Generosity and Peace

Welcome

Welcome everyone,

I know quite a few of us are sick at the moment so I wanted to take a moment and pray for everyone in their sicknesses.

PRAY

So lets get stuck in, what are we studying today?

Series Overview why are we studying this?

So this series is called Enough: A Generous God and we are going to be exploring the biblical theme of Generosity.

A biblical theme is an idea or motifs that begins in the first couple of pages in the Bible and runs throughout the entire story, finding it’s climax in the person and work of Jesus and then usually discussed by the Apostles further in the New Testament.

This theme is also a character trait of God. It is vital for us to study the character of God for a couple of reasons:

God is knowable and He wants to be known

John 1:18 NRSVue

18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

God is a person and a specific person at that. That means He has a specific character, a certain personality and He invites us into intimate relationship with Him, He is not far off from us that we worship Him from afar, He is close to us, closer than the very air we breathe.

2. We are His disciples, we look to God as the example of how to live life to the full.

Over the next few weeks we are going to explore this theme, and it is going to lead us to some wonderful insights into:

Who God is

What is His Character like

What does the biblical story reveal about Generosity

What does this mean about my money?

Some of these may very well be confronting topics, but I believe what we will find is remarkable beauty in the heart of our Generous God.

That all said what does Jesus have to say about all of this?

What does Jesus have to say about this?

We are Jesus’s students, we are His disciples.

We are through baptism united to Jesus, His life, His death and His resurrection.

We are fed by Jesus through communion and united to Him and His body.

Everything for us revolves around Jesus.

The Apostle Paul speaking to the Athenians said this:

Acts 17:28 “28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

See the Athenians thought that the gods were far away, but the Apostle Paul knew that the reality is that God, the real God in the person of Jesus is not far away, in fact, we live in Him and further more we can exist in His love, His teachings, in His Grace, in His constant presence.

We as Christians, we who bear Jesus’s name have His Holy Spirit, we are never far from God nor He far from us.

I think this is important to remember, always, especially as we go about our daily lives and as we start exploring a new theme is to anchor everything in Jesus.

So one of the most practical things we can do is pray and search through what Jesus taught.

So let’s pray:

Lord Jesus, open and enlighten our minds to see and listen to what you have to say about Generosity. Open your Word to us and we seek to understand you.

Luke 12:13–34 NLT

13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” 16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” ’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” 22 Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. 23 For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 26 And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? 27 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 29 “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. 32 “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 33 “Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Explain that Jesus Talks in Parables, they are stories that place people who are listening into roles

Explain the background, explain why it would be weird to have someone come adjudicate things like inheritance, how people make things spiritual.

Notice in the story how the thing in the rich mans life that made Him rich was the field…the rich man didn’t do anything for that

Talk about Jesus’ appeal to nature.

This story was the example of what He did not do

Jesus has this world view which we will explore deeper next week that God is taking of everything. Everything I have is because He has given it to me.

Jesus had this world view that His Father is taking care of everything, The LORD ultimately decides.

What does that mean for me?

We are not alone in this life.

God is walking actively with us and us with Him, God adores us He loves us He will never give up on us!

Psalm 118:1–4 NRSVue

1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

This steadfast love of the LORD is an overflowing love and faithfulness to us who He has made a covenant with. We are the people born of an unbreakable promise God made to redeem the world.

2. God is actively working with us, we are in a partnership with Him

Psalm 8:3–9 NRSVue

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

We are working in a partnership with God. He tells us He will take care of what He has promised to take care of, we need to focus on what He has asked us to focus on. Namely His Kingdom.

3. Nothing can separate us from this love of God! If our Generous Father is for us, who can be against us!

Romans 8:31–39 NRSVue

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you take away only 1 thing from today take this away. OUR GENEROUS FATHER IS FOR US and NO ONE AND NOTHING CAN GET IN THE WAY OF THAT!

Jesus taught us to pray like this:

Our Father who is closer to us than our very breathe, loves us:

Matthew 6:9–13 NRSVue

9 “Pray, then, in this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be revered as holy. 10 May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

This has Jesus’ heart built right into the prayer,

God knows what we need, we align ourselves with that knowing and praying that He will give us what we need today.

We never have to wonder if God will support us, it is in His very heart and nature to do so, because He is Generous.

God’s Generosity brings Him Joy, so He is always Generous towards us.

So we then have a choice can I trust this?

If I am being honest, this is not only something that I had struggled with for a long time but also what most of the world struggles with, Jesus was right to say that unbelievers mostly care about this…this is why we are discussing it now, because if people are being honest this is right at the heart of their concerns.

Over the next few weeks we are going to explore what kind of worldview did Jesus have and where did it come from that He knew that God would take care of Him.