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The Grace of Giving
Stewardship 2022
John 3:1-16 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Rev’d Chris Johnson
20 November, 2022
This morning our topic is the Grace of Giving.
This is a phrase Paul uses in his Epistle to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 8:7 “See that you excel in the grace of giving.”
This morning is a message about making a decision about your giving to God’s mission, through his Church, in
2023.
And doing it prayerfully.
There are many demands on our income, and our needs and desires usually rise beyond the level of our
income.
So for those who name Jesus Christ as Lord it is important that our first commitment is to Him and
his Kingdom.
And my experience is that my other needs and wants then fall into their rightful place.
As Jesus
said seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
We are going to look at our readings from Corinthians and John, however, I want to do that using the outline
of our four Values in Vision 26.
Those values are Bible based, Christ centred, Spirit led, Mission shaped.
These
Values guide all we do is a church and as we practice them we will fulfil our Vision of ‘Living to Love and
Proclaim Jesus.’
1. BIBLE BASED
The fact that we going to address these values by looking at the scripture should give you the clue that we
are Bible based.
I could appeal to you to give to God's church because we are a worthy charity just as good as
any other charity in the community and supporting charity is a good thing to do.
But I want to appeal to you on the basis of God's Word.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
When we sit under God's Word it feeds our souls, feeds our
inner being and we hear words of life.
The world says life is found by spending money on your own pleasure.
God's Word says life is found through the grace of giving.
We give because God's Word calls us to give.
This brings glory to God and it blesses people.
2. CHRIST CENTRED
What is the central motivation in Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians to give to his Jerusalem Appeal?
It is
The Grace which is found in Jesus Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 he says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
The Amazing Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!
‘though he was rich’ What does that mean?
Philippians 2 mirrors this passage when it says Jesus was in very
nature God.
From the rest of scripture we know that Jesus is the Son, second person of the Trinity.
From all
eternity he has enjoyed intimate relationship with the Father and the Spirit and all the glories of heaven.
Philippians 2 goes on to say, “He did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own
advantage; rather, he made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant being made in human
1
likeness.”
Jesus leaves his special place with the Father and the Spirit and comes to this earth taking our
human nature,
-walking the dusty streets of Palestine,
-mixing with the sick and the socially outcast,
-coping with fickle crowds and thick disciples,
-engaging with powerful forces of evil, and
-finally going to the cross.
Philippians 2 goes on to say, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!”
So Jesus becoming poor, wasn't just about him taking human flesh and living the life we live; it was also
about him going to the cross.
That's where the poverty degenerates to it’s lowest point, in the degradation,
suffering and shame of the crucifixion.
Jim Packer puts it rather well when he says, “The crucial significance
of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down, that led the Son of God to the Cross
of Calvary.”
Paul goes on to say, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
-Rich in redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
-Rich in grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
-Rich in newness of life,
-Rich in the gifts of the Spirit,
-Rich in adoption as God’s sons and daughters
-Rich in wisdom and understanding
-Rich in being pre-destined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the
purpose of his will.
-Rich in the gospel of our salvation
-Rich with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit
Most of these wonderful riches of the gospel I found in Ephesians 1.
I just added a few others that came to
mind, thrown in for good measure.
Jesus dies so that we might live.
And not just live, but enjoy all the blessings of the gospel.
He did it so that,
‘through his poverty you might become rich’.
And Jesus pattern is to be our pattern.
It’s a pattern…
-of dying and rising,
-of riches to poverty, in order to provide riches for others,
This is the patten of all those who would follow him.
When we give up ownership of our financial resources
and put them at his disposal, we release the power of the gospel in the world afresh.
To put this into practice
is to excel in the grace of giving.
Grace is a wonderful word in the Christian vocabulary.
It can actually be used in two ways.
It can refer to all that God has done for us in Christ.
The grace of the gospel is Jesus’ life death and
resurrection for our salvation.
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