT WORK AS A BELIEVER!

Proverbs 23:6-8 “Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.”

Here is why a stingy spirit is not a kingdom spirit…..

(A STINGY SPIRIT IS AN ORPHANED SPIRIT*****a stingy person hasn’t had a revelation of Gods abundance and his Nature…. And possibly they’re own identity as a son or daiugter in Christ)

When I was a child and we used to go out as a family… Somewhere nice or wherever: when the Check came… my dad didn’t Push the check my way! No. We all knew… My brother and sister: “DAD WILL TAKE CARE OF IT” Because We KNEW HIS NATURE: BUT WE ALSO KNEW OUR PLACE

But as WE GROW: we begin to realize thats who DAD WOULD want us to live also.

A person of GENEROSITY… to REFLECT THE NATURE OF THE FATHER!

WHEN WE DECIDE TO BE GENEROUS: WE TAKE THE NATURE OF GOD AND MAKE IT OUR NATURE AS WELL> WE ARE EXTENDING HIS NATURE INTO SOCIETY< CULTURE AND OUR WORLD> This is why God loves a cheerful GIVEr because we’ve become an extension of WHO HE IS in the WORLD>

Ways we can EXHIBIT HIS GENEROUS NATURE:

Tithe: Honor God. Remove the curse from your own finances : Malachi 3:10 “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

Give sacrificially: Giving and Sacrifice go hand in hand. There has to be some trust and some faith.. which is RISK. When’s the last time you gave someone something or you stepped out in faith and gave and it was a “CHALLENGING” to yoUr spiritual life? Thats giving sacrificallyL: H4H next weekend. Giving into the visison of 10K decisions, Kingdom Influence in every neighborhood and influence on every street! Trust God with it!

Pray: to be generous….as God to give you the desire and the ability to live generously: to bless others: ask him to show you WHO.

Associate: Get around generous people: theres and infections nature to them!

Start small: Venmo someone a coffee? Send a meal, bless someone in a small way & watch the way God uses it to make a big difference !

Teach your Kids: open hand living. Kingdom life. Generosity is a lifestyle and a way of moving through life in-step with the HS. Proverbs 11:24

Proverbs 11:24 M:BCL

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.

Be practical: Give what you can dont dream about giving what you dont already have. Let God handle that. You just be faithful with what you do have. Maybe its a spare room in your house! Maybe its a spare care, maybe its a meal you can make (I heard of someone in our church earlier this year who every time that make food for their family they always make extra to GIVE GENEROUSLY! Wow thats a lifstyle!)

Sponsor a compassion child….. Give to Missions and Vision Rescue.

Forgive People quickly

Dont begrudge anyone because they’re Blessed!

3.JESUS IS GODS GENEROUS HEART TOWARDS US.

And of course, the greatest most generous gift our God has given us is the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, who in the greatest act of generosity ever, poured out his blood to save us, and give us the infinitely wonderful gift of eternal life