The Generosity Journey

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SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this series called n this series called Generosity Works, Pastor Shawn teaches how biblical generosity shapes every part of our lives. This week’s message, The Generosity Journey, explores how we grow from testing God with small steps to trusting Him through tithing and ultimately thriving in a lifestyle of generosity.

Altar Instructions: Please come up when I begin the last point. Worshipful moment as people give to the Thanksgiving offering. I will invite people to give their Thanksgiving offering and then stand and worship to give God thanks for an amazing year.

Series | Generosity Works

Pre-Message Welcome

Grace Place family! It’s awesome to have you here with us today, whether in person or online.

I’m Shawn, and along with my wife, we serve as the Co-Pastors of this incredible church.

At The Grace Place, our mission is clear: we are Caring People, Caring for People.

We pray that you experience God’s care in our time together and in your life.

Spanish Welcome - 2nd Service ONLY!

A nuestra familia de habla hispana .... Bienvenidos… es-pera-mos que usted… y su familia.. se-sien-tan bien a-tend-idos también.

To our Spanish speaking family... welcome!

We’re in the final week of our series called…

Series | Generosity Works

Friends, The principals of generosity in the bible work. They are not just beliefs, they’re a way of life.

By the ways didn’t Pastor Krista do an amazing Job last week?

We learned that generosity starts with stewardship…. budgeting, and intentionality

If you missed any of the messages in this series I highly recommend listening.

Today we are going to talk about….

Sermon Title | The Journey of Generosity

As always - lets listen to the Holy Spirit

I am simply here to open Gods word.before you as we do every week…

And invite you to ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT - WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY TO ME ABOUT THIS.

***Feel free to encourage people to listen to the Holy Spirit speak to them personally as the message is preached

LETS PRAY

Introduction:

Being Generous is a journey of discipleship that matures over time just like prayer or reading Scripture.

In all of these areas… Before we walk, we must crawl.

Today I want to introduce our NEXT STEP path called …. The Journey of Generosity.

Every one of us start out… IN YOUR NOTES as…

A TESTING giver Zech 4:10b, Matt. 4:18

GESTURE TO THE GRAPHIC

This is usually the 1st step…

Their mindset is often: Ok God… I don’t know much…. but I feel compelled to do something…

So what do many of us do at this stage?

We test God… by tossing something in the offering bucket as it passes by - 5,10- $20.00

The Giving habits of these givers are…

They give Sporadic when inspired.. or at times out of guilt.

For them its fells charitable more than spiritual.

Think about new seekers… they test God in thinks like in Prayer… with all the doubt, skepticism…they toss up a 3 sec prayer … “GOD HELP ME.”

Guess what - GOD MEETS THEM! Right where they are at…

This reminds me of Peter’s story

In Matt. ch 4… before Peter was a great leader…

He was a reactive, brash… fishermen.

But, Jesus met Peter — at the fishing boat — and said, “Follow Me.”

At this stage in his journey, Peter misunderstood Jesus often… but he was learning.

It all started with him TESTING the words of Jesus.

Zech. 4:10b lets look at it on the screen…

Zechariah 4:10 NIV

“Who dares despise the day of small things….

Remember, we must learn to crawl before we walk.

This first step in The Generosity Journey is learning to Trust God in small ways.

and God will meet you right where you are.

During this stage of the Journey we are growing

We are beginning to clear out the clutter in prepare to make more room in our life for Jesus. We are discovering many of the biblical truths that P. Krista talked about last week.

We’re Getting on a budget so we can

Sow Some, Save Some and Spend Some.

Here is what God expects at this stage in the Journey IN YOUR NOTES.. he expects you to…

START where you are Ecc. 9:10a

Yea… make a move right where your at… in the Generosity Journey

Ecclesiastes 9:10a says…

Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…

Give your offering with with ALL your heart & let no one SHAME you.

Why?

When Jesus calls you… he doesn’t expect you to display the exploits or maturity of people like MOSES, or DAVID…

At the same time… Givers at this stage in the journey - are expected to do the best they can with what is in their hands.

God is looking for you to begin to crawl - and do something

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting newer believers to ask themselves today…

Question: What small step of generosity is God inviting me to take?

Right now in your journey - learn to obey the invitation.

Transition: We’re talking about the…

Sermon Title | The Generosity Journey

Life is a journey and we all start as

Testing Givers

How many of you know as we are growing… we don’t crawl forever…

As we move along in the generosity Journey we become…. IN YOUR NOTES….

A TRUSTING giver Lk 5:5, Prov. 3:9

GESTURE TO THE GRAPHIC

There is a new mindset at this stage: They now see and understand the responsibility to do their part… in the family of God.

They are convinced that: He owns it all, He provides it all and He directs it all.

They’ve taken steps to order their finances and trust God in new ways.

What are they trusting God with at this stage?

They are trusting him with the tithe - the 1st 10% of their income and bring it to the house of God.

They have new Giving habits…

Move from sporadic giving to consistent, proportionate tithing.

***Many people in part of the journey - set up their tithes using re-occurring giving in the church center app like my wife and I do…

It helps us stay consistent… and not FORGET.

Just like we grow in our prayer life

We grow beyond 3-second prayers and begin developing habits of regular time with God.

Are we in prayer for an hour? Probably not.. but we are learning to Trust God and watch him work within our prayer life.

Back to Peter he had to learned this same lesson of TOTAL TRUST…

In Luke 5:5 When Jesus told Peter to throw his net on the other side, Peter said,

Luke 5:5 (NIV) …., “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.

It didn’t make sense to Peter.

But he was learning to trust God anyways… as he had done several times before.

Church… when Jesus ask us to make a move, he is not asking us for UNDERSTANDING, He is asking us for obedience.

For PETER… that single act of obedience to cast his net ONE MORE TIME - opened the door to the biggest catch of his life.

You might want to write this down…

Obedience opens what effort can NOT. (REPEATE)

Peter TRIED all NIGHT in his own effort… and was unsuccessful until he obeyed…

I wonder what might change for you if you make the move to obey God with the TITHE

For people at this stage in the journey generosity… their giving moves from Charitable to Spiritual.

and they are aligning themselves with scriptures like Prov. 3:9.. say’s

Proverbs 3:9 NIV

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;

The Principal of First FRUITS is saying…

God here is my tithe FIRST — before I make any other investment - I trust you FIRST!

Many families in our church have great testimonies of Trusting God with the tithe.

Let me share a STORY with you about our friends John & Cherly Vale.. who took this step several years ago.

STORY: John and Cheryl Vale

***PUT UP the VALES PIC)

John told me last week…

I grew up in Christian home, and served for decades.. but I was a slow learner when it came to tithing. We gave our time, but we hadn’t surrendered our finances.

When we moved to Grand Prairie years ago, we realized our new church needed more than our volunteering — it needed our obedience in tithing. I finally understood: giving isn’t about having enough more money, it’s about trusting God.

John said… Even through job loss and difficult seasons,We stayed committed.

Tithing no longer a struggle — it’s a joy and part of our worship. Looking back, I can see God was patiently building a heritage of faithfulness in me. I just needed to trust Him with the very thing I held onto the tightest: my finances.

I wonder how may of you are like the Vales… early on in their faith journey… serving faithfully and ready to trust God with your tithe?

Here is what God expects for those at this stage in the Journey IN YOUR NOTES.. he expects you to..

OBEY where you are 1 Cor. 9:10

If you have not become a trusting GIVER yet… today is your invitation.

Here is the reality… There is a super natural outcome for those who obey with the tithe….

We see this in 2 Cor. 9:10 lets look at it on the screen

2 Corinthians 9:10 NIV

Now he(thats God) who supplies seed to the sower(thats you-the giver- he gives it to us for what?) and bread for food… (this same God will do what for he w\sower…? ) He will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

Those who SOW into the Kingdom - God will increase and ENLARGE your Harvest.

Church - This is NOT the Prosperity Gospel….

This isn’t about getting RICH- its about increasing your capacity to give. WHY?

Becuase God is looking for people to partner with Him to take care of his church.

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: What step is God inviting you to take to be a consistent tither?

We’re talking about the…

Sermon Title | The Generosity Journey

We all crawl before we walk.. and once we begin to walk we eventually run.

This is the next phase of the GENEROSITY Journey… IN YOUR NOTES we eventually become…

A THRIVING giver Lk 1:10

GESTURE TO THE GRAPHIC

In the generosity journey we all grow at a different pace but go through the same places of growth.

We start as a…

TESTING giver

We move to a…

TRUSTING give

And become

A THRIVING giver

A Thriving giver is someone - who possess the gift of giving… as seen in Rom. 12

There is actually a biblical gift of Generosity just like the gift of administration or hospitality and the list goes on.

For Thriving Givers giving is about alignment with the Kingdom.

They pay attention, they’re spirit lead and are prepared to give when the opportunity arrises.

Thinking back to Peter’s life…

As he grew from being a brash emotional beleiver, and continued to trust God even when he didn’t understand.

He eventually matured

In Acts 2–4, the same Peter who once resisted the cross now preaches Christ crucified and leads a radically generous church.

The man who once said, “Never, Lord,” is now saying, “Whatever You ask.”

Here is what God expects at this stage in the Journey IN YOUR NOTES.. he expects you to…

SOW where you are Rom. 12:6-8, Lk 16:10, 2 Cor. 9:6

Givers at this stage are sowing above and beyond their tithe.

The love giving, they look for opportunities to give.

They are giving to Missions, Special offerings, and are generous to those around them.

Church… this is what the GENEROSITY JOURNY looks like - Lets look at it one more time on the screen…

Here is what I want you to know… God will meet you at every step in your Journey… the same way he has in every area of your life… he also expects us to grow and mature along the way…

Every Thriving Givers started by becoming

A TESTING giver…

If you haven’t tested God in this area… perhaps today is your day

If you have been hanging out here for a long time…

its probably time to move along in your GENEROSITY Journey and became

A TRUSTING giver

Through the biblical principal of tithing.

Perhaps your a long time tither… it might be time to become

a THRIVING givers

Being a thriving giver is NOT about the mount of money you give…

We have many thriving givers in our church.

Some will give extravagant gifts like cars, and others buy a meal for a friend in need or just simply to bless them.

Here is the last question for today…

Question: How has God positioned me to be a thriving giver?

Has he surrounded you with needs today? Has he given you some extra seed to sow beyond the tithe?

Perhaps this is your invitation to become a thriving giver.

Luke 16:10 says.. lets look at it on the screen together…

Luke 16:10 NIV

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”

If God can trust you with a 100 extra dollars to sow into the kingdom over and above the tithe today… he’ll be able to trust you with a 1000 tomorrow.

Why? becuase… “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” 2. 2 Corinthians 9:6 —

This is a biblical principal and it works in every area of life as we see to grow and mature in our faith.

Have you been encouraged by this series?

Well here is our call to action today… We told you last week that today and through the end of the year we are going to be receiving our

Thanksgiving Offering 2025

What is the Thanksgiving Offering:

Every November at TGP we take time to thank God for all his goodness throughout the year....  by giving what we call a Thanksgiving Offering.

As we look back at all God has done for us in 2025…

How he has blessed us…

How he has sustained us…

How he has held us together when we thought we would fall apart…

Let this offering says

THANK YOU….

We do incredible things throughout the year for local and global missions... but this an offering that goes to special projects for this house... things that our outside our annual budget.

This year, instead of a specific project, the Board and I have decided that the Thanksgiving Offering will go to support our General Fund.

It will help us finish 2025 in a healthy financial position and prevent us from dipping into reserves… for end-of-year expenses.

This will position us to be prepared for what God has for us in 2026

Here is Our goal:

It’s to raise at least 20 thousand dollars for this project. We do this year after year - I believe we are going to do more than this.

Here is how were going to get this done

Its starts with a large group of us sowing a very significant gift from 1000 - 5000

My wife and I have already sowed the first seed

Man of you can give 300-800

Serveral can give 50-200

Whatever your going to invest in this offering - we will be collecting it through the end of the year.

So if you need to break your amount up into a weekly gift over the next 4 weeks by giving 25, 50 or 100 a week - please do that

Together I know we will hit our goal as we all do our part today.

How to give today- is very important:

o Use the Give tab on the bottom of the Church Center app.

Be sure to select Thanksgiving Offering as your gift

o If your giving through Cash/Check use an envelope in the seat pocket in front of you and under the OTHER category please write in THANKSGIVING OFFERING.

You can Drop your offering in the bucket as it passes or boxes in the back of the room.

As the Ushers Come forward and you prepare to give….

I want to do a little RESEARCH PROJECT for next year

You know... if every adult saved 20.00 a month over the next year we would bring in well over our needed amount.

****That say that 20% of the people do 80% of the giving - we are already above that

But I believe we easily flop that statistic. Start a little cash envelope or savings account and allocate 20 a month into that fund and see what God does…

Lets Pray

PRAYER-THANK GOD FOR THE YEAR

We thank you very much for your generosity and faithfulness in giving.

Thanksgiving Offering Thank you

Well.. before Pastor Amanda comes to being the word today I wanted to say...

THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to the Thanksgiving Offering. At the end of every year we pause and consider all the Lord has done to bless us, sustain us, and care of us... we do this by giving what we call a Thanksgiving Offering.

We do increasable things throughout the year for local and global missions... but this offering goes to special projects for this house...

Our goal is 20k and so far we have brought in $16,45.00 just a about 80% of our goal which is 20k. We are right on par with what we have normally brought in the last couple years.

This years project is going towards:

· Brightening-up the back property w/ New Lighting to make it safer for our kids.

· We are also going to replace some outdated Video equipment.

Maybe you haven’t had a chance to give we invite you to join.. us

o Just make sure to mark your gift as Thanksgiving Offering

Thank you again!..

So today… if you do NOT know Jesus as your Lord and Savior today is your day…

Salvation Altar Call

I believe Jesus is here today, and He wants to save you. Salvation simply means to deliver or to free. It’s not just about delivering you…

It’s about believing

Believing in Jesus means trusting what He say’s—about sin, and eternal punishment, thats the bad news.

The good news is this… that His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins, making us right with God.

Ephesians 2:8 reminds us: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Salvation requires two things:

1. God’s Grace—His undeserved gift of forgiveness and life because of His love for you.

2. Faith—placing your trust in Him for salvation.

If you’ve never asked Jesus to save you, today is your day. If you’d like ask him… , raise your hand.

I want to invite you to Repeat a prayer after me

· There is nothing magical in this prayer.. it simply is a way of declaring to Jesus what has taken place in your heart.

Here is how I would like to end the service for everyone else….

Call to Action Altar Call

We’re going to end the service with A question as we do nearly every week.

ALL ACROSS THE ROOM – HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT spoken to you in anyway today?

Resources:

Please add the same resources we had here in last weeks message

Going Deeper

Am I on the generosity journey?

Am I ready to become a trusting giver?

Has God positioned you to be a thriving giver?

What might the Holy Spirit be saying to you in light of this teaching?

How might the Holy Spirit want to transform you in light of this teaching?

What actions might the Holy Spirit want to take in light of this teaching?

Tongues & Interpretation

1. To STRENGTHEN the Church (1 Cor14:5)

For prophecy is greater than SPEAKING in TONGUES, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be STRENGTHENED.

Believers, God has operated through this gift today to strengthen you today. Let your faith be strengthened and know that God is in control and using supernatural measures to speak to us.

2. Is a SIGN for unbelievers. (1Cor. 14: 21a, 22)

1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (ESV)

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

22 -  So you see that speaking in tongues is a SIGN, not for believers, but for UNBELIEVERS.

The Bible explains to us God has chosen to use this gift to be a sign for you. A sign for what? It is a sign of his realness for those of you who have been doubting or questioning the existence of God. He wants you to know he is REAL and he wants to bring you spiritual life and health. If you're in here today and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior... he wants you to know he has gone to great lengths to show you his love today. (Great opportunity for a salvation altar call if it fits).