Transformational Generosity & Spiritual Fasting

ADD

January 12th 2025

Series: 8 Habits of a Fully Devoted Christian

Topic Tags: Serving, Community

Sermon Title: Beneficial Serving & Intentional Community

Key Passages: Various

Sermon Blurb: In this message, we will learn how our generosity can transform us and others and the importance of fasting for spiritual reasons.

Sermon

Hello Family Church!!!

Welcome to Family Church… whether you are in person or watching online…

Family Moment (Share something personal to help people get to know you and your family)

Celebrate salvation / re-dedications / baptisms last week.

We are so glad you are with us today.

As we start every year, we look at habits critical to being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

We do this annually because we believe it is important not to forget these things.

PAUSE

So, let me walk you through what you can expect this month.

In Week #1, we examined the importance of reading our Bible and praying.

We also talked about how to study the Bible and how to pray.

In week #2, we examined the benefits of serving and being in the community.

This week in week #3, we will see how we can be transformed by becoming generous people who fast not for health reasons…but spiritual reasons.

We will wrap up this series next week in week #4 by looking at Jesus' call to be disciples who make disciples.

This month, we will learn the 8 Habits of being a fully devoted Christian.

Our goal is for everyone at Family Church to be a healthy follower of Jesus.

We hope that you will walk away from church every week this month with some additional ideas you can put into practice immediately.

PAUSE

Let’s start, like we have every week…..by defining what a habit is…

Write this down:

HABITS are ingrained actions that have become natural because of continued repetition.

Repeat

Our hope is that these habits we are talking about will become just that for you.

Natural actions because you do them so often.

PAUSE

So, here is our Acronym for the series.

It’s an acronym for the word HABITS…and it shows us, in order, the topics we’re going to be discussing over these weeks.

On the screen AND in notes

H – Holy Bible A – Abundant Prayer B – Beneficial Serving I – Intentional Community T – Transformational Generosity S – Spiritual Fasting F – Fruitful Disciple-Making C – Continual Coaching

Do you see what we did there?

Habits at FC or Family Church!

PAUSE

Let’s jump into our message and talk about the HABIT of Transformational Generosity…

Let’s start with a question….

When you think of generosity, what comes to mind?

Maybe you think about Family Church and all the ways we demonstrate generosity with things like:

FREE donuts!

FREE Coffee and lattes!

FREE Study Bibles!

Incredible FREE events…

And so on…

Maybe you think about a friend or family member who is always helping you out.

Maybe you think about a coach who is always helping others…

Today, we are not thinking about just generous people or a generous church…

Today, we want to talk about how OUR generosity could lead to transformation….

I know that is deep…

But do you think it is possible that you could live such a generous life...that it could lead to someone else noticing Jesus through you?

PAUSE

Let’s dive into this topic and see what God has for us!

And let me say this right out of the gate….

Yes…today we are going to talk about money.

EVERYONE’S FAVORITE thing to hear about in church...

Does anyone want to AMEN that?

I know some of you right now are thinking…

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

We show up on the week, they will guilt trip us for money!

Hear me...before you look for the nearest exit…

We are NOT going to guilt trip you!

Today, we will NOT pressure you to give!

What we WILL do today is simple…

We will walk through the Bible and learn what God says about our money...and how it ties to generosity that can lead to spiritual transformation of us and other people.

We will see how God says we should use the resources God gave us.

I’d like for everyone to grab your Bibles and open them to Luke 12…I hope you brought your Bibles to church!

Luke 12

New Person Bible Connection:

If you do not have a Bible, that is ok!

After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Just go to ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE and get one for FREE!!

PAUSE

As you are getting to Luke 12 let me break the ice with a joke to bring us all back in today…..

There once was a strongman at a circus sideshow who demonstrated his power before large audiences every night.

Toward the end of one performance, he squeezed the juice from a lemon between his hands. He said to the onlookers, “I will offer $200 to anyone here who can squeeze another drop from this lemon.

A thin older lady hobbled up the stage. She picked up the lemon and clamped it between her two frail, boney hands. She squeezed. And out came a teaspoon of lemon juice.

The strongman was amazed. He paid the woman $200 but privately asked her, “What is the secret of your strength?”

“Practice,” the woman answered. “I have been treasurer of my church for forty-two years!”

PAUSE

All right, let’s jump in...

And let me start with this...

Giving does NOT get you into heaven….

Giving to this church will NOT get you into heaven….

Giving to charity will NOT get you into heaven...

Getting into heaven comes only by the grace of God.

Giving, or being generous, is a byproduct of God’s grace in your life...but it is NOT how you obtain God’s grace.

PAUSE

Let’s learn about money and resources and what it means to be transformationally generous.

And let’s begin with something Jesus said….

Luke 12:34, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Here is what that means...

Where your money is.

Where you put your money.

How you invest your money.

How you spend your money.

How you give your money.

How you treat and handle your money...

That is a clear indicator of where your heart is.

Of what you cherish and value most.

The old saying goes, “If you want to know what a person loves, ask to see their checkbook.”

Or, in our modern day, ask to look at their online banking statement.

PAUSE

Let me help you look at your money from a global perspective...like God does...

I found an article published in 2024 looking at the Worldwide Median Income.[1]

Does anyone want to guess what the average gross annual household income is????

Throw out some guesses...

The median income worldwide… the amount that is the dead middle between the least and the highest amounts income earners in the world….

$850 US Dollars!

Did you know that 3 BILLION people live on less than $2 a day?

They also said that people with incomes of $41,000 USD are among the top 3% of wealth in the world!

And if we went the way of a Socialist Economy where everyone gets the same thing across the world…

That would mean the trillion-dollar worldwide economy evenly split between Earth's 6.7 billion people, the average income would be $7,000 USD.

PAUSE

This means most of us in this room are RICH by global standards!

You are rich!

I am rich!

We are BLESSED!

So, that begs the question, what should we do with our richness?

Why did God choose to make me rich?

Why am I so blessed?

Continuing in Jesus’ parable in Luke 12, look at what Jesus says...

Luke 12:48, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

So, the question is, " Why has God made me rich” or " Why has God entrusted me with so much”?

The answer is that He has blessed you to be a blessing.

Write this down

I am rich, so I can transform others by my generosity.

Repeat

You are rich, so you can be intentionally generous.

If God has entrusted, you with riches because He wants to equip you to bless others!

And by blessing others you can help them meet Jesus!

So many people at Family Church do such an amazing job at this!

And that is awesome!

We are the most generous church I have ever seen in so many ways!

PAUSE

So, let’s look at how we should respond to God’s blessings in our life.

Let’s look at what it would look like to be SOOOO generous that lives could be transformed.

3 points I want you to consider... the first, write this down

1. Transformationally generous Christians will be grateful givers.

Repeat

In a world where we always look out for me, myself, and I...

Where selfishness comes naturally and ensuring “I get mine” is always a priority...

It’s important to grasp this point.

Blessed people don’t seek to take or gain but to give.

They understand that they have been blessed and are grateful.

AND they seek to bless others because they understand it will produce gratefulness in others!

This is precisely what we see Paul write in 2nd Corinthians 9:11

Paul said,

2nd Corinthians 9:11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us, it will result in thanksgiving to God.

God says He made some people, like us, RICH…. So that we can be generous on EVERY occasion…..

And our generosity comes from our gratitude AND will lead others to thank God as well!!!

Do you see it????

PAUSE

Pause and think about what God just said….

Imagine if you took just a little bit of your wealth/resources and were generous.

Imagine if you looked at your wealth not as your nest egg or safety net but as your TOOL to LEAD people toward God!

Let me show you another verse about this.....

Listen to what Paul told Timothy about rich people.

Again, if your household makes over 40K, then you are rich from a global perspective.

1st Timothy 6:18 "Command those who are rich to do good and to be rich in good deeds and to be willing to share."

He didn't say:

Suggest to those rich people….

Encourage them….

Build them up and hope they will be generous…

He said, "Command them to be generous and willing to share."

He says our Biblical Giving Attitude should be:

Biblical Giving Attitude: I have more,so I can’t wait to give more.

Repeat

PAUSE

The second point is this... write this down

2. Tranformationally generous Christians are cheerful givers.

Repeat

How many of you can’t WAIT to give money?

How many of you are pumped up and just delighted by the idea of giving money away?

Probably not many.

If you’ve ever raised children, you know that giving doesn’t come naturally.

Taking comes naturally.

How long does it take for your toddler to learn the word “mine?” Not very long.

So, if giving or generosity doesn’t come naturally, BUT it is what God wants…

The question is how do I get there?

How can I become a cheerful giver?

PAUSE

I’m just going to go out on a limb here... For some of you, this point alone could change your life.

Some of you here today are so pinned up with stress and anxiety related to money that your life is devoid of happiness.

Empty of cheer!

You don’t have any JOY in life!

Even this message, talking about finances OR giving money...

It immediately causes stress and anxiety...

Some of you might wonder, how can I be a CHEERFUL GIVER?

How can I live generously when I can barely pay my bills?

PAUSE

Write this down Biblical Giving Truth: Giving and generosity reduces stress and produces joy!

Repeat

I know...it sounds counter-intuitive.

I know culture teaches us to build up and horde...

BUT….

2nd Corinthians 9:7, That each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.

It says, “God loves a cheerful giver”.

This isn’t saying God does NOT love you UNLESS you give or are always smiling when you give...

What it’s saying is that God LOVES it when cheerful givers give.

God loves it when His children live generous lives because it reflects the generous God whom we claim to love!

God doesn’t love you any more or less based on your giving. That isn’t the point.

God loves you, period.

But remember that God wants to TRANSFORM every part of our lives….

PAUSE

Acts 20:35, It is better to give than to receive.

Again, Paul is NOT saying that it is bad to receive, or you should never expect to receive.

He is simply saying it is better to give... and when we give freely and cheerfully, it demonstrates our love for God AND God promises that it will produce joy in us.

PAUSE

The third point is this...

Write this down...

3. Transformationally generous Christians will be covenant-based givers.

A covenant is a contract made between two parties.

It's an agreement or promise.

God made covenants throughout the Bible.

A covenant is an agreement with people that if they do their part, then He will do His part.

...and God always fulfills His end of the agreement.

PAUSE

One covenant God made has to do with money.

It’s what we refer to as the TITHE.

The word TITHE literally means one-tenth.

And in the Bible, it has to do with the FIRST and BEST of your resources... as Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

The Tithing covenant goes way back...back to Abraham in the Bible... in Genesis 14

Then, Moses further elaborated on the tithe in Leviticus 27.

In 2 Chronicles 31, we see the tithe referred to as “first fruits.”

The prophet Amos talked about tithing in Amos 4.

And perhaps the most notable passage on tithing comes from the prophet Malachi.

Malachi 3:8-11, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”

So, apparently, God takes this covenant quite seriously!

But look at the promise in the next two verses...

“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. I will rebuke the devourer for you,

so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.”

WOW!

What an awesome promise God gives us... that IF we do our part to tithe then He WILL do His part to ABUNDANTLY provide.

Write this down

Biblical Giving Promise: You can’t outgive God!

Repeat

Intentionally Generous Christians understand the tithe-covenant, God's promise that if we are faithful to tithe, we can have confidence that God will abundantly provide everything we need!

PAUSE

This was so important that Jesus even talked about it.

Mathew 23:23, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin.

But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.

You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Jesus just said they should tithe…but it doesn’t stop there!

He also said they need to live out the virtues of a follower of God as well!

PAUSE

Let me wrap this part of the sermon with one last verse that makes is VERY clear why we need to give and be generous…

Deuteronomy 14:23, The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives.

When I tithe, when I give God 10% of when he gives me, it teaches me to place God first.

Here’s the deal with giving, generosity, and tithing...and we will close with this.

You don't have to give big amounts to give extravagantly.

Because it's not about the amount; it's about the heart.

PAUSE

I want to wrap up our message today by talking about Fasting just briefly.

Spiritual Fasting, like giving, is not something we talk about often.

Like giving, we typically only talk about this once a year.

We call this Spiritual Fasting because we realize there are a lot of reasons to fast out there, but we are not fasting just because we are getting blood work done…

Or we want to lose weight…

PAUSE

Let’s start by writing down what Spiritual Fasting is.

Write this down…

Spiritual Fasting means voluntarily reducing or eliminating something from my life for a specific time for a spiritual purpose.

Repeat

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6....

Jesus says, “when you fast”…

Jesus expected His followers to fast, it was an assumed habit.

Matthew 6:16-18, When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen;

and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Jesus said that God rewards,

That God responds to fasting.

Now, I realize not everyone can fast food because of medical conditions.

But you don’t get a pass!

You may not be able to fast food BUT you can fast something else you consume.

What other things do we consume?

Entertainment, TV, Movies, Romance Books, Social Media, Coffee, Tea....etc....

So, if you are unable to, OR feel led to fast something other than food… then do it!!!!

PAUSE

Ultimately, fasting is giving up something and replacing it with more of God's time......

So let’s talk about, “Why should a Christian fast?”

Well, there are many good reasons.......but I’d like to suggest a few key reasons for fasting…

First, write this down…

Why should a Christian Fast? 1. Fasting gives me more time for prayer.

When you fast, you can use the time you'd typically spend eating, preparing meals, driving to get lunch, and so forth, replacing that time with prayer.

In the Bible, fasting is almost always connected with prayer.

Let me show you an example in the book of acts....

Acts 13:2-3 "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'

So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off."

There are numerous other passages we could look at that show us how fasting and prayer go hand in glove.

Fasting gives me more time in focused prayer.

Another reason we fast is…

2. Fasting demonstrates the depth of my desire to connect with God.

Joel 2:12: "Even now," declares the Lord, "return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Fasting shows that you are serious about connecting with God more deeply.

You are willing to pay the personal price of denying a desire.

And God honors deep desire and praying in faith.

PAUSE

And a third reason to fast…

3. Fasting releases God's supernatural power.

Fasting is a tool we can use when there is opposition to God's will.

Satan would like nothing better than to cause division, discouragement, defeat, depression, and doubt among us.

When we pray and fast, it changes things… God can use it to deal a decisive blow to the enemy!

Isaiah 58:6 "God says, "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?"

Fasting can lead to spiritual breakthroughs!!!

Fasting often results in God’s miraculous movement in a direction that He wills, and we benefit!

Often in the Bible, God's people fasted before a:

...major victory, ...miracle, ...answer to prayer, ...gaining unique insight or vision...

In Matthew 17 and Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples are unable to heal a person and cast out a demon.

When they reported this to Jesus, they asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we heal that guy? Why didn’t the demon leave?”

And Jesus, after challenging their faith, said, “This kind only comes out through prayer AND FASTING.”

So, fasting is a weapon of warfare that we need to tap into at times.

PAUSE

Let me remind you NOT to put your life in harm by fasting.....

If wisdom suggests you cannot fast food at this time or any time, then don’t be foolish.

If you are only able to do a partial fast OR a non-food related fast, as we mentioned earlier, than do it.

Honor God with your heart and intentions.

Because fasting is not so much about the food as it is the focus.

Fasting is not so much about saying “no” to the body as it is about saying “yes” to the Spirit.

Fasting is not about doing with-out, it’s about looking within.

Fasting is an outward response of an inward attitude and cry of the soul.

God sees the heart, the intent… and I don’t think for one moment God is holding back on your if you fast anything with sincerity.

He always meets you where you are.

AND to help you with this inside the book we have given you to use this month…you will find a fasting guide to help you fast now and in the future…

PAUSE

Let’s wrap things up today with our life application.

If you are new, or newer, to Family Church we LOVE to end our messages with something for you to talk about with someone else.

Something to help you apply the message to your life.

So here is this week’s Life Application…

Life Application: Commitment today: · Living such a generous life that it could lead to someone's spiritual transformation? · Fasting and asking God to help you re-focus your life on His plans for your life. As a result of today’s message, I Will __________________

Prayer:

Make sure to do a salvation call!

Offering:

Thank you all for being here today!

If you would like to continue your worship through giving, there are offering boxes by the doors as you exit, or behind me on the screens. You can also see other ways to give here at Family Church.

You can also place any connection cards you filled out in there.

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It is as simple as texting FamilyChurchGive to 888-364-4483

Have a great week!!

[1] What is the Median Income Worldwide? (smartcapitalmind.com)